Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture

We look at King Josiah of Israel, a person who is not well known among Christians, perhaps because we have to piece his story together from multiple books of the Old Testament.  However, he has perhaps had a very dramatic impact on our faith.  Helping the People of God hone their notion of monotheism, which is, of course, at the heart of Christianity, was a major mission of his.  For us today, we see how Josiah has helped us come to know our God.

In 1st Peter and in Romans, the authors quote Isaiah, where it is predicted that a cornerstone will one day be laid in Zion.  This cornerstone in Jesus. There have been a number of Christian revivals in U.S. history.  Today, those of us who are holding to our faith are serving as a critical foundation for the church.  We need to be like the early believers, like Paul, like the Apostles, who saw nothing in between being a nonbeliever and being a spreader of the faith.  They did not settle for simply believing: they were the foundation laid upon the cornerstone of Jesus - they were builders, not just members era of the church; they were evangelists.

I met a man who has a problem with addiction, in particular, gambling.  When he feels the urge hit him, he gets in his car and drives a route in Denver that takes him past a number of place where homeless people are encamped.  He hands out food, clothing, blankets.  He is like the fig tree in Luke 13, the tree that would not bear fruit.  This man allowed God to cover him with grace so that he could turn his addiction on its head and bear beautiful fruit.

In the third Chapter of Zechariah, he has a vision of a trial scene: God is the judge, Satan is the accuser or prosecutor, and Joshua is the first person chosen to be the High Priest for the reconstruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.  Joshua is the accused.  We do not know what he is accused of, but we do know he is found innocent: he (symbolically) goes from being covered with dung to being dressed in fine clothes.  We, too, can be cleansed by God: we can be covered with human excrement and then be transformed into the blameless.

Our daughter, when she was perhaps 6, made a bookmark in school.  Isabelle put three stickers on it: a leaf, a deer, and a tree.  She wrote on it "Safe the trees".  In Psalm 24, we learn that God owns the Earth, and all on it, including us.  We take a fresh look at our responsibility, as believers, to care for all that God has created - especially us...

In the first chapter of Nehemiah, this average man who is not a priest and was not a prophet, offers up a prayer to God.  It is motived by his discovery that despite the Babylonians having been conquered by the Persians, and despite the fact that the descendants of the exiles have returned home, the walls of Jerusalem are still in terrible shape.  The city is exposed to attack.  He is going to Jerusalem, his journey starting from the capital city of Persia; he will rebuild the walls, enact economic reforms, and aid the poor.  His prayer is a request of God to bless him on his many-year mission.  He teaches us the proper way to fast, and in fact, the proper way to perform any act of self-denial.  He teaches us how to honor God instead of ourselves.

I have been deeply touched and very impressed at how many people who are dying or are confronting a disabling disease express thankfulness for all they have.  We look at one such man, who had metastasized cancer.  It turns out that many people seem to have taken to heart Paul's advice in 1st Thessalonians, to "Give thanks in all circumstances".

We look at the history of the Christian Creeds, and in detail at the most popular one in the western Church - the Apostles Creed.  We look at the meaning of the verses of the Creed.  We also look at the need to truly understand what we are saying - and to not let repetition ruin the meaning of a very meaningful prayer.

The Lord's Prayer from the Gospel of Matthew is the most commonly recited passage of the New Testament - by far.  We look at the biblical roots of the prayer and at what the Bible verses that make up the prayer truly mean.  Many will be surprised...

In 2nd Kings, Elisha appears to be teased by a large group of young boys simply because he is bald.  So he curses them and then sends bears to maul them to death.  Is the prophet that petty and that cruel?  Or is something very different actually happening?  What is the real story?  And what is the allegory behind the story?

There is a very popular Old Testament verse, from Jeremiah: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.  We see it on coffee cups and on social media.  It seems to make an individual promise to each of us, affirming that God is always there to take care of us.  But in truth, this phrase is sometimes greatly misunderstood.  We look at its biblical context - and the true message behind this verse.

In 1st Peter, we are told:10 God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.  We often do not think that we have anything that we can offer to serve others.  As a chaplain, I once walked into a patient's room, a woman who was homeless, dying of cancer, and who owned nothing more than what she could carry on her back. But after she asked if the two of us could pray, I discovered that she had a great gift to offer me...

Hannah, a childless wife in a male-dominated world, found herself with no value in the eyes of her fellow Israelites.  She prayed to God, asking God to give her a child.  She told God that if he gave her a son, she would give that son back to God.  He granted her prayer - and she kept her promise.  Hannah shows us that God does not make one-way contracts...

On Christmas Eve, we look at the prophesy of Jeremiah, that there will be a "new covenant with the people of Judah".  He wrote this to the exiled Israelites in Babylon, to give them hope that they would one day regain the Promised Land.  When Jesus came into this world, this prophesy took on a far bigger and everlasting meaning...

In Acts, Chapter 8, we meet the ultimate outsider: the Ethiopian euncuh.  God commands Philip to go find him.  The Ethiopian has traveled all the way to Jerusalem to learn about the Israelite God.  On his way home, he is trying to study the words of the Prophet Isaiah.  Philip teaches him the true meaning of these words - and baptizes him.  The seeker will now take his faith home.  We are all seekers - and all people are welcomed to the faith.