Podcasts about rabbi harold kushner

Is everything going to be okay? We live with that question every day. Is everything going to be okay with Israel? December 7, marks 14 months of war, and the situation is still murky, unresolved and painful for all. This week when he was in dialogue with Michelle, Donniel Hartman was real, and real was not upbeat. Is everything going to be okay with our country? We are a 50-50 nation. Both halves have deep convictions and deep anxieties. The side that is not in power is worried. Is everything going to be okay with ourselves and our loved ones? When we face serious challenges—relational, emotional, physical, financial, professional—will we emerge okay on the other end? What kind of prayer is helpful when we worry whether everything is going to be okay? The Torah offers us a primer of two different models of prayer, same person, same anxiety, same dread fear, twenty years apart. Young Jacob running away from home worries that Esau will kill him. Older Jacob coming back home to Canaan worries that Esau will kill him and his family. In both cases, he prays. Tomorrow we will consider each prayer in its own context and ask whether we pray a prayer like that, and if so, whether doing so helps. We will also study the interpretation of these two prayers by the late Rabbi Harold Kushner found in his classic When Bad Things Happen to Good People. Rabbi Kushner uses these two prayers of Jacob as illuminating prayers that do and do not work. How is it with your prayer life? Can our prayer life grow so that our prayers help strengthen us when we could use the strength?

Rabbi Mychal B. Springer is the manager of Clinical Pastoral Education at NY-Presbyterian Hospital. She founded the Center for Pastoral Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) in Manhattan in 2009. Over a ten-year period she oversaw an intensive hospice chaplaincy training program in collaboration with Metropolitan Jewish Health System's Hospice. She began her career as a hospital chaplain in New York City, and in the 1990s became the director of the Department of Pastoral Care and Education at Beth Israel Medical Center. Mychal was the first Conservative rabbi to be certified as an Educator by ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care & Education. Mychal served as The Rabbinical School at JTS's associate dean and director of Field Education. Her publications include Sisters in Mourning: Daughters Reflecting on Care, Loss, and Meaning (Cascade Press, 2021) with Dr. Su Yon Pak and “Presence in a Time of Distancing: Spiritual Care in an Acute Care Setting” in Jewish End-of-Life Care in a Virtual Age: Our Traditions Reimagined, Friedman D, Levin D, Raphael SP ed. (Albion Andalus, 2021).Mychal received her BA in Judaic Studies and Religious Studies from Yale College magna cum laude. She was ordained a Conservative rabbi and received her Master's in Judaic Studies and Doctor of Divinity at JTS. Mychal is a certified Jewish chaplain in Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains.In the interview, Rabbi Springer recalls her friend from childhood, Aaron Kushner, and how his tragic illness and death inspired his father, Rabbi Harold Kushner (who died in 2023) to write his best-selling book When Bad Things Happen to Good People. Here is Rabbi Ed Bernstein interviewing Rabbi Harold Kushner in 2013.Rabbi Springer makes cameo appearances in two memoirs:”Choosing My Religion: A Memoir of a Family Beyond Belief,” by Stephen Dubner”The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions,” by Jonathan Rosen (Rabbi Springer's husband). Here are links to other resources mentioned by Rabbi Springer: Palestine 1936 by Oren Kessler. Dr. David Senesh interviewed on the Invisible Wound podcast.Haverut: The Healing Arts  led by Rachel Ettun.The solemn prayer Un'tane Tokef that is recited on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur  was the inspiration for Leonard Cohen's “Who By Fire.”    About our host:Rabbi Edward Bernstein, BCC, is the producer and host of NeshamaCast. He serves as Chaplain at Boca Raton Regional Hospital of Baptist Health South Florida. He is a member of the Board of Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains. Prior to his chaplain career, he served as a pulpit rabbi in congregations in New Rochelle, NY; Beachwood, OH; and Boynton Beach, FL. He is also the host and producer of My Teacher Podcast: A Celebration of the People Who Shape Our Lives. NeshamaCast contributor Rabbi Katja Vehlow was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary and is Director of Jewish Life at Fordham University. She trained as a chaplain at Moses Maimonides Medical Center in New York. Previously, she served as Associate Professor of Religious Studies at University of South Carolina. A native German speaker, she is planning a forthcoming German-language podcast on the weekly Torah portion with a focus on pastoral care. Support NeshamaCast and NAJC with a tax deductible donation to NAJC. Transcripts for this episode and other episodes of NeshamaCast are available at NeshamaCast.simplecast.com and are typically posted one week after an episode first airs. Theme Music is “A Niggun For Ki Anu Amecha,” written and performed by Reb-Cantor Lisa Levine. Please help others find the show by rating and reviewing the show on Apple Podcasts or other podcast providers. We welcome comments and suggestions for future programming at NeshamaCast@gmail.com. And be sure to follow NAJC on Facebook to learn more about Jewish spiritual care happening in our communities.

What did the late Rabbi Harold Kushner mean when he said, “We're more complete if we're incomplete”? Rabbi Cosgrove explores how we may understand loss and imperfections in our lives.   For more Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, follow @Elliot_Cosgrove on Instagram and Facebook.   Want to stay connected with PAS? Follow us @ParkAvenueSyn on all platforms, and check out www.pasyn.org for all our virtual and in-person offerings. 

Does your work fulfill your spiritual purpose? On this episode of Love Period, Majora Carter joins Jacqui to help us understand what it means to be inspired to create a professional life that is fueled by spiritual principles.   As a real-estate developer, urban revitalization strategy consultant and MacArthur Fellow, Majora Carter's thriving professional life is built on the moment she “found real meaning in the scriptures when Jesus says, ‘there are only two important laws: Love God and Love thy neighbor.' And I realized—that is what I do! I love God and I love my neighbor. My work is a manifestation of that.”  We hope this engaging conversation inspires you to shift your way of living—and giving—to the world. Resources: Majora Carter's book Reclaiming Your Community can be found here. To learn more about her work, visit her website here. Rabbi Harold Kushner's book When Bad Things Happen to Good People can be found here.  

Because of you, dear listener, we surpassed our goal of 22K downloads for our first season. Thank you, we are humbled and honored that you spend valuable time with us as we learn and grow together. Here is our season one finale and the final episode of our cult series. Let's talk about perpetual inadequacy.    Steven Hassan: The BITE model. https://freedomofmind.com/cult-mind-control/bite-model/ Recovering Agency by Luna Lindsey Corbden. Pg 157, 285.   https://www.amazon.com/Recovering-Agency-Luna-Lindsey-audiobook/dp/B01M9JSIRU/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3TF4WZFLCD00I&keywords=recovering+agency&qid=1685207345&sprefix=recovering+acency%2Caps%2C103&sr=8-1 To life: A celebration of Jewish being and thinking by Rabbi Harold Kushner.    https://www2.sluh.org/msciuto/sluhtheo/ToLife.html      

My final conversation with the author of "Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?"

Jan shares an interaction with bestselling author Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People , who recently died. Kushner shows a new way to understand the Book of Job and how to more clearly see that unfairness doesn't have to destroy you but can deepen you and lead to good, if you allow it.

When the history of twentieth-century Jewry is written, I believe that one of the most important, impactful, influential thinkers will be Rabbi Harold Kushner, who was laid to his eternal rest this past Monday. I do not know of a rabbi whose teaching had a broader reach or a bigger impact.  It is not just that his books sold millions of copies.  Not just that his books were translated into many languages.  Not just that his work was read by Jews and non-Jews alike.  Rabbi Harold Kushner did something else virtually miraculous: he talked about God in a way that landed for ordinary people who do not usually talk about God. What was his secret sauce? How did he make God real and relatable for millions of people, Jews and non-Jews alike? Now that he has passed, how can his Torah on God connect with you?   May Rabbi Harold Kushner rest in peace. May his Torah deepen our relationship with God, with Torah, with mitzvah, and with the very special community we are blessed to have at Temple Emanuel.

Parsha Talk: with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Emor [Leviticus 21-24] further develops the theme of holiness which is at the core of the Holiness Code [Leviticus 17-26]. The parashah begins with restrictions on kohanim [priests], on whom they marry, whom they mourn, what physical characteristics prevent them from serving. Chapter 23 is the Book of Leviticus' sacred calendar, which is always worth studying, especially in comparison with the calendars in Exodus [23:14-19 & 34:18-26], Numbers [28-29], and Deuteronomy [16:1-17]. The parashah concludes with chapter 24, a miscellany of laws, including the incident of the blasphemer and the determination of what to do with him, and one of the three appearances in the Torah of the lex talion [law of revenge, better known perhaps as “eye for an eye”]. We opened the show with a tribute to Rabbi Harold Kushner, who went to his eternal home last week. We welcome comments below or at parshatalk@gmail.com. Shabbat Shalom!

In this episode, Rabbi Dobrusin considers an idea which changed the way many people think about God and honors the man who most clearly taught this idea to all of us. 

This podcast is being published on April 30, 2023, and is dedicated to the memory of Rabbi Harold Kushner, of blessed memory, who died on April 28, 2023 at the age of 88. Rabbi Kushner is best known for his best selling book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People. He wrote a total of 14 books, many of which were also best sellers. While known world-wide for his writing and lecturing, Rabbi Kushner was a beloved pulpit rabbi and served 25 years as the spiritual leader of Temple Israel, a Conservative synagogue in  Natick, MA and many more years as their Rabbi Laureate. For more information about Rabbi Kushner's illustrious career, see his New York Times obituary. In January 2014, Rabbi Kushner gave a lecture at Temple Torah (now Temple Torat Emet) in Boynton Beach, FL, where Rabbi Ed Bernstein was then serving as spiritual leader. A few months earlier, Rabbi Bernstein and Rabbi Kushner both attended the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism Biennial Convention in Baltimore, MD.  During the convention, they recorded a brief interview that served as a teaser for Rabbi Kushner's upcoming visit to Boynton Beach. The conversation touched on When Bad Things Happen to Good People as well as two other books by Rabbi Kushner, When Children Ask About God and Living a Life That Matters. Rabbi Kushner had a gift for speaking and writing about sophisticated subjects in an accessible way. In this 10-minute interview a decade later, he distills complex issues in  clear and vivid terms and in such little time.  Here is Rabbi Ed Bernstein's conversation with Rabbi Harold Kushner on October 13, 2013, which you may also find on YouTube. May the  memory of Rabbi Harold Kushner be for a blessing.Rabbi Bernstein is grateful to Barbara and Jay Wiston for introducing him to Rabbi Kushner and for envisioning Rabbi Kushner's public lecture in Boynton Beach in 2014.           

Why does God allow suffering? This age-old question is considered by Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of “When Bad Things Happen to Good People,” who arrived at some soothing answers after facing his young son's death.

Uvalde. Buffalo. Santa Ana. Bomb threats at JCCs (including our own). If the Messiah were ever going to come to fix our broken world, now would be a good time. On Shabbat we are going to take a look at three texts that deal with the Messiah. The first is an Elijah story. Elijah famously tells a rabbi searching for the Messiah that you can find him in a leper colony, among the most diseased and impoverished people. The second is a story by Israel's Nobel Prize-winning author Shmuel Agnon called The Kerchief, which is a literary treatment of the passage from the Talmud about the Messiah coming from a leper colony. The third is a sermon by Rabbi Harold Kushner, delivered at his son Aaron's Bar Mitzvah (Aaron would pass away later that year), on the Agnon story.

Women should be silent during the church meetings. It is not proper for them to speak. They should be submissive, just as the law says. If they have any questions, they should ask their husbands at home, for it is improper for women to speak in church meetings. 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 NLT   Women should learn quietly and submissively. I do not let women teach men or have authority over them. Let them listen quietly. 1 Timothy 2:11-12 NLT   1. NEVER READ A VERSE ALONE 2. REMEMBER, THAT THE BIBLE IS WRITTEN FOR US BUT NOT TO US. 3. THE BIBLE DOES NOT CONTRADICT ITSELF   Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don't want you to misunderstand this. There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice ; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. 1 Corinthians 12:1,4-5,7-11 NLT   DID PAUL HONOR WOMEN OR DISCOUNT THEM?   PHOEBE   I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deacon in the church in Cenchrea. Welcome her in the Lord as one who is worthy of honor among God's people. Help her in whatever she needs, for she has been helpful to many, and especially to me. Romans 16:1-2 NLT   PRISCILLA AND HER HUSBAND, AQUILA   Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in the ministry of Christ Jesus. Romans 16:3 NLT   Meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos, an eloquent speaker who knew the Scriptures well, had arrived in Ephesus from Alexandria in Egypt. He had been taught the way of the Lord, and he taught others about Jesus with an enthusiastic spirit and with accuracy. However, he knew only about John's baptism. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him preaching boldly in the synagogue, they took him aside and explained the way of God even more accurately. Acts of the Apostles 18:24-26 NLT   MARY & JUNIA   Give my greetings to Mary, who has worked so hard for your benefit. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews, who were in prison with me. They are highly respected among the apostles and became followers of Christ before I did. Romans 16:6-7 NLT   DID PETER HONOR WOMEN?   ‘In the last days,' God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike— and they will prophesy.' Acts 2:17-18 NLT   HOW DID JESUS VIEW WOMEN?   WHAT ARE OTHER BIBLICAL EXAMPLES?   MIRIAM   I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam. Micah 6:4 NIV   DEBORAH   Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. Judges 4:4 NIV   HULDAH   IPROVERBS 31    WHAT WAS GOD'S INTENTION AT CREATION?   So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” Genesis 1:27-28 NLT   The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Genesis 2:18 NIV But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God's people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God's mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9-10 NLT   But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! The eye can never say to the hand, “I don't need you.” The head can't say to the feet, “I don't need you.” All of you together are Christ's body, and each of you is a part of it. 1 Corinthians 12:18-19,21,27 NLT   “Our souls are not hungry for fame, comfort, wealth, or power. Those rewards create almost as many problems as they solve. Our souls are hungry for meaning, for the sense that we have figured out how to live so that our lives matter, so that the world will be at least a little bit different for our having passed through it.” Rabbi Harold Kushner   1. FIND THE GIFTS GOD HAS FOR YOU 'A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. ' 1 Corinthians 12:7 NLT   2. CULTIVATE THE GIFTS GOD HAS GIVEN YOU     'Let love be your highest goal! But you should also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives. 1 Corinthians 14:1 NLT   'This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you. ' 2 Timothy 1:6 NLT   3. USE THE GIFTS GOD HAS GIVEN YOU 'God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. ' 1 Peter 4:10 NLT   Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”Matthew 28:18-20 NLT  

I bet that if you asked many of your neighbours, co-workers, and classmates if they believed that bad things happen to bad people and good things happen to good people, they would agree. If people add a belief of God into the equation, then you can see why many people hold to the concept of the divine retribution principle - God blesses the righteous and afflicts the unrighteous. We reinforce this concept to our kids when we teach that there are rewards for good behaviour and discipline for bad behaviour. And reality is that there are natural consequences for bad behaviour. Like the time I almost burned down the house by playing with fire after being taught that fire was not to be played with. A hint for all you kids out there reading this... Moms notice when you cut out the carpet because a portion of it was burned. We know bad things happen when we are bad. But how do we explain when bad things happen to good people? This was the question of Rabbi Harold Kushner. His conclusion was that God is good, but not all-powerful enough to stop evil. How would you answer the question if asked, why do bad things happen to good people? This is part of the dialogue between Job and his counsellor Zophar in Job 20-21. May you find answers in both your suffering and witnessing.

“Pursued in Love…Always” A sermon preached by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli with Foundry UMC, November 21, 2021. Reign of Christ and Consecration Sunday, “Prepare the Table with Justice and Joy” series.    Texts: Psalm 23, Revelation 1:4b-8 Over the past seven weeks, we have been guided by the Lord, our shepherd, in Psalm 23. And on this last Sunday of the Christian liturgical year, the last Sunday before Advent, and the day often celebrated as the Reign of Christ or Christ the King, we receive the final verse of the Psalm. The familiar-to-many King James Version reads: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” Years ago I learned that the verb translated “follow” is more intense in the original Hebrew: “Surely goodness and mercy shall pursue me…” This is not only an image of these graces passively lurking about or showing up here and there. It's that God's goodness and mercy “will run after me and find me wherever I am!” It strikes me that this is where we began the journey, with the ancient image of God, not as a conquering king, but as a humble, strong, shepherd and the affirmation that God is with us, no matter what.  When I was a teenager, our youth camp worship would use “sing along slides” to guide our singing of a variety of songs, including pop songs. As I prepared for today, meditating on this profound promise of God's loving presence, I was transported back to evening worship in Miller Hall at Canyon Camp and again heard God in the distinctive form of Cyndi Lauper's voice: “If you're lost you can look and you will find me/ Time after time/ If you fall I will catch you, I'll be waiting/ Time after time.”  The Lord, our shepherd pursues us, time after time, wherever we are and no matter how we got there. And, if we are willing to follow, God's goodness guides us into places of beauty, green places of nourishment, still places of peace, places where our soul may be restored; God's goodness guides us on roundabout paths that get us where we need to go, guides us through the valleys of life, makes sure we eat something when we are overwhelmed with fear, danger, or grief, and tenderly loves us, anointing us as valued and called. An important word in verse six is the word translated “mercy,” in Hebrew it is hesed, and usually is translated “lovingkindness.” Rabbi Harold Kushner thinks of it as “unearned love.” Unearned love. God's goodness and unearned love pursue us… What an extraordinary challenge to the culture in which we live.  The common wisdom is that nothing in the world is free, that we have to look a certain way, act a certain way, have certain things to be loved. We have to have this to get that. How many children are taught—implicitly or explicitly—that they are bad, wrong, worthless, unlovable because they don't meet their parent's or teachers' expectations? How much energy flows into trying at every age and stage of life to earn or prove or buy our worth and lovability? How much money gets made by clever people who exploit our insecurities with the lure of “miracle” products and schemes? How often do lives full of potential get coopted and corrupted by gangs—on the streets or in the lunch room or in the marbled and paneled halls of power? The exploitation in all these things depends on human insecurity, on the lie that any one of us is unworthy of love, goodness, and mercy.  And when everything we've tried still leaves us feeling unloved or devalued, we can fall into all sorts of destructive things. Our own insecurity can trigger an impulse to knock others down so we can stand over them, our boots on their necks, to feel bigger or like we have some power. Our own insecurity makes us turn on ourselves in self-loathing and on others with envy and resentment, all out of self-defense for our wounded hearts. Whether or not you figure out how to navigate the worldly macro or micro accounting of earned interest in who you are, it is a struggle to believe that there is any such thing as unearned interest, unearned love. In this world, the relational economy is so often quid pro quo, based on exploitation, or simply governed by run-of-the-mill human brokenness.  But God's economy is altogether different. The Lord, our shepherd—as we've been singing these past weeks—is the king of love not the king of empires or courts or councils or turfs. And the Kin-dom of God doesn't require three forms of legal documentation where all the names exactly match for entry. Because God knows your name and loves you and wants to be close to you! Kin-dom economy with a shepherd in charge is truly different than what we're used to. Jesus didn't test people's theological knowledge or work history before giving them food. Jesus didn't pay the latecomer less than the first to clock in. Jesus didn't play with the devil's shiny advertisements for comfort, prestige, and power. Jesus didn't do violence or execute people, Jesus allowed himself to be publicly executed so that we might finally recognize that buying “peace” or “justice” with another human life yields neither peace nor justice. Jesus didn't raise an army, Jesus raised lives. Jesus embodied God's love and revealed again and again that only love has the power to bring about the healing that will truly set us free. The Lord, our shepherd, pursues us not to blame or test or bully us. God pursues us because God loves us and wants to be with us, to help us, to give us what we need to live lives filled with beauty, meaning, justice, and joy. God's love for you and for me is absolute and it is unearned. God, in love, is always present, always reaching out and waiting for your heart to open wide to receive the overflow.  As the sheep of God's pasture, as citizens of Christ's Kin-dom, we are taught that we love because God first loved us. All our acts of goodness and lovingkindness, all our acts of justice and unearned love, all our acts of generosity and care, all our acts of praise and thanksgiving are in response to God's abundant grace. As we, like a cup, receive and are filled with God's goodness and unearned love, we overflow in acts of gratitude, justice, and joy.  Because God prepares the table for us, we prepare the table for others. And, by God's grace, our offerings will create the best “pot luck” ever! By God's grace overflowing in generosity, we will set a table with love of God and neighbor as the centerpiece, a table that is anti-racist, fully inclusive and affirming, creative, committed, courageous, and full of friendship, support, and laughter; we will set a table big and wide enough so that everyone has a place. On this Consecration Sunday, we're reminded that God gives us everything, holds nothing back, pursues us in love, time after time, so that you will have life and so that we as the people of God called Foundry can prepare the table with justice and joy. What will you return in gratitude? https://foundryumc.org/archive

Ecclesiastes 8:10-15 The book of Ecclesiastes meets people right where they are. Someone has said, “Most people aren't all that concerned about heaven or hell. They just want to know how to hack it on Monday.” That's what Ecclesiastes does—it helps people make sense of the stuff that doesn't make sense.  In Ecclesiastes 8, we find two specific perplexities that have plagued humanity from the beginning. 1) Why do good things happen to bad people? 2) What do bad things happen to good people? 1) Why Do Good Things Happen to Bad People? (vv. 10-13) Solomon points out the fact that sometimes it seems that good things happen to bad people. He says, “It doesn't make sense!” But Solomon does not let the frustrations and perplexities have the last word. Instead, he says, “In spite of all of this, I know it will still go better with people who follow God.” Solomon recognized that God and eternity, not culture and history, will have the final word. Have you ever heard someone say, “You're going to be on the wrong side of history; you're on the wrong side of history”? Well, I'd rather be on the wrong side of history than the wrong side of eternity—AMEN?    2) Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People? (vv. 14-15) The greatest observational perplexity this world has ever know is captured in the words “there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked”—that is, in plain language, bad things happen to good people.  Rabbi Harold Kushner said this, “There is only one question that really matters: why do bad things happen to good people? All other theological conversations are intellectually diverting. Virtually every meaningful conversation I have ever had with people about God and religion has started with this question or gotten around to it before long.” First remember that when we talk about “good” people, please understand that the idea of “good” people is an oxymoron—that is, it's a contradiction. We tend to minimize the reality of evil in our hearts and in our world, and then when we encounter evil, we don't know how to address it. Is it OK to have doubts? Tim Keller says this, “A faith without some doubts is like a human body without any antibodies in it . . . believers should acknowledge and wrestle with doubts—not only their own, but their friends' and neighbors'.” Solomon wrestled with perplexities like this nearly his entire adult life. And guess what he concluded? He concluded that he couldn't make intellectual sense of it. Instead, he decided to rest in a simple faith in God and admit that he was never going to completely “figure it out” on his own. Rest in the assurance of scripture that Jesus loves you and if you are a child of God's, He will never leave your side, despite whatever pain and suffering you might encounter in this world.  

“Abundance!” A sermon preached by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli with Foundry UMC, November 14, 2021. “Prepare the Table with Justice and Joy” series.  Texts: Psalm 23:1-5, Mark 12: 38-44 “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”  Last week, I noted that the psalmist shifted from speaking about God to talking with God. And verse five continues in that direct communication and in a very personal way. I want to invite us to draw near to the metaphorical table God prepares and to explore each part of what we find there. God prepares a table for us… Think for a moment about what it takes to prepare a table for others… Or think about what it's like when someone prepares a table for you that makes you feel cared for: your needs are known, allergies remembered, favorites waiting… things have been done to make room for you and anyone or anything you need to bring with you—a partner, child, accommodation for any physical needs… A table prepared with love is filled with beauty, bounty, thoughtfulness, and reflects generosity of time and resources. Now think about what this: God prepares a table for you. Imagine that table in your mind's eye… In the presence of my enemies… What's that about? It's not about showing off, not about “my God loves me and not you” or about winning a prize and lording it over our enemies… It's about God's care and protection and sustenance even in moments of challenge and danger. In the midst of things, feelings, temptations, or persons that threaten us, God provides for us. When we are eaten up with fear or worry over broken relationships, when we feel alone, misunderstood, under attack, or simply not being able to receive what we need from others, God makes sure we eat! God sustains us. God prepares the table that gives us what we need.  We may be given a listening ear. It may be a “come to Jesus” talk we're given at the table. It might be some humble pie we need to consume. It might be extra protein to build our strength or soup to heal an illness. It might be comfort food to soothe our weary soul or broken heart. God's table is abundant with grace sufficient for every need. God anoints my head with oil… In India I was invited into the small home of a new friend in the Dalit village where we stayed overnight. After being there a short time, the woman asked if she could do something with my hair. She poured perfumed oil over my head and then adorned my hair with a flower garland. In ancient Indian sanskrit, the word sneha means “to oil,” as well as “to love”—and to oil another's hair is a tradition of bonding. What I was offered that afternoon in India was such a generous gift, an act of hospitality, a tender loving act, an honor.  In the Bible, anointing is associated with honor of a different kind. It has to do with chosenness—as a king, queen, or messiah (“anointed one”). But its more general connotation is that the one who receives the oil is simply special, designated for greatness, called to do something big.  Holy oil is used by many Christian traditions at the moment of Baptism or Confirmation, a ritual act that hearkens back to the biblical stories and, for Christians, connects us to our calling to follow God's anointed one, Jesus. At the table prepared for us by God, God anoints our head with oil! Us! You and me… not just one of us, ALL of us… we are identified by God as special, as those called to be and to do something big, what only we can. We are special in the eyes of God, valued and beloved. // [move to table and pour water into chalice, overflowing to small bowl, overflowing to larger bowl…] “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil…” In these opening words of verse 5, the psalmist affirms that no matter what other people think of you or do to you, God provides for you, sustains you, values you, calls you, and loves you. No wonder the next line is “My cup runs over!” This is a metaphor for gratitude, an awareness of the fullness of what is given. The abundance of God's table, God's provision, God's grace, and God's love is more than can be contained. Sometimes in our lives we can get caught in a glass half full, glass half empty debate… When we're overwhelmed and weary, the glass can seem not only half empty, but all the way empty… It's easy to lose the larger perspective. Psalm 23 calls us back to that larger vision. Rabbi Harold Kushner says, “Much of the time, we have as little control over the events of our lives as we do over the weather. But as with the weather, we have a great deal of control over the way we choose to see those events and respond to them. Reading between the lines, we can infer that the author of the Twenty-third Psalm did not have a life free from pain and problems. He has had to confront enemies. He has known the feeling of finding himself in the valley of the shadow of death. He can praise and thank God for all that God has done, not because life has been easy but precisely because life has often been hard and God has seen him through the hard times. If his eyes are dim with age, he thanks God that he can still see…If people close to him have died, he is grateful to have known their love. For the psalmist, the issue is not whether the cup is half full or half empty. Because he has learned to see everything in his life, including life itself, as a gift, his cup of blessings overflows.”   Kushner goes on to remind us of the story from 2 Kings 4 in which a woman begs Elisha for help because her husband has died leaving her and her children with many debts. She says she has nothing to eat, but only one small jar of oil. The prophet tells her to gather as many vessels as possible and to pour the oil out. Her children gather jars and vessels from the community and the woman pours. The oil keeps flowing until the last container is filled. Rabbi Kushner says, “Our ability to enjoy God's blessings is more a function of our capacity to receive them than of any limitations on God's ability to bless us.”  There is no limit to God's goodness and desire to bless us. Do we have the capacity to receive all that God desires to give?  I love connecting this verse from Psalm 23 with the story of the woman and the oil. It not only provides another example of God's desire to provide for us, but also reminds us that when members of the community offer what they have, God's blessings continue to flow. The communal contribution of jars and vessels allowed the oil to continually be poured out, collected, and then used for food and for anointing—to save not only the woman and her children, but to sustain and bless others! It was only when there were no more jars that the oil stopped flowing. Early in this series, I said that there is no reason for us to struggle to sustain the ministry and mission of Foundry. There is such abundance among us. It only requires that each of us truly give as much as we can, even if it seems that our very best is just a small jar of oil or worth only a widow's mite. Every year, I share with you that I never ask you to do anything that I'm not willing to do myself. I give to Foundry well over a tithe (10%) of my net pay and increase what I give every year, even if it's only a little, as my commitment to grow toward a tithe of my total compensation. This is a stretch and a spiritual discipline for me, a way of concretely putting my trust in God and demonstrating my gratitude for the overflowing gift and grace of God's love and activity in my life and in and through Foundry. God prepares a table for you and for me and for us as this Foundry family. The abundance of the table is amazing. There is no need for us get caught in fear about our cup being half empty. God's blessing flows into our lives in so many ways and as we allow those blessings to overflow in gratitude and generosity, our contributions provide the means for others to be blessed in all the ways that happen through our shared mission and ministry. As we draw the circle wider, as we welcome all to the table, as we prepare a table as Foundry with justice and joy, God's abundance will not only fill our communal cup, but will overflow. What can you offer to make it so? What will you return to God in gratitude and love? How will you help prepare a table big enough to receive all that God wishes to share? https://foundryumc.org/archive/prepare-the-table-with-justice-and-joy

“Shepherded Through the Valley” A meditation shared by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli with Foundry UMC, November 7, 2021, observation of All Saints Sunday. “Prepare the Table with Justice and Joy” series.    Texts: Psalm 23:1-4, John 11:32-44 I don't know how old I was the summer my Nana decided to give me a penny for every verse of the 23rd Psalm I could recite from memory. Each day of my visit, I was asked to add another verse. And the version of the Psalm I was given to memorize was the King James version: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” As a little one, I was uncertain why I'd say “yay” about walking through a place that sounded scary and sad. And I had no clue what it meant to say that God's rod and staff comfort me. I didn't know then that the King James translation likely mistook the Hebrew word tzalamut which means “deep darkness” for the two words tzal mavet meaning “the shadow of death.” But there is something in the poetry of the King James that captures something so profound, so true that I believe its deepest meaning got through to my child's heart anyway. In fact, it is in this verse that we really get to heart of this Psalm.  The poetic phrase “the valley of the shadow of death” paints a picture of deep valleys where the light of the sun is blocked by the mountains all around, leaving nothing but shadows. In that shadowy place the Psalmist says “I fear no evil”—not that there is no evil, but there is no need to fear. Why? “Thou art with me.”  In the places of our lives that are overshadowed with fear, uncertainty, confusion, pain, and grief that brings us to our knees, our God is with us. Perhaps amid a life-threatening diagnosis for yourself someone has shown up so that you weren't alone. Or maybe when a loved one is awaiting test results, is critically ill, or has died, you've experienced a person just being there with you in whatever state you're in, tacitly giving permission for you to be however you needed to be…available to do something or nothing, to talk or to be silent. In my experience, the “being there” is the most important thing. The Psalmist experienced God in just that kind of way. In this verse, the writer shifts from talking about God the shepherd, to conversing with the Shepherd who is with them and who will guide them through the valley.  In such deep darkness, finding our way over the mountains or through the valley can feel impossible. We can't imagine ever feeling the proverbial warmth of the sun again. In that space, there are sometimes persons in our lives who know just how and when to gently remind us that the shadows need not be our dwelling place forever, those with the sensitivity to understand how to nudge us to shift, to take a step. The Lord, our shepherd, is present with us in the deepest darkness, God's rod and staff—assurance of God's justice and God's compassion—comfort and help us in that place. And God is like that sensitive friend who nudges us a the right time. The Good Shepherd doesn't desire that we remain in the places of suffering, pain, and grief.  Of course, it is part of being human to travel those paths—at least if we have any love within us. We will find ourselves in the valley of the shadow of death at one point or another because human life is fragile and precious and it hurts when we come to our end or when those we love die an earthly death and are no longer part of our experience here. Jesus wept at the pain of death and at the suffering that death caused for those he loved. For those grieving the loss of a child, a partner, spouse, parent, sibling, dear friend, it can feel like we are shut up in the grave with the one we love. I know some persons who really struggle to not allow their whole lives—their own identity—to be defined by the loss they have suffered. For many others, to contemplate moving out of the shadows of grief feels like dishonoring the one we love; we may worry that we'll forget or lose them if we move out of the valley. Rabbi Harold Kushner explains that this is “why the Jewish calendar asks [adherents] to pause five times a year, on the four holiday seasons and on the anniversary of a death, to remember those whom we have loved and lost. It is a way of giving us permission to go on with our lives without having to fear that we will forget, that we will leave precious but painful memories behind.” Our annual All Saints celebration is one of those days in our Christian tradition, a time to give thanks and to remember those whose lives have enriched our own. It is a sad time, particularly for those whose grief is fresh, but also for all of us as we think about how much we miss our loved ones.  But it is also a time of joy for the profound gift of loving and being loved, of learning from and being inspired by those we remember. And this day, as Kushner suggests, can be a reminder that we can go on with our lives, that we aren't forgetting our loved ones. We have permission to live, to allow God to help us move through the valley and step into a new stretch of our life's journey. Think about how you want your loved ones to live following your own departure from this life. Isn't it a beautiful gift to imagine that your life can inspire others to keep loving when its hard, to keep going when the shadows are long and the terrain rocky and steep? Do you want your loved ones to remain stuck, to lose themselves, to stop living when you die? Rabbi Kushner observes that the author of the 23rd Psalm was one who “knew from personal experience what it feels like [to be] in the valley of the shadow. But…also knew that the valley is a temporary lodging, not a permanent home…[They came to learn that God's role is not to protect us from pain and loss, but to protect us from letting pain and loss define our lives. The psalmist turned to God and God worked a miracle. The miracle was not that a loved one came back to life. The miracle was that the psalmist found their way out of the valley of the shadow. And that is a miracle.” In our Gospel today, Jesus came to the place of death and grieving. He was present with his dear friends and shared in their pain. And he did a miracle that revealed the power of God's love to bring life out of death, new creation out of the place of grief. Jesus calls all of us out of the place of grief and shadows. Not when others thought it was the right time, but when God knew it was the right time.  As we remember this day, calling the names of those we love and see no more, may we also hear Jesus calling our names, inviting us to honor the loves we have known by stepping out again and again into a new day, feeling sunlight on our face, facing the future unafraid. Because the Lord is our shepherd, and even when we journey through the most painful places we need not fear, for our loving God is with us, we are assured of God's justice and compassion and, while the shadows grow long and threaten to overtake us, the promise, always, is that morning is coming. And “joy comes with the morning!” (Ps 30:5)  https://foundryumc.org/archive

“More Green, Less Noise” A sermon preached by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli with Foundry UMC, October 17, 2021, the twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost. “Prepare the Table with Justice and Joy” series.    Texts: Psalm 23:1-2, Mark 10:35-45 “…one morning long ago in the quiet of the world, when there was less noise and more green…” This line from J.R.R. Tolkien's book The Hobbit has inspired a refrain in the Gaines-Cirelli household over many years, a phrase that is invoked like a prayer or a prophetic rebuke in moments when surroundings are harsh or grating on the nerves. “More green. Less noise.” I suppose one could say it's nostalgic or naïve. But regardless of that, it is what I so often desire. More green. Less noise.  And so I love the line from Psalm 23 that is our focus today as we journey line by line through that Psalm in this series.  The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.     The Lord makes me lie down in green pastures; and leads me beside still waters;  The landscape traversed by the Hebrew people from which the Psalm emerged is diverse—from rocky desert to mountain to seacoast. And there are lovely broad valleys and places where green spreads out like a blanket. The good shepherd knows the terrain, knows when and where we need to be guided from one place to another—and chooses to bring us to green pastures and still waters. Rabbi Harold Kushner begins his reflection on verse two by telling an amusing story of a boy who asks his father why the sky is blue and the grass is green. Of course there are those in this congregation who could answer the boy's questions quite precisely from a scientific perspective. But even if we don't know those answers, Kushner goes on to suggest a fairly simple answer from a theological point of view, namely, the reason the sky is blue and the grass is green is because God made a world God knew we needed… Not just a world that produces sustenance for our bodies, but a world that provides suitable habitats for different creatures, a world that gives comfort and delight.  But what do blue and green have to do with any of that? He spends a bit of time talking about how different colors evoke different emotional responses. “Remember that light is a form of energy. Light reaches our eyes in waves of different frequencies per second, creating different levels of intensity. For bright colors, red and yellow, the waves are longer and hit the eye with more strength, even as taller, longer ocean waves hit us more forcefully…Darker colors, the blues and greens, emit shorter waves and strike the eye more gently.” And then makes this observation, “God has colored [the] world in predominantly calming colors, blue sky, green leaves, blue-green water, brown trees, colors that calm rather than excite.” And for our siblings who don't see colors, there are other aspects of creation that are similarly delightful and calming…the feeling of a breeze or a warm body snuggled up to us, the sounds of birds, a purring cat, water flowing, the rustle of leaves, the smells of fresh cut grass, wet earth, flowers, wood smoke.  We know that the elements of our planet can be harsh and dangerous as well. But there's a reason people yearn to be outside in nature—any nature! I remember when I lived in New York City, after a long, cold winter, I took a walk on the first warmish, sunny day of spring and was astonished to see that Central Park's Sheep Meadow was literally covered with people. The Lord (or something!) had made them lie down in that green pasture—and you could barely see the green of the pasture for all the people! God made a world God knew we needed… And have you ever noticed that line in the Psalm, “[The Lord] makes me lie down…”? I think I've always thought of verse 2 as mostly about food and water, as a shepherd leading the sheep to pastures and streams for nourishment. But what I've come to appreciate is that it's not only that God has created a beautiful planet to nourish us with food, but also to help us rest, to find calm in what can be stormy waters of life. One translation of verse two reads, “You let me rest in fields of green grass. You lead me to streams of peaceful water.” (CEV) Many poets and other writers have the created world as their primary inspiration and study. One of those is Wendell Berry, farmer, poet, philosopher, prophet. Berry writes these words in his poem “The Peace of Wild Things”: When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free. God has given us this beautiful creation, not only as a source of food, as raw materials to consume and manipulate, but as a doorway into rest, delight, grace, and peace. // Several things converge around this Sunday when it just so happened that these lines fell open for our reflection… October 4th is the traditional Feast Day of St. Francis, who is known for love of all creation and creatures, climate and environmental justice legislation is a centerpiece of current debates in congress, and preparations are underway for a UN Climate Change Conference happening in Glasgow the first couple of weeks of November. Some fail to see any connection between Christian faith and the climate crisis. I remember back in 2015 Pope Francis was catching all kinds of grief for his “green agenda.” Some of those opposed to the Pope's environmental justice advocacy believe “that climate change is being overhyped or that human activity is not a factor and that remedies may do more harm than good…Others simply believe that Francis…should not [weigh] in on issues that touch on technical and scientific matters that some contend are still debatable.” Of course the fiercest debates around environmental issues often come to a head when there is a lot of money to be made and/or the promise of jobs. I have had conversations with close family members (remember I come from Oklahoma and Texas, after all) who argue that careful engineering and maintenance of things like off-shore drilling and fracking are not necessarily bad for the planet, but rather it is only when companies try to do things on the cheap or without care that harm is done. My goal is to keep an open mind and to try to see things from a variety of perspectives. I know that my family members (and others like them) want to care for creation even as they advocate for practices such as those mentioned. But when we add up those things together with mountaintop removal coal mining, deforestation, polluted groundwater, loss of wetlands, greenhouse gas production, paving everything in sight, and Lord knows what else, I can't help but think that we are, collectively, being driven first and foremost not by a balanced sense of forward looking stewardship of both human and environmental needs, but by the short-term money to be made from coal, development, oil, agribusiness, and more.   There are folks here today who have a much more nuanced and complete understanding of the environmental, economic, social, and political issues involved in all of this than I do. But I simply want to remind us of a very simple truth. Regardless of your views about particular practices, our Judeo-Christian faith specifically calls us to a deep and intentional connection with all of creation. In his focus on environmental stewardship, Pope Francis is not, as one particularly mean-spirited writer suggests, being “an ideologue and a meddlesome egoist”; he is being a Christian. Christians are not only called to be caretakers of the world, its earth, air, water, and creatures, but we are also reminded that we are, ourselves, part of the creation. God has created a beautiful world to provide for all we need, body and soul and has given us as the human creature a place and role within the interconnected beauty and order of things. The Christian understanding is not different from the Native American wisdom reflected in the words of Chief Seattle: “Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.” The truth is that the human creature has harmed the web. God has given us green pastures and still waters, but as we have seen, droughts dry up the pastures; waters rise and overwhelm as a result of our lack of care. We cannot assume that green pastures and still waters will always be there. Last week, Foundry Board President Todd Mullins mentioned that environmental justice is part of our vision and agenda for 2022. It's not new—we have solar panels, a rainwater garden, we recycle, and have drastically reduced single use plastic and paper consumption, but we are committed to taking things to another level of sustainability through projects in our physical plant, consciousness raising for practices in our personal lives, and advocacy in the public square.  More green. Less noise. With God's help and our shared commitment and generosity, we'll do our part in mending, sustaining, sharing and enjoying the gifts of green pastures and still waters so that all might be nourished by the good gifts of creation, so that all may “rest in the grace of the world and [be] free.” https://foundryumc.org/archive

“Tell Me What You Really, Really Want” A sermon preached by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli with Foundry UMC, October 10, 2021, the twentieth Sunday after Pentecost. “Prepare the Table with Justice and Joy” series.    Texts: Psalm 23:1, Mark 10:17-31 A story is told of a minister who sat at the hospice bedside of a woman near death and, failing to find his own words, began to recite the 23rd Psalm, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…” The woman stirred and summoned the energy to whisper, “But pastor, I do want!” I imagine there are many for whom this will resonate. The woman in the story wanted to be made well, to get to experience more of the life and love and relationship that she would be leaving behind. Does Psalm 23 teach that we aren't supposed to want like that? What does “I shall not want” actually mean? Rabbi Harold Kushner's book on the 23rd Psalm entitled The Lord Is My Shepherd: Healing Wisdom of the Twenty-Third Psalm is one of my companions for our journey over the coming weeks. Rabbi Kushner points out that the familiar Elizabethan English used in the King James Version doesn't mean “I shall not desire anything.” Kushner says “the intent of the Hebrew is more accurately captured by more recent translations, with words like ‘I shall lack for nothing'…[or] ‘The Lord is my shepherd, what more do I need?' The issue of whether I desire things beyond that is beside the point.” Last week, I noted that the image of God as a good shepherd lives deep within the spiritual imagination of our religious ancestors. And the memory of God leading the Hebrew people out of slavery and providing manna in the wilderness folds into that image of a faithful, ever-present God who guides us through and provides for our needs. When you read the story of that wilderness time, you see that the people struggled to appreciate manna. They remembered all the food back in Egypt, the land of their captivity and, well, they wanted that. But the thing is, God led the people out of slavery and into freedom and made sure they had what they needed to survive. It is understandable to want spiced meat and vegetables and not a mystery substance likely scraped off a tree. They didn't get what they wanted but they did not want for sustenance.  Let's be clear: God is not a genie in a bottle; God is not an ATM; God does not exist to give us our way right away, but rather to guide us in God's way that is discovered in an unfolding kind of way over time. God doesn't just give us what we want, but works all day long to help us receive and share the good we need. Also, it is common and perfectly OK to get angry at God about the way things are—in our lives or in the world around us. We can have feelings about how creation is created, how humans have free will and choices, how everything experiences cycles of birth, growth, diminishment, and death. We can shake our fists at the heavens because of suffering and strife. We can cry out saying, “If the Lord is our good shepherd, why do we want for peace, for justice? Why do we want for an end to poverty, pandemics, and environmental degradation? Perhaps you've heard the one about a human who asks God, “Why do you allow poverty, suffering, and injustice when you could do something about it?” And God replies, “I was about to ask you the same question.” We can have feelings about what we have or how things are, but God has in fact given us all we need. We have been given this beautiful planet, created in ways that are intricately interconnected and interdependent. The planet, well-tended and respected, provides all we need to thrive. We have also been given one another—a wonderfully diverse human family—each one with unique talents, skills, gifts, and insight. We are made to live in community, to care for one another and to share with one another and, in so doing, assure that all have what they need. Perhaps it helps to think about it this way, when the Lord is our shepherd, we shall not want…  Because if we are being guided in God's way of life, we will be good stewards of the earth and grow healthy food that can feed hungry bodies instead of some other bottom line. When the Lord is our shepherd, we shall not want because we will understand that we are one human family, created to care, share, and provide for one another. We will both desire and choose in ways that assure ALL have what they need, that ALL have enough. Together, we can be the answer to prayer.  As I prepared these reflections for today, I received an email from the Poor People's Campaign that said: “As those with power and wealth continue to debate whether our nation has the resources to meet the needs of all of its people – with talk about debt ceilings and budget and infrastructure bills – we will continue to denounce the lie of scarcity amidst great abundance, and keep building our movement to end poverty once and for all.”  You will likely have encountered at some point along the way, the idea of a “scarcity mindset.” A scarcity mindset perceives there isn't enough time, money, or other resources for what is needed. It can be in response to a true lack of sufficient resources. Certainly there are those who do not have enough money or support to thrive. Others may have enough or more than enough but still maintain a scarcity mindset out of fear. “What ifs” can really do a number on us. What if I lose my job? What if someone in my family gets sick? What if, what if, what if can lead to fearful obsession with not having enough. In either case, the focus on the need to have more money or to protect our money affects our overall perspective and our literal brain function and, as a result, our choices and actions. In our Gospel text today, we encounter a rich man who was clear about what he wanted. He wanted to figure out how to inherit eternal life. The man is functioning within a market economy mindset: “What will it take to get this other thing that I want?” Jesus' response is to recite the last six commandments of the Big Ten. He doesn't name the first four—which have to do with our relationship with God—but rather, focuses on the last six, which are all about our relationship to our neighbor.  And Jesus edits one of the commandments—evidently just for the benefit of this man before him.  In verse 19 of our passage, instead of “you shall not covet” Jesus says, “you shall not defraud.”  The thing that made folks wealthy in Jesus' day was to own property, so we can assume that this rich man had lots of property. Folks gained more wealth by acquiring the land of debt-defaulting neighbors (foreclosures?); therefore, it is also reasonable to assume that those who had lots of property had gained that wealth at the expense of the poor. In fact, the Greek word for “defraud” literally means “to keep away from someone, to deprive, to take away what rightfully belongs to someone else.” To follow the commandment as Jesus presented it would mean that the man has to give back what doesn't really belong to him (Brueggemann's definition of justice)—that he would have to acknowledge that the goods of the earth are unequally distributed and then do something about it. Jesus calls the man to do just that, to let go of what he doesn't need, and to follow Jesus. The man refuses, the only time in Mark where someone refuses to respond to Jesus' call. This story not only impacts the life of the man who walked away from Jesus, it impacts the larger community as well. As one scholar writing about scarcity mindset says, “When we feel that money and goods are scarce, we start to think of our neighbors and fellow citizens as competitors rather than teammates united by our shared humanity. When we believe that the economy is zero-sum, we also come to believe that helping another person comes at our own expense. Helping our fellow humans escape poverty, debt, and misery becomes a disservice to the wealthy, rather than an expression of compassion and justice at the foundation of a society of equally free and valued people.” Scarcity mindset makes us believe there is not enough to go around. But that's simply not true. There is enough if we don't destroy or squander earth's resources. There is enough if we share what we have. There is NO REASON that children in this country or any of our siblings should be going hungry or not receiving healthcare or having access to clean water and secure housing. If we wanted to invest in solutions to care for the poor, the planet, and the common good as much as we want to focus on spaceships and weaponry (just two examples), the creative, innovative brilliance present all around us would figure out how to get things done and there would be enough money to make it happen.  If the Lord is our shepherd, we will want to do everything we can to assure that ALL have what they need, that ALL have enough, that ALL have a place at the table.  We can blame God for whatever…or allow ourselves to get caught in a scarcity mindset… or we can give thanks that God has given us one another, this beautiful world, and all sorts of ways to tend and mend, to care and to share. As we think about preparing a table here at Foundry that draws the circle wider and makes sure that all have enough, just think about the abundance that is among us and all around us. Some of the best tables I've ever experienced have been potlucks, when people all bring their best dishes to share. If each one of us simply contributes what we can, if each one of us brings out very best to the table, there's absolutely no reason we should struggle to exceed our goal and have the resources we need. As we continue to build relationships and partner with others in our city, we will find ways to assure that there are not two cities—one that has enough and another that doesn't—we will find ways to house our neighbors instead of evicting them from their tents—we will find ways to assure that all our neighbors' needs are met. The Lord is our shepherd, so let's not only really, really want to prepare a table that leaves no one wanting, let's do what it takes to get the job done.  https://foundryumc.org/archive

One of the many best selling books of Rabbi Harold Kushner is called "When Bad Things Happen to Good People" however most people often think it is called "Why Bad Things Happen to Good People". Yet there is no why or why not. Chaos is simply baked into the fabric of the universe. Chaos can be destructive but it can also be creative. Is the reason we come down with an illness or get dumped because we are sinners? Some stories in the Torah say yes - but others say no, chaos is just the natural state of affairs. Meditation Impromptu 02 by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.

“Humble, Strong, Sure” A reflection preached by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli with Foundry UMC, October 3, 2021, the nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost. “Prepare the Table with Justice and Joy” series. World Communion Sunday.   Texts: Psalm 23:1a, Mark 10:13-16 “The Lord is my shepherd.” These five words hold so much. Because the Lord, our shepherd, holds you and me and the whole world.  An image comes to mind from my travels to the Holy Land at the beginning of 2020. It is of a young Bedouin boy, his arms filled with just one sheep. As our group traveled around Israel and Palestine, it was powerful to see the Bedouin shepherds with their flocks on what looked like mostly dry, rocky hills. The images of the 23rd Psalm took on new meaning the more I observed the landscapes from which that Psalm emerged. Much of the terrain is dangerous, weather unpredictable, water and food sources hidden or scarce, predators always around. Shepherding can be dirty work, dangerous work, exhausting work, lonely work.  The ancestors of the Hebrew people were all nomadic, moving with their flocks to find sustenance, sometimes in the broad, green valley of places like the Galilee, and in times of drought, further afield. And that memory persists in the spiritual imagination of the tribes of Israel, the memory of the shepherd doing whatever was needed to tenderly care for and protect each little lamb. Our spiritual ancestors imagined God not as a king, but as a humble shepherd. Rabbi Harold Kushner writes, “To say ‘the Lord is my shepherd' is to say that we live in an unpredictable, often terrifying world…But despite it all, we can get up every morning to face that world because we know that there is Someone in that world who cares about us and tries to keep us safe.”  It is a primal thing, the yearning for someone to make us feel safe in a dangerous world and cared for in what can be an everyone's-too-busy-to-care, impersonal world. We humans try to get those needs met in all kinds of ways, some of them healthy and others, not so much. Even the best humans at some point along the way will hurt, disappoint, or not be present with us when we need them. But what we are offered in our faith tradition is assurance that the Lord, our shepherd, is present with us every single moment of every single day of our lives—and present with patience, compassion, mercy, and love, no matter what mess we may have made of things. The good shepherd is always with us trying to protect us and lead us to the things that nourish, sustain, and bless our lives. A good shepherd also seeks out those who are in dangerous places, the wounded ones, the ones who've been led astray. It doesn't matter how or why they are where they are, the shepherd still cares, will find them, and attend to their needs. Each and every sheep is cared for; all are loved and worthy to be scooped up and held. Jesus modeled this with the little children whom others would have ignored or excluded.  When we are safe and secure, we may forget. But when we find ourselves wounded or lost or being pushed aside or excluded, the promise is that God will remember us and draw near to help. We will be among those enfolded and held in the shepherd's humble, strong, sure arms. A day ago, I noticed that a colleague with whom I went to seminary, Rev. Otis Moss, III of Trinity UCC in Chicago, is starting a new sermon series entitled “I am Not Okay.” It struck me in a deep place as resonant with my own thoughts of late. A couple of weeks ago, in my midweek “Ponderings” on Facebook, I shared reminders about how our current experience of prolonged struggle of various kinds through the pandemics of 2020 and 2021 are taking a toll on every one of us. The stress and confusion and isolation is landing on our bodies and souls in some kind of way. And we may forget that how we feel or react in any given moment right now is likely affected by this larger reality. We may forget—because it's been going on so long—that human systems are not MADE to sustain these levels of uncertainty, danger, and trauma for such long periods of time. My message was a simple reminder that it's OK to not be OK and an encouragement to be gentle with ourselves. We need to remain aware of the context we're in and be mindful of how we're reacting to things. Because I don't think anyone is really OK right now; I don't think we're “fine.” The new series we begin today, is a journey through the 23rd Psalm. Every week through November 21st, the sermon will take a line from the Psalm as the focus for study and reflection. We will have opportunities to reflect on the ways God has brought us this far through these challenging years and to commit our support for what God will do in and through Foundry in 2022 to help us care for others as God has cared for us, to prepare the table for others as God has prepared the table for us. We begin with the simple, profound assurance that the Lord is our shepherd. We will discover as we journey together through our study of Psalm 23, that its primary message is not that we'll be free from the experience of pain or loss or difficulties in our lives. But rather that we will not have to experience anything in our lives alone. Because, as John Wesley affirmed in his dying breath, “Best of all, God is with us.”  The Psalmist wrote from a deeply personal place of relationship with God. But let's be very clear. This Lord is not just “my” shepherd or your shepherd or Christians' shepherd or Jews' shepherd. The Lord is our shepherd and the shepherd of all. God has the whole beautiful, broken world in God's hands. As we prepare to gather at the table God has prepared for us on this World Communion Sunday, I think about that Bedouin boy shepherd, arms full. I think about the Bedouin shepherds I observed, guiding their flocks through dangerous terrain to find sustenance, sometimes in unseen places. I imagine God as our shepherd, arms full with all the people in all the places all around the world gathered at the Communion table prepared by God. I think of all those who gather around different kinds of spiritual “tables.” I think about all who are suffering or lost, those whose suffering is hidden to others, those whom others ignore or devalue…I think of all these who are watched over and sought out by the Lord, our shepherd, who is determined that not one should be lost, that none will be excluded from the compassion, love, care, and grace of God.  As we draw near to the table God prepares for us, a table where we are nourished in forgiveness and in love, remember that at this table we are created and called to be the Body of Christ for the world, to follow in the way of the good shepherd who labors in love to tend for each and all. Today, I encourage you to really listen to the words of the Great Thanksgiving prayer. Let's gather at the table today, with all God's people everywhere, and truly give thanks for the bounty of love, mercy, and grace God has showered upon us all; let's give thanks for the encouragement and nourishment to keep going; let's give thanks for the grace to participate in God's work of love and justice and compassion; let's give thanks for the humble, strong, and sure presence of the Lord our shepherd.  https://foundryumc.org/archive/prepare-the-table-with-justice-and-joy

We are In the middle of yet another wave of Covid affecting North America, Europe and the world, and it is clear that we are in for a challenging spring and it feels frustrating because, haven't we been here before?In today's episode, what do we when we feel disheartened? What tools can use to manage the hardship and pain we are experiencing?Let's walk!"I am a more sensitive person, a more effective pastor, a more sympathetic counselor because of Aaron's life and death than I would ever have been without it. And I would give up all of those gains in a second if I could have my son back. If I could choose, I would forgo all of the spiritual growth and depth which has come my way because of our experiences. . . . But I cannot choose."Rabbi Harold Kushner"In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning."Viktor Frankl"Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out."Vaclav HavelTo Register for our Facebook Live Event, join our Facebook Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thelast8projectInterested in finding out what your biggest mistake is when you face a Last 8% situation?To take our assessment go to: http://last8percent.com/quizYou can register for our next Last 8% Academy at: https://last8percent.com/

Dan had the opportunity to study under some of the greatest teachers/writers/critics of the 20th century, including Lionel Trilling and Mark Van Doren. Rabbi Harold Kushner was also there. He also lived in New York at the height of the popularity of Freudian analysis. In this episode, he talks about the people he knew at Columbia, his work with C. Wright Mills, how analysis almost killed him, and about the importance of pure will in a writer's life and work.

This morning as I was making coffee, I thought of the instant coffee theory of life that's put forward by Rabbi Harold Kushner. And with the instant coffee theory of life, you open a new jar of instant coffee and you dole out generous heaping spoon fulls because, well, you have a whole jar of it, but then by the time you start getting towards the bottom of the jar, you realize that that you don't have that much coffee left, and so you carefully go after every grain of coffee in the jar. And Rabbi Kushner says that that's a lot like we tend to treat the days of our lives that when we're young, we're usually not so mindful of our days, how much time we have left, but as we get older, we treat our days, at least we ought to treat our days a little more carefully. Making coffee this morning and the instant coffee theory of life takes me to a little prayer that I like to pray. -------- Download a transcript for the May 25, 2021, Selah episode **This transcript was generated by artificial intelligence and may not be 100% accurate.

We looked at Rabbi Harold Kushner's explanation of why God allows bad things to happen to a seemingly “Righteous” man, JOB- We will look at his conclusions about human suffering using the book of Job and Kushner's conclusions.

We looked at Rabbi Harold Kushner's explanation of why God allows bad things to happen to a seemingly “Righteous” man, JOB- We will look at his conclusions about human suffering using the book of Job and Kushner's conclusions.

We are In the middle of yet another wave of Covid affecting North America, Europe and the world, and it is clear that we are in for a challenging spring and it feels frustrating because, haven’t we been here before?In today’s episode, what do we when we feel disheartened? What tools can use to manage the hardship and pain we are experiencing?Let's walk!"I am a more sensitive person, a more effective pastor, a more sympathetic counselor because of Aaron’s life and death than I would ever have been without it. And I would give up all of those gains in a second if I could have my son back. If I could choose, I would forgo all of the spiritual growth and depth which has come my way because of our experiences. . . . But I cannot choose."Rabbi Harold Kushner"In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning."Viktor Frankl"Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out."Vaclav Havel

Welcome to the final day of the gratefulness challenge. We've been looking into how being more grateful can help us in many different ways, as well as the wonderful effects this positive attitude has on the people we come into contact with every day. I understand the difficult year we've had, and I've found myself dealing with the feeling of sadness, so to help myself and others in the process, I want to continue looking at how we can focus on subjects like; thankfulness, joy and gratitude to recalibrate our lives, and live again with joy in our lives. Today we're going to be talking about the power of always being able to find something to be grateful for. It may seem like a cliché phrase, but there truly is always a silver lining to every situation. In other words, in every situation, there is something to be grateful for. Yes, even the hard, challenging situations. We can intentionally cultivate thankfulness for life's challenging situations too. Always be on the lookout for good things that are coming into your life. And when you notice these things, you give thanks for them. The ability to be grateful for things even in the midst of difficult situations is what sets apart the most grateful people from everyone else. And the truth is, when you're constantly looking for the good in every situation, it completely changes how you experience each situation. Suddenly, everything is not doom and gloom, but everything simply seems a lot brighter, we become more optimistic about the future. We're able to see that, even in the midst of difficulty, there is real good. If you want to grow into a truly, overwhelmingly grateful person, this is the last skill you must master. You must learn the fine art of seeing good things in every situation you encounter. Rabbi Harold Kushner said: If you concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul. Think about a difficult situation you're currently experiencing. Now, sit down with your journal or a piece of paper and answer all the following questions regarding that situation: ● What valuable lesson can I learn from this situation? ● What good thing can come out of this challenge? ● How can this difficulty actually make me a better person? ● In five years, how will I look back on this situation? Don't gloss over this. Reflect deeply on each question. I think you'll find that the more time you give to answering each question, the more you'll find your heart welling up with gratitude. You'll also begin to see that in every situation, there is something good you can take from it! Now repeat this process for another difficult situation you're facing. How does walking through these questions change your perspective on the entire situation? If you find you're having difficulty remembering to notice the things that stir your inner thankfulness, perhaps starting a gratitude journal would help. A journal is a tangible visual aid that will trigger you to think about what you're grateful for. Now briefly in your journal, make comments. Was it hard for you to find good in the midst of your difficulties? What is one good thing you were able to take from your most difficult situation? If you'd like a free digital copy of my “Happiness Journal” that I've created to help us, as we go through this subject, you can get your copy here. Roy Clayton Uberhappylife.com

Sermon ManuscriptWhen Bad Things Happen to Good People That is the title of Rabbi Harold Kushner's 1981 book. For multiple weeks it stood on top of the New York Times best seller list and is still popular today. In it, Kusher attempts to ask and answers the question, how should we respond when bad things happen?But Kushner doesn't acknowledge that God is sovereign. Rather, he says this, “I believe in God. But… I recognize his limitations. He is limited in what He can do… by the evolution of human nature and human moral freedom.” It's from that worldview, that Kushner comes to this conclusion: “…the bad things that happen to us in our lives do not have a meaning when they happen to us. . . . But we can redeem these tragedies from senselessness by imposing meaning on them.” In other words, he wants us to assign some sort of meaning. According to him, bad things are meaningless and God can't do anything about them. Because of these views, Kusher doesn't believe that prayer is effective when we pray for help. To him, God is unable to intervene.Well, asking “how should we respond when bad things happen?” is an important question. In fact, these verses, Acts 4:23-31, address that question. However, the Scripture here gives a very different answer than Kushner's. A vastly different view of God's sovereignty, a different understanding of meaning and purpose, and a different approach to prayer. Maybe I should have titled my sermon “When Bad Things Happen to God's People.”The specific focus of these verses is how the apostles and believers responded to opposition… to threats, to rejection, and to being imprisoned. These verses obviously have direct application for us… when our faith is attacked. But as I was studying this week, I realized that the example and the principles here apply to more than just opposition… they also apply to other bad things. So as we go through this text… yes, we can, as a church, be prepared for persecution, but we can also be prepared for other evil and sufferingAs a background and reminder… these verses conclude what had happened over the last 2 days in the life of the early church. • Remember, God through the disciples healed a disabled man at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. • Then the apostle Peter responded to this amazing miracle. He preached that the resurrected Jesus healed him. He also declared very clearly the power and person of Christ. • Well, no surprise, some of the very people who arrested Jesus didn't like what Peter was saying. So they also arrested Peter and the apostle John. • After a night in jail, they were questioned. Peter gave another powerful defense of Jesus – that he is the only savior. • Next, the religious leaders had no choice but to release them. But when they did, they threatened Peter and John, commanding them not to speak about Jesus again. • And finally, Peter and John wouldn't have it. They responded with a bold convicting response “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”Now, while the imprisonment and trial were going on…. The other disciples and followers didn't know what was happening. So it makes sense… as soon as Peter and John were released, they went right to them. And they shared everything that happened, everything that was said.Now, think for a minute… how could they all have responded? Or how would you have responded?I've been thinking about that question. These verses are convicting. I think my initial reactions would have been very far from how they responded. First, I think I would have been afraid. Fearful of the threats. Afraid at what could happen. Further persecution. But nowhere in these verses do we sense any fear. In fact, the opposite. The Holy Spirit stirred up in them boldness. A firm resolve for the word and prayer. My second response probably would have been anger. Maybe I'd call it “righteous anger” so I could somehow justify it in my mind. We do that, don't we. But notice what's absent. They don't express resentment… and nowhere in here do they even ask God to punish the chief priests or elders.So, then, how do they respond? Well, several ways… and we'll get to those in a moment.But underlying all of it… is a recognition of God's sovereignty. I would say, each part of their response directly or indirectly points to God's sovereignty. We see that right there as they pray: “Sovereign Lord, who made the heavens and the earth.” That Greek word for “sovereign” in verse 24 is not often used in the New Testament. It means absolute authority. And besides their initial recognition of God's authority, they quote Psalm 2 as part of their prayer. Well, Psalm 2 focuses on God's sovereignty. Then in verse 28, they acknowledge that God ordained in his plan, all that he predestined. Verse 30, it's the Lord's hand who healed and performed signs. Even our last verse… as the earth shook, it testified to God's control over the whole created order.Do you see that underlying theme? God's dominion, His authority, His power and will overseeing and planning everything that happens. This is not Rabbi Kushner's God, limited and impotent, unable to enter in to his very creation.No, the God of the Bible, your God, is the creator and sustainer of all things. He's not bound by time or space… nor is he figuring out what's happening in order to respond to it. No, He is…• Eternal, always existing… from everlasting to everlasting, he is God Psalm 90. He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end Revelation 1.• He is infinite beyond all measure… The heaven of heavens cannot contain him… 1 Kings 8 How unsearchable are his judgments and ways… from him and through him and to him are all things. Romans 11.• He's the I AM. Exodus 3 The only being whose existence is in himself. He is and was. Revelation 11 He's the eternal king, immortal, invisible, the only wise God. 1 Timothy 1. He knows all things and nothing is hidden from his sight Hebrews 4• He laid the foundations of the earth, the springs of the deep, and caused the dawn to know it's place Job 38. • By the very word of his power, he created all things, Genesis 1. All the starry and heavenly host, he created and calls them each by name Isaiah 40 The worlds were framed by his word Hebrews 11• And all of his plans have happened, do happen, and will happen – Nothing happens by chance… Our God does all that he pleases, Psalm 115. He can do all things, no purpose of his can be thwarted Job 42 All his plans and purposes come to pass Isaiah 14. He's determined all, provides for all, the one who gives all human life, makes poor and rich, brings low and exalts 1 Samuel 2. He foreordains everything that comes to pass, Ephesians 1 and Isaiah 14• In his sovereign authority he is king of kings and lord of lords… the great and awesome God, Deuteronomy 10. All things are possible with God Matthew 19. None of the inhabitants of the earth can stay his hand Daniel 4. His work and judgments are perfect Deuteronomy 32• As we read earlier in the service, He is robed in majesty, puts on strength as his belt, mightier than the thunders of many waters, trustworthy and holy, Psalm 93.• His truth endures forever Psalm 117 He is abundant in goodness and truth Exodus 34.• He is perfectly holy 1 Peter 1. He is perfectly pure and in him is no sin. 1 John 3.• He knows you, discerns your thoughts, formed your inward parts in your mother's womb Psalm 139. He searches all hearts, and understands every plan and thought. 1 Chronicles 28.Beloved, this is your infinite, eternal and unchangeable God in all of his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.And whatever comes to pass in your life, no matter how hard or painful, your God is sovereign over it, he is working in it; and he has a purpose for it… God's Sovereignty is a great comfort to believers in Christ. Nonetheless, as you know, there are aspects of it that are hard for us to understand. Like how it fits with human responsibility, and the presence of evil. Both also taught in Scripture. While these aren't the focus of Acts 4, what we can be sure… is that God is over all and in all. We can believe that and we can go to him in prayer because of that.That's where the apostles and other followers of Jesus began… believing in and acknowledging God's sovereignty over all things. So, with God's sovereignty in mind, let's now consider their response… so that we may respond with the same trust and confidence as they did.The first thing they do is they pray! Now, they were probably praying the whole time that Peter and John were on trial. But now with everyone together…. they all prayed, and it says they prayed together. Their hearts and minds were aligned with the same understanding of God's sovereign role in all this.In whatever situation, but especially opposition to your faith in Christ… pray. Pray to your Sovereign Lord over all of life and creation. Look again at this prayer. 75% of this prayer is acknowledging who God is and his Word. Their focus on God starts in verse 24… but it continues on in verse 25 and 26 and 27 and 28… and then finally in verses 29 and 30, they pray for their need.Here's the first principle in these verse: See God as sovereign over all things and pray to the sovereign God over all things.When you are faced with opposition to your faith… or really, faced with any bad things… see God as sovereign. Acknowledge him as sovereign… praying to him, the sovereign God.It so easy in prayer to jump right to our requests, our needs. We do that all the time. And God wants to hear them, but the overwhelming pattern of prayer in the Bible is to begin by exalting God, acknowledging His character and Salvation and Authority. Just like this prayer. Just like the Lord's prayer. That prayer begins with a recognition of who God is. Our father in heaven…. And then a declaration of his glory… hallowed be thy name. Another great example of prayer in the Bible is 1 Chronicles 29, a prayer of Kind David… He begins in a similar way “Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours.”See God as sovereign over all things and pray to the sovereign God over all things.Imagine if you were really concerned about some families in your hometown. And you wanted to help them. So you came up with this ministry idea. Well, the mayor of the town loved you idea. He told the county officials… they thought it was great and could help so many families. The governor of the state, thought so, too… and what if the idea went all the way to the President of the United States? And he wanted to meet with you in person.So you go to the white house and you enter the oval office where the president works. And there he is. Would you begin by saying “here's my idea, and I need this and this and this to make it work.” No, you'd probably begin by saying, “Mr. President, what an honor to meet you and to be here. Thank you for leading our country and all you do. Thank you for inviting me here and being willing to listen.”He'd probably say, “you're a great American. Really, you are… there's no one greater.”It's not a perfect analogy, but when we come into the presence of our sovereign God in prayer, we should acknowledge his sovereignty and glory and majesty, knowing and believing that he is over all things.Ok, A second thing to notice here… is they also prayed the Scriptures back to God. Verses 25 and 26 quote Psalm 2. Psalm 2 directly related to what they had experienced. It asks what they were asking. Why do the gentiles and kings and rulers rage? Why are they against the Lord and his anointed? Only the first couple verses are quoted here… but Psalm 2 continues with a clear response from God. In fact, God in his sovereignty laughs at them! The kings and the rulers. That's what it says. This is one of three Psalms where God is described as laughing in a mocking sort of way. God is saying that their arrogance in opposing him is laughable… because he is in control of all things. But then Psalm 2 gets serious. God warns the kings and rulers of their futility. He declares that his people will break them in pieces like a potters' vessel. With their outward threats and in their opposition to Jesus and the resurrection, they will ultimately be defeated… no matter what they try to do to Jesus followers.A clear pattern is emerging in Acts. You've probably noticed it. Going back to the Scriptures. Every chapter so far, every sermon, and prayer emphasized the Word of God.The principle is this: Seek the Scriptures, and pray to our sovereign God through them.When you are overwhelmed and don't know how to pray. Pray God's word back to him. Take, for example, the Lord's prayer in Matthew 6. And one phrase at a time, speak it to God… and then speak your words and situation to him. Or take a Psalm that relates to what you are going through… and one couplet at a time pray it and ask God for his grace and help. When the Psalmist recognizes God and his mercy and sovereignty, pray in your situation recognizing God and his mercy and sovereignty. Notice in Acts 4 verse 27… they applied Psalm 2 to their situation. The gentiles and kings and rulers against them. And immediately after, verse 28… they acknowledged God in his Sovereignty just as the Psalmist had done. Acknowledging God's plan in it all.Seek the Scriptures and pray to our sovereign God through them.It's then that they finally come to the Lord asking for help. That's after they had acknowledged God's sovereignty, and after they had prayed the Scriptures. They next prayed for boldness. Despite the threats, they prayed for strength to not back down. And if you look at the second half of verse 31, God answered their prayer. Through the Holy Spirit, they continued to speak the Word of God with all boldness.The principle is this. See and share the certainty of God's sovereign willWhen we more fully realize the eternal extent of God's sovereignty …God will give us confidence in the situations we face. Here's another quote from Rabbi Kushner. This one I actually agree with. He said, “We could bear nearly any pain or disappointment if we thought there was a reason behind it, a purpose, to it.” Now, he wants to manufacture a reason. But having a sovereign God with a sovereign plan. We have a certainty that whatever comes to pass, God has sovereignly predestined it. We have a reason for our hope and therefore confidence in God's will.The disciples prayed for bold confidence… knowing God's sovereignty. Because it's God work. His Holy Spirit doing the work, His will, and His Word. What they were really praying for was for God to deepen their confidence in his sovereignty. As they did, may we See and share the certainty of God's sovereign willAnd this whole prayer, this emphasis on God's sovereignty… it all centers on one thing. One fundamental focus from which everything radiates, one defining emphasis of Psalm 2, One pivotal thing in God's sovereignty from which the rest of God's sovereign plan works out.What is that one thing? Jesus. The person and work of Christ.The disciples and believers saw the opposition against them as opposition against Jesus. That's what their prayer focused on. Verse 26… quoting Psalm 2. The rulers of the earth set themselves again the Lord, and against his Anointed. The translators capitalized Anointed because it's referring to the messiah, to the Christ. That's what the word Christ means in the Greek. Anointed one. Verse 27 confirms that. And their prayer makes clear that the rulers were against Jesus. Herod and Pontius Pilate and the Gentiles… the Romans. God used them all to accomplish his plan and purpose. And the very center of that plan is the ministry of Christ on the cross and his subsequent resurrection.The principle is this: See the center of God's sovereign plan as salvation in Christ.God plan, everything about it, begins with, works toward, comes from, His plan of salvation in Christ. Redemption in Him. Before the foundation of the world, God set into motion this overarching plan. And everything that happens, including opposition and suffering, connects to this grand purpose which God predestined. Any faithful church will have opposition. But the underlying opposition is against Christ. 1 Corinthians 1 says “the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.” Those opposed to God and his church will in the end, as Psalm 2 says, meet their end. But at that time, His church will be victorious. And the victory will be in and through Christ. That's where our confidence and boldness come from. The promise of eternal victory in him.In any difficult situation… if you are a believer in Christ, God is working in and through your suffering and pain. Not that we always clearly see or understand what God is doing. But in Christ, as the center of everything that is happening… we can look to for our ultimate hope. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. That eternal hope gives us the courage and confidence in any situation.See the center of God's sovereign plan as salvation in Christ.In closing, when the apostles and believer finished praying, it says the place where they were gathered was shaken, and then, they were filled, it says, with the Spirit and the spoke with boldness. These signs confirming for them God's will and purpose.ConclusionWhen bad things happen to God's people… we should come to him, the sovereign God, on our knees. Praying his Word, acknowledging his purposes and authority, knowing the certainty of his will, that we may with boldness, declare the promises of Christ. Who is the center of God's sovereign and predestined plan.

www.kaiehnes.com EP21 – Our Dark Side…uggghhh Hello and Welcome to the Way of the Emotional Warrior Podcast. My name is Kai Ehnes and today we will be answering the question of…I thought I was a really good Person, why did I do that horrible deed? Have you ever thought the following while you were at your job: Its just a post-it note pack, they will never miss it. Or hey I could use a stapler at home, they charge enough money its ok. How about speeding on roads where you know the police don't patrol. These types of minor acts are still crimes…yes you are stealing from your employer. One thing is for certain, if they shorted your paycheck by even a single dollar you would be all over payroll to fix it. Why the ambiguity in morality? Quite often when we feel like we are being taken advantage of or we simply feel under, there is a small voice that that tells us we can even the playing field by things like taking a longer lunch, looking up stuff that's for personal use on company time, or simply slowing down our productivity. I mean seriously, who doesn't enjoy sticking it to the man! For our purposes, I would like to investigate what type of people are more prone to do these acts or worse. Numerous researchers in the field of psychology have studied the idea of why seemingly good citizens can do atrocious acts. Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote the book, When Bad things happened to good people. Various stories in the bible, like the story of Job, to Viktor Frankl and his book Man's search for meaning. These are just some of the examples of why seemingly normal and good people have to endure tragedy and suffering. Would these people be justified if they acted out atrocious acts on others, animals or the planet? If you look at their stories, they transformed their pain and suffering into successful and helpful lessons and theories. Kushner wrote the book, on his take on God's role in life and the tragedy of his son's illness, to create a platform for how to deal with tragedy and loss. How many people have learned from the story of Job…countless and Viktor Frankl, I remember when I read his book in college. The fact that he physically survived the concentration camps is absolutely remarkable but then to create a new discipline in psychology called logotherapy whereby through a search for meaning and purpose in life people can develop ways to deal with tragedy and hardship, well I believe that qualifies him and the others as Emotional Warriors. So what does this have to do with our dark side. The classic experiment was carried out by Stanley Milgram in 1963 whereby he studied Obedience to authority. It aimed to test the level of naive subjects' obedience to authority. The subjects were told that the experiment tested the potency of punishment in improving learning capabilities, and were asked to administer electrical shocks to a “learner” (an accomplice of the experimenter). The subject did not know the shocks were false; measures were taken to convince the subject that the shocks were real. The “learner” was given some pairs of words. Then he was told one word from one of the pairs, and four more words. The “learner” had to choose the word that came in a pair with the first word, and press a respective button, which turned on a respective light that the participant could see. The subject did not see or hear the learner. If the answer was wrong, the subject was to apply an electric shock to the “learner” and continue. Each time the subject had to increase the voltage of the shock by 15 V. The voltage of electric shocks ranged from 15 V to 450 V, and there were 30 switches. When the participant paused or stopped, four standardized phrases were used to tell them to go on. If, after being told all the phrases, the subject refused to administer more shocks, they were considered as one who defied the experiment. The others, who carried on and administered the highest shock (450 V), were... Support this podcast

Where Is God In Suffering and Death? A sermon preached by Rev. Ginger Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry UMC March 29, 2020, fifth Sunday of Lent. “How Can You Believe This?” series. Text: John 11:1-45 Today’s Gospel is about a funeral, something we all know something about.  A beloved brother and friend has died and the family and community has gathered for the rituals of grief…in the midst of the casseroles and crying and storytelling and remembering, there hangs the question that so often lurks at funerals—where was God?  Where is God? Both Martha and Mary give voice to this deeply human response to death:  “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  Those gathered also mutter under their breaths, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” Alongside these words, so often left unspoken, there are also words of hope and faith. At funerals we hear words of God’s loving presence, of hope in the life to come. And in our story Martha says:  “I know that Lazarus will rise again…” But Mary, unlike Martha, can’t muster any words.  She just cries. Suffering and death are THE human mystery, the place before which all our best efforts and all our striving reach their ultimate limit. It’s one of the most persistent questions begging for an answer: How can you believe your God is “loving” when that God allows suffering and death? Lord knows, I can’t tidy that up in a handful of words today, of all days… Right now, as ever, there are people grieving. There are those facing the end of their earthly life, there are people waiting and watching as loved ones travel the final stretch of their journey. We also know that in this present moment there are people experiencing PTSD. There are people fighting temptations to fall back into the bonds of addictions and other destructive ways of thinking and living. There are people who are sinking into depression, dissociation, and anxiety. There are folks walking on eggshells, just waiting for the stress and tension of lost wages and hunger or simply broken relationships to make their partner or parent snap into rage and violence. And all of this—and more—as a result of forced isolation and the layers of disruption and loss that mark these days. Where is God in all this? Our story today isn’t straightforward in addressing the question. At the beginning, we learn that Jesus knew his friend Lazarus was gravely ill but purposely stayed where he was for two more days, so that by the time he arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had been dead four days.  Tradition of the time taught that the soul lingered near the body for three days, after which there was no hope of life returning. Jesus waited to arrive until the fourth day, until things were truly hopeless, when the full impact of God’s power might be displayed. This feels not only frustrating, but cruel—like a confirmation that God is playing with us, messing with us, for God’s own self-glorification.  Last week, I reminded us that in John’s version of the Jesus story, there is a clear symbolic, theological frame for the whole book. Part of that frame is this: “What has come to being in [Jesus] is life, and the life is the light of all people.” (Jn 1:4) The writer of John is determined to help us understand that God desires that we experience life in all its fullness. John 3:16 says that God loved the world so much that Jesus came that we might have eternal life. And in John 10:10 Jesus is recorded as saying, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” A couple of weeks ago, we were led to living water at Jacob’s well. Last week we were led to liberating light that shines in the darkness. And today, our spiritual path leads us to a tomb where Jesus arrives late on purpose in order reveal the life-giving power of God’s compassion, mercy, and love. This extraordinary promise—not divine callousness or ego—is what the writer of John is trying to convey. In the story, the disciples remind us that Jesus’ return to Bethany puts both his life and theirs in danger. In our current context, I feel this on a whole new level. I’m mindful of so many who are putting their own lives in danger to be present in places where illness, suffering, and death are lurking everywhere. And yet they, with courage and purpose, keep stepping into those places to bring care, comfort, and healing. And Jesus does the same—even when those around him want him to stay at a distance. Jesus draws near and, upon seeing the deep grief of his beloved friend Mary and of those who mourn with her, Jesus reveals one of the most important things we will ever know about the heart of God.  Jesus wept. As Jesus cries, we learn that the God whom Jesus reveals shares our pain, weeps with us, and is deeply grieved by anything that threatens human wholeness and flourishing. But Jesus’ coming into this situation isn’t only to reveal the compassion of God for our human grief and suffering—though that’s certainly a word we need to hear.  If that were the only message from Jesus, it would mean that God ostensibly could remain far off, sad for us, but incapable of doing anything to affect human life. Jesus’ purpose was to reveal even more than the great compassion of God. Jesus comes into a place of death, a hopeless moment, the point of despair and deep grief and he speaks words of faith in the power of God’s love to call forth life that is full and free even in the midst of death.   If we pay attention to the story, we’ll see the many obstacles Jesus had to navigate to get there. There were those who—out of fear—tried to keep Jesus from showing up at all. There were all the emotions and reactions to the death of Lazarus that needed to be cared for before Jesus could get to the tomb. There was cynicism from some on the sidelines. There was the deterrent of physical discomfort that would ensue—things were going to smell. And then there was a stone in the way. And when he had gently worked his way through the obstacle course, Jesus speaks and Lazarus, alive, steps into the light to have the final obstacle to life removed: “Unbind him, and let him go.”  The Gospel writer is determined—as is Jesus in the story—to show that God will overcome every obstacle to bring liberating love and new life to us. And there are so many obstacles in our lives: fear, emotions, reactivity, cynicism, defense against discomfort, heavy things of all kinds that others have used to keep us trapped in places where we are not able to be fully alive, and the old clothes and uniforms that bind us to old identities and ways of being. There is the reality of suffering and death itself and all our reactions and defenses in the face of it all. My own struggle with all this has been ongoing. A kind of breakthrough happened years ago on retreat when God and I wrestled over the reality of suffering—my father’s long debilitating illness, loved ones’ deep pain, and the reality of suffering everywhere. On a morning walk, I saw a baby rabbit, alone, out in the open, and nibbling on tender grasses still slightly dewy from the night. It didn’t run away at the sight of me. // Baby animals are one of my most favorite things. But it wasn’t delight I felt at the sight, but panic. I regularly saw hawks circling and swooping in those fields. I was so aware of the bunny’s vulnerability. And I started to cry. Why did God make a world like this, a world where this precious baby rabbit could so easily become food?  That year, in the monastery bookstore, the volume that fell into my hands is the classic text written by Rabbi Harold Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to Good People. There’s a reason the book is a classic. The thing I have remembered most clearly is this: “Is there an answer to the question of why bad things happen to good people?...The response would be…to forgive the world for not being perfect, to forgive God for not making a better world…” Imagine that. Imagine forgiving God for allowing suffering, for making a vulnerable creation, for trusting human creatures so much when we’re so likely to screw things up. For me, this was a revelation and a gift. It helps me remember that I get to have my feelings and my griefs about the way things are, that I am in a relationship with God and that God can take responsibility for God’s own stuff, and that, if I’m willing to forgive God, I might receive liberation from my anger and my despair—both of which keep me stuck in the question “why” instead of being free to move forward and experience the fullness of life. Kushner says that having forgiven God, we can “reach out to the people around us, and to go on living despite it all…no longer asking why something happened, but asking how we will respond, what we intend to do now that it has happened.”  What I discovered is that acknowledging how sad and angry I felt—about my dad, the bunny, the world—all eventually brought me around to realize that it’s only because there is so much beauty and possibility in life that its vulnerability is so upsetting. That is to say, it may be a broken world, but it’s a beautiful world and this beautiful world and the life we have is all pure grace. And though we may never fully come to terms with the mystery of suffering and death, we can come to terms with how we will respond to it. We can have all the feelings, we can be angry at God, and we can forgive God. We can acknowledge the obstacles that get in the way of stepping out of stuckness and into a life that is more free. If we don’t, we can live our whole lives bound and in the dark, allowing blame, resentment, and the specter of death to keep us fearful and defensive. In the midst of this moment of suffering and death, how will you respond?  Whatever feelings and thoughts you’re having today, the Gospel teaches us that God can take it… and that, even though Jesus wasn’t there when and how others wanted, even though Lazarus died, God was there and ready to bring about a miracle of life restored. God was there. God is here. Jesus shows us that God will let nothing stand in the way of drawing near, to love us into life, to liberate us into love for others, to hold us gently even when all we can do is cry.  Responding the Word:  Earlier in our worship service you were invited to find an object which represented an obstacle in your life which kept you from stepping into the fullness of God’s love through Jesus Christ, much like the stone placed in front of Lazarus’ tomb kept him bound in death. Today, we’ve heard again of the power and promise of Christ’s love, which meets us in the midst of grief, fear, anxiety and heartbreak, offers us compassion and care, and through grace liberates us from their power over us so that we may step into new life.  I invite you now to take the object that you’ve found. Hold it in your hand for a moment. Think about the power that obstacle, whatever it is has over you. How does it define your relationships with other people? How does it constrain the way you share God’s love and grace with the world? Now, I invite you to place that object within the worshipful space you’ve created in your homes. And, as you do, release it to God who is even now at work so that you might step past it and into new life.  Let us pray… https://foundryumc.org/

Rabbi Harold Kushner became a household name after he published his bestselling book Why Bad Things Happen to Good People. His signature blend of hard-earned wisdom, compassion and straight-talk have made him one of Tapestry’s most requested guests. In this episode, Kushner offers thoughtful, practical advice for dealing with disappointment and managing fear.

Lunch and Learn at Temple Israel Rabbi Howard Siegel, Senior Interim Rabbi, inherited the lunch and learn series and has made it his own by exploring the writings of Rabbi Harold Kushner every second Thursday of the month at 11am since September.  He also discusses his role as Interim Rabbi and the introduction of an original program even though he is only here for a year or two.   https://www.templeisraelnc.org/event/lunch-n-learn--meet-eat-discover-4.html https://www.charlottejcc.org/events/2020/02/09/events/tu-bishvat-plant-a-fig-tree/ https://jewishcharlotte.org/community-calendar/tubshvat-hebrew-cemetery-tree-planting-1563384174

In 1981, Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote a book that would go on to be a "Best-Seller". It was called, "When Bad Things Happen to Good People." In his book, Rabbi Kushner debilitates God by reasoning that God does not cause bad things - afflictions - but is, as well, powerless to prevent them. Regardless of the theology of the book, it sparked a debate and conversation regarding the role of affliction in the life of the "righteous." Sadly, the terms "righteous" and "good people" are often defined from one's own perspective and not from God's. Yet, the premise of the question remains, why do afflictions arise "to those who love God and are the called according to His purpose"? (Romans 8:28) In Paul's second epistle to the believers in Corinth, he specifically addresses this topic citing examples from his own life and that of the church of Corinth. Today, as we begin our study of Paul's second epistle, we consider Paul's thesis statement regarding the purpose of affliction, and the subsequent encouragement from God, to the Corinthian believers. This message was presented on January 12, 2020 by Bob Corbin.

As parents, we try to do everything that we can to protect our children from suffering. We try to alleviate their pain whether it is physical or emotional. So if God is our all-powerful and all-loving Father, then why doesn’t He do the same with His children? Several years ago, Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote a bestselling book called, “When Bad Things Happen to Good People.”  Kushner proposed that God cannot be both all-powerful and all-loving.  Because if He is both, a loving God would certainly do something about our suffering.  Because it was more comforting to him personally, Kushner chose to believe that God is all-loving so He can’t be all-powerful. He believes that God just can’t do anything about our suffering. In contrast to Kushner’s popular view, in Romans chapter 8 we learn that our suffering in this world is not at odds at all with God’s love for us as His children.   For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Romans 8:18

Today’s show starts in an unusual place. With a question: why do bad things happen to good people? The writers of the Bible were probably the first to try to answer that question on paper – in the story of Job. In 1981, Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote a best-selling book about the question. He called it, not surprisingly, “When Bad Things Happen to Good People.” Others have followed. In 2003, I wrote my own play on the subject. My conclusion was probably much the same as others. We don’t—and we can’t—know why these things happen. But an equally important question for all of us is what do we do AFTER bad things happen? What do we do NEXT? Today’s guest, Nation Hahn, faced down the worst kind of tragedy. In today’s episode, he talks about how he is getting through that pain, and finding hope for our state’s future. Nation Hahn is the Board President and Co-Founder of the Jamie Kirk Hahn Foundation, the Chief Growth Officer for EdNC.org, and Digital Director for Blueprint for Athletes. This installment of First in Future is part of a special TV series produced in collaboration with UNC-TV, and recorded in UNC-TV’s Legislative Studio in downtown Raleigh. Taped segments will air on the North Carolina Channel. Visit www.ncchannel.org/schedule/ for specific air dates.

Ever have one of those days where you just have to believe you'd been better off if you had just kept your head underneath the pillow? Sure you have, we all have. Life is full of cycles of ups and downs - you just have to know that when the down cycle has you down for an extended period of time - you have to dig down even more for that SUPER PEOPLE STRENGTH. Even worse... let's say you're in one of those moments and your dear friend Sally or Jack comes along and repeats the words “Well, everything happens for a reason!” or “You’ll just have to find the blessing in this.” Some of us might like to believe that things do have a reason for occurring, especially when the incident has caused us actual loss or psychological distress. Yet there may actually be no existential rhyme or deeper reason behind a specific event, beyond any logical or fact-based explanations. Accidents might happen because people are careless or because of miscommunication, just to name a few person-specific causes. Other causes might be due to machine error, poor planning, unexpected changes in the weather, and so on. Asserting that a bad thing happened to a good person because a life lesson needed to be learned does not seem fair to the “student” or the “teacher.” Not Every Setback in Life has a Divine Purpose Several decades ago, Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote a book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, in which he explored the desire to comprehend the meaning of these types of events. Unfortunately, there is really no easy way to make sense of the “why,” but that does not preclude an individual’s efforts to find a “purpose” or “meaning” of an event in his life. After surviving imprisonment in a German concentration camp, Victor Frankl went on to write the bestselling book Man’s Search for Meaning. He noted that people can generally stand any “how” they encounter in life, if they can just determine the “why.” Believing that the misery we experience is a part of the process necessary to reach a goal can provide us with the strength necessary to keep moving forward. Frankl believed that individuals who gave up on their future were likely to die before freedom arrived. They were giving up the fight as if they had lost their reason to live. Today we will focus on turning that misery into hope, along with actionable steps you can take in your own life to thrive - when it seems at the moment you're lucky to survive. There is always HOPE my friends. Just make sure that you're not at the airport if your ship does arrive in port.... :) I'm wishing you the grandest of years with much success and happiness!

More than 30 years ago, Rabbi Harold Kushner penned a book entitled "When Bad Things Happen to Good People." I want to speak about the why. Keep in mind: bad is a subjective term. An arrest, an addiction to drugs or alcohol, a divorce - to the unevolved soul these can appear to be devastating life experiences. Yet for enlightened beings each is received as a life-altering blessing of the highest kind. So why do seemingly bad things enter our lives? There is a clear and specific purpose to each.This show is brought to you by Talk 4 Radio (http://www.talk4radio.com/) on the Talk 4 Media Network (http://www.talk4media.com/).

Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote a book titled, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, in which he told the tragic story of his young son's death from a debilitating disease. As a religious person, he wrestled with why God allowed such a thing to happen. He concluded one of two things must be true: Either God is all-loving, but not all-powerful (He wants to prevent disease but can't) or God is all-powerful, but not all-loving ( He is able to prevent disease but won't). The conclusion the rabbi came to was the first of the two options: God is loving but not omnipotent. God cares about us, but has decided to let the world run on its own without intervention from Him. God is not sovereign or all powerful; He keeps his distance from the everyday affairs of this world. Solomon would not agree with Rabbi Kushner's conclusions. He believed that God was sovereign over all of time and history and that nothing happens outside of his purpose including suffering. This week at the Church at Chelsea-Westover, we will look at what Solomon says about life. Solomon offers impressions about life, insights about God, and instructions about living which touch the issues of pain and suffering in this life. We will see how we can live a victorious life in the midst of the pain and suffering we sometimes experience. We must remember the words of Paul. We know all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose (Rom.8:28)

Hear a talk by one of our most trusted spiritual advisors, Rabbi Harold Kushner, about his latest book, The Book of Job: When Bad Things Happen to a Good Person. Rabbi Kushner is the author of 13 books including the bestselling, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, and When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough, and has been chosen by the Roman Catholic Organization as one of 50 people who have made the world a better place in the past half century.

Rabbi Harold Kushner is the author of "Living A Life That Matters". The books deals with the human conflict of balancing a quest for material success with a quest to become a better person. The release of this book coincides with the twentieth anniversary of his highly regarded book "When Bad Things Happen to Good People". (Originally aired May 2002)

Rabbi Harold Kushner is the author of "Living A Life That Matters". The books deals with the human conflict of balancing a quest for material success with a quest to become a better person. The release of this book coincides with the twentieth anniversary of his highly regarded book "When Bad Things Happen to Good People". (Originally aired May 2002)

In this episode of Hope, Healing, and WellBeing, host Mary Treacy O’Keefe interviews  Rabbi Harold Kushner author of the international bestsellers When Bad Things Happen to Good People and Living a Life that Matters.  Rabbi Kushner describes how integrity, gratitude, our relationships with each other and with God help us live more significant and meaningful […] The post Hope, Healing and WellBeing – Living a Life That Matters with Rabbi Harold Kushner appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

I. A God Who Speaks (verses 1-2) It is with a great deal of excitement that I begin this series of studies on Isaiah, the prophet. I love history. My favorite time in history is the Age of Discovery, when Columbus discovered that tiny island that he thought was near the Indies, and called it San Salvador. I would love to have stood there on the deck October 12th, 1492, and just peered there, knowing what I know today, and say, "You know what that is? That's not India, that's the New World. It's a world to be discovered." Or to be with Lewis and Clark when they were discovering North America and all that it held. It was just a vast emptiness in the minds of most people who lived in the United States at that point. Just to be with them when they saw the snow-capped Rockies for the first time, as they drank it in and realized what a jewel the North American continent was and is. Just to be able to feed from it. So for me, I feel that same sense of excitement and discovery, to get to preach and to proclaim the truths that flow from this most visionary of books. Look how it begins in Verse 1: “The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw.” It is a visionary book. Images pop in your mind when you hear any text of Isaiah read. There are images that pop in your mind. But look at the very next verse, that verse that's been in front you, I think, much of the morning. Verse 2: "Hear, O heavens, listen O earth, for the Lord has spoken." Therefore, it is a vision that fills your soul when you listen to the Word that God has spoken. And I think it is vital in this case that it is past tense. We are listening to a Word that God has already spoken. Therefore it brings us to the written testimony of the prophets, it brings us to the Scripture. We are hearing a word He has already spoken. Now I believe, from Hebrews 3, He is going to speak it again, now, by the Spirit. I am praying for it. But it is a Word He has already spoken, and it is written down for us, the Word of God written. And in this way we will have visions of God, visions of His glory, visions of the new heaven and the new earth declared plainly in Isaiah 65. Most of all, visions of Christ, the Redeemer, dead on the cross, raised from the dead on the third day. Visions of Christ, our salvation. That is what is going to fill your mind by faith. But it all starts with you listening. So listen! Calm your hearts now. Put aside all of the concerns. Don't be like Martha, running around, getting ready, making it the best day ever for Jesus, when what she needed to do was to sit at Jesus' feet and listen to Him speak. You have plenty of time through the week to bustle around and do all that busyness. Now what you need to do is just calm your hearts and listen to the Word of God. And so it begins with a God who speaks. A River of Words but a Seemingly Silent God We live in a culture that is just a river of words. They estimate that the average person speaks between 10,000 and 16,000 words a day. That is a lot of words. And there are six billion people on this planet speaking those words. We are looking at sixty trillion human words pouring forth every day. With the miracles of modern science, you can listen to a good percentage of them through podcasts and through CNN and through the internet. You can just fill your mind with a river of human words. That is not the kind of listening I want you to do today. I want you to hear God speak. I want you to hear Him speak. And the reason is because He seems to be silent through all of that. It seems like He is not there at all. In 1972, Francis Schaeffer wrote a book, He Is There and He Is Not Silent. Amen to that. He is here and He is not silent. He wants to speak and so He is speaking. Schaeffer, in that book, argued that the primary philosophical question facing the human race is this: "Why is there something rather than nothing?" Schaeffer argued the only possible final answer to this question is in a triune God who speaks, who communicates, who reveals Himself to us in Jesus Christ. We live in a vast, terrifyingly huge, and mostly empty universe. It is mostly empty. As a matter of fact, if you had a scale model of the solar system in which the entire solar system fit roughly within the span of your arms, the nearest star would be four miles away. Imagine just laying on your back, halfway between this speck of dust that would be the scale model of the sun and another speck of dust, the scale model of the nearest star. You would be two miles from each one. You wouldn't be able to see them. It is a vast, terrifyingly empty universe. And yet for all that emptiness, that sense of nothingness, there is a God whose glory fills it all. Heaven, even the highest heavens, cannot contain Him. And so the whole universe testifies to His glory. Even more terrifying is this: people look at history and see a vast empty nothingness. They look at the events of human history and say, "There is nothing here of any worth or value. It is just the rise and fall of one nation after another. There is nothing here worthy of our attention. It is really empty. And yet in the midst of all that, God, in Isaiah 1:2 says, "Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the Lord has spoken." God’s Apparent Silence Misleading God's apparent silence is greatly misleading to unbelievers. They assume, because He does not immediately speak when they sin, that He is altogether like them. In Psalm 50:21 God says, "These things you have done and I kept silent; you thought I was altogether like you." Well, that is greatly misleading. God's apparent silence when wicked people sin so grievously makes them believe there actually is no God at all, or that He likes the wicked things they do. In Isaiah 57:11, He says, "Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear Me?" The silence of God, then, is misleading to unbelievers. Others, seeing God's silence in the face of great evils like the Holocaust, change their theology accordingly. They start saying different things about God. Rabbi Harold Kushner, when he looked at the atrocities of Auschwitz, said this, "I no longer hold God responsible for illnesses, accidents, and natural disasters. I can worship a God who hates suffering but cannot eliminate it more easily than I can worship a God who chooses to make children suffer and die for whatever exalted reason." So he adjusts his theology because it is easier for him to worship one kind of god than another. God is not presenting Himself as an easy god to worship. Instead, He is presenting himself as the King of the universe, declaring things that are, saying in Isaiah 45:7, "I form the light and create darkness. I bring prosperity and create disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things.” And, in fact, He is sitting up on His throne and saying, "Here I am. You must deal with Me." “Hear O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the Lord has spoken.” God's silence is misleading also to believers sometimes. In Psalm 73, when the psalmist is fretting over the prosperity of the wicked, he wonders why God doesn’t deal with them immediately. Why does He let them go on and be so prosperous? When Job was going through personal afflictions, the fact that God didn't speak to him bothered him greatly. "I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me. You turn on me ruthlessly; with the might of your hand you attack me. You snatch me up and drive me before the wind; you toss me about in the storm” (Job 30:20-22). “God, why are you doing all this, and You're not telling what You're doing?" Distressed by it, many psalmists basically say the same thing. "Why Lord, are You silent? Why don't You speak to me?" By His Word the Universe Exists King David, in Psalm 13 says, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, O Lord my God.” He is troubled by the apparent silence of God. But yet Isaiah says, “Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the Lord has spoken.” We learn from Scripture that it is by the Word of the Lord that He creates the universe. That is why there is something rather than nothing, because God spoke it into existence. Psalm 33:6: "By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth." That is the power I want here today, the power that spoke forth the universe, the one that speaks constellations and pulsars and quasars into existence, the one that speaks great power. That is what I want to hear today. I want it to reach into my soul and yours, the power of God's Word to create where there was nothing before. That is the kind of power that is in the Word of God, the power of God's first act - creation. In the middle of that creation, God says, "Let there be light.” And there is light. God speaks and there is. And thus, the universe itself speaks of the existence and power of God. Psalm 19 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.” If you were floating halfway between the sun and the nearest star, you wouldn't be in total darkness because God's heavens would still be testifying of a universe full of His glory. You would see the stars more vividly than you had ever seen them before. You might worry about how you would get back home, but you would see something because God has filled the universe with His glory. “The heavens declare the glory of God.” He Has Spoken Through the Prophets But most clearly, God has spoken through the prophets. God spoke through the prophets when He descended on Mount Sinai in a dreadful cloud and the earth was shaking under the people’s feet, and God spoke and they heard the voice of God Almighty speaking the Ten Commandments. And the people trembled and begged Moses, "Oh, please, go up in the mountain and hear God's words, and you come and tell us the words. How can we listen to this great voice of God any longer? If we keep listening we will die!" And God said, "What these people have said is good. Oh, that their hearts would always be moved to fear Me." Thus, God established the office of the prophet. Moses would speak God's words for the people. And they would listen to Moses and they would hear. And the Lord said through Moses that He would raise up other prophets who would speak like Moses did. And so Isaiah was one of those prophets who spoke for God. God's Word accomplishes everything that God intends. We will learn that later in the book of Isaiah. God’s Word Accomplishes What God Intends He doesn't send forth His word in vain. It accomplishes, it achieves the purpose for which He sent it. All I need to do today is preach it. I just need to proclaim the Word of God and it will achieve, in this huge crowd, varying things that I could never orchestrate or manipulate. But God is going to do something different in each of your hearts because that is the power of the Word of God. All you need to do is listen. Just listen and God will work. And ultimately the Word He is speaking is Christ. He is speaking Christ. That is what Isaiah's vision is all about. He is speaking of Christ, the Great Savior, whose blood atones for our sins. A Heavenly Court Trial Now, as we begin here, it is not just a general statement that God speaks. No, not at all. There is a context here. It is a dreadful context. He is summoning his people to court. He is calling them to trial. When He gives the old covenant through Moses, when it is re-summarized and restated in the Book of Deuteronomy, three times He says that Heaven and earth will be witnesses concerning their keeping of the covenant. Three times He says it. Deuteronomy 30:19, "This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live." He is calling heaven and earth as witnesses against His own people, the Jews. In Deuteronomy 31:28 He says, "Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officials, so that I can speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to testify against them.” And so there is the magnificent song of Moses, in which He tells the people ahead of time what they are going to do and then what He is going to do. He tells them ahead of time that they are going to violate the Covenant. He tells them ahead of time that He is going to bring a pagan nation in to conquer and to destroy them as a result. He tells them ahead of time all their history. And he teaches it to them in a song. You know how songs are memorable, how you can remember the lyrics and the music. The song of Moses is a sad song, a scary song. It begins like this in Deuteronomy 32:1, "Listen, O heavens, and I will speak; hear, O earth, the words of my mouth." Do you think Isaiah has that in mind in Isaiah 1:2? Does God have that song in mind? He is saying in essence, "I told you so. I told you you would do this, and now you are doing it. Hear, O heavens, I am calling my witnesses to come and view the sin of my people, for they have violated my Covenant." II. A God Who Judges His People (verses 2-9) The Heartbreak of Rebellion So He is a God who judges His people. Israel has completely broken the Covenant. The Northern Kingdom, the ten tribes, they are gone. Assyria is going to take them away during the lifetime of Isaiah the prophet. As for the Southern Kingdom, they are not much better. Only by a miracle is God going to protect just the City of Jerusalem and godly King Hezekiah. The Assyrians get everything else until God sends the angel of the Lord and turns them away. The fact is, things are bad with the people of God, and so therefore He is summoning them to court. He is summoning them to judgment. We see in verses 2 through 9 that He is a God who judges His people. You see the heartbreak of rebellion, "I reared children," verse 2, "and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me." Like an anguished father, concerned over his wayward children, so He speaks. There are many imperfect fathers in the Bible. I contend every father is imperfect. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). We see it again and again and again. There is Noah, he has Ham for a son. There is Abraham. He has Ishmael, the mocker, for a son. Godly Isaac had godless Esau for a son. Samuel's sons rebelled and did not follow the Lord. David's son, Absalom, rebelled and wanted to kill his father and take his place on the throne. All of these godly men, however, were sinners. And knowing what I know more and more about being a father, it is not hard to see your own sinfulness in your kids. It's not hard, it's heartbreaking. Every parent dreads the possibility that their children will be rebels. There are Christian parenting curricula that promise "full success, no teen rebellion." All this kind of thing, as though it were something you dialed in. You drop in all of these things and you will get freedom from all rebellion. Well, how can that be, when the only perfect father that has ever been had rebels for children? And that is Almighty God. What did God do wrong? He is going to say in Isaiah 5, concerning Jerusalem, "What more could I have done for my people than I did for them? Why then have they rebelled against me?" It is an anguished cry from a father, a perfect father who had rebels for children. And so He calls out the sinful people. There is nothing concealed that will not be exposed. The prophetic task therefore is to expose the sin, to speak about it in detailed language. So Isaiah does it. A Sinful People Called Out We have rebellion against God in verse 2. We have ignorance of God in Verse 3. Look at this. "The ox knows its master, the donkey his owner's manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand." The manger is a place where the food is. I know we as Christians tend to think it is where Jesus was laid. Well, that's where the beast came and fed. And what He is saying is, "The animal knows who feeds him, you don't seem to know who feeds you. The universe is intensely God-centered, and you don't know Me. You don't know how much you depend on Me. You don't know. Even the ox and the donkey know better than you." They don't know God. And there are active patterns of sin. Look at Verse 4. "Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption!" In Verse 16, he says, "Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong." There is violence. Look at Verse 15. "Your hands are full of blood." In verse 21, he mentions murderers. These are God's people, the Jews. And they are characterized by this? There is sexual immorality. In verse 21 He says, "See how the faithful city has become a harlot!" And it is not just a spiritual issue. It is also a physical, sexual issue as well. They are sexually sinning. There is injustice. Verse 23 reads, "Your rulers are rebels, companions of thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts." There is oppression of the poor and needy. Verse 23, "They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow's case does not come before them." There is theft. Verse 23, "Your rulers are rebels, companions of thieves." And there is idolatry at the very end. Verse 29 says, "You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted; you will be disgraced because of gardens that you have chosen." There is no doubt in my mind that these represent secret pagan places where they worshipped the Baals and the Ashtoreths through immorality. They would go there and they would love them and worship them in idolatrous orgies. It's wicked. And cloaking all of this, if you can believe it, was religious hypocrisy, the machinery of religion. We will get to that in a moment. But they continue to have the outward trappings of a religious people through all of that. God’s Active Judgment Against his People And so God goes into active judgment against His people. Look at Verses 5 through 7. "Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. From the sole of your foot to the top of your head, there is no soundness - only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil. Your country is desolate, your cities burned with fire; your fields are being stripped by foreigners right before you, laid waste as when overthrown by strangers." He begins with an analogy of their body. The nation is like a physical body that is totally beaten up and bloody from head to toe. Recently, Charlton Heston died. It reminded me of one of my favorite movies, Ben-Hur. You've probably seen the movie. There is an evil guy who used to be his childhood friend, a Roman guy named Messala. He is the protagonist in the movie, the bad guy. And the climax of the relationship between the two is the chariot race, one of the greatest scenes ever in movie history. So there is this chariot race, they are racing against each other, and at the climax of the chariot race Messala gets thrown from his chariot and run over by his own chariot wheels, and then run over by two more chariots to boot. He is just trampled. They pick him up take him off, and bring him down to the bowels of the stadium. He is covered in blood. He is a totally broken individual about to die, and he does die. I get that picture of the nations of Israel and Judah, totally destroyed, ravaged by invading armies. The Assyrians come in. They burn everything. They destroy everything. They kill almost everybody. The very thing that God had promised to them, that their enemies would do to them if they violated the covenant of Moses. The crops would fail, the pregnant women would miscarry, the livestock would die from plagues, and even worse, a foreign nation would come and invade and destroy them and deport them and kill them. And that is exactly what is happening. Only Jerusalem is left unconquered. Verse 8, "The Daughter of Zion [Jerusalem] is left like a shelter in a vineyard, like a hut in a field of melons, like a city under siege." I was thinking about these verses. I was in Romania one time, and I looked out and saw a cucumber field or something like that. And there were low vines everywhere, and there was this hut all alone. You can see the vision. I told you, Isaiah is the most visionary of all, and you can picture it. He says, "Low-lying fields everywhere, all the vines low, and then there is this hut all alone." And that is what Jerusalem is going to look like when the Assyrians get done with the country. There will be nothing left, just the one city. The judgment from God was a clear fulfillment of the curses He threatened against Israel in Deuteronomy. Listen to this. In Deuteronomy 28:49-52, this is what He said He would do. "The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand… They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the Lord your God is giving you." “And they will take them.” Read Isaiah 36. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came in, besieged them and took them. They're all gone, all of them. And so the whole country is destroyed. That is what He is saying. It's desolate. Yet in Wrath, God Remembers Mercy And yet, in wrath God remembered mercy. Look at verse 9. "Unless the Lord Almighty had left us some survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.” No survivors. These survivors are the remnants. They are the ones that God has chosen by grace. And the implications of the text is that they, the remnant, are really no better. It is only because of the grace of God that they are not also swept away. If God hadn't done it, they would have been gone too. In wrath, Habakkuk 3:2, God remembered mercy. The people deserved to be wiped out. In many ways they were no better than Sodom and Gomorrah. I think in some ways they were worse because they had more of God's word that they were violating. They were worse than the pagan cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. And so, actually, Isaiah just goes ahead and calls them that. Look at Verse 10. "Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom. Listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah!" These are the Jews. These are God's own people. Can I just pause this for a moment? Can I just urge you, when we are talking about the Jews and Jerusalem and the sins of those people, don't think those people out there, don't think those people back then. If God is at work in your heart, you are going to say, "Oh, God, what a wretched sinner I am that I'm like this!" Don't make it out there. I don't do it as a preacher. Don't you do it. Listen and say, "God, what are you saying to me about my sin?" Listen. Consider Sodom and Gomorrah. That is what He is saying. You are no different, we are no different, except by the grace of God. And the grace of God means we praise Him for it. We don't take any credit. We say of ourselves, “We're no different than them.” But, boy, this must have rankled with the Jews, they must have found it so offensive. "Listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah!" That's what he calls them in Verse 10. Now, if God hadn't left them a remnant, Assyria would have conquered them all. Was Assyria strong enough to take Jerusalem? Are you kidding? No problem. How then did Hezekiah and the remnant inside the walls survive? Because God ordained it. And Paul references this in Romans 9 in order to say, "This is the Godly remnant, the remnant chosen by grace, sustained by grace, protected by grace. They will be saved by grace. And to God be the glory for it." It is the only way any of us will be saved, to be part of that remnant saved by grace, because we are no different either. We are all the same. III. A God Who Despises Religious Hypocrisy (verses 10-15) In Verses 10 through 15, we see a God who despises religious hypocrisy. This is where it hits home. We are religious people. You are here. This is a religious event, so you are religious. You are here today, in church. So am I. It's good to be religious. James 1:27 says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." So there is nothing wrong with religion as long as it is good religion. So we are religious. Formalism, Religiosity, and Hypocrisy on Display What does God say about their religion? In verses 10 through 15 we see formalism, we see religiosity, and we see hypocrisy on display. The machinery of the sacrificial system just kept on running, running, running. Religious festivals, new moon feast, Sabbath, it's like a mindless machine, running, running, and running the machinery of religion. Week after week after week, the machinery of it. It was an endless parade of Jews bringing a countless number of bulls and sheep and goats. A river of blood to be offered on God's altar. A river of blood. Josephus said there were a quarter of a million Passover lambs sacrificed in one year during his day. That is a river of blood. God calls it "a trampling of My courts." "Who has asked this of you, this trampling of My courts?" (verse 12). Day after day, they did all of this evil. And then they tried to cover it up with animal sacrifice and religion, thinking that God would accept it. Even worse, they sniffed at it as did the Jews of Malachi 1:13. They said, "What a burden we have to do this. I wish we could just sin and not have to cover it with animal blood." They didn't even want to do that. And when they did, they tried to cheat God. Choose the worst animals, the ones that are lame and the blind and that nobody wants. The ones that are a bit diseased. Nobody wants to eat them anyway. Like roadkill or something. Just give God something. Just give Him something. He will be happy. Malachi says, "Try offering them to your governor! Would He be pleased with you?" (Malachi 1:8). And “I see everything you do, the traffic and wickedness." A Traffic in Wickedness The basic mentality here is, “How much does this sin cost? I'll pay it.” That's the idea. What's it going to cost to sleep with my neighbor's wife? A bull? Sheep? What's it cost? I'll pay the price. It's a machinery. It is mindless mercantilism in sin. They didn't get it. They didn't understand. The blood was to show they deserved to die for the sin. That's the point. That's the lesson, that sin deserves death. That's what they should have learned. But no, it was like, "How much does it cost?" The same thing happened in the Middle Ages with the Medieval Roman Catholic system and indulgences. If you paid money to the Pope, you could have all your sins forgiven. You could even pay for a sin ahead of time. I wonder if you could pay for ten years of sinning, free of charge. It's just evil. And yet this attitude is in our hearts, too. Throw God some religion. He'll cover it. Even born-again people in America think they can do that. Just throw God some Sunday morning religion and He'll cover it. God’s Utter Revulsion at Formalism and Hypocrisy God hates that. Look at the words, "The multitude of your sacrifices - what are they to Me?" says the Lord in verse 11. "They mean nothing to Me.” “I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.” “Your religious feasts and festivals are detestable to me. I hate them." He says, "I can't bear your evil assemblies. I detest it when you get together." He says, "My soul hates your religious gatherings. They are like some kind of crushing burden.” “I am weary of bearing them." Here is the infinitely powerful God saying, "I am getting tired of carrying this mess." Even their prayer life is detestable to God. Look at Verse 15. "When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you. Even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood." Isaiah later will say, "All our righteous acts are like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6). Listen to John Bunyan. I heard this quote this past week and said, "Wow." So I actually wrote it right down. John Bunyan said, "The best prayer I ever prayed had enough sin in it to damn the whole world for eternity." "The best prayer I ever prayed." Well, God has utter disdain for their religion. And we need to apply this to ourselves. How tragic is this lie that Satan foists on us in every generation, that God should be honored for anything we do for Him? He should be happy with any bone we throw His way, that the mere outward show of religion will be enough to cover us. Even in Baptist churches, some people think that just by being a member of the church, serving on some committee, coming most weeks, even coming on Wednesday nights, that that is going to do it, the religiosity. In Greece and in Russia, they think that because you are born in the Orthodox church and baptized in the Orthodox church, you are saved. God hates heartless, machine-like, formal religion that is a hypocritical mask covering up all those sins. Hear Isaiah 29:13. "The Lord says: 'These people come near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is made up only of rules taught by men.'" I believe the hardest category of people on the face of the earth to evangelize are people who have been attending church all their life but are not converted. I don't know what to tell them. They have learned somehow to hear the Word of God and change it in their minds so that they don't repent. They don't take sin seriously. They don't grieve over sin. They're not broken by it. They don't take a text like this seriously. They think it is about somebody else, not them. I don't know what to do for them. I hope I am not talking to any of you today. It would be better if you openly did not claim to be a Christian and then could come to Christ, than to have you in that state. It is a very serious condition. IV. A God Who Pleads with Sinners (verses 16-20) And so we have a God who pleads with sinners. In verses 16 through 20 we see God’s call to come. Look at Verse 18. "Come now," He says. "Come, cross the distance between us. There is a gap between us. Come to Me. Come. Draw near to God. Come close to Me." Their sins have made a distant gap between them. Their idolatry has put an infinite gap between them. But now God beckons them to come near to him. And he calls on them to reason. “‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the Lord” (verse 18). The Hebrew word is rich, as though God were welcoming some kind of discussion, some rational exchange over their sin. "Let's talk about this. How is the sin working out for you? Is it going well, your life in sin? Let's talk about it. Let's reason together." Sin is unreasonable. It's insane, it's irrational. It produces corruption and misery. It results in estrangement from God, enslavement to an ever-increasing cycle of wickedness. It stores up an ever-increasing sense of doom and wrath on Judgment Day. Sin is the ultimate tyrant. It has its boot on the necks of all of its slaves and wants to crush them to death and send them to hell. Sin is the ultimate tyrant. And yet we welcome it. We choose new patterns of sin. Why would we do that? It's insane. So God says, "Come now, let's talk about this. Let's reason together. What has sin ever done for you except destroy your life? Let's converse about this." It is like the prodigal son. Remember the story? He goes away from his father. He is bored at home. I don't know, - maybe there’s not enough to do. So he says, "Give me some money," and he goes out and has a life of partying and all that kind of thing untill the money runs out. Then there is a famine in the land. He has a hard time getting a job and ends up slopping pigs. As a Jewish young man, that is pretty tough. He longs to fill his stomach with the pods they give the pigs, but that would be stealing. And they wouldn't even give him anything. Nothing. And then in Luke 15:17, Jesus said this, "When he came to his senses, he said, 'What am I doing here? What am I doing here? How many of my father's servants are well fed and well dressed? Look, I can just go back and be a servant. He'll treat me well. I don't deserve to be his son, but I can go back." When he comes to himself, he comes to his senses. I am telling you that sin is insane, it is irrational. It is the insanity of sin. So the Lord says, "Come now, let us reason together." And then He calls on them to repent. "Wash and make yourselves clean" (verse 16). "Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong. Learn to do right! Seek justice. Encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless. Plead the case of the widow." It's a call to repent. Now think with me about this. The more I've learned about Scripture, the more I have realized these things are impossible apart from Christ. Look at each one. "Wash and make yourselves clean." How are you going to do that? How? How are you going to wash and make yourself clean? You are sitting in a mud puddle, covered in mud top to bottom, surrounded by muddy water. You go to wash yourself up. "There, how do I look?" Still muddy. "Well, how about this now?" More muddy. Muddier. How are you going to wash and make yourselves clean? How about the next one? "Take your evil deeds out of my sight." How are you going to do that? Does He not fill heaven and earth? Is there anything hidden that He cannot see? Is there anywhere you can go where He is not already there? Where are you going to go to take your evil deeds out of His sight? And what about this one: "Stop doing wrong"? That's the whole problem! Apart from Christ, we can't stop doing wrong. We are slaves to sin. "Start doing right." Well, that is the flipside of "stop doing wrong." I can't do either one. And what about caring about other needy people, seeking justice, encouraging the oppressed, defending the cause of the fatherless, pleading the case of the widow? I don't care naturally. I don't care about them. You cannot do any of these things if God's grace doesn't change you first. You could not do any of these things if Jesus hadn't died on the cross for sinners like you and me. You can't. None of them. But in Christ you can do all of them. In Christ, there is forgiveness. These are not empty words from God. This is what God will do in anyone who turns to Christ. V. A God Who Works Salvation and Threatens Judgment (verses 21-31) “‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow.’” He has the power to cleanse from all sin. It doesn't matter how heinous. “Though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land.” How do we get a willing and obedient heart if God doesn't take out that heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh, willing and obedient? But if He does that, you know what? You are going to eat the best from the land. You will live forever, in the new heaven and the new earth, and you will eat the best of the land. But there is the flipside, the warning of total destruction. “If you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (verse 20). "Zion will be redeemed with justice, her penitent ones with righteousness. But rebels and sinners will both be broken, and those who forsake the Lord will perish" (verses 27 and 28). How can we do this? How can we be redeemed with justice? How can Zion be a place where God would want to live, a holy place? It is only through the blood of Jesus Christ. In Isaiah 53, He said, "We all, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Christ is the perfect sacrifice. His blood cleanses us from sin. It is a cleansing, redeeming fountain. Our filth, and our sinful wickedness can be cleansed. In Christ alone we can wash and make ourselves clean. In Christ alone, through the indwelling spirit, we can stop doing wrong, learn to do right, seek justice, encourage the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. Why? Because He cares about those things. Christ alone. This whole chapter just aches and yearns for an answer, and the answer is Jesus. He is the best of the land. He us what you are going to feast on when you come to God in repentance. You get Jesus and everything in Him. VI. Application Come to Christ, come to Him. Come to Him for the first time, repent and turn away from sin. He is pleading with you through me. Stop sinning. Turn away from it. Let's reason together. It is leading you to hell. Look at Verse 31. "The mighty man will become tinder and his work a spark; both will burn together with no one to quench the fire." The unquenchable fire is hell. The best of the land is heaven. It's what He is offering you in Christ. Flee the wrath to come, and trust in Him. And if you're already a Christian, then come to Him again and again and again. Don't think, "This isn't me." Think, "This is me, apart from the grace of God. If God removed His grace from me, even now, I would sink immediately back into this. Immediately, I would. I know it. By the grace of God, I can be righteous. By the grace of God, I can be redeemed with justice and be made pure and holy." And if I were you, I would just, as a Christian, simply delight in the perfect righteousness of Christ. That is the gift of Isaiah. It is the gift of the Gospel. He will see you perfectly righteous, perfectly righteous. So draw near to God and reason with Him. If you are trapped in a cycle of sin, let Him talk to you today. Let Him say, "What is it doing for you? This unlawful pleasure - what is it doing for you? Is it not corrupting you? Be free from it. Let us reason together." Repent of religious formalism, don't just come here week after week and do the Baptist thing. Don't. Don't. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. He says, "Don't just bring Me empty sacrifices.” God is not impressed. Develop a deep concern for the poor and needy. We will hear of this again and again in Isaiah. Reach out to the urban poor, reach out to Northeast Central Durham, reach out. But even more, reach out to those who are lost, dead in transgressions and sins. I don't care how much money they have in their wallet. Reach out with the gospel. Finally, I want to speak a message of encouragement to parents of rebellious children. I think there could be few things more heartbreaking than to see your own children drifting away from God, to see them rebelling. Maybe they are not growing in their faith, not going to church. Just understand, the God that you bring them to in prayer every day - and you better be praying for them every day - the God that you bring them to, He understands what it is like to have rebellious children. Unlike Him, you cannot say, "I never did anything wrong. I was the perfect father, perfect mother." You can never say that. Actually, it's very distressing to see your own sin patterns replicated in the next generation. We must take responsibility for that. But understand this, God knows what it is like to have rebellious children. And He specializes in turning them away from their rebellion and back toward him. This is what He does. He has this kind of power, trust in Him for it. Close with me in prayer.

I would like to invite you now to turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 2. We are going to continue our series in Matthew with verses 13-23. I think as we look at the end of the 20th century and into the 21st century, the theme of the leadership of God is an important one. It's a confusing age we live in, isn't it? You might know something right now about the Internet, or about computers, or about technology and one year from now it will be obsolete. Times are changing so quickly, so fast that it can be very confusing. And the society around us is not what it used to be, things are new and different, many of them worse, and it is a time in which we really do need the leadership of God, don't we? And the beauty of the verses we are going to look at this morning is, they show so clearly the leadership of Joseph and Mary through the angels, and that is an immediate guidance that God gives. So that they know always at every step in the road where they are supposed to go, what they are supposed to do. And that is comforting to us as Christians, isn't it? And not only that, but a more remote guidance through the words of the prophecies that were being fulfilled one after another. God had laid it all out ahead of time in the words of His holy prophets, and all of it was being fulfilled. So the leadership and the guidance of God is a very comforting theme. But there is a darker side to the verses we are going to look at today because included in them is the slaughter of innocent babies. And I think as Christians we do ourselves and we do those who we are preaching to no favors to turn away from the hard issues of scripture, because we're afraid to answer them or face them head on. How is it that God could be so active in leading Joseph and Mary, protecting them and getting them where He wanted them to be, and yet these babies are slaughtered? How can that be? I. Meat, Not Milk When babies come into the world, they are given the capability to suck and to derive nourishment for themselves through milk. As they grow, they develop teeth. Any of you who have had little children who are teething know what it feels like to have that little tooth pierce your fingers. You stick it in the mouth and you say, "Don't bite." But there is that little tooth and what is the tooth for? It is so that more and more foods can be digested, moving up from being a babe to being a more mature Christian. And so the Apostle Paul said to the Corinthians, "I couldn't speak to you as spiritually mature but as babes, because you didn't have your spiritual teeth, you weren't mature." But there are doctrines in scripture that are difficult. They are challenging. They are meat, not milk and we are going to see that this morning. So I think it is best for us to just roll up our sleeves and see the encouragement of God's leadership, but also deal with the issue of how these babies could be slaughtered and God still be a good and powerful God. Listen now to Matthew 2:13-23, "When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, 'Get up! Take the child and his mother and go to the land of Egypt, for Herod is going to search for the child to try 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.' When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious and 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 are trying to take the child's life are dead.' So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, 'He will be called a Nazarene.'" II. The Escape to Egypt: Echoes from the Past (vs. 13-15) Do you see the theme there of the leadership, the guidance of God as angels keep stepping in and telling Joseph and Mary what to do? We see the first in verses 13-15, the escape to Egypt, which I call echoes from the past. Now, put yourself in Joseph and Mary's position at this point. The Magi had just left, and the Magi were strange visitors, weren't they? We talked about them last week. Perhaps they came in strange clothes and they brought rare and costly gifts, but I still think it must have been very encouraging to Joseph and Mary to have them come. And they had come from a distant land, they had seen the star, and I think it was just one more confirmation in a series of confirmations that the Angel Gabriel's words to Mary were true, that this really was the Son of God come to earth. And so that was a very affirming time, a very warm and joyous time. And so Joseph and Mary put the baby Jesus down to sleep and then they went to sleep themselves. But Joseph didn't have a good night's sleep that night, did he? His sleep was interrupted by an angel. An angel said, "Get up (immediately, right away, and take the mother and his baby) to Egypt… for Herod is going to search for the child (to try) to kill him." You know those mountain top experiences in life don't last long, do they? We go through a time of being close to God and things are wonderful, we have a sense of fulfillment, God is working in our lives and then immediately in comes crashing a new trial, something, a new challenge, something to deal with. Well, Joseph responded as he always did with simple obedience. He did what he was told. And the angel's message was a harsh one, wasn't it? "Escape," it says. "Escape to Egypt." The word in the original language is pheugo, we get the word fugitive from that. He was called to be a fugitive. You know what other word comes from it? Another word is refugee, refugee. Those aren't pretty words, are they? That Jesus, the Son of God, should be a fugitive, running away from people who are trying to kill him. That Jesus, the Son of God, would be a refugee in Egypt. It is not a pretty picture, is it? But that is exactly what the angel told Joseph to do. Now, when I was working as a missionary in Pakistan, I had the privilege, the joy, of ministering to some Afghan refugees who had come over the border into Pakistan. We were in Peshawar, Pakistan, right over the border. That was during the time of the war with Russia. That was a terrible war. And actually I think for a period of time, I do not know if it is still true, there are more landmines in Afghanistan than in all of Europe put together, if you can imagine that in all the wars that were going on, and World War II and all that. Everywhere they went, there were explosions. You just stayed to a certain path because if you didn't, you might lose a limb or even a life. But what really struck me about these Afghan refugees was the look of terror in the faces of some of them. You would sense that they had really run for their lives, that at any moment they are afraid that a Russian helicopter gunship could come around a hill and then start to shoot at them. Many of them had lost loved ones, a mother or father, someone too aged to run, or perhaps even separated from a spouse. And they didn't know if their wife or their husband was still alive. Perhaps they had even lost some of their children. I don't know if you remember at that time there was a picture on the cover of National Geographic of an Afghan refugee, a beautiful young girl, 16 years old, and a look of terror frozen in those beautiful eyes. She had green eyes, haunting eyes. And that is what God called Joseph and Mary and Jesus to undergo as they went on that road down to Egypt. Now, we don't really know where they went in Egypt. Some people speculate that they went down to Alexandria. There was a large Jewish population there. That is where the Septuagint, which was the Greek translation of the Old Testament, was done. We don't really know where they went, but we do know that they went to Egypt. Also, in terms of speculation, people wonder what happened to the gold, frankincense and myrrh. I don't really have any idea, maybe in their haste they left it behind. Some people speculate that they were taken with them to pay for their trip. But it was a dangerous journey that God was calling them to go on. There were poisonous vipers. There were lions and other animals that could attack them along the road. There were highwaymen that could be there to steal gold, frankincense, and myrrh from anyone that might be carrying things like that. And how much more, Herod's soldiers who might be breathing down their necks. So it was a terrifying journey that they went on, and they flew down to Egypt. Now, I call this echoes of the past because it is ironic in a way that King Herod should chase them to Egypt. Now, he didn't know that he was chasing them to Egypt, but that is exactly what his command did. Because Herod himself, believe it or not, had been a refugee at one point. Herod the Great, around the year 25 BC, was chased out of Palestine by an invading army, the Parthians. And do you know where he went? He went where most Jews went when they are chased out of Palestine, he fled to Egypt. He fled to Egypt. And it is a little bit ironic that echo of the past, that Herod, who himself had undergone that kind of persecution, that kind of terror, should force Joseph and Mary along that same path. But there really is an older echo here and that is a fulfillment of prophecy. Look down in verse 15. It says in verse 15, "And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my Son." Now, the Book of Hebrews says, "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways." God speaks to us through the prophets at many times and in various ways because he has different things to say to us, and he uses different genres of communication. But all of the prophecy, taken as a body, points to fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament word of prophecy. It points to him in one way or another. Now, there are two types of prophecies coming from the Old Testament. There is what you could call verbally predictive prophecy, and in that case some aspect of Jesus' life is just predicted verbally, straight out. Let me give you an example of that. That would be Isaiah 7:14, which says, "The Virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son," etcetera. It just tells straight out what is going to happen in Jesus' life. But then there's a whole other body of prophecy called typically predictive prophecy. These are called types. In other words, that some aspect of Old Testament history acts out some part of Jesus' life. And that is, I think, what we get here is actually a blending of verbally predictive prophecy and a typically predictive prophecy. Perfect examples of typically predictive prophecy are the sacrifices, the animal sacrifices. Every time a bull or a goat or a sheep was sacrificed it was a picture of Jesus Christ who would die one day on the cross for sin. Jesus' blood shed on the cross was reflected earlier by those animal sacrifices. So the blending of prophecy is a beautiful thing. And Matthew, throughout this gospel, is going to be saying time and again, "And so the word of the prophet was fulfilled." "And so Isaiah the Prophet was fulfilled." Or, "So what was said through Jeremiah was fulfilled." Time and again the theme of fulfillment in Jesus. I love that word fulfill. I get the sense that the Old Testament prophets were setting out vessels, cups of different sizes and shapes in front of us and then as things happened in Jesus' life they were filled up; each one was filled up. And there are some empty vessels and they were filled up right to the very end. Remember when Jesus died in John's gospel, it said, "Then Jesus... " Because there was one more prophecy to be fulfilled said, "I thirst," do you remember that? And so the prophecy was that He would drink bitter gall right before He died. So it was like the last cup right before he died and had to be filled up too. So the whole life of Jesus set out in the words of the prophets. Well, this is an interesting one, though, "Out of Egypt I called my Son." Have you ever taken a New Testament quotation of a prophecy and gone back in the Old Testament and read it? Have you ever been confused by how it doesn't really seem to fit in? Or you don't understand how it could apply to Christ? The thing that is interesting here is, it is in the book of Hosea. Now, Hosea the Prophet says... Here is the full verse, it says, "When Israel was a child, I loved him and out of Egypt I called my son." So there God is speaking of His love relationship with the whole nation of Israel. In effect, He said, "I adopted these people. They are my people. They are like my son. And I love them and out of Egypt, I called my Son." But their exodus, their coming out of Egypt, under the leadership of Moses, was also a picture of one, the only true, only begotten Son of God coming out one day of Egypt and returning to the Promised Land, to Israel. It is a predictive prophecy of the life of Christ. III. Herod’s Selfish Cruelty: Written in the Scrolls (vs. 16-18) In verses 16-18, we see the second fulfillment, and that is in Herod's selfish cruelty. Now, this whole thing had been written in the scrolls before any of it came to be. It says in verse 16, "When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious." He was outraged. He was apoplectic, beside himself with anger. "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." Now, last week, we began to be introduced to King Herod the Great. What was it that made Herod great? Well, he was great at collecting taxes. He was great at building big buildings. He was a great politician. He was great in his ability to put down rebellions and so keep himself in favor with the Romans. But he was not a great man. We are going to meet a great man next week. His name is John the Baptist. Now, he was a great man. But Herod the Great was not a great man. As a matter of fact, Herod the Great was a small man. He was a coward. He was a fearful man, inside. Now, he could be clever and he could be generous when it suited his purpose. I alluded to this a little bit last week. Herod would collect taxes, but if there came to be economic difficulties, he would kick back some of the taxes back to the people. Don't you wish North Carolina would do that? Or the federal government? Have any of you experienced that? A tax rebate. I have lived in Massachusetts, Kentucky, and North Carolina. I have never seen a tax rebate. I feel like if they collect more taxes than they need, if there is a surplus, they should give it back. But they never do. But you see, King Herod, now, he did. He gave some of it back so that the people could keep going economically. Well, that was a smart move, wasn't it? Because it established his reputation with the people. They were not as likely to overthrow him or to challenge his authority because he was this kind of a king. There was another time during a famine when he took some of his own gold and he gave it to the poor so that they would have something to eat. I am sure he announced it with trumpets so that everyone would know what he did because that suited his purpose. But he could be very clever in that way. He could be generous when it suited his purpose. But he could be absolutely ruthless if his throne was threatened in any way. He would crush anyone who got close to his seat of authority in his power. One of his brothers-in-law, Aristobulus, did just that. It was his wife's brother, can you believe this? He had him murdered. He had him drowned. And then do you know what this hypocrite did? He put on a lavish state funeral and he wept at this man's funeral. Cried in front of everyone. "Alas, my brother, my brother," he cried over him. What a hypocrite. But you see the common theme here? Herod is insecure over his throne. He is insecure over his position in this world, and he wanted to hold onto it. And when Herod realized, it says, that he had been outwitted by the Magi, the word means played with like a child or scorned or mocked in some way. Now, the Magi, I don't think, were trying to do this, they just escaped because the angel told them, "Don't go back to Jerusalem." But he felt as though they had played with him, and he became outraged. But this was his natural reaction when his throne was threatened, wasn't it? What is really remarkable is why it did not happen the first time. Do you ever think about that? Why didn't he give orders to search for Jesus and kill him the first time, when the Magi said, "Where is the one born King of the Jews? We saw a star in the east and have come to worship Him." Don't you think that would be threatening? Of course, it was threatening. But instead, he played it cool, relaxed a little bit, sent the Magi to go look for Him. He missed his opportunity, you see? God, I believe, was governing his thoughts. Keeping him from attacking at that moment of vulnerability. But now, Herod goes crazy, absolutely insane. Now, he must have, if he had any moment of thought, he must have thought to himself, "Now, wait a minute, if they have escaped, maybe somebody tipped them off as to my evil intent toward this child." That means that the child probably is not there, either. What is the point in killing? What is the point in searching? He is not there anymore. But you see, Herod is unreasoning. This is the irrationality of sin, it is insane. There's no reason for it. Why would we take the good gifts of God and turn away from Him and not worship and thank Him? Sin is insane, isn't it? And so Herod was unreasoning. He gave an order that echoed down through time, and we still are amazed at its cruelty, aren't we? "Kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who are two years old and under." Do you notice the range? He does not know geographically where Jesus is, so he says, "Bethlehem and its vicinity." Now, later, it says, "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning." Well, Ramah is about 10 miles north of Jerusalem, Bethlehem about 5 miles south. Could it be that that was the radius of the killing? Incredible- the cruelty of Herod. He did not know where Jesus was, so he was willing to cast a wide net and kill anyone who might meet that criteria. He did not know how old Jesus was either, did he? So he said two years old and under, in accordance to whenever the star appeared. Kill them all just so that we get Jesus, so we get that one baby. The incredible cruelty. And why was it? What motivated Herod? It was insecurity and a desire to hold onto his earthly situation, no matter what the cost. What an evil man. But I don't think he is very much different than some people who hear the gospel, hear a call to repent, turn away from sin, to believe in Jesus. The cross is clearly portrayed before them, Jesus dies on the cross, and then messengers are sent out and said, "Jesus has paid your entire penalty for you. All He asks is that you turn over your entire life to Him. Follow Him, obey Him." And then those people say, "No, I can't. I have too much to lose. I am the vice president of a bank," or, "I am the owner of a home," or, "I've got friends, drinking buddies who would never understand if I gave my life to Christ." They are holding on to what they've got in this world. They are not willing to let it go. Jesus said, "If you try to save your life you will lose it. But if you lose your life for my sake, you will find it." Now, Herod was a fool. But Herod's real crime, however terrible it was in killing all these babies, and it was terrible, his real crime was his desire to kill God's only Son. Far greater than his desire to kill all those babies. You see, God's Son had been awaited for 2,000 years since the prophecy given to Abraham, for 1,000 years since David. And here, how many people in all those years would have longed to have been able to see Jesus face to face, to go and worship Him. Herod missed his chance; instead he fought against, he wanted to kill. And that was his greatest crime. And for that he will stand accountable before God for all eternity. Verse 17 and 18, "Then what was said through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled." There's that word again, "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." The power of these verses was lost on me before I had my own children. I think it is really not until you have children of your own that you understand what these women went through when their babies were slaughtered. About two weeks ago, I was coming out of the Duke Hospital. And hospitals are not cheerful places, really. The maternity ward is cheerful, usually. But the other places are places where people who are sick and dying go, some of them to spend their last days on Earth. I came out of the hospital feeling a little discouraged. And I saw a mother pushing a child in a stroller and I thought, "Oh, what a refreshing sight." And as I got a little closer I looked at her face, and she did not seem happy. She seemed a little careworn. And I smiled, she kind of smiled at me. The whole time I had not looked at her child. I did not notice he was kind of big to be pushed in a stroller. And then I looked a little more carefully and noticed that he had no hair and he had a mask across his face, and he was being pushed by his mother into the hospital. Probably a cancer patient receiving chemotherapy of some sort. From the look on the mother's face, it was not going well. And that is just one child. If that child dies she will grieve until she dies. And so it was with all these women who lived in Bethlehem and its vicinity, who had boys two years old and under. And they grieved until the day they died, for their children. Because of one man. The cruelty of Herod. But it had to be fulfilled; the prophecy had to be fulfilled. Jesus said in Luke 24:44, "Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms." Even the smallest details, even the cruelty of this King Herod, even that had to be fulfilled. God saw it all before any of it came to be. IV. Joseph’s Return to Nazareth: A Different Kind of Prophecy (vs. 19-23) In verses 19 through 23, we see the third fulfillment in this section. Joseph's return to Nazareth. A different kind of prophecy, a strange prophecy. It says, "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 are trying to take the child's life are dead.'" And so the angel keeps his promise, he said, "I'm going to come back and tell you when it's safe for you to go back home." And so he tells him. And he gives some supernatural information to Joseph, some information he would not have had any other way. There were no telephones, there was no ESPN. There was no way of knowing that King Herod had died; not so soon. Eventually people would have heard. But the angel came and said, "Now it's time to go back because Herod has died." And here we begin to get an indication of God's reaction to what King Herod has done. Now, we don't get it in Scripture, but there is an account from the historian Josephus of just how this man, Herod the Great, died. Now, I actually hesitated before reading it because it is so repulsive and so disgusting. But I will edit it a little bit and just tell you what happened. Shortly after giving the order of killing all these babies, Herod began to have intestinal problems and they began to get worse and worse. He started to bleed from the inside. He found out later that he had worms inside that were eating him from the inside. Absolutely repulsive. His breath was loathsome, nobody could get near him. Doctors were paid to get close enough to try to do something for him, but there was nothing that they could do. They tried washing him in certain oils and other ointments, but nothing would stop the process. He was being eaten out from the inside. Josephus, who was not a Christian, said that Herod was suffering under the judgement of God. It is interesting Josephus never mentions the slaughter of the babies in Bethlehem. There is an account from a Roman historian of the slaughter. It has been testified to. As a matter of fact, some people think that one of Herod's offspring, a son, was killed in that sweep, you see? Because that included some parts of Jerusalem. And that his own son was killed, and Caesar Augustus made a joke because he knew that the Jewish people didn't eat pork. He said, "You know, I would rather be Herod's pig than Herod's son." And it is a terrible thing. Herod treated his pigs better than his own son, who is accidentally killed. But God noticed everything. "God cannot be mocked," the Scripture says. "Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. Your sin[s] will find you out." And that is what happened with King Herod. Shortly before he died he was eating an apple, took a knife, and he was cutting the apple, and he suddenly turned the knife toward himself and started to try to kill himself. One of his attendants noticed what he was doing and reached and grabbed the arm so that he could not kill himself. There was so much crying and hullabaloo over that, that his son, Antipater, who was his heir to the throne, started to celebrate. He thought his father was dead. Good relationship between father and son, there. He had no love for his father, and he just was glad that his father was dead so he could take control of the throne. Well, Herod the Great survived, at least for a few more days. This was five days, by the way, before Herod died. And he was so outraged at his son that he ordered that he be executed. And he was executed. And Herod changed his will. It would not be Antipater who would be his heir, but it would be Archelaus. And so he put the word Archelaus in place of the other son. Five days later, Herod was dead. What is interesting, though, is right before Herod died, he began, I think, probably thinking about his son's reaction to his death. And he was so upset that his son would not grieve over him, perhaps that no one would grieve over him, that he gave the worst order he ever gave in his life. Even worse than this one. He ordered that someone be killed from every household in his kingdom so that there would be grieving across his kingdom when he died. Can you imagine this man? Thankfully, he died before the order was ever carried out. So that is what happened to King Herod. What did Herod have to look forward to as he lay dying? Hebrews 10:27 tells us, "A fearful expectation of judgement and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God." That is what he had to look forward to, the punishment of God. But notice in verse 20, a little word that I didn't highlight up to this point. Look at it carefully. "The angel came," and what did the angel say? He 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." Those. What does that tell you? Herod wasn't the only one who died. Perhaps it means that everyone involved in the slaughter of these babies was killed. Perhaps even some young soldiers who were just carrying out orders, we don't really know. But God's judgement was exact and careful and swift. You cannot mock God and you cannot do this kind of thing and get away with it. But against all this, this picture of the rejection, the wrath of Herod, we have Joseph's simple obedience. In verse 21, "He got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel." Steadfast Joseph, going from place to place at the command of God, doing what he was told. "When he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father, Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth." Have you ever heard of Nazareth? Yes. Jesus is from Nazareth. Well, according to the Scripture here, that fulfilled a prophecy. [And so it] was said through the prophets, ‘He will be called a Nazarene.” Now, here is a challenge for you. Look up the word "Nazarene" in the Old Testament and you are not going to find it. Actually, you are not going to find this prophecy in the Old Testament. No one really knows where this prophecy is written. It could be that it was never written down. Notice what it says in verse 23, " So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets," plural. Every other case where a scripture is quoted, it is always one prophet. So it said through the prophet or the Prophet Isaiah. Here it says collectively through the prophets. And it may be that Matthew has taken all of the Old Testament prophecies following a certain theme, and put them in quotation form, "He will be called a Nazarene." Now, what was a Nazarene? In first century Judea, a Nazarene was someone from the worst place in the country, someone from the offscouring. And do you remember Nathaniel? Do you remember what Nathaniel said when Philip told him that the Messiah had come, Jesus of Nazareth? Do you remember his reaction? "Nazareth? Nazareth? [You've got to be kidding,] can anything good come from [Nazareth]?" And you see, Nathaniel was a godly man, wasn't he? A true Israelite in whom there is no guile. That was the national reaction. And so Jesus was coming from the worst place in all Israel to come from. I think that fulfills the prophecy in Isaiah where it says, "He was despised and rejected. A man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised." That means thought little of, "And we esteemed Him not." He will be called a Nazarene. He is going to be looked down on in His life. John 1:11 says, "He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him." The Jews did not receive him, they rejected him. No Messiah could come from Nazareth. "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believed in His name." Those were the true Israelites, the true children of God. V. A Deeper Issue: The Direct Guidance of God and Problem of Evil Now, we have looked at these verses and we have seen a careful leading of God step by step, haven't we? And we as Christians hold on to that, don't we? As a matter of fact, the Bible very plainly says that the Holy Spirit has come to give us guidance, has come to give us leadership. Now, maybe you do not have an angel coming to you and telling you what to do. Don't you wish you did? Wouldn't that be great to have an angel come at night in a dream and tell you, "Do this, don't do that," etcetera? But you have something even better. You have the indwelling Holy Spirit living within you. Isaiah 30:21, this is a great verse. I challenge you to write that one down, Isaiah 30:21, "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, 'This is the way. Walk in it.'" Isn't that great? "Whether you turn to the right or to the left your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, 'This is the way. Walk in it.'" That is the gift of the Holy Spirit. And Jesus, that little baby who had to run for His life, and who lived the life of a refugee, not just at that time but really, through His whole life where He said, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head." He came to give you a gift and that gift is the gift of the Holy Spirit, that kind of leadership, that kind of guidance in this world. But He came to give a far greater gift than that. And that is freedom from eternal punishment and the joy of eternal fellowship with God face to face. But what of this deeper question? We have seen the minute guidance of God, we've seen the fulfillment of prophecy. We've seen the fulfillment also of that statement that we have heard before, that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Because Herod the Great was a corrupt man. But is there a power greater than Herod's? Oh, absolutely. And I am not thinking of Caesar Augustus. I am thinking of God. Does He have power greater than Herod? Of course. Well, then the impious thought comes and questions us, does God's power corrupt Him? Is God corrupt? Is there blood on His hands for what happened to these babies? Well, the Scripture says, “May it never be,” because God is a loving God, a holy God, a righteous God. Compassionate in every way. Jesus embodied God. He is the One who wept over Jerusalem, who cried over them. He was the one who stood in front of Lazarus' tomb and wept because of death. He is a compassionate God. Now, you can do various things, tricks in your mind. You can say, "Well, maybe Satan is as powerful as God. And Satan does all the bad stuff, and God does all the good stuff, and that God really is not powerful enough to stop Satan." Some people say that. Some people, like Rabbi Harold Kushner who wrote When Bad Things Happen to Good People, said, "You know, you need to think of it this way. God is a good God, but He just is not all powerful. He cannot stop these kinds of things from happening." You see, he went through the Holocaust. And through that terrible time, he had to give an explanation. He had to give a sense of defense for God and so he wrote this book. And many people have read it, and they have been comforted by it. It is a false comfort, because the Scripture clearly portrays God as omnipotent. He is powerful. Jesus said plainly, "[A sparrow doesn't] fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father." How much more something this huge? I think what we need to see instead is that this world, all that we see around us, is not all there is. There is another world to come. And those babies, they suffered for a moment, but I believe that they went on immediately into eternal glory. Each of them, before the age of accountability. Each one, free from standing to give an account for any sins done. They didn't understand the law. But what happened to Herod? He also moved from this world, didn't he? To the judgement seat of God. We can't understand everything that God does. But we do ourselves no favors, we do the world no favors, to take away clear teaching of Scripture because there are some parts we don't understand. God is a good God and He is a sovereign and powerful God. And God works out His purposes, He accomplishes His ends. And His end here was to bring His Son into the world, that He might die on the cross in our place and give us eternal life. When I began talking to you this morning I talked to you about the leadership that God gives. Have you followed the leadership of God in your life? The Scripture plainly says that those who are led by the Spirit of God, those are the ones who are the children of God. If you are led by the Spirit of God, you are a child of God. If you follow the leadership of God, that is what makes you a Christian. The first way that the Holy Spirit leads anyone is he leads you to recognize that you need a Savior. He leads you to recognize that you need to give your life to Jesus Christ. That you need to lay down your sins at the foot of the cross and say, "I need a Savior like this, and Jesus is the only one who can save me." Have you ever followed God's leadership in that way? And for those of you who have, who have given your life to Christ, are you following His leadership now? It is a new year, 1999. If you have the Holy Spirit inside you, the Holy Spirit wants to do some things with you this year. Are you going to follow his leadership? Are you going to stay step-by-step with what the Spirit is doing? Are you going to keep in step with the Spirit this year? If you do, you will see a year like you have never had before. God has great things in store for First Baptist, if these people will just humble themselves and follow God's leadership.