NORTHSHORE CHURCH OF CHRIST

Here are a few lessons we talked about on Wednesday night—thoughts drawn from Ecclesiastes 7.

STRANGELY BRIGHT

Joe Rigney wrote a little book called Strangely Bright in which he riffs off the song,

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”

Rigney’s idea is just opposite—when we understand God’s grace and Jesus’ wonder and beauty, the things of the earth will grow strangely bright. The more we grow in godly wisdom, understand the character of God, see how He works, and trust His judgment, the more this earth means to us. It doesn’t become less real; it becomes more real. The colors are more vivid, the smells more wonderful, the sounds more musical.

10 Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”
       For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

THE HOUSE OF MOURNING

Pondering the day of our death is good. What do we have to look forward to after we die? We think about the end of all men…for what are we striving? Are we resting, even in our labor? Are we working from a platform of resting in God’s strength and promises? Or are we so narrowly focused on THIS LIFE that we miss the meaning of life altogether?

3 Sorrow is better than laughter,
    for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
    but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

DON’T BE SO ONLINE

This is getting harder and harder. What did the new President do today to make headlines and shake up the world? Is our country going to conquer the world or will it be overthrown in a few years? What are Taylor Swift and Kanye West doing at the grammy’s that is so important? Look at all the shiny pictures of my neighbors and acquaintances on FaceGram and X-book. We get so lost in all the madness, the churning and burning of a downright foolish world, and we get distracted from the gift of life that God has given us to enjoy right this very day and hour. Here we are. What blessings do we have to count today? What blessing can I be to the people around me today? How can I bless the name of the Lord right now?

5 It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise
    than to hear the song of fools.
6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,
    so is the laughter of the fools; 
    this also is vanity.

Moses had led Israel out of Egypt to the foot of mysterious Mt. Sinai. And…

The Lord called to [Moses] out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” (Exod. 19.3–6)

Some believe God only cared about Israel in the Old Testament and only now under Jesus does He care for all nations. Not true! God did not abandon the rest of the world when He chose, blessed, and set His love on Israel. In fact, through Israel He blessed the world. That was always His plan.

Nothing inherently beautiful, wonderful, or good in Israel made God pick them out of the other nations. God assured them of this in Deuteronomy 7 and 8:

“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” (Deut. 7.6–8)

God did not choose them because of their strength or numbers.

“Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. “Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people. (Deut. 9.4–6)

God did not choose them because of their righteousness.

God loved them because He loved them. If God chooses to deal with man in this way, who is man to speak back to Him? If God chooses to deal with man today through Jesus Christ, and if He demands that we love Him with heart, soul, strength, and mind, and if He demands that we love our neighbor as ourselves, shall we then speak back to God?

Back in Exodus 19.5, God said, “All the earth is Mine.” Even when He chose Israel, He reigned sovereignly over all the nations, and all nations were still subject to Him. Their relationship with God was different than Israel’s, but God had not abandoned the rest of the world.

In Jesus Christ we see the fullness of God’s plan rolled out to all people, and this is why John 3.16–18 is so sweet to Christians today:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned…”

Like Israel of old, God’s new Israel (Christians) are not chosen because we are mighty or super-righteous. He chooses us because He loves us, has mercy on us, and blesses us in His Son—through our faith in Jesus’ name.

Praise God! All the world is His.

As I was reading my Bible this morning, I came across the seventh plague in Egypt, a mighty and terrible hailstorm. God gave Egypt plenty of forewarning, and it records, “Then whoever feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses, but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the LORD left his slaves and his livestock in the field” (Exodus 9.20–21).

Meditating on this, two truths spring to my mind.

Fearing the LORD Is Good

When we fear the One True and Living God, the thrice-holy God, the Holiest of Holies, we listen to Him! His word is not frivolous nor simply suggestive but rather emphatic and commanding. Just as balls of solid ice fell upon those dismissive Egyptians, so God’s word does not fall to the ground void—it always accomplishes what He intends with irresistible power.

When God said He would harden Pharaoh’s heart, there was no way his heart could not have been hardened. When God said He would deliver His people from Egypt, there should have been no question He was able to accomplish His purpose; Israel could trust His word. So many accounts are recorded in Scripture in which God proves Himself; we should be ashamed to ever doubt His faithfulness. Let God be true and every man a liar.

Fearing the LORD Means Acting in Faith

Also, in the text above, I saw Egyptians who acted upon God’s word because they feared His wrath and power. They believed. After all, this was the seventh plague! They had seen terrible things over the past few months, and even if their Pharaoh wouldn’t budge, some of them were convinced. They pulled their animals and their slaves out of the field and sheltered them because God had warned.

This is what it means to fear the LORD. Solomon said the whole duty of man is to fear God and keep His commandments (Eccl. 12.13), and in the next verse he explained we should fear God because God will bring every matter (everything we say, do, and think) out into the open in the Judgment. Do you believe it? Does your daily walk show it?

Fearing Man Is Bad

A few days ago, I read Luke 12, and Jesus there taught His disciples, “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!” (Luke 12.4–5)

Jesus’ disciples are frequently faced with enemies who push us to go against the word of the Lord, and we must decide whether we fear them or God. This choice comes before us more often than we would care to admit. Someone pushes the perspective of the enemy, preaches falsehoods in our face, argues for some corrupt cause, and we have a choice. Do we remain silent? Do we walk away? Do we go along to get along? We find champions of faith who we should imitate, like Daniel and David, Ruth and Rahab, who faced lies, temptations, and demands from God’s enemies and replied in word and deed: “We must obey God rather than man.”

Fear can be good, and fear can be bad. It depends upon the context. It depends upon the object of our fear.

Whom do you fear?

Here are three important aspects of who Jesus is from Matthew.
 

Jesus Is the Son of God

At the angel's announcement of Jesus' birth, Matthew noted a prophecy from Isaiah 7.14: "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which translated means, 'God with us.'"

Peter made the good confession in Matthew 16.16: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

The Gospel closes with Jesus' crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. At His death, a Roman centurion exclaimed, "Truly, this was the Son of God!" (Matt. 27.54)

Jesus Is the King of the Jews

As the magi from the east rolled (trotted?) into Herod's Jerusalem, they asked, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?" (Matt. 2.2) Boy, that made Herod uncomfortable, for he thought he was the king of the Jews! The chief priests and scribes of the Jews showed Herod a prophecy from Micah 5.2:

And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah;
For out of you shall come forth a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.

To kill Jesus, the chief priests and scribes accused Him of wanting to set Himself up as a king, attempting to usurp Rome's authority. Governor Pilate, as he examined Jesus, asked, "Are You the King of the Jews?" (Matt. 27.11) Jesus did not deny it.

Twisting together a crown of thorns, robing Him in scarlet, and kneeling before Him, the soldiers mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" (Matt. 27.29).

When they crucified a man, the Romans would put a sign above his head which proclaimed the reason he was being crucified. Jesus' sign read: "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews" (Matt. 27.37).

They crucified their actual King about whom the prophets had written! Indeed, He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him (John 1.11).

Jesus Is to Be Worshiped

What did the magi do when they found the Child Jesus? "They fell to the ground and worshiped Him" (Matt. 2.11). Even as a child, He was God's Son and worthy of worship.

When Jesus walked on the sea to catch up to His disciples (in the midst of a raging storm), they were terrified, thinking Him a ghost. Jesus assured them of who He was, "It is I; do not be afraid." And then He calmed the storm when He stepped into the boat. The disciples reaction? "Those who were in the boat worshiped Him" (Matt. 14.32).

After Jesus' resurrection, the women who first visited His empty tomb were astounded to meet Jesus in the garden! "They came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him" (Matt. 29.9).

Finally, when the disciples gathered on the mountain in Galilee, just before Jesus' ascension, "When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful" (Matt. 28.17).

Do You Accept Jesus This Way?

Is Jesus God's Son? Is He King? Is He to be worshiped? Did God the Father grant Him "all authority...in heaven and on earth" (Matt. 28.18)?

He is all of these things, and those who accept Him are eternally blessed by God. Those who reject Him are lost forever. Your reaction to Jesus is critical! What do you say?

Simon, a Pharisee, invited Jesus to his house. There he was, sharing his table with this great Rabbi (and perhaps other Jews of significance and notoriety), when some random woman of the city (a dirty, rotten sinner, at that) came in with a flask of alabaster ointment. What a scene that must have been! Why would such a woman interrupt their meal. The riffraff were welcome to stand at the windows and hang around to hear the men converse at the big-boy table, but she dared to come in and even touch this Rabbi.

Her tears cascaded over Jesus’ feet, and she wiped them away with her hair. Why did she use her hair? Why not her skirt or a towel? That seems rather personal. Then she poured some of that alabaster oil on his feet. How odd, right?

I’ve never had anyone, let alone a random woman, come mess with my feet before—not while I was eating nor at any other time. It would make me uncomfortable. And if I knew the woman grabbing my feet were also a woman of the night or of some such unsavory occupation, that would increase my anxiety and concern. What would people think of me? What business would she have coming so near and being so bold?

Simon had these sorts of thoughts. Why would this great Rabbi allow her to touch him, especially knowing what kind of a sinner she was?

Jesus had some words for Simon. He told him about two debtors, one who owed 500 denarii and another who owed 50 to the same moneylender. The moneylender forgave both debts, so Jesus’ question was, “Now which of them will love him more?” Simon knew, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” Correct.

Then Jesus dropped a bomb on Simon. “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.”

Not only did Jesus praise the woman, He pointed out the lack of hospitality Simon had shown him. It was basic hospitality for a Jew to wash the feet of those whom he invited to his house. To not offer a foot washing was almost to say, “You’re not worth it.” On the other hand, nothing was expected of this woman. She wasn’t expected to show hospitality, yet she poured out her gifts—what she had—to the Lord. Apparently, she did not feel right touching Jesus’ head, but she lowered herself to touch his feet.

Simon, a leader of the Jews, did not identify himself as a sinner, of needing forgiveness, or of needing Jesus. In fact, he probably had invited Jesus to demonstrate his magnanimity and score a few political points.

The woman knew she was a sinner (probably was often told and treated as such), so she came to Jesus humbly in pennant posture. She asked nothing, expected nothing, bringing a gift to bless this great man.

The point of Jesus’ parable is that she loved him more because she had such a realistic view of her sins, which were many, and she received Jesus, believing what he preached. Simon did not love Jesus much because he had an unrealistic accounting of his sins, which also were many, and he did not receive Jesus even when he had the perfect opportunity.

“Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven,” Jesus said, “for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” He said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven,” and then, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Sweeter words she never heard! To the one who understands the depths of his or her sin and goes to Jesus, that one will receive his love and forgiveness.

But to the one who just invites Jesus into his house from time to time to hang out with everyone else, that one does not know the Lord. He will not receive forgiveness but should expect the Lord’s judgment on the last day.

Know your sins. Receive Jesus like the humble, contrite, worshipful woman.