Accompanied by Your God

Ezekiel's vision, from the Zurich Bible

If you’ve ever read (or tried to read) the book of Ezekiel, then you know that chapter 1 is wild.

There are these four creatures, each with four wings, four faces, and hooves like a calf, flashing around like bolts of lightning (1:5-14).

Beside the creatures are wheels—“something like a wheel within a wheel”—and the rims of the wheels are covered in eyes. Anywhere the creatures go, the wheels go with them. (1:15-21)

Above all that is “something like a dome,” (1:22) with “something like a throne” on top (he’s not really sure how to describe it all), and on the throne-thing is “something that seemed like a human form” (1:26)—the Lord.

He’s having a vision of God’s throne. It’s sort of a chariot. The creatures—cherubim, we find out later in the book—pull the chariot, and it rolls along on those watchful wheels. The prophet also points out that these wheels can move in any direction (1:17).

God’s throne has wheels. It’s mobile. What’s that all about?

These weird angels and their rolling royal throne show up again in chapters 10 and 11. God’s glory, God’s presence, has been dwelling in Jerusalem (8:4). It’s been that way since King Solomon first dedicated the Temple back in 1 Kings. But, as Jerusalem’s destruction looms, Ezekiel witnesses the glory of the Lord moving away from the Temple (10:18-19) and out of the city (11:22-23).

God left. The Lord’s throne is mobile, and it just rolled right out of town.

So, what, when the going gets tough, the Lord gets going? Is that what the wheels are for? So, when God can’t stand the heat, God can get out of the kitchen?

Actually, it’s just the opposite.

The Babylonians are going to conquer Judah, destroy Jerusalem, and carry off countless citizens into exile in Babylon. (Remember Daniel and his friends living in Babylon?) God’s people are about to have their lives shattered. They’re going to be separated from home, from family and friends, and from God, who lives back in Jerusalem.

Unless… unless God isn’t stuck in Jerusalem.

What if… what if God’s throne had wheels? What if God’s presence was mobile?

When the glory of God departs Jerusalem in Ezekiel 11, it says “the glory of the Lord ascended from the middle of the city, and stopped on the mountain east of the city.” (11:23)

The wheels could move in any direction, but the Lord’s headed east. Why?

That’s the direction of Babylon. When the people are taken from their homes and carted off east, their Lord will already be there waiting for them. They aren’t separated. They aren’t abandoned. They are accompanied by their God.

When your life is shattered, you are never abandoned or separated from the Lord. You are accompanied by your God. When the going gets tough, God doesn’t get going—God goes with you. If things are falling apart, and you’re looking around wondering, ‘Did God leave?’, maybe God’s just already gone on to the place ahead that you’re so afraid of, and is waiting to be with you there.

That wild vision in Ezekiel chapter 1, do you know where Ezekiel saw it? Chapter 1, verse 1: “as I was among the exiles by the river Chebar, the heavens opened, and I saw visions of God.”

The river Chebar is in Babylon.

And so was God.

You can listen to this devotional right here:

The Gospel According to Zephaniah

Do you have a favorite Bible verse?

I’m not sure if I do or not. I sure quote Philippians 1:9-11 a lot. Revelation 21:3-5 is never far from my mind. Psalm 145:9 is important to me; so is 2 Timothy 2:13. But are any of those my favorite? That’s tough.

I heard a woman say recently that her favorite verse of the Bible is Zephaniah 3:17.

Zephaniah??

Yes, Zephaniah. (That isn’t a made-up Bible name. It’s an actual book in the Old Testament.)

Since I didn’t have Zephaniah 3:17 memorized, I looked it up.

But before you hear it, some context. Zephaniah chapter 3 describes the Lord’s reactions to Jerusalem’s unfaithfulness. There’s a lot of condemnation: Jerusalem’s leaders are ravenous beasts (3:3); her prophets are deceitful, and her priests are profane (3:4). There’s disbelief: “I said, ‘Surely the city will fear me; it will accept correction...’ But they were the more eager to make all their deeds corrupt.” (3:7) There’s some talk of “indignation” and “burning anger” (3:8).

But then, in verse 9, the prophet begins to strike a hopeful tone. “On that day you shall not be put to shame.” (3:11) By verse 14, hope has turned to joy and praise: “Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!”

And that brings us to Zephaniah 3:17:

The Lord your God is with you,
    the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
    in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
    but will rejoice over you with singing.

There’s so much packed into this verse.

“The Lord your God is with you” – That’s the story of scripture in a nutshell. God drawing near, to be with people: whether walking with them in the Garden of Eden, traveling with them in a pillar of cloud or fire through the wilderness, dwelling with them in the Jerusalem Temple, being born here with us in Bethlehem, or making a home with us forever in the new heavens and new earth. That’s what God does.

“The Mighty Warrior who saves” – the Lord fights for you. In scripture, God fights to save people from sin, from death, from illness, from poverty, loneliness, mistakes, shame, and more. And the Lord is a Mighty Warrior.

“He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you but will rejoice over you with singing” – I think we often imagine God as watching us, perpetually disappointed or frustrated. You might put a more positive spin on it and think of the Lord as patient and merciful, but, either way, we assume the Lord’s hawk-eyed and exacting, watching for every failure and sin. But, while God does rebuke us when we need it, what if what God’s really interested in is taking great delight in you and rejoicing over you with singing? What if God celebrates more than finger wags? Smiles more than frowns? What if God doesn’t watch you so closely to look for mistakes, but because God thinks you’re absolutely incredible? God is our Father, after all.

There’s an awful lot of gospel packed into Zephaniah 3:17.

Not a bad favorite Bible verse, really.

Listen to this week's devotional:

Stay in Love with God

A couple weeks back I was preaching (and devotional-izing) on the story of David, Bathsheba, and Uriah. There’s a pretty well-known “psalm of David” that connects to this chapter of David’s life, Psalm 51. It’s full of iconic and stirring lines:

Have mercy on me, O God,
   according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
   blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
   and cleanse me from my sin!

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
   wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
   and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
   and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
   and uphold me with a willing spirit. (51:1-2, 7, 10-12)

You might hear some of these words in worship services during Lent, because this has become sort of the quintessential biblical cry of repentance.

There’s one verse in the psalm, however, that I struggle with. It’s Psalm 51:4:

Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
    and blameless in your judgment.

Against you only have I sinned? What about Bathsheba? What about Uriah? Did David not sin against them?

I recently heard someone (I can’t remember who!!) say that you should especially pay attention to the things in scripture that disturb you or leave you shaking your head, because those verses and stories clearly still have something to teach you.

Ugh. Okay. Fine.

Well, if I give Psalm 51:4 a little more of my time and attention, it does make me wonder. I wonder if David’s words aren’t shining a light on an aspect of sin that it’s easy to overlook. Our behaviors, attitudes, and words aren’t only sinful whenever they harm others. Our behaviors, attitudes, and words are also sinful whenever they are disobedient or dishonoring to God.

When someone questions whether your actions and habits are appropriate for a follower of Jesus, it’s natural to respond, ‘I’m not hurting anybody!’ And that might be true. But, in that moment, have you considered God’s view of your actions and habits? “Against you, you only, have I sinned.” Even if you aren’t, in any obvious way, sinning against another person, you still have to answer the question: am I sinning against God?

If you’re Methodist, think about it like this. John Wesley had three “general rules” that he expected all of the first Methodists to follow:

1. Do no harm.
2. Do good.
3. Attend to the ordinances of God. (Today, people will summarize this one: stay in love with God.)

You may be checking box number 1. But if you’re not doing the good God’s equipped you to do, then you’re still sinning against the Lord. (James 4:17 says, “If anyone knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”)

Or, you might be checking box number 1 and be very diligent about box number 2—but if you’re not intentionally taking steps to strengthen and to show your love for God, you’re still falling short. “Against you have I sinned.”

Look for ways today to love your neighbor as yourself. Dedicate yourself to that work. Yes. Yes. Yes.

But in our concern for our neighbors, doing them no harm, doing them good, let’s not forget the first great commandment: Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Let’s be no less diligent in our efforts to do right by our Father.

Let’s not sin against him, but do everything we can to stay in love with God.

You can listen to this devotional right here:

Share Your Weed-Eater

When I started at Duke, our freshmen class was divided into spiritual formation groups, where someone older and wiser could guide a handful of students in staying connected to Christ and the Spirit during seminary. My group was led by Steve. Steve was a jovial, smart, simple guy, who loved students and loved Jesus.

I don’t remember much that Steve talked about in those meetings, but there’s one little story that I’ve never forgotten. He said that when he moved into his neighborhood in Durham, he suddenly had a yard to mow—but no lawnmower. And he noticed that none of the neighbors seemed to own a weed-eater. So, rather than buying a lawnmower, Steve bought a weed-eater. Then he went around the neighborhood, met everybody, and made them a proposal: you can use my weed-eater anytime, if you’ll let me borrow your lawnmower once in a while. Everyone thought that sounded good, so he borrowed their mowers in a rotation, and they all used his weed-eater.

At that point in my life, I was already convinced that Christians needed to be wary of buying and owning more stuff. And here, good ole’ Steve had discovered a lifehack to ease some of that consumer pressure: sharing. He gave, but he also received, so that everyone had what they needed—but everyone didn’t have to buy everything they needed.

I’ve tried to follow Steve’s example ever since. I’m not shy about borrowing a tool I don’t own, and you’re welcome to any book I have. (I’ve noticed that I need tools more often than people need books. Borrow a movie instead! And my DVD player, since you probably don’t have one anymore.)

I don’t think this kind of borrowing and sharing is universally appreciated. Some people probably assume I’m just cheap. But it seems to me like a very Christian way of inhabiting our consumer culture.

All these years, though, I’ve had nothing more to base that on than Steve’s example and a gut feeling. Until a couple weeks ago. I was reading for our Sunday school class, when I came across a quote from an ancient Christian writer named Tertullian. He used a phrase I’ve read more times than I can count, but had never connected to Steve’s weed-eater before. The phrase is from a verse in Acts chapter 4:

Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. (4:32)

Everything they owned was held in common. Or, as the New Living Translation puts it: “they shared everything they had.”

In the early Church, each member didn’t need to own everything they needed. Because each member shared everything they had.

How much money could we redirect towards caring for others and supporting Jesus’s priorities in the world if Christians didn’t buy into the consumer lie that you have to own everything? How much more could we accomplish for Christ if we just learned to share?

Listen to this week's devotional right here: