What Kind of Rest?
Wilderness Wanderings
For day after day, they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God (Isaiah 58:2). This is a difficult chapter to read. God is angry with is covenant people. Very angry. They show up for the appointed worship services and other religious festivals. They ask God for direction. They appear eager to come near to him. They love the Sabbath day. They do all the right things. There is just one problem. A rather large one. When they return to non-Sabbath activities, its as if the Sabbath never happened....
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Staying on the Altar
Wilderness Wanderings
Don’t pay back evil with evil…My dear friends, don’t try to get even. Leave room for God to show his anger…Scripture says, “If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. By doing those things, you will pile up burning coals on their heads.” Don’t let evil overcome you. Overcome evil by doing good (17-21). The Heidelberg Catechism teaches us that we have a natural tendency to hate God and our neighbor (A 5). That seems about right. To repay evil with good seems overly optimistic. Getting even is our natural bent. Have you...
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Finding Rest
Wilderness Wanderings
Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress; I will not be shaken (Psalm 62:5-6). Well, Advent and Christmas are behind us again. Our wall calendars have been exchanged for fresh ones (if we still use those). This means that Wilderness Wanderings returns to its Avodah series. A refresher is likely needed. What is this series about? Why return to it? Here is why: the rhythm of work and rest was established by God in the beginning. It was part of his declaration: “It is very good”. Since the fall, it has been especially...
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Growing Small
Wilderness Wanderings
A Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text is 1 Peter 5:1-11. Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection! To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it . Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: Why the title “Growing Small”? What are the three “Ts” mentioned in the sermon? What two things does the word “mighty” refer too? What is the difference between worry and humility? What should we know about God that helps us trust him? How do we...
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The Mountains
Wilderness Wanderings
Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved and will endure forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, now and forevermore. Evil people will not always rule the land the Lord gave to those who do right. If they did, those who do right might do what is evil (Psalm 125:1-3). Jerusalem was a walled city on the top of a mountain surrounded by other mountains. Standing on top of those walls, looking out at those mountains, an Israelite could feel secure. From those walls the psalmist declares: like the mountains surrounding this...
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Lost
Wilderness Wanderings
After three days [Jesus’ parents] found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers (Luke 2:46-47). Of all the stories about Jesus’ childhood, why would Luke choose to tell this story? Certainly, there were more interesting ones; stories that would give us a flavour of what his youth was like. This story fills in the portrait of Jesus being painted. In Philippians 3, Paul details how he had been the perfect Jew. Luke is picturing Jesus with similar colours. He...
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Doegishness
Wilderness Wanderings
“Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero? Why do you boast all day long, you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God? Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin: He will snatch you up and pluck you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever (Psalm 52:1,5,8). David is hiding from King Saul and his murderous paranoia. When the priest Ahimelech gives David refuge, Doeg tattles on him. Having volunteered to kill the priest, Doeg kills Ahimelech and 83 of...
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What Do You Want?
Wilderness Wanderings
"How lovely is your dwelling place O Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God” (Psalm 84:1-2). Let’s begin with a simple question, “What do you want?” Some of you may be looking in the refrigerator to get some breakfast. I’m not interested in your breakfast. This is one of those annoyingly profound questions like what you want your legacy to be. What do you want for your life? or from your life? I get irritated with stories in which a character immediately knows the answer to such a question. I find...
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Flickering Lights
Wilderness Wanderings
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near (Hebrews 10:24-25). There is a scene in the sixth Harry Potter movie that offers an image of the church. Harry’s guardian, mentor, friend, and father/grandfather type figure, Albus Dumbledore, has just been murdered by a trusted friend. Dumbledore was the leader of those fighting against the rise of evil. Now he lies dead, at the foot of the Hogwart’s walls. Thus far in the story,...
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What Can We Say?
Wilderness Wanderings
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:1-3). Human words muddy the beauty of this profound text. How can we convey the intensity with which God desires to communicate with his people? ...
info_outlineOur scripture is from Matthew 9:37-38:
Then [Jesus] said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Life can feel like a hamster wheel of daily demands: work, school, relationships, home and church. Is it possible that these daily rhythms as moments filled with possibility for God’s mission?
Our text is often understood as a call to action. Christians should get out there and do something for the Great Commission – serve in the church, go on a mission trip, help the homeless. That is not all wrong, but it is not the essence of the matter. There is also this: God is Lord of the harvest.
This has implications: the mission of God is not ours to initiate, carry or fulfil. It belongs to Him. Further, it implies that God is at work all around us. He is already lovingly and persistently drawing people to Himself. He is doing that in the places we frequent regularly – work, school, coffee shop. Are we paying attention?
Many of us partition our lives into two halves. We do the spiritual stuff: go to church, have devotions, attend Bible study. And we have the rest of life: laundry, work, volunteering, studying. What happens if we take the dividing wall away? What if we see the ordinary stuff of life filed with the divine? What if the harvest is right here—the people we spend our days working, studying, playing with?
If God is present everywhere and if the harvest belongs to God, then we must believe that he is with those people we encounter daily. There is really no such thing as church missions. There is only one mission—God’s mission. We either join with God in his redemptive work or we don’t. Mission isn’t something we create or carry alone. It begins with God, and he’s at work all around us, even when we’re not aware of it.
There is a popular missional phrase, “You don’t need to bring Jesus into your workplace – He’s already there.” The harvest is already plentiful, not in some faraway place, but right now in our neighbourhoods, our workplaces, the stores we frequent. And Jesus is the Lord of it.
Let’s ask Jesus to open our eyes to see the harvest. Let’s ask him to open our ears to hear the spiritual questions people are asking. Let’s ask him to help us join in the conversations that are already happening. Let’s ask that he gives us confidence to participate in the harvest, remembering that we are not responsible for it.
As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:
Wherever God takes you today, may He fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit and that you may live carefully—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.