Tomorrow we were supposed to be expecting the arrival of a short term team to help with the ministry here. But – no team.
We’re not exactly sure of all the reasons why the team cancelled, but as you might imagine we’re pretty disappointed. But, God has His own good plan for us.
So, we’re moving ahead with other things. This Sunday we’re starting a four week Christmas series at church, and I’m preparing my part – a message on the Prologue of the Gospel of John. Where to begin? This is such an important passage regarding the nature of Christ and the incarnation. And there is so much confusion on that topic.
We’re also getting ready for next year’s ministry. And tonight I’ll be in our regular leadership Bible study.
And we’re hoping that we’ll be able to get a bit of a break for some family time over Christmas! It’s coming, you know.
We did have an unexpected surprise this week – a visit from our friend and fellow missionary Guillermo Reddekopp. It was unexpected for him too – after complications with a stop-over in Mexico City, he ended up having to spend the night. And thankfully, he chose Hotel Cottrill.
So his loss was our gain, and we enjoyed a time of fellowship. The Reddekops are serving here in Mexico, and are preparing for some exciting changes in ministry. But they live very far from us, so we’ve never seen them on Mexican soil.
Who doesn’t love a good picnic? All the better if someone else brings the food!
What a picnic it must have been, listening to the Messiah teach – a Messiah who miraculously prepared food for thousands of people who had come to listen!
Let’s admit it – people were getting concerned. They had been so carried away with the words – and the miracles! – of the Teacher, that they had not planned ahead. Jesus was the one who pointed out the problem – “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He asked one of the local boys, Philip. But He already knew what He would do.
With five barley loaves and two fish He fed them all – that is to say, He created food for them to eat. What a king this Teacher would make! While the Roman army worried about its supply chains and mobile kitchens, the followers of Jesus would be well fed and healthy. But – where had Jesus gone?
His disciples had left in boats – Jesus wasn’t with them. The search began. No sign of Jesus. But the disciples would know where He was. So, many in the crowd found boats and headed toward Capernaum. And – surprise! – Jesus was there – who knows how he got there.
Jesus knew why they were looking for Him. They were all talking about barley loaves and fish. It was the next day, and they were hungry again.
“Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life . . .” Jesus told them.
Sounds delicious! What’s this “work” we’re supposed to do? Sign me up. I’m sure it’s better than spreading manure on my field.
“This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
Believe? Fine, we believe. Are you going to show us another miracle? Something really really big this time. After all, Jesus was the Prophet, right? The One like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15)!
But the crowd had their focus all wrong. “. . . it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.”
Fine – details, details. Pass the food baskets!
No, they still didn’t understand. “. . . the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Wait – what? – Jesus is the bread? We must be misunderstanding. He means he’s the source of the bread, right? Well, here we are! “Sir, give us this bread always!”
The crowd saw the analogy, but they weren’t getting the reality. Yes, Jesus Himself is the bread. In fact, “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” But if you eat the Bread from Heaven – Jesus Himself – you will be completely and eternally satisfied.
What – like, cannibalism?
No, of course not. What did Jesus mean when He said He was the food, the bread? “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” To eat and drink was the analogy. To come to Him, believe in Him, was the reality.
The crowd had “come” to Him, of course. They had been searching for Him! They believed He could feed them physical food. Jesus could satisfy their hunger. Just as God sent manna in the days of Moses. But Someone greater than Moses was here. The Prophet, the Messiah, the Giver of Life. The crowd believed they had seen miracles, they believed that they had been fed, but they did not truly have their trust in the Christ.
He was the only Saviour, God in the flesh, Lord of Lords, the true Bread from Heaven. And although they had seen, they did not believe.
“And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” The flesh that was torn on the cross. The blood that was shed. Those who believed would forever be a part of Christ – and have eternal life in Him (John 6:40).
Liturgical Quotations compiled by the author of the English version of “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence”, Gerard Moultrie.
That is the spiritual truth of Christmas. A physical death, a physical resurrection, that we, through faith, may have life forever. All those who have been drawn by the Father (John 6:44).
“Ponder nothing earthy minded” said our Christmas carol in the first verse. Physical food is a great blessing to enjoy during the Christmas holidays – but all food points to something greater – the Bread from Heaven, who sustains believers for all eternity, through His incarnation and victory on the cross, His victory over death.
And so the carol continues:
King of kings, yet born of Mary, As of old on earth He stood, Lord of lords, in human vesture, In the body and the blood; He will give to all the faithful His own self for heavenly food.
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
If you’re ready to eat it – ready to do the “work of God” – listen again to the words of the Messiah. “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
Do you believe that He is truly the way to God, the only truth? The life-giver? Find life in Him today – and this will be the most beautiful Christmas ever!
(Read the full story of Jesus and the hungry crowd here – John 6.)
All right, not quite a year. But it was in 2019 that Rod and I began planning a new study for Sunday School called “Biblical Anthropology”.
Original promo poster for Biblical Anthropology series.
It was put on hold in 2020, and then revived in 2021, but Rod wasn’t in Mexico for the majority of the year, so I ended up teaching it – one lesson per month, starting in February. And ending – this Sunday!
It has been a fascinating opportunity at a fascinating time in history to look at some of the things that are going on in our world, and to see what the Bible has to say about them. I read lots of books I otherwise would not have read, studied history I would not have studied, listened to other people’s sermons I would not otherwise have listened to, and read articles I would not have otherwise read. And all that in two languages from multiple countries!
This Sunday will actually be a review/overview/opportunity for discussion, questions and comments from all of the topics we covered this year. Here’s a brief look at what we studied, while I have it all fresh in my mind:
“The Beginning” – why the first few words and phrases of Genesis are completely revolutionary, and how the Bible explains humanity, and in fact reality itself.
“Christ or Chaos” – The horror of sin, the “Great Universal Project of Humanity”, and what happens when God’s truth is rejected.
“The Image” – What does it mean to be created in the image of God? How have we tried to destroy the image, and how did “Christmas” restore it?
“The Family” – What does the Bible say about family, gender, and sexuality?
“The Borders of Life” – What the Bible says about euthanasia, suicide, abortion, and various types of murder and homicide. Suffering and death from a biblical perspective.
“The Authorities” – This wasn’t originally meant to be a part of the series, but it was part of our study through Romans. But it’s such an important part of being human, in the future I would definitely include it. It will be in the review on Sunday.
“Technology” – Science and technology, evaluating technology in our lives, transhumanism, posthumanism, antihumanism, etc.
“Justice” – Biblical teaching on truth and justice, and justice as seen by many in the world today.
“Partiality” – Race and racism from a biblical standpoint, more on justice and the rule of law in the Bible. How Christians should promote justice.
“Creativity and Communication” – A focus on art, and touching on communication, social media, etc. Can it be evaluated? How can it be used? How does the world twist even this good gift of God?
“The Environment” – Principles of caring for creation from the Bible, and the clash of the Christian worldview and the worldview of secular humanism in this area.
“Everything Together” – a review of it all!
I’m considering posting some of this study here at Finding direction, because it would be a good review for me and maybe be helpful for some of you as well. But in the meantime, I’ve started posting it in Spanish at En la Biblia (lessons 1, 2, and 6 (in two parts) can be found there, and in fact, I did post the study “The Authorities” here as “The Christian and the Government” in English.
If you would like to pray for our review on Sunday, that would be great. This series has certainly gotten to some of the most important things in life, and some of the biggest issues in our world today, though of course in a very brief introductory format. But I look forward to hearing more from our congregation about what they’ve learned – or what they’re completely confused about! 🙂
It was a time of falling and rising empires. The great Assyrian Empire was all that anyone remembered. And Judah had watched when the northern kingdom of Israel had finally fallen in 722 BC.
A century later, there was another power growing in the east – the Chaldeans, also known as the Babylonians. The young empire quickly began to gobble up territory. They would soon become an instrument of God’s judgement as their armies headed toward Judah.
But although God would use the Babylonians for His purposes, He would also judge their sin. They had no intention of going out on some holy mission. Instead, in their pride, they rejected God. In their greed, they went out to steal from other nations. Their method was violence.
Successful? Oh yes, they were succeeding in their tyranny. Gaining wealth and power. But God gave them a stern warning:
Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house, to set his nest on high, to be safe from the reach of harm! You have devised shame for your house by cutting off many peoples; you have forfeited your life.
Habakkuk 2:9-10
But why should the great Babylon listen to the prophet from some small neighbour nation? After all, the Chaldeans had their own gods. Surely this sudden rise to power was a sign that their gods were stronger and greater than anything Judah had to offer!
But Yahweh mocks the false gods of Babylon:
What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols! Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake; to a silent stone, Arise! Can this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in it. But Yahweh is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.
Habakkuk 2:18-20
The foolishness of walking into a pagan temple and trusting in a metal image! But let’s see the temple of Yahweh in our mind’s eye. Lamps, incense, a curtain – but no image of metal or wood or gold. Instead, the presence of the invisible God, transcendent, apart from His creation, all-powerful Lord.
This passage might remind you of Psalm 46:10 – “Be still, and know that I am God” (a verse we talked about last year). Not so much a call to quiet meditation, but a violent command to stop foolish war against God and His people.
The Lord of all is warning the earth of judgement, with a voice louder than all the confused conflicting shouts of the little creatures of the earth. Be QUIET! There is a King and He is in His temple.
In this Christmas carol, God’s demand for silence is a precursor to the coming of Christ. Yes, He was coming as a baby, but don’t be fooled – His is Lord of all.
Let all mortal flesh keep silence, And with fear and trembling stand; Ponder nothing earthly minded, For with blessing in His hand, Christ our God to earth descendeth, Our full homage to demand.
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
He comes with blessing – but it is blessing for those who recognize Him for who He is – Lord of all. And so we all called to worship – to give our “full homage”. That is, the allegiance and honour that we owe Him as King.
Tyranny and greed may have its day. But tyrants are truly on “the wrong side of history”. Look! The King descends to take His earthly throne.
So what are people reading at Finding direction? Well, here are the most popular posts from the last three months, if you’d like to catch up. Maybe next month we’ll take a look back over the year. 🙂
These are in chronological order, with the most popular post in bold.
The Visa Journey – Just a note as we prepared to renew Nathanael’s visa.
Visa Results – Here’s what it was like renewing Nathanael’s visa!
“Religious Exemptions” – A response to an article that went viral about – you guessed it – “religious exemptions”.
I’ve enjoyed our deep-dives into Christmas carols from the past three years, so let’s do it again! And this might be the oldest Christmas carol you know – if you know it.
So, what is the oldest Christmas carol? Some smart person might suggest that it’s the carol the angels sang – “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:14) But another smart person will point out, of course, that the angels apparently said these words – there is no indication that they sang.
The question of the “oldest carol” is complicated – the oldest carol that is still sung? The oldest carol that is still used in the same form? And what exactly counts as a carol?
But this carol has origins so ancient that some claim it was written by the half-brother of Jesus, James (the writer of the book of James in the New Testament). Well, there’s no solid evidence for that, but the origins of the carol probably go back to the third or fourth century. So there isn’t any Old English in the original words – we’re talking Greek.
James the Just, as we remember him today, was not a believer during Jesus’ earthly ministry (Matthew 13:55; John 7:5), but eventually became a follower of Christ and an important leader in the church in Jerusalem (Acts 21:17–19). It is possible that the “Liturgy of St. James” developed from some of the early traditions of the Jerusalem church. It is generally dated from the fourth century (with the earliest copy still in existence from the 9th century), but some parts or origins may go back much further.
In the second part of the liturgy, there is a call to worship called the Cherubic Hymn – beginning with the words, “Let all mortal flesh be silent, and stand with fear and trembling…”
Sound familiar yet?
The words are actually based on this section of Habakkuk:
What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols! Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake; to a silent stone, Arise! Can this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in it. But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.
Habakkuk 2:18-20
The text of the liturgy and this section was adapted and translated over the centuries. It would have been recited or chanted early on, and later parts were put to music. But the “carol” part for an English audience really comes in the 1800s, with a Rev. Gerard Moultrie. Moultrie was an Anglican minister in South Leigh, England (west of Oxford), and eventually a hymn writer.
Moultrie took the words from an English version of the liturgy and “versified” them. The carol was published in 1864 as “Greek Cherubic Hymn” (that is, hymn of the cherubs or angels). Today it’s more commonly known as “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence”.
It may seem a little odd that our Christmas carol this year starts by calling everyone to silence! But we’ll see why as we take a closer look at the first part next week.
