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2 SAMUEL 7:7-14A
“I get more prayers asking for parking spaces than anything else. You people need to think bigger!” GOD.
David and Nathan both thought they knew what God wanted – a house for God to live in. Fortunately Nathan took a deep breath, listened to God, admitted he got it wrong, and instead told David what God wanted. It’s just as well, because Nathan and David were thinking too small! God reminds David that God has always been on the move, with God’s people Israel, and with David as shepherd, warrior and king. A house made of stones and timber is not going to contain him! Then God, through Nathan, sets out a big vision, much bigger than a place to house the ark. It’s a vision of a home nation, a place of peace and provision. And ultimately of a Kingdom that will last forever, and a King who will be a Son to God. We are builders of that Kingdom, not reporting back to a God confined in a building, but following a living God who in and through us is building his Kingdom. We haven’t come ‘to church’, we’ve come ‘as church’. And we don’t leave church, we disperse as church in the community. Church is wherever in the world God’s people read his Word, pray and serve. God is building himself a spiritual dwelling place in his followers (Ephesians 2:22). That way God can be at home among his people, wherever they are in the world!
EPHESIANS 2:11-22
Most of us have been outsiders who became insiders, whether we joined a community, organisation or church. It takes a while to work out where, or even whether, we fit. Gentiles (including those at Ephesus) faced something similar. They had long been excluded from the commonwealth of Israel and from the covenants, and so had been considered ‘far off’ and ‘without God in the world’. Now they have been ‘brought near’ because of Christ (the language has echoes of Isaiah 57:19).
What the Gentiles are unsure about is – on what basis are they now insiders? Are they ‘honorary Jews’, and is that how come they are members of the household of God? The answer here is ‘no’. Because of Christ’s work, God has taken Jewish believers and Gentile believers, and has made them a new community. Neither is beholden to the other, and both are beholden to Christ. Bible translation is a key to drawing language groups into this new community.
When a person’s Bible is written in someone else’s language, readers not only struggle with the language but feel that their place in God is by virtue of that other culture. Only when a reader has the Bible in their own language can they truly feel that they are members of the household of God in their own right.
MARK 6:30-34
At the time of Jesus’ earthly
ministry, the world’s population was about 150 million; or 2.2% of the world’s population in 2009. Even then, it was hard to get away from the crowds! The disciples had just returned from what may have been their first mission without Jesus with much to report. The exercise had been exhausting, and Jesus invited them to get away somewhere to rest. There is nothing in the passage to suggest they didn’t get their rest. But Jesus himself continues to be overwhelmed by the demands of the multitudes. Jesus meets the needs of both those who are ‘near’ – his disciples – and those who are ‘far away’ – the crowds.
Through his Word, God teaches and comforts those who are near – his followers. But he also wants to reach those who are far away from him. We need to be taught and shaped by our reading of the Bible, but we also need to release it among those who are not yet followers of Jesus.
JEREMIAH 23:1-6
Few crimes outrage us more than a care giver abusing someone who depends on them. We react, “How dare they!” This passage carries that same angry indignation, here directed at Israel’s kings. These leaders have not only neglected their duty of care, but have acted in ways that caused fear among the people and divided the community of Israel. God pronounces unspecified judgement on the kings. But God’s heart quickly turns to his flock and he promises to take over the shepherd’s role. We know now that Israel’s kings continued on their wayward path. Nevertheless we see God’s promise fulfilled, in the sending of the Shepherd Jesus Christ who, seeing the people ‘like sheep without a shepherd’ (Mark 6:34), taught them the will and the ways of God.
In the Church today we have sheep and shepherds, but both come under the care and the authority of the great Shepherd, Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches us that every level of Christian community- the family, the local Church and the universal Church - is under the headship of the Great Shepherd sent by God. Leaders be encouraged, and beware!
