Living By The Word Of God/Yahweh!!! Shalom Brothers and Sisters, many today who are Believers go through life as normal. What do I mean by normal? I mean that they believe in God/Yahweh and His Word, but still they do not go the full mile… They still cling onto the worldly ways and traditions that people of the world… unbelievers… do and follow with no view in mind as to what God/Yahweh thinks or feels. If you are calling yourself a Believer you should not be involved in such acts, as a Believer you should be setting an example to others by going through life: Living By The Word Of God/Yahweh!!! The passage from the Word of God/Yahweh today comes from 1 Peter 1:17-25; “Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.” And Luke 24:13-35; “Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.” He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.” Let’s take Luke 24:32; “They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”” The story of the walk to Emmaus delivers several messages. But today I invite you to think about the one concerning the continuity of the new creation with the old, through the prophetic promise of the Old Testament and the Believers fulfillment of the New… We shall think briefly about the interpretation of scripture and the continuity and difference between the Old and New Testaments. Luke tells us Jesus/Yeshua opened the text of the Old Testament to their understanding, and even though they did not recognize who this teacher was, their burning hearts told them that they were hearing the true meaning of the text for the first time. This is the same text about which 1 Peter says that it is the semen whose proper understanding gives us life that abides forever. Listen to his statement: “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.” Also Isaiah 40:6-8 reads; “A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”” So God/Yahweh saves us; “Through the living and enduring word of God.” For this reason we pay close attention to what our passages for today say about what this living and abiding word is. Firstly, it is the Bible interpreted by Jesus/Yeshua. Their burning hearts told Clopas and his friend that at last they were hearing what their Bible really says. Secondly, it says that their Bible, the Old Testament, it centrally about Christ/Yeshua and tells them that it is necessary for Christ/Yeshua to suffer on His way back to glory… The New Testament of course does not yet exist, but when it comes into being we discover that on every page it says that Jesus/Yeshua is the Christ/Yeshua, the giver of new life, Jesus/Yeshua speaks and acts out the living and abiding Word, in effect, that Jesus/Yeshua Himself is the living and abiding Word of God/Yahweh. Peter tells us that what this “living and enduring word’ speaks is the Gospel, and that means that as long as we listen to it by heeding Jesus/Yeshua’s every Word, and imitating His way of being in the world, we stay alive… Grass withers, its flower fades, and we all return to dust, this glorious spring we are enjoying will eventually be Autumn, or the American word, Fall, but Jesus/Yeshua our living and enduring Lord goes on like a perpetual Spring, bringing new life to light, and holding us in that life… Once we have settled that Jesus/Yeshua is the giver of new life the most important question remaining is: How we avail ourselves of His gift, how we gain access to Him? There are actually two means described in our passages for today, one we have already covered, namely the proper interpretation of the Bible, the other is the eating with Jesus/Yeshua. Where in the blessing and sharing of food the disciples recognize at last that their teacher and companion on the way is Jesus/Yeshua Himself. So we have the two modes of Jesus/Yeshua’s self-giving to us, Word and sacrament, the preaching and the Communion… Of course, simply to understand who Jesus/Yeshua is does not bring us new life. It is a danger in our well-educated congregations that we think of faith in Jesus/Yeshua as a matter of assent to propositions, or the affirmation of certain claims about the nature of human reality that can be discussed and discussed and even acted on, but never allowed to touch our inmost being. We deal with words and ideas, but never enter the relationship with Christ/Yeshua that changes us from members of the old creation to members of the new… Never allow the power of new life in Jesus/Yeshua’s resurrection to change and transform us. So we have the appearance of faith but not its power… This kind of standoffishness is not possible in the Communion, because there, in silence, we reach out our hands and take Him into our mouths… Let me conclude by telling you: I am dissatisfied with the way the Scripture is usually interpreted in our churches these days. Few of the pastors or preachers accept that the Bible must be read through the eyes of Jesus/Yeshua… wearing the spectacles of the Cross and Resurrection!!! Through the Cross-one sees the violence that the Bible attests and how it comes to a climax in the tortured death of Jesus/Yeshua, and one sees it not only in the Bible but also in the world… Violence is the bridge from religious fantasy to current worldly reality, from a fantastic reading of the Bible to a reading of the Bible as a sober and realistic account of the way things are… Reading through the Resurrection on the other hand, one sees that for those who accept the Cross-’s truth of violence in the world, there is new life. When one faces the sin of ones own violence rather than denying it and covering it up with self-justifications and self-esteem that one knows deep down to be bogus… At that moment one experiences the first trembling of an eternal life, because one is hearing for the first time the truth of our torturing to death of young men… Jesus/Yeshua!!! The Word is a No! To that… And a Yes! To our coming out with young men like Lazarus from the tomb!!! When you hear this message does your hearts not burn within you, as you recognize the truth of the Bible, and feel the new and eternal life it brings? So now that we have listened to His Word, let us live it in our daily life routine… The Word of God/Yahweh is not just a book but it is Alive in Jesus/Yeshua the body that you as a Believer have taken on as His follower… If you have truly done this then you, as a True Believer should be: Living By The Word Of God/Yahweh!!! Be Blessed in the name and shed blood of Jesus/Yeshua and as you live His body live in the Word of God/Yahweh…Hallelujah, Amen!!! PastorJeff Walker
Posted on: Sat, 29 Jun 2013 12:15:34 +0000
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