Compelled To Preach The Gospel - 1 Corinthians 9-10

1 Corinthians 9:16-18 (ESV)

For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

In chapter nine of this letter to the church at Corinth, God has lead Paul to write about his own authority and standing in and toward this church.  In earlier chapters he has exposed the division in the church that some had loyalty for one and some loyalty for another and some who had loyalty for Paul.   He is correcting this devision by instructing them about his conduct in their midst.   Whereas some have taken advantage of them by collecting funds from them for their ministry, he has not.   He is not saying that ministers of the gospel should not be paid by the gospel.  In fact, just the opposite:

1 Corinthians 9:14 (ESV)

In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

But this is where he separates himself from the others in Corinth, also proclaiming the gospel.  He has not afforded himself with that right.   Instead, as he states in the above few verses, he has a compulsion to preach the gospel.  He must preach it.  It is a necessity that is laid upon him.   Oh, would that be true for us all!   It is not about leveraging the gospel for gain.   It is about gaining the gospel more leverage in the hearts of those you meet.  Paul had to preach the gospel.  He could not, not.   He believes teaching and preaching the gospel is a gift he is to steward.   As the disciples were commissioned to go into the world to preach the gospel, so, too, Paul.  This is, according to his argument, the proof of his apostleship and the reason the church at Corinth should listen to him.  Not because of who he was, but because of his message.   So, we too, ought to preach the gospel.   We should believe, like Paul, we are compelled to do so.  

Calling Our Sin in Leadership - Mark 5-6

Mark 6:14-20 (ESV)

The Death of John the Baptist

King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.

John the Baptist was not afraid to call out the sins of the leaders around him.  He not only called out Herod, as we read above, he also called out the religious leaders of the day:

Matthew 3:7-8 (ESV)

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

Sometimes we simply have to stand up and call out sin.  

Turn From Evil to God - Jeremiah 1-6

Jeremiah 4:22 (ESV)

“For my people are foolish;

they know me not;

they are stupid children;

they have no understanding.

They are ‘wise’—in doing evil!

But how to do good they know not.”

In the first six chapters of Jeremiah we read about the prophet’s call, his mission and the indictment against Israel and Judah.   The prophet was called to be a prophet while still in the womb:

Jeremiah 1:5 (ESV)

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

He was then commissioned to speak God’s Word:

Jeremiah 1:9 (ESV)

9 Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.

He was told he would be protected by God’s sovereign power:

Jeremiah 1:18-19 (ESV)

And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you.”

Why is all that true?  Because of the message and mission he was sent upon.   In the above verse we read why Jeremiah was sent.  This nation, a people called out by God, had turned their backs on God.   They were now turning their back on God.  Although they thought themselves to wise for God, God tells them they are wise - but wise only in what was evil.   When we turn our backs on God the only other thing we will see is evil.  There is not a middle ground.  You can’t have one-half God and one-half evil.   Many, if not most, think that is true.  They turn to God in troubled times, but day-to-day they turn toward evil.  The world’s system is great for teaching evil.    It is not hard for children and adults, alike, to find evil and turn toward it.  The nation needed a prophet, speaking the holy Word of God (while being protected by God) to speak to them in their evil hearts.   The only solution for those who turn to evil is for someone to speak truth to them to turn them to God.  

Man the Maggot vs the Majesty of God - Job 25-26

Job 26:11 (ESV)

The pillars of heaven tremble

and are astounded at his rebuke.

In Job 26 we begin a six chapter response from Job regarding his friend’s comforting words to him.  They are anything but comforting.   Job has lost those he loves.  Like most people who come to funerals, the friends probably didn’t know what to say.  And like people who come to funeral’s, they say too much, or say it in the wrong way.  In chapter 25, Job’s friend, Bildad, had just told Job that no one can comprehend God and that we are but maggots and worms before God.  Job does not dispute Bildad, but he does challenge his intellect and where he gets his knowledge.  Note:

Job 26:2-3 (ESV)

“How you have helped him who has no power!

How you have saved the arm that has no strength!

How you have counseled him who has no wisdom,

and plentifully declared sound knowledge!

Job has become quite sarcastic and delivers this rebuke to Bildad to set up what he is about to say.   Job will piggy-back on the concept that man is a but a worm and a maggot.  But not in the way Bildad believes.  Bildad’s point is that Job is not worth much to God (like a maggot or worm).  Job will take this thought and turn it into another direction.  Rather than talk about the frailty of man and his obscurity, Job begins to talk about the power of God.   He speaks about how the dead tremble (v. 5) at God.  He speaks about how death and the grave are naked before God (v. 6).   He speaks about how the earth is simply hanging in the air and attached to nothing (v. 7).   He then pivots to talk about how God is so powerful He even controls all the drops of water on the earth.  In verse 11 he speaks about how the waters (he calls them the pillars of heaven) tremble at God and are astounded at His rebuke.  Bildad chose to focus on the insignificance of man and therefore Job’s plight is not even on God’s radar.   Job chose to focus on the power of God over drops of water.   In the midst of suffering we typically do both.  In one sense we see how little we matter in the big scheme of things.   We are but small creatures in great big universe.   Yet, as Job is telling us, God hung the earth in the sky and although the waters in the universe tremble at Him, it shows that our lives matter to Him.   That God is here.  That God does see our pain and suffering.   Job has no answers, yet.  He may not really get one from this book.  But he does see the glory and majesty of God and trembles before Him.  Sometimes in our loss, that is all we see.  But it is enough:

John 14:8 (ESV)

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”

Evil Will Not Prevail - Psalms 36-38

Psalms 36:3-4 (ESV)

The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit;

he has ceased to act wisely and do good.

He plots trouble while on his bed;

he sets himself in a way that is not good;

he does not reject evil.

Psalm 36 is a contrast between the righteous and the wicked.   This is a prayer of David’s and it seems to read as though he has a group of people in mind.   The theme of chapter 36 overflows to chapter 37, as well.  Chapter 37 starts out:

Psalms 37:1-2 (ESV)

OF DAVID.

Fret not yourself because of evildoers;

be not envious of wrongdoers!

For they will soon fade like the grass

and wither like the green herb.

David writes to tell us that wicked, though they appear to be strong, will eventually be nothing and be gone. 

We might do well to compare this in Psalm 15 which is a song written about the righteous man who will never be moved.  

A key peace of knowledge we gain from the above verses about the wicked, is that he does not reject evil.   But Jesus came to give us joy and power over the evil one:

John 17:13-14 (ESV)

But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

We are in the world and the world is evil.   We can, if not careful, be caught up in the success and ease that the wicked appear to have in their lives.   If we are not thinking correctly, we can falsely believe their carefree, but evil life, is missed by God.  Asaph, another song writer of the Psalms was in that spot.  He looked at the wicked and saw no pain in their lives.   But then he comes to his senses and writes this:

Psalms 73:16-17 (ESV)

But when I thought how to understand this,

it seemed to me a wearisome task,

until I went into the sanctuary of God;

then I discerned their end.

When we see injustice done in this world it is easy for us to become completely discouraged.   But those who act with wickedness in their hearts and do not reject evil, but rather seem to invent it, will be dealt with by God, eventually.  Here is how David ends this song:

Psalms 36:10-12 (ESV)

Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you,

and your righteousness to the upright of heart!

Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me,

nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.

There the evildoers lie fallen;

they are thrust down, unable to rise.

The wicked will not prevail!

Obedience To God Matters - 1 Samuel 11-15

1 Samuel 15:17-21 (ESV)

And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. And the LORD sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?” And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the LORD. I have gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.”

God, through Samuel, had sent Saul on a mission.  He was to attack the wicked Amalekites and destroy them all.  It was an exact command Saul was to follow:

1 Samuel 15:3 (ESV)

Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

But, when Saul arrived and defeated most of the Amalek people, this is what happened:

1 Samuel 15:9 (ESV)

But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.

Now, we, as fellow human beings, might think this is okay.  But Saul disobeyed God.  So Saul actually saving people alive, was disobedient to God?   Does that make sense?   Yes, because Samuel will tell Saul this:

1 Samuel 15:22 (ESV)

And Samuel said,

“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

as in obeying the voice of the LORD?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,

and to listen than the fat of rams.

God does not want our good works.  He wants our obedience in faith to His word.   It should be noted that God was using Saul to be God’s vengeance on an evil man.  Note what Samuel says about this king just before he, himself, obeys God and kills him:

1 Samuel 15:32-33 (ESV)

Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” And Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.

Saul had a mission from God.  He may not have liked the mission.  He may have wanted to show mercy and thought that he was being gracious.  But he was supposed to be God’s hand for justice, not God’s hand for mercy.   Obedience is the driving element here.  We are to obey God’s word, not fit it into our own life philosophy.  

What To Do With Loss - Genesis 48-50

Genesis 49:29 - 50:1 (ESV)

Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.” When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

Then Joseph fell on his father’s face and wept over him and kissed him.

The above verses are taken from the middle of a paragraph.   Israel (Jacob) is dying.  He has just finished blessing his 12 sons and grandchildren.   The scene is of course, somber. The moment monumental.   But the instructions specific.   Israel does not want to be buried in Egypt (Neither will Jospeh ... Joshua 24:32).   He wants his remains to be in his land, with the remains of his family.   In the New Testament this type of discussion is not really talked about.   But I am now, here, faced with my son’s remains after his sudden passing.  This passage, read for years, now takes on an entire new meaning.   I’m trying to navigate what that looks like.   I think what we read in this passage, that there are many points to be made, but three stand out to me.  These feed my hurting soul:

1. That aftermath of death is to be respected.  As hard as it is and evil as it is, we are to understand that God has designed us, even in death, to be in community.   Israel was dying but wanted to be with his people.  That is such an amazing thought process. Yes, we know, as Christians we will be absent from our body and present with the Lord.  But these things matter as God created us to connect with Him AND with each other, even in death. 

2. We are to honor the wishes of the dying.  This probably has some limits.  But where we can, we are to try to show honor to people after they are gone, base upon their mindset when they were here.   If they don’t tell us we are somewhat lost.  But I believe we are to find a way to capture their hearts, in our actions.  

3.  It is okay to fall on our face and weep.   Jesus wept (John 11:35).   Our weeping is a gift from God to cleanse the mind and soul by releasing our anguish and hurt.  It is designed by God.   Ironically, it is weak people who typically spout that weeping shows you are weak.  No, it is strong people (our Savior) who weep in the face of loss. 

I am still not that clear but will make sure my son is honored in community and that even though my weeping hurts for me, it honors him!!