Andrew McClenaghan - Sunday, 12 December 2021
Who can Stand before God?
Scripture References: Psalms 24:1-10, Hebrews 12:18-24, John 1:1-18
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CloseStatements of fact help us understand the world around us. And Psalm 24 starts with a statement of fact: everything in this world belongs to the LORD (vs.1-2). This leads to two realisations for the original author. First, it means that there is a certain standard to come into the LORD’s presence – one cannot just wander into the presence of the LORD! (vs.3-6). Second, when the LORD comes to his world, what will happen, and what will he be like? (vs.7-10). Well, the first realisation should fill any human with despair: how can anyone reach that standard? And the second realisation will fill any human with fear: how can I face that? The result is a waiting for the LORD to come – and a question of how I – or any human – can be ready for that day.
Scripture References: Psalms 24:1-10, Hebrews 12:18-24, John 1:1-18
Related Topics: Christmas, Psalms | More Messages from Andrew McClenaghan | Download Audio
Bernard Gabbott
Genesis 1:18-25
We love a turning point. Whether it is a story or a football game. Hope dawning at the darkest time. Where is the great turning point in Esther? It could be our memory verse, when Esther is persuaded by Mordecai to act to save her people. It could be when the king looks with favour upon Esther and holds out the golden scepter to her. It could be when Haman is forced to lead Mordecai through the city mounted on the king’s horse and proclaims that he is the man the king delights to honour. They are major events in the story of Esther. They are turning points of a sort. But the writer of Esther points us to another event. That looks so trivial.
Esther is such an exciting story! There are evil plots. There are interesting yet flawed characters. There is risk and sacrifice. There is heroism and villainy. Today, we are introduced to the villain of the plot, and what an evil scheming villain he is! He spins lies and concocts murderous plans to do away with the Jews, God’s covenant people. How will the people respond? Will he get away with his evil plan? Will God, who is not mentioned at all, intervene to protect His people, to live up to the promises He made to Abraham, the people at Mt Sinai, and to David?
There is so much that sounds familiar in these first two chapters of Esther: the world is dominated by loud and brash and imposing and degraded power, the people of God are small and struggling and faced with ambiguous decisions and actions and God seems so far away he is almost absent (at least to our minds and hearts). As we read this book, we will need God’s revelation to help us navigate its strangeness, its ambiguity, and its confrontational narrative. In this, we have the key to the book—the lack of God’s name in letters does not mean the lack of God’s presence.
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