Scripture Reflections

In Sunday’s sermon I mentioned some ways that Revelation 7:9-17 points us to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. I even made the case that this throne room vision is a heavenly perspective on Pentecost—the Spirit is poured out, ushering in the first fruits of the Lord’s harvest (the multitude). There is one more Pentecost image that I left out, though, and I want to mention it here.

After the innumerable multitude from every tongue, tribe, and nation have entered the throne room, one of the elders comes to John with a question: “Who are these?” On the surface, it’s a bit of a silly situation—of all the people in the throne room, John is certainly the most confused. All he can do is punt the question back to the one who asked it: “sir, you know.”

If we dig deeper, it makes more sense. John’s answer (“sir, you know”) points us toward another vision with strikingly similar content. In Ezekiel 37, the Spirit brings Ezekiel into a valley filled with dry bones. Then God asks Ezekiel, “Son of man, can these bones live?” Ezekiel, like John, doesn’t know what’s going on, so he punts the question back with almost the exact same words: “O Lord GOD, you know.” Here’s the short version of the rest of the vision—God tells Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones. He does, but it doesn’t bring the bones life. However, when the LORD breathes his Spirit into them, they come alive! It’s a vision of a dead and wasted Israel, brought back to life by the Spirit of God. It’s the same Spirit, poured out at Pentecost, that brings the first fruits of the Lord’s harvest out of the grave and into the throne room.

Both of these visions show pictures of the Spirit bringing the dead to life, and they give us a glorious hope for the resurrection that awaits us. They also give us a remarkable hope for our present, if we can remember one simple thing. The same Spirit is in us, right now! If that’s true, then no matter how you feel on your worst days, you are not bound to sin, shame, or guilt any longer. You can’t be! The Spirit who raises from the dead has joined you to Christ and given you a share in his resurrection. He has breathed the life of Christ into your dry bones. This is why Paul can say that you are “a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17).

Neither death nor sin has power over those who have received the life of Christ by the Spirit. That’s a truth we can cling to in times of trouble, darkness, and weakness. I don’t mean a “truth” like a fact, or like some mantra we repeat to ourselves. I mean it is a reality. You have the Spirit of God pointing you to Jesus Christ, the anchor of your soul. Cling to him. He will not fail you!

Justin

Scripture Reflections

When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” (John 21:9-10)

I mentioned on Sunday that John 21 is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. Verses 9-10 record one of the grace-filled moments that make me love this chapter. The disciples get to shore and see the fire and the breakfast that Jesus has prepared. Everything is ready for them. And yet, in that moment, Jesus invites them to contribute. “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.”

Like all of John 21, there is more here than we expect. There is a picture of how our work in the kingdom interlocks with God’s—the two are not in competition; his comes first and is fully sufficient, yet we truly contribute. We see a picture of sanctification—Jesus is at work on our behalf before we know it; yet he invites us in and expects us to say yes to him. We see a picture of the sacraments—we offer God ordinary food and he transforms them into a meal in the presence of Jesus. Even the doctrine of election is hinted at! But the element of the story that grabbed my heart this week is offering as a movement of worship.

Jesus has no need of the fish, and yet he invites the disciples to bring them. Yet even what they bring they only have because he enabled them to catch them miraculously. Why does he invite them into this process? What does their participation do?

Psalm 50 bluntly says that God does not need our offerings. He is not hungry, and if he were, he already owns all the cattle. In modern terms, his bank account (if he had need of such) is full. Instead of thinking that he needs what we have to offer, we are to both offer him thanksgiving and call upon him to rescue us, both of which acknowledge our dependence on him.

He doesn’t need what we offer; instead, we need what he offers. But he cheerfully says, “Bring some of the fish you caught!” We protest, “But we only caught them because you showed us where to fish; you gave them to us!” He says, “Of course. So bring it in thanksgiving—let it be an act of worship! And then you will see me transform it into something that feeds the world.”

God does not need what we offer him—money, energy, time. He already owns all, even the portion of “all” that is in each of our bank accounts. He doesn’t want us to give it as if we were doing him a favor or he were dependent on us. Instead, the call is to joyfully offer what we have as an act of worship and thanksgiving, expecting that he will transform it into more than we expect.

Steven+

Walk for Life

On Saturday, April 30th, Incarnation will be supporting the Pregnancy Resource Center in its Walk for Life at Deep Run Park. We will be serving breakfast snacks and drinks to those in the walk and others at the park from 9am-12:00pm. We hope that as many people from Incarnation as possible come for an hour or two!

From 7:15am-8:30am, we need people to help set up by making coffee (at Cambridge). At 8am, we need help transporting supplies from Cambridge to the park and setting up our table and tent. At 9am, we need people at the table to serve drinks and snacks. And at 10am, we need people to arrive to help clean up. The event technically goes until noon, but most of the walkers are finished much earlier, and we will play the breakdown by ear.

We would love for there to be a team of people involved at each stage (as many as possible!) so that we can enjoy working together and encourage PRC and those walking. If you have a spare hour that morning, join the group! Please sign up as soon as possible so that we can organize the morning. Sign up by clicking here. If you have any questions about volunteering, please reach out to Erich or Katherine.

Lastly, if you want to join the walk to help raise money for PRC, visit their site at https://www.friendsofprcrichmond.org/