Divine Will and Testament

  • November 14, 2017
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  • Jon Polk

Scripture: Hebrews 9.15
For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

Reflection: Divine Will and Testament
By Jon Polk

Our High Priest Jesus has mediated for us a New Covenant with God, the terms of which read more like wedding vows than legal terms. In a similar way, the gospel message, the announcement of the good news found in Christ, sounds a lot like a last will and testament.

A covenant is a behavioral agreement between two parties describing certain actions that one or both parties will take toward the other. A testament, however, is stated by one party regarding the disposition of personal property, i.e. an inheritance. The conditions of a last will and testament only take effect upon the person’s death.

The Old Covenant required sacrifices and had regulations for worship and an earthly tabernacle. But the sacrifices and gifts offered by the people of Israel were merely matters of eating, drinking and ceremonial cleansing and were ultimately unable to cleanse the conscience of the people.

As our High Priest, Jesus entered a heavenly tabernacle and offered himself as an unblemished and perfect sacrifice for our sins.

Upon his death, the conditions of Jesus’ last will and testament come into effect. When a person dies, he or she must trust the legal system to insure their will is executed as they intended. For Jesus, however, he has returned to life to personally guarantee that we receive the entirety of his inheritance.

 

The Last Will and Testament of Jesus Christ

I, Jesus Christ, of the city of Nazareth, declare this to be my Will, and I revoke any and all wills and covenants previously made.

I hereby give my grace, love, mercy and forgiveness to all of humanity, past, present, and future. I leave behind for my heirs the promise of eternal redemption. I give them clean consciences for the purpose of serving the living God.

Upon their acceptance of these gifts, freely given, they will also receive a portion of my eternal estate and a place reserved for them in my home in heaven. This inheritance is priceless and is pure, undefiled, and will never decay or fade away.

I declare that this Will for my brothers and sisters has been proclaimed by our Father to be “good and acceptable and perfect.”

The Prayer Appointed for the Week
O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, I may purify myself as he is pure…

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Full prayer available online and in print.

Today’s Readings
1 Chronicles 3-4 (Listen – 8:52)
Hebrews 9 (Listen – 4:40)

New And Improved

  • November 13, 2017
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  • Jon Polk

Scripture: Hebrews 8.6
But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.

Reflection: New And Improved
By Jon Polk

The Old Covenant, the Law delivered through Moses, was a covenant of works, a legal contract. Do these things. Observe this rule. Act this way. Don’t act that way. It was full of ritual, hard to understand, and even harder to keep.

There’s the problem. And it is a problem. In fact, if there wasn’t a problem with the Old Covenant, then there would have been no need for a new one.

The people of Israel did not and could not keep the Old Covenant. Because they did not remain faithful to the covenant, God turned away from them. The Old Covenant served to highlight the unfortunate truth that no one is righteous, not even one.

Except for Jesus, the only righteous one. The Son of God, our great High Priest, has mediated for us a New Covenant, a better covenant, with God. This New Covenant is a covenant of grace, mercy, and forgiveness.

The content of the New Covenant, quoted from Jeremiah 31, reads more like marriage vows than a legal document.

Do you, God, promise to put your laws in the people’s minds? I will.

Do you, God, promise to write your laws on their hearts? I will.

Do you, God, promise to be the God of your people? I will.

Do you, God, promise that your people will be yours? I will.

Where God once wrote his laws to his people on stone, God will now write a new law in his people, in minds and hearts of flesh. This law written in us stirs us to obedience because it is inscribed on the deepest parts of our being: our mind where we reason, remember and reflect and our heart where we love, hope and give thanks. This is the soil in which God’s new law of grace and forgiveness takes root.

Where God had once turned away from his people because they were unfaithful, God now promises that he will be their God and they will be his people once again. This New Covenant is not dependent on our faithfulness, but rather on God’s faithfulness.

The New Covenant has made the old one obsolete. In his classic commentary, Matthew Henry declares, “It is antiquated, canceled, out of date, of no more use in gospel times than candles are when the sun has risen.”

Sisters and brothers, thanks be to God that we have this New Covenant because the Son has indeed risen.

The Call to Prayer
“Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord. — Isaiah 1.18

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Full prayer available online and in print.

Today’s Readings
1 Chronicles 1-2 (Listen – 11:18)
Hebrews 8 (Listen – 2:22)

No Spiritual Fast Food

  • November 10, 2017
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  • Jon Polk

Scripture: Hebrews 5.12
In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!

Reflection: No Spiritual Fast Food
By Jon Polk

Fast food. We love our fast food. The results of a 2013 Gallup Poll indicated that almost 50% of Americans eat fast food at least once a week. This is in spite of the fact that the majority of those who eat it at least weekly also agreed that fast food is not good for you. But fast food has become an integral part of our culture because of its convenience, portability, and low cost.

What if we managed our spiritual diet in the same way we treat our physical diet? What if we approached our spiritual health in the same way we ignore our physical health?

The reality is that we live in a fast-paced world. We eat fast food not because it is healthy, but because it is efficient. Often the same is true for our spiritual lives. We read our one-minute devotion, say a quick prayer as we head out the door, and maybe listen to a song or two on the local Christian radio station on the way to work. Quick, easy, convenient.

Unfortunately, spiritual maturity does not come quickly, it is rarely easy, and is definitely not convenient.

The recipients of the epistle of Hebrews wrestled with spiritual immaturity. They weren’t willing to grow in their faith and knowledge of God’s truths. They didn’t even try to understand.

The word of God is alive and active and ought to continually challenge us and reshape our thinking and living. We should not be lazy with our faith and simply remain as spiritual infants, but rather work diligently to love God and serve his people. Like the first hearers of this letter, some of us who ought to have matured into teachers and leaders of the faith are still repeating Christianity 101.

A CEO of a large company was interviewing a field of internal candidates for a promotion. When the announcement was made that a five-year employee received the promotion, another employee angrily challenged the executive, “I’ve had twenty years with this company and I was passed over for the promotion by a colleague with only five years of experience.” The CEO replied, “That is not exactly true. You have only had one year’s experience twenty times.”

There are no shortcuts to spiritual maturity. It is a lifelong process of learning and growing and training ourselves in the ways of God’s love, grace and truth.

The Refrain
I call with my whole heart; answer me, O Lord, that I may keep your statutes. — Psalm 119.145

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Full prayer available online and in print.

Today’s Readings
2 Kings 23 (Listen – 7:43)
Hebrews 5 (Listen – 1:57)

This Weekend’s Readings
2 Kings 24 (Listen – 3:21) Hebrews 6 (Listen – 2:58)
2 Kings 25 (Listen – 5:24) Hebrews 7 (Listen – 4:01)

A High Priest Like No Other

  • November 9, 2017
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  • Jon Polk

Scripture: Hebrews 4.15
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.

Reflection: A High Priest Like No Other
By Jon Polk

According to the sacrificial system in Israel, the high priest, the chief religious official of Judaism, was the only one who could offer sacrifices for the sins of the people and for other priests and even for himself.

On the Day of Atonement (the annual Jewish festival of Yom Kippur), the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies and offer sacrifices for the penance of the people of Israel. Only the high priest could enter this sacred inner sanctuary of the temple and he could do so only once a year, on this holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

However, there is one who is called our great high priest, whose power and authority supersedes that of the high priests of old.

Jesus, our great high priest, walked among us as a human being, therefore, he is able to identify and sympathize with us. He drew near to us in order to understand us. As a human being living alongside his creation, Jesus was tempted like us, faced trials like us, and endured suffering like us. Jesus participated fully in the human experience with one important exception, Jesus did not sin.

Jesus, the Son of God, while similar to us in his humanity, is also significantly different from us in his divinity. Although he faced temptations common to all people, he did not give in to sin. This critical distinction elevates Jesus above any earthly high priest.

As our great high priest who is without sin, Jesus mediates payment for our sins through the sacrifice of his own life. Through his death, resurrection and ascension back into heaven, we can receive God’s mercy and grace.

As a fellow human, Jesus is able to identify with us. As the divine Son of God, Jesus is able to save us.

Israel’s high priest was allowed access to the presence of God in the Holy of Holies only once a year. Our great high priest Jesus has provided each of us with access to God’s throne of grace in any time of need. May we live our lives in faithfulness and gratitude for the great high priest who redeems.

The Refrain
Cast your burden upon the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous stumble. — Psalm 55.2

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Full prayer available online and in print.

Today’s Readings
2 Kings 22 (Listen – 3:45)
Hebrews 4 (Listen – 2:43)

A Cautionary Tale of Unbelief

  • November 8, 2017
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  • Jon Polk

Scripture: Hebrews 3.12
See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.

Reflection: A Cautionary Tale of Unbelief
By Jon Polk

From the ancient history of the Israelite people comes a familiar story, a warning from the Holy Spirit. We recall those whose rebellion against God resulted in forty years of punishment in the wilderness, those whose hearts wandered away from faith, despite what God had done for them.

And it is here we discover that the heart is, in fact, the heart of the matter. In Hebrew thought, the heart was the core of a person’s being. The heart was the locus of emotional, intellectual, and moral activity and the center of physical activity. Thus, the heart controls motivations and produces actions. A clean heart produces faithful living. A corrupt heart leads to the opposite.

The Israelites who had followed Moses out of Egyptian captivity were given the opportunity to return home, back to the Promised Land that God had provided for their ancestors. But the Israelites’ unbelief, their lack of faith, determined their action. They walked away from God’s plan and his desires for them.

The English words belief and faith are both translated from the same Greek root word. We tend to think of belief as a set of propositions to which we give intellectual assent, but it is much more than that. To believe is to have faith. To have faith is to trust. To trust results in action.

An unbelieving heart does not trust in God’s ability to provide and lead and consequently results in decision-making and action that turn away from the good nature and grace of God. And such was the demise of an entire generation of Israelites, who walked away from the Promised Land because of their unbelief and perished after forty years of wandering in the desert. Moses brought God’s salvation to the ancient Israelites, but their hearts of unbelief charted a course of disobedient action.

Let the warning of the Holy Spirit be heard by those who are followers of Christ, do not harden your hearts towards God. May our souls sing with conviction these words from the great hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing:

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace now like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

The Request for Presence
Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice in the Lord; shout for joy, all who are true of heart. — Psalm 32.12

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Full prayer available online and in print.

Today’s Readings
2 Kings 21 (Listen – 4:06)
Hebrews 3 (Listen – 2:25)