PENTECOST • 52

What’s God inviting me to Surrender from my heart?

This week’s reading invites us to contemplate how we can ‘let go’ and ‘let God’ Have His Way.

reading for: 3 Nov

Mark 12:38-44

Surrendering from the heart

  • READ

This story comes at the very end of the public ministry of Jesus, immediately before both the speech to the four disciples in which Jesus predicts the destruction of the Temple (Chap. 13) and the Passion narrative itself (Chap. 14–15). It represents the climactic event in the sequence that begins with the  triumphal entry into Jerusalem and includes several incidents that point to the corruption of the Temple and the growing opposition of the religious authorities to Jesus; for example, the cursing of the fig tree (11:12–14, 20–25), the purifying of the Temple (11:15–19), the challenge of Jesus’ authority in the Temple (11:27–33), the parable of the wicked tenants (12:1–12), the testing questions of the Pharisees and Sadducees (12:13–27), and the conversation about the Messiah while Jesus is in the Temple (12:35–37).

In a context like this, Jesus’ attack on the scribes cannot be minimized. Their pretentious practices—strolling about in long robes, seeking public acclaim, taking the best seats at the synagogues and local banquets, lengthy prayers—hide their ruthless exploitation of poor people, in particular widows, who in a male-dominated society are left without defence. Jesus’ denunciation of the scribes reminds us of the prophets who attack religious leaders for similar practices (for example, Isa. 10:1–2; Zech. 7:10). The scribes being deeply religious, and in fact they were leaders, makes us question own style of life, whether or not there is a contradiction between religious display and true spirituality.

Right after the condemnation of the scribes, Mark establishes the powerful contrast between rich people putting large sums of money into the Temple treasury and the destitute widow giving her copper coins. At this point, we need to ask how we are to understand the symbol of the widow. Is she to be understood as an ideal figure, whose small gift is set over against the contributions of the rich and is honoured because it comes out of her poverty—“all she had to live on”? Jesus’ comments in Mark 12:43–44 seem to commend the widow for her action, making her a character, like the woman at Bethany who anoints Jesus’ head (14:3–9), to be remembered for her extraordinary commitment.

Or are we to look at the bigger picture and ask “Why would this woman be commended for giving to a Temple whose destruction was at hand? Isn’t she more like a concrete example of how innocent people are victimized by the Temple authorities? Maybe Jesus’ comments about the widow are really a lament about her plight and continue the denunciation of the scribes, who instead of caring for this woman as the law directed them to do are robbing her of her last dime.

Maybe these two ways of interpreting the story could be taken together. The scribes are pointedly condemned (12:40). The widow in her destitution may concretely represent those many widows whose houses have been “devoured” by the scribes. Thus, in a direct way, the condemnation of the scribes is continued in the vignette about the widow. At the same time, Jesus is also commending the action of the widow. She is contrasted, not with the scribes who benefited from the offerings, but with “many rich people” who may or may not have earned their money unjustly.

  • REFLECT

In this new season of surrender, do our hearts and actions align? Do we wholeheartedly give to the Lord our time, treasures and talents?

Here I Bow (Jenn Johnson)

reading for: 4 Nov

1 Kings 17:8-16

Surrendering our Insecurities and Uncertainty

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    Just before today’s passage, Elijah had already learned that God would miraculously provide for him, but now he would learn that God could do the same for others—even Gentiles—as well. God was preparing His servant for a great showdown on Mount Carmel.

    In vs. 8-11, Elijah was directed to Zarephath, a town on the Mediterranean coast between Tyre and Sidon in Phoenicia, the homeland of Jezebel (chap 16:31). Here God told Elijah that a widow would feed him (see Luke 4:25-26). Widows were usually poor people; normally they ran out of food first in a famine. This famine had been created by the drought. Therefore going to a widow for food was a very strange directive. God was again using an unusual source to feed His prophet.

    Obediently Elijah made his way to Zarephath. When he entered the town he tested the first widow he saw by asking her for a drink. Her favorable response led him to request a piece of bread.

    In vs. 12-16, the widow recognized Elijah as an Israelite and appealed to Israel’s God in affirming that she had no bread; she had only a little flour and oil, enough for a last meal for her son and herself. Here was a Gentile woman in Phoenicia who believed in the Lord; she said she believed He is alive “As surely as the LORD your God lives” (v.12).

    Elijah calmed her fears of himself, her hunger, and her imminent death. He asked her to feed him first ... and then for her to use what was left to feed herself and her son. Then he gave her a promise on the authority of the word of God: she would have food until the drought ended.

    Her obedient response demonstrated her faith in the word of the LORD. The Lord honoured her faith by fulfilling His promise miraculously. This miracle of God’s continually supplying flour and olive oil was another polemic (protest) against Baal, just as was the drought. Baal-worshipers believed he was a fertility god, giving rain to make crops grow. But he could not overcome the drought to make wheat and olive trees grow. Only the true God could provide flour and oil in a drought.

  • REFLECT

    Both Elijah’s and the widow’s trust in God was tested, one step at a time in a most unusual way. Yet with their step by step obedience, both were ultimately blessed. Would you be willing to trust God each step of the way even if you could not see the end point or have all your plans laid out in front of you? In which area of your life - your home & family, your health, your work, your relationship, your future is the Lord inviting you to trust him more?

Desert Song (Hillsong Worship)

reading for: 5 Nov

Hebrews 9:24-28

Surrendering our lives as Christ Surrendered his on Our Behalf

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    This passage emphasizes the high priest’s action (entering into God’s presence rather than into the sanctuary). It also interprets the sacrifice of Christ within the context of his Second Coming.

    Christ entered into heaven to appear in the presence of God “on our behalf” (Heb. 9:24). Unlike the ordinary high priest, Christ has no need to sacrifice on his own behalf. In addition, this phrase guarantees that the entry into God’s presence does not occur to satisfy some longing of Christ’s, some personal need for self-glory. It occurs solely to meet the needs of humanity.

    The idea that Christ’s sacrifice occurs “once for all” appears already in Heb. 9:12, but here the writer of Hebrews develops it further. Christ’s sacrifice takes place once and only once because the one sacrifice is enough to achieve salvation. Verses 25–26 point out that Christ’s sacrifice on any other terms would make no sense. If Christ had sacrificed himself annually, as the high priest makes the annual sacrifice, he would have been crucified “again and again since the foundation of the world”! His one sacrifice, however, is enough to replace—and more than replace (see vs. 13–14)—the sacrifices made each year.

    Christ’s “once for all” sacrifice takes place at a particular time in history, “at the end of the age” (v. 26). The “in these last days” of the prologue to Hebrews returns here and will become more prominent in the final sections of the book (see, for example, 12:25–29). The phrase itself provides an important reminder that Christ’s sacrifice signals more than the end of other things—the end of the Temple, the end of human priesthood, the end of sacrifices. Christ’s sacrifice also signals the beginning of a new age.

    His sacrifice deals with human sin in a salvific way is clear throughout Hebrews, but this passage points out that salvation is more than removing the effects of sin, more even than purifying the conscience (9:14). Salvation also involves the Christian’s close communion with Christ himself and our longing for his glorious return. It is for this reason that the author adds that believers are “eagerly waiting for him” (see also Rom. 8:18–25; 1 Thess. 1:9–10; Rev. 22:20).

  • REFLECT

    Christ in his priestly role, stands before the Father, interceding on our behalf (Rom 8:34). How are members of his Body, participating in his work today? Together as a Life Group take some time to intercede for Gek Poh Neighbourhood. 

Remembrance (Hillsong Worship)

reading for: 6 Nov

Psalm 146

Surrendering to God’s Magnificent Sovereignty

  • READ

    Psalm 146 successfully combines praise and teaching and it is nicely enveloped in a familiar ‘praise’ formula (vs. 1 and 10).

    The psalm begins with a call to praise in verse 1, followed by a pledge and promise to praise “as long as I live.” (vs.2) In v. 2 however, praise seems not to be simply a concrete act, but a more general practice of surrendering life over to God in joyful self-abandonment.

    Verses 3 and 4 are a negative piece of instruction which provides contrast for the affirmation that follows in vs. 5–9. The double negative of v. 3 warns against looking to human agents, especially people in power, to give help. The reason human agents cannot give help in real crises is that they themselves are dependent creatures whose own life is a gift from God, and who therefore are not in fact self-starters. In characteristic ‘wisdom’ fashion, the teaching affirms that things are not as they seem in the midst of human life. “Princes” may give the appearance of power and capacity to help, but they are themselves precarious and unreliable.

    In vs. 5, the psalm arrives at the positive counsel that is its main concern. It is the God of Jacob, not any human agent, who is a source of real help and a ground for real hope. Thus God is contrasted with would-be human help.

    At v. 6, wise advice is turned into a long contemplation about Israel’s God, detailing the kind of help God can give and the kind of hope Israel can rightly assign to Him.

    The God of help and hope, on the one hand, is characteristically “making” heavens, the earth, and the sea. (see also Ps. 104) This theme attests to God’s magisterial power and to the right ordering of reality and to his constancy in sustaining all of creation.

    In vs. 7 the psalm moves into a concern for justice for the oppressed and food for the hungry. In this way, the hymn establishes that God’s two great parallel works are creation and liberation for the poor, hungry, and oppressed. This latter theme of intervention for the oppressed is as central and as crucial for Israel’s faith as is the theme of creation.

    The next part concerns God’s ongoing actions. This part is different from the section before, because each phrase starts with ‘The Lord’. Thus the phrasing makes an argument for the character of the God of Israel, in a very precise way. This repetition builds to the climax in v. 10 where the Psalmist brings everything together in a final declaration that “The Lord will reign forever’, affirming His sovereign rule. The entire psalm is an affirmation that God’s decisive role in the power process gives hope to the otherwise powerless, and warns those who imagine they are autonomous agents who can order their own life as they please.

  • REFLECT

    Does the Psalm inspire faith? Let your own memories of God’s faithfulness and deliverance inspire you to trust and depend more and more on the Lord. Share a memory with your LG member and sing a song of praise together!

You are Able (Christy Nockels)

Season of PentecostCNL