Advent 4 (2020) - The Name of the Game
Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
Release Date: 12/24/2020
Healing Eden, Part 18: Saul’s Foolish Sacrifice
Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
Today we arrive at a pivotal moment in Israel’s young monarchy as King Saul faces battle against the vastly superior Philistine army. So great is the Philistine advantage that fear begins to grip the Israel ranks – to the point that Saul fears his troops may disintegrate before the first arrow is fired. And thus, Saul is confronted with a choice: wait (as he has been strictly instructed to do), or act of his own accord. Saul acts…, in what feels to us a very understandable way. And yet that action brings the severe judgment of the Lord. Indeed, Saul’s decision will cost him a dynasty...
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Healing Eden, Part 17: Saul Anointed King
Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
In our study of the biblical story from Genesis to Revelation we arrive at the anointing of King Saul – the first king of Israel – an occasion of very mixed emotions. For Israel, at least at the beginning, it’s moment of great joy, as they think having a king is the cure for what ails them. And, as we’ll see, Saul absolutely looks the part of royalty. But when it comes to actually ruling in obedience to YHWH, that will be a different story. Which is going to be the problem with the monarchy in Israel for centuries. For Israel’s desire to “be like the other nations” is going to be...
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Healing Eden, Part 16: Israel Demands a King
Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
As Israel's sufferings grow, she thinks she has struck upon a solution: a king! If only God would grant Israel a king, she would finally be "like the other nations" (and therefore suffer less?). It is an impulse literally as old as the Garden of Eden - to imagine that if only we could wrest more control of our lives from the universe (i.e., God), we would know how to cure what ails us. If God would only give us a king (...a particular political party, a charismatic leader, a ...?) we would have the means by which to achieve virtue and therefore peace and love, right??? In this episode...
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Healing Eden, Part 15: From Bad to Worse (Eli)
Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
If you’ve been with us for the journey thus far, you know that Israel as a people have been set apart – called by God to a unique, priestly identity in the world. Israel is to be the means by which the love of God is ultimately made manifest to all the nations of the earth. But it requires that Israel be uniquely devoted to God as God is devoted to Israel. Today we find ourselves roughtly 200 years after the Exodus (and the giving of Torah) and Israel’s devotion is crumbling rapidly; in no small part because one of Israel’s key leaders – the priest, Eli - is allowing for all sorts of...
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Healing Eden, Part 14: When Hope Seems Lost (Hannah)
Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
With this episode we step into the story of a woman named Hannah — whose deep personal pain symbolically reflects the larger, spiritual state of Israel, as she lives in a time (the end of the age of the Judges) when the whole project of salvation seems to be hanging by a thread. Israel is constantly turning away from YHWH and facing judgment for it – and it seems God may be reaching his breaking point. Indeed, the very covenant of salvation itself feels very much in jeopardy. But through Hannah’s tears of lament, God begins to move very graciously for her and, through her, for Israel –...
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Healing Eden, Part 13: The Temptation of Acculturation (Judges)
Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
Today we turn our attention to understanding the book of Judges, where Israel, newly settled in the Promised Land, faces a different kind of battle—no longer combat with swords and spears, but with the temptation to adopt the culture of those around her. Surrounded by Canaanite customs and religion, God’s chosen people begin to lose sight of who they are, as they attempt to trade faithfulness for what feels like security. For Israel, YHWH may have delivered them from captivity in Egypt; but that was a long time ago. And life in Canaan presents new challenges, challenges for which, perhaps,...
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Healing Eden, Part 12: On the Cusp of Canaan
Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
Today we arrive on the cusp of Canaan, that is to say: the promised land. After a generation of wandering in the wilderness, Israel arrives at last on the eastern bank of the River Jordan. And what lies ahead of them – according to the book of Joshua – are many, bloody battles necessary to secure Israel within Canaan’s borders. (For the modern reader it makes Joshua difficult to interpret as it sure seems like God might be commanding… genocide?) But even if the battle scenes are not the whole story, Israel still enters Canaan in a very precarious position. God’s people are the weaker...
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Healing Eden, Part 11: The Ten Commandments
Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
In this episode we arrive, alongside Israel, at Mt. Sinai where God gathers the whole of his people to receive the Ten Commandments. But rather than looking at the specific, nuanced meaning of each of the commandments (we recently did this in the series ), we focus here on the larger question of: why? Why does God's journey with his newly established people begin with a set of instructions about what thou shall and shalt not do? Is God, in the end, one, giant rule-giver in the sky - testing individuals to see who qualifies to receive blessings here and now, or perhaps in the hereafter? Is...
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Healing Eden, Part 10: Trapped by the Red Sea
Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
Today we turn our attention to events immediately following the exodus - as Israel makes her escape from centuries of slavery in Egypt. For God has acted with mighty power to save, and our first imagination is that - under divine care - Israel will be safe evermore. But as Israel flees into the Sinai desert, she soon discovers that Pharaoh is in pursuit with the full might of the Egyptian army. And as the Egyptian chariots approach, Israel finds herself trapped by the Red Sea. And has her toes touch the water, Israel - and we - are forced to learn an essential lesson of the life of faith: in...
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Healing Eden, Part 09: Exodus and Passover
Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
The exodus from Egypt becomes the gravitational center of the Old Testament as it forms Israel’s image of what it means to be saved! After centuries of suffering, God acts with incredible power to break the bonds of Israel’s slavery and leads her to new freedom under God’s direct care. It is a story of divine strength and mercy and directly foreshadows a larger salvation that is to come when God breaks the ultimate bonds of sin and death. But…, the exodus also comes with immeasurable suffering as God’s deliverance for Israel is matched by God’s judgment upon Egypt – the death of...
info_outlineThe ultimate lesson of Advent, indeed the ultimate lesson of the whole of scripture and the life of faith, is love - the pure, open, unending and unconditional, freely-given love of God. It is the simplest of insights, and yet we can go decades - even as confessing Christians - without truly seeing it...truly.
And so this is a sermon about exactly that: the love of God, as plainly as I can make it. It's not a Christmas sermon per se, but there is much within it about discovering Jesus (again). I hope it's of help!
Here's a quick link to translation of Augustine's Confessions I've been raving about!
And the biblical passage referenced in this sermon is:
It was preached on December 20, 2020 at Canvas Presbyterian Church (Irvine, CA). If you'd like to see the whole worship service, you can find it here. Or subscribe to the Canvas Vimeo page for our video archive or to see future worship services!
And know that we'd LOVE to have you join us for Christmas Eve worship! The service will be live at 4:30PM PST on Dec. 24th. You can find it on the Canvas website or on our Vimeo page.
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