Thought for July 20

 History:

• 1864: Battle of Peachtree Creek
• 1876: 1st intercollegiate track meet-Princeton wins
• 1881: Sitting Bull surrenders
• 1921: Alice Mary Richardson is first woman to preside over the House
• 1926: Convention of the Methodist Church votes to allow women priests
• 1940: First Billboard singles chart--I'll Never Smile Again is #1
• 1944: Hitler survives assassination attempt
• 1967: Race riots in Memphis
• 1968: Jan Cox says "I do" and becomes Jan Thrailkill
• 1969: Apollo 11 lands on the moon; Buzz Aldrin takes communion
• 2005: Canada legalizes same-sex marriage
• 2012: 21 killed and 29 injured by gunman in Aurora CO movie house
• 2020: Covid vaccine announced
• Born: Alexander the Great, Gregor Mendel [genetics], Edmund Hillary, Diana Rigg, Natalie Wood, Kim Carnes, Jake Scott [roomed in my dorm one year at Georgia], Carlos Santana, Sandra Oh, Peter Forsberg, Gisele Bundchen, 
• Died: Guglielmo Marconi, Bruce Lee, Jim Fixx [running], Vince Foster [Clinton lawyer], Tammy Faye Baker, Bill Fleming [Wide World of Sports], 

On this day in 1620, pastor John Robinson, leader of a separatist congregation in Holland, preached a sermon and prayed over 125 of his members who were heading to America--they would sail on the Mayflower. His sermon came from Ezra 8. Ezra was ashamed to ask the king for troops to protect the returning Israelites on the trip from Babylon to Jerusalem because "we had said to the king, 'The hand of our God is favorably disposed to all those who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all those who forsake Him.'" Reminds me this morning that on our journey through this life, the hand of God is favorably disposed to those that seek Him--- so I should be seeking Him every hour of every day. 

Thought:

Still in John 5 this morning. Jesus has healed a man at the Pool Bethesda on the Sabbath. The Jewish leaders have determined to kill Jesus. Why? He broke the Sabbath and called Himself God's Son. Take a look at 5:18-24 with me.

Certainly the first charge is silly---the one who created the Sabbath breaks the Sabbath. As I said yesterday, the Sabbath was created for man, not man for the Sabbath. Why did God create the Sabbath--it is a reflection of His creation story. God created for six days and then He rested. God was not tired; He did not run out of energy; He did not need to sleep in. I think God rested to reflect on the creation, His work from the past week. When we work hard for 6 days, our thoughts and energies are consumed by our tasks. We may forget our purpose or our priorities. God wanted us to set aside a day to reflect--who provided for me this week, who protected me this week, who sustained me this week. Did I have purpose in my activities or was I like Solomon in Ecclesiastes--all life is vanity. When I stop and reflect on my week, my response is worship and praise. Counting God's blessings requires thanksgiving. Seeing His hand move demands praise---so I worship and I don't want to do it alone, so I join with others. The Pharisees had made the Sabbath miserable, filled with rules and regulations--but God made it for us to reflect and rejoice in the goodness and mercy of the God who gave us the week to live. 

The second charge against Jesus is He claims to be the Son of God [5:17]. Look at what Jesus says:

• The Son does what He sees the Father doing. [5:19]
• The Father shows Himself to the Son because He loves the Son. [5:20]
• The Father gives life and the Son gives life. [5:21]
• You haven't seen anything yet [5:20]
• If you want life--believe what I tell you because the Father has given Me the the right to judge. [5:22-24]

The first two points are connected. The Father wants the Son to be like the Father, so the Father shows the Son all the glory and majesty of the Father. Many of us wanted to grow up and be like our father or mother. In them we saw all the good things that we wanted to have in our lives. And many of us find ourselves doing things just like our fathers and mothers did---even using their favorite expressions, making their favorite meals, traveling to their favorite places. Jesus tells the Jewish leaders---My Father shows me what He is doing and I do only what He does. Now, if you are a Christian, you have been adopted by the Father and are part of His family. God wants to show you what He is doing--read His word; pray; seek His face---and the more we copy what the Father is doing, the more He shows us. He showed us how to live in the life of His Son Jesus--so we copy what Jesus did and said. Can the world see the family resemblance? 

Blessings

Larry