Don't treat God so casual

Our goal is to look at both perspectives that God intentionally shares with us because He wants us to know these things about himself. 

This week we are going to look at the tabernacle the temporary place of worship, and How he prescribed his people come into his presence, in the coming weeks we will look at the temple and God instructions for coming to him and then we will begin to explore various characters in the narrative of Scripture and how they came into the presence of God. 

For example, Priests who mishandled fire, Jesus telling the disciples to let the children come to him because we are all to seek after him like a child does, Uzzah who touched the arc of the covenant and was struck dead, or when God tells Moses to take off his sandal's because he is on holy ground, or the throne room of God in Revelation where angels perpetually sing Holy Holy Holy is the Lord almighty, or how about the woman who washes Jesus feet with her tears.

But this morning I want to start with the word AWE In a moment I am going to show you some breathtaking pics of nature

Because many times we will see something and be filled with AWE/Wonder>>captivate you, stop you in your tracks, they arrest you into being still and receiving the awesome beauty….which leads you to being in awe of the one who created it all!

So let me show you a handful of pictures here.  Joe please pause on each slide for 10 seconds or so to let folks soak in the scene and the beauty of the Solar poetry of a Sunrise/Sunset; the peace and stillness of winter, or the majesty of the mountains

The word translated as “awe” throughout the Bible is the Hebrew word “yirah” which also means respect, reverence and worship. 

But “yirah” also means fear.  Some of you may have grown up thinking to “fear the Lord” meant being scared of Him…but when we experience things like these sunsets or mountains or wintery bliss, we do not experience fear.  

We feel awe and reverence.  We feel “yirah”. 

Having this type awe and reverence for God will motivate you to do His will and Scripture tells us in Proverbs 9:10 that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom”.

So lets dig into what the OT has to say about the example of the Tabernacle as as way to understand his presence and the expected reverence.

So Israel is fresh out of slavery in Egypt and has no idea how to be a country a community and God drops the 10 commandments on them (see Exodus 20) He covenants with them so that they understand how to maintain a society or a country.

Then notice in Exodus 23:20-23 READ…..I'm gonna drop this not push it meaning make note of this and go back and look for yourself because God was clearly stating my presence will be with you and you need to be careful to obey.  If you do so I will clear the way for you, where I guide you I will provide for you, but you cant mix it up with all these other Gods you gotta take following me seriously.

In chapter 24 Israel accepts and joins the Lord in this covenant.  Then in chapter 25 the Lord instructs Moses to take up a sacred offering i.e. the spoils of Egypt that God put in your pocket were put there because I now want you to use them to build a dwelling place for my presence.  So chapter 25 goes into incredible detail about the materials and the artisans required to construct this tabernacle.  As a recovering architect I clearly see the detailed construction documents for His house and the items that the what we used to call FF&E the furnishings, fixtures and equipment that are to go inside it.

Now you and I tend to want to skip over these meticulous details, but God is very specific about sizes, dimensions, materials and how things were to be used.  WHY?  Well because the tabernacle of Moses was the temporary place of worship.  The word tabernacle is a translation of the Hebrew mishkan, which means “dwelling-place.”

The overall shape of the tabernacle followed traditional structures of the time. It consisted of an outer court, approximately seventy-five feet wide by one hundred and fifty feet long, with a fifteen-foot by forty-five-foot structure in the back (Exodus 27:9–19).

The court walls consisted of linen curtains attached by bronze hooks to a series of pillars. The pillars were supported on the bottom by bronze sockets and possibly held in place with rope that attached to bronze rings. The gate, always facing east, was about thirty feet of blue, purple, and scarlet woven into a curtain of linen. The altar of burnt offering and the bronze laver that the priests purified themselves in sat in the courtyard.

The tent was divided into two rooms: the Holy Place, where the table of showbread, the golden lampstand, and the altar of incense sat; and the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant was placed. The rooms were separated by a veil, similar to the entry screen, embroidered with cherubim and hung from four gold-covered acacia posts by gold clasps.

The purpose of the tabernacle was to provide a place where the people could properly worship God. Priests sacrificed animals on the altar in the outer court. The bread of the presence, the continually burning lampstand, and the offering of incense were all in the Holy Place. And once a year, the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies as part of the ceremony of the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16). 

The phrase tent of meeting is used in the OT as the name of a place where God would meet with his people this is the place where the cloud and the pillar of fire would hover over and then begin to move which was their clue to pack up and follow him

As you can see this process for meeting with God was incredibly detailed including God being a fashion designer by outlining the garments the priests were to wear when coming into his presence. 

There are dedication or ordination ceremonies for the priests that included being consecrated and dressed at the entrance to the tabernacle, bull sacrifices at the altar and outside the camp, washing of hands/feet in the bronze laver before approaching the incense alter or they would die, daily/ongoing maintenance of the incense on the altar and oil in the lampstand and  anointing the tabernacle with oil and consecrating the utensils used so that they are holy and all that they touch become holy.

The lampstand was to be placed in the first section, called the Holy Place.  The lamp was to be tended by Aaron and his sons so that its light never went out. The lampstand was to give forth light day and night (Exodus 27:20–21). The lampstand’s being the only source of light points directly to Christ as being the light of the world (John 8:12; 9:5). Jesus is the “true light that gives light to everyone” (John 1:9) and the only way anyone can come to the Father (John 14:6).

The bread of the Presence (also called the showbread or shewbread in some translations) was special bread always present on a table in the tabernacle (and later in the temple). Leviticus 24:5–7 describes this bread:

The Old Testament showbread placed on the table in the tabernacle provides a wonderful picture of Jesus, the Bread of Life. Jesus is holy before God, He provides true sustenance, and He is always present. “Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry’” (John 6:35).

The one time a year when the high priest went into the Holy of Holies was on the day of Atonement, which was when special sacrifices were conducted for the sins of the nation which culminated in the both the holy place and holy of holies being filled with incense (prayers of his people) and to shield the priest from the holy presence of God. 

The High Priest who had a rope tied around him would go into the holy of holies and sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on the arc of the covenant, thereby covering the sins of the people.  The reason he has a rope around him is because if he were to to die form coming into the presence of the holiness of God they could pull the body out, because no-one else can go in.

No let’s zoom back out from the details upon details and the rules and pomp/circumstance of how God very clearly prescribes for his people to come into his presence at this time in his Story.

The first covenant had regulations for worship and the place of worship, but Jesus who is the mediator of the new covenant has become the high priest.  And I encourage you this week to go and read Hebrews 9 that shows that these important aspects of the Jewish law are no longer necessary since Christ has become the High Priest once and for all, he became the sacrifice that secured our redemption forever.

This being said, what would God have you and I understand about his holiness, about us coming into his presence? 

What Biblical principles in Exodus and the Tabernacle are transferable to us today?  Not as legalistic must do’s, but rather as markers that inform us about who this God is that we are approaching and worshiping?

Remember the point of this series is for us to better understand reverence for God, regardless where we are, so that we model that, teach this approach to God to our kids and to those who come to faith in Jesus and are learning how to walk with God.

Moving In Faith

Click here to watch this Sunday's message by Kevin Russell on our Facebook Live feed.

Click here to watch our Sunday School lesson as well.

Ever hear a message/podcast or be in a conversation where someone else was telling a God story, and you realize that this is one of those divine moments where God intervened and specifically sent you a message through another person to provide clarity or direction or insight into something in your life?

I had one of those this week where my IMPD partner was sharing about the Bible study lesson he was wrapping up on Wednesday night, that God connected to a series of conversations that were had in Wednesday night Pulpit committee meeting.

He was teaching out of 2 Kings 7:3-11 if you want to get a jump start and turn there, and as he shared highlights of what they talked about I quickly realized how relevant and applicable it was for me and for us as a congregation to hear and to apply because there are some parallels in this passage to where we are as a congregation.

So God has interrupted our regularly schedule programming of the Don't Treat God so Casually Series that we began last week so that we can receive what He wants to say to this church out of 2 Kings 7:3-11.

So let’s turn there now and READ 2 Kings 7:3-11

So lets unpack this culturally and contextually so we can harvest the most out of these passages.

V3 says there were 4 men sitting at the city gates, lepers in fact. 

WHY were they sitting at the gate?

The LAW as in Torah required lepers (anyone with a skin disease/discharge or contact with a dead body) be outside the camp/gate.  For more on that do your own reading in Numbers 5:2 so these folks were complete social outcasts

So these men cannot be inside the protective walls of the city because of the law and social rejection associated with what was a considered a divine curse.

But it important to understand that the Israelites were under siege by the Aramean army (modern day Syria).  To understand the intensity of this situation you have to connect this with the battle tactics of the time. 

Enemy armies commonly used a siege on a fortified city to starve off the occupants or to reduce the #’s to the point that when they stormed the gates they would be unable to defend themselves.  So they literally would encircle the city and just wait them out, nothing coming in, nothing getting out.  It is so bad that one commentary reports that a donkeys head was going for $350 worth of silver…like who want to eat a donkey head for dinner let alone give a couple a hundred bills for it?

As the famine sets in nobody was bringing them food outside the gate anymore, because their only means of sustaining themselves was begging off passersby who were coming in/out of the city gates or the roads leading to the city. 

So these men, these lepers now are stuck between a rock & a hard place.  They are outside the walls, totally exposed to the elements and the enemy, with no food and no way of obtaining food/water…..as if being a leper wasn't bad enough it just got REAL for these 4.

In v3-4 they come to that proverbial fork in the road and they must make a decision to act in unity.  The text says the men discussed “why should we sit here waiting to die?…we will starve if we stay here, but with the famine in the city, we will starve if we go back there.”  “So we might as well go out and surrender to the Aramean (Syrian) army.  If they let us live, so much the better.  But if they kills us, we would have died anyway.”

So they are stuck, left choosing between dying here or dying there.  And they are discussing throwing themselves on the mercy of the enemy through surrender hoping they will at least get to eat as a prisoner, and if not well at least they will have died quicker than starving to death here at the gate. 

They had reached a point where they had nothing to lose, death was unavoidable.  Funny how God brings clarity when we are out of options.

CONNECTION POINT:

Many of you have expressed to a pulpit committee member or to an elder that this church is dying and that something needs to be done immediately.  Some have viewed this pastoral search process as the hail mary/holy grail fix to all our problems as if hiring a PT pastor/shepherd is going to magically make all our problems go away. 

A few of you have expressed that John is brought on you would have to say goodbye to ECC, and yet others have clearly said what are you waiting for if he’s not hired we are going to lose long-time members.

I want to draw a parallel to the the perspective of the 4 lepers and likely what many of us in this church are probably experiencing right now.

Notice how in the crucible that tough moment when it is dark and the outlook is bleak the lepers perspective is limited to the natural world around them.  Meaning it is very clear from the Scripture that they THOUGHT that death was unavoidable, there is no good way out of this so they made a decision to go to the enemy camp.  Notice that God is nowhere in their perspective, nowhere in their outlook or is he mentioned in the conversations.  Where was the faith of these 4 men?  The Scripture does not say, but it does define what their actions/words suggest.

So lets look inward, lets take a look in the mirror ECC.  If we are honest with ourselves we probably are feeling about like these 4 lepers.  We probably have had some conversations with our spouses/friends/kids about if we do this ECC is going to starve to death, or if we do this long time members are going to leave.  In many ways the outlook is a shared one with the lepers die if we stay here or die if we go there.

Like the lepers we are at that fork in the road where a decision in unity has to be made.  Notice that v5 says at “twilight” which is that sliver between full darkness and light breaking through.  Twilight is that place between indecision and decision. 

Family I know we are in twilight right now, and here’s the kicker, satan wants us to stay right here.  But we gotta make a decision because inaction is death too, just like sitting at the gates was for these 4 men.

Let us return to the rest of the story in Scripture.

When the men rose up in twilight and with a sound decision moved toward the enemy camp everything changed.  The text tells us in vs 6 that the 4 lepers went into the camp expecting the worst.  But what did God do?  God made the enemy hear a thunderous sound, as in 1000’s of horses/chariots like an army in numbers so great they shook the earth.  So great was this sound that it caused trained soldiers to panic and leave everything and run.

Notice that the victory is was God’s, nobody lifted a finger and in fact were undeserving.

V8 tells us that these 4 men arrive to en empty camp, not a single soul.  They move from 1 tent to another eating/drinking and plundering the clothes/gold/silver.  You find this theme running throughout scripture  God raises up another people group/nation/king and has them dig wells, plant fields and vineyards so that He can ultimately give it to his chosen people.  In this case the lepers had no idea that somebody else was holding onto their blessings that he had already prepared for them.  You see just like the Israelites crossing into the promised land God will reallocate the blessings that he has prepared for his people AFTER we move in faith.  And that is what these 4 lepers did.

However, with chicken bone in one hand and a cup of wine in the other and gold/silver filling their pockets their first reaction was selfish “take care of me first” we know this because they begin to hide their plunder and then their consciences kick in and point out that “this is a day of good news and we aren’t sharing it with anyone”  and so they immediately go back and tell the gatekeepers.  Our decisions are like an earthquake in that they have aftershocks or long lasting impacts

Family it may look like we are stuck and cannot move forward without a pastor or that we cannot invite others to church because we don't have a pastors, but I beg to differ because of what I see in this text.  These 4 lepers, these men were the absolute bottom of the social ladder no one would speak to them let alone believe them if they were to engage in a conversation.  Yet when they found themselves in the unsearchable riches of God they did not even wait until morning to run and tell others about the goodness of God.

We find ourselves in the exact same spot, wretched sinners saved by grace.  We know the unsearchable riches of Christ Jesus and we see His thunderous work being done here at ECC and we should be running back to the city and telling others about what He is doing…regardless of whether He has installed a new under shepherd or not. 

So let me land this plane with a closing idea about time, because many of us are feeling pressed for time, the intensity of the situation compels us to make a decision ASAP in this twilight season of a pastoral search.

There are a two different Greek words for time chronos which is where we get the idea of chronological it is the tick tock linear idea of time  Then there is kairos which carries with it the idea of the right time—the idea of a predetermined time or an opportune time.

When you and I redeem the time we are purchasing out of slavery the fleeting opportunities that we are presented with.  in other words we “make the most out of every opportunity” or “make the most out of your time”.

This idea is spoken to in Ephesians 5:16 that says “Make good use of every opportunity you have, because these are evil days” and in Colossians 4:5 where it says “Be wise in the way you act toward those who are not believers, making good use of every opportunity you have”

Family I urge us to use wisely the time he has given us by reaching out to other to share the Good News of Jesus Christ, not letting a pastoral search process or whatever you see when you survey the landscape around you.  because remember that God has already prepared the blessings for those who move in faith.

Today in honor of Memorial Day we are going to close out our service with a Memorial day prayer via video that helps us to remember those who fought for the right to worship and speak of Jesus.

ROLL VIDEO

WW1 poet Robert Binyon said of the fallen soldiers “they shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old.  We will remember them”

So family amidst your picnics and family gatherings and the rest of an extra day off please take a moment to remember our fallen soldiers, 1st responders who have died to provide us with the very blanket of freedom that we enjoy.

WE WILL NEVER FORGET

Became::Become

Click here to watch the Facebook Live video of this morning's sermon preached by Kevin Russell.

--1 of my guys who professed to be Muslim but wasn’t really walking out his faith came to Christ a few weeks back

--He came to the Bridge service slips in/stays to himself and reads

--Approached him and he is reading the Quran and we had a little discussion about that NOT being the word of God

--He puts his arm around me shares how since he got transferred to me he now doesn’t see law enforcement as the enemy and there is something about me that draws him to me

my response was what you see in me, what you are attracted to is Jesus Christ, and then suggested that he read the Gospel of John and get to know this Jesus that he is being drawn to

When you look at the content of Scripture you must also look at the context, and so to more firmly grasp the fullness of today"s passage we must understand the context in which Paul wrote this passage nestled into this letter to the Church at Corinth.  Paul is helping the church at Corinth and is relevant for us today to understand is that as Christ followers we are God’s Ambassadors

In the first-century Roman Empire, an ambassador was personally appointed by the emperor to represent his interests to another party. Paul used ambassador language in describing the responsibility of the Corinthians to outsiders. Which means that in order for an ambassadors to succeed, they/we must have a clear understanding of the message they/we are entrusted with. But delivering the message is not where it ends, they/we must know whether any response is expected to the message being delivered. This is what Paul is addressing in 2 Corinthians 5:20-21, Paul addresses the fact that we are God’s Ambassadors and that God expects a response from both his ambassador and for whom he sends the message to.

In the ASV it reads “Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him”

Verse 21 beautifully summarizes what happened through the death of Christ when he was lifted up. Paul affirmed the perfect sinless-ness of the Savior.

Jesus is the only human who “did not know sin.” He never sinned, and both he and his closest followers, Peter and John, explicitly attested to this holiness which you look into at your leisure (John 8:46;1 Pet. 2:22; 1 John 3:5).

Yet God made him “to be sin.” Paul’s language is careful.

He did not say Jesus became a sinner, which would be untrue. Rather, Jesus became the representative sin-bearer.

He identified 100 percent with the sin of the world when he died on the cross. God treated Jesus as if he were sin itself.

When God made Jesus to be sin, it was “for us” for the lost, for our benefit.

And the benefit is that we are joined to him in faith; we become “righteousness”—the exact opposite of sin. Again, Paul’s language is careful, he didnt just say “We become righteous.”

What he says is that we become the very righteousness of God himself. Jesus, who was sinless, became sin for us so that we, who are sinful, might become righteousness when we are united to him.

In verse 20, Paul issued the expected response—the urgent invitation. He framed this carefully. First, he recognized that he and the believers in Corinth were ambassadors.

Paul noted twice that the One sending these ambassadors was Christ himself.

The invitation/response is simple: “Be reconciled to God.” For Paul to use reconciliation language implies a broken relationship that must be restored.

God had done everything in the death of his Son to provide salvation

Christ’s identification with sinners is the foundation for our mission. 

Which is what God laid on my heart to speak about today, our mission  as God’s ambassadors.  Not only does God expect a response from the lost to His message of forgiveness & salvation, God expects a response from his ambassadors to go represent him, to take His message out to the nations.

I think about this way Jesus Became sin so we could Become righteous……..Because he expects us to allow His message to create a rippling effect out into our world causing a righteous impact.  What might that righteous impact look like?

Proverbs 21:21 NIV  “Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.”

Lets look at some of the words in this passage such as Righteousness is the Hebrew word Tzedakah which means to bring justice into the world by helping someone in need. 

Being generous with time resources to help poor/oppressed.

This is what we should be pursuing, chasing after opportunities for tzedkah because this is the closest thing to the heart of God

Pursues=chase after, seek out

Love/Mercy “chesed” [kheh’-sed] = goodness kindness, faithfulness, merciful

Life=picture of green, flowing fresh, lively, reviving, sustenance & community

So what would that look like for you and I today?

Entertainment/Social Media….what we expose ourselves to

--Music/movies

--Who are your friends in person and in the digital world?  Are they representatives for Christ striving for holiness or heathens?

--What are you “liking or following or retweeting”?

My point is Don't take Holiness Casually….God doesn’t

Ambassadors are not commissioned to to sit/soak/sour but to…. Spread the Gospel, to share the Good News, to be Clarions

Note that the first two letters are GO in GOspel

How?

Go spend yourselves for the nations who aren't like you…Matthew 28:18-20  How has God uniquely made you to be His ambassador and to whom?

Success in witnessing is not # of converts….but is simply witnessing, simply sharing what God has done in your life .

In Matthew 4:19 Jesus said come follow me and I will make you fishers of men”

He called us to follow him, to go to the fish not to be keepers of the aquarium, sitting in here is not the ultimate point

The gospel message has the power to change lives, shine light into darkness, and deliver evil men from hell.

There is power in no other message and no other “bait” can catch the fish of God.

This was Jesus’ message to Peter and Andrew—follow Me, learn of Me, know and understand My mission and My message.

Only then will you be able to be fishers of men.

I'll end with this from the Gospel of John 20:21 “As the Father Has Sent Me, So I Send You”

Secure in the Storm

By Gayle Bragg Johnson

Last night, a severe storm went through our area. The winds blew and were very loud. We lost power for about an hour and a half and there was some hail, but we were all safe and sound in our house, protected from the storm. 

Last night, we saw pictures on Facebook of about 6 or 7 telephone poles in a row laid flat after the storm. But it wasn't really until I went to work that I saw the destructiveness of the storm. Large limbs lying all over the place and leaves everywhere, even plastered to the windows of the building I work in, testified to the  fierceness of the storm. I saw a trampoline in someone's front yard from who knows where. (It was not theirs.)

I heard a story of one of my co-workers driving through the area where the telephone poles were flattened at the time it happened. The storm was so violent she thought the windows of her car were going to shatter. Stories of damage were being told in the office. 

But I noticed several things this morning. First of all, dark clouds were rolling in. But through the clouds, I saw a rainbow. The clouds quickly rolled over the rainbow to obscure the rainbow from view. But then I saw it again in a different area. Again, the clouds rolled over, hiding the rainbow again. A third time I saw the rainbow, bigger and brighter than the other two times, and again, in a new area. Then I saw the destruction that was all around me. 

Two things came to mind. First, Gods promise to Noah. The storms were over. Healing was beginning. And two, sometimes we have no idea what destruction Almighty God protects us from ever seeing. I had no idea the storm was so ferocious last night. My family was safely protected in our home. We could hear the wind, but no destruction touched us. We were hidden in the Cleft of the Rock, that is Jesus. 

Satan tried to hide the rainbows in more storm clouds. Too late. I have already seen the Salvation of Adonai. 

“For my eyes have seen your salvation,”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭2:30‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Be Still

By Gayle Bragg Johnson

Hurricanes are powerful and destructive. The winds blow and the waves send destruction. It's a fearful experience. But the eye of the storm is quiet and calm. 

The Sea of Galilee is known for the sudden appearance of ferocious storms. The weather can change rapidly. One day the disciples were on the Sea of Galilee. A ferocious storm rose up and they feared for their lives. Jesus, however was sleeping at the head of the boat on a pillow, comfortable and unconcerned by the noise of the storm. The disciples woke him up and asked " Don't you care that we are going to die?"  Jesus got up and commanded the storm to be quiet. Immediately, the storm died down and the sea became as smooth as glass. Jesus asked them "Why are you so afraid?" I want to ask them,"Don't you know the Savior of the world is in your boat?" Your boat will not sink as long as the Savior is at the helm. 

When I was a nurse in ICU, visitors would come in. Sometimes they would run out of the room and report the ventilator was alarming, after one chirp, caused by the patient coughing. I could hear the alarms from where I was sitting. I would explain to them that it was like a mother listening to the cries of her child. She knows when the child really needs attention and when they don't. I would tell them "When I get excited, you can get excited."  Of course, I never got excited. And the visitors would calm down. 

My advice to those Christians going through the storm is this:  When Jesus is riding in your boat and sleeping, chill out. He's got this. With one word He can calm the storm. He CREATED the winds and waves. He can tell them when to be still. When Jesus gets excited, you can get excited. Of course, He never gets excited. 

“He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?””

‭‭Mark‬ ‭4:39-40‬ ‭NIV‬‬