BLUF: Because God is light, He is the wholly trustworthy being. It only makes sense to trust Him.

Intro: It should go without saying, but sometimes it can be hard to trust many people. It is possible to become cynical. I used to have a peer who had retired from one of Atlanta’s police investigative units and he would tell me, “Jon, everyone is guilty; it’s just a matter of finding the evidence.” He did not say it jokingly. He had grown calloused and skeptical of every human institution, and he left each job he undertook a bitter man.

Segue: This morning I was reading some wisdom from the apostle John about how and why to trust God: “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God, is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5 ESV).

John was of course Jesus’ closest friend. He knew Jesus. They hung out. He learned from the Holy One of God. He suffered immensely for bearing witness to Christ as Lord. He penned 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Revelation, and the book of John—not exactly a small contribution to the canon of Scripture.

Encouragement: As we are amidst the holidays (the term came from holy days, by the way) it is a good time to focus upon the wholly trustworthy God whose incarnation of the Son is the very raison d’etre for Christmas and the holy days. Happy holidays. As you celebrate, may you and I contemplate the Light of all lights, the One in whom is no darkness at all.

Today was just about perfect. The saints from class came out and helped us minister to one of the men from class.

We enjoyed a sweet time of fellowship, co-labor, and a good meal afterwards.

Then ran some errands with CJ and came home to study for teaching tomorrow, and watched my beloved deer.

Saw a lot of pretty ones today from the back porch, even this pretty boy:

“All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you; the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was.”

BLUF: Gratitude only makes sense if the world is personal. 

Explanation: If man is reduced to matter only (molecules in motion), then the idea of rendering thanks at Thanksgiving, or at any other time, is pure drivel. But because all people are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), rendering thanks is the most appropriate action sentient creatures should demonstrate. 

The Bible’s Poetry Says It Best: Psalm 8 expresses this reality:

1 O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2     Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
    to still the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
    and the son of man that you care for him?

5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings[b]
    and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
    you have put all things under his feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
    and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

9 O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Takeaway & Encouragement: Gratitude is a virtue, near the top of the virtues, in fact, for good reason. It demonstrates the correct relationship between wisdom and humility. We render thanks because of benediction and also trials, knowing that behind both is the sovereign and holy God by whom all things exist and were created (Colossians 1:16). Happy Thanksgiving to all, and may it be rendered on each day, not just one Thursday a year. 

BLUF: Why Thanksgiving? Have We Even Thought about the Word? 

Admittedly, a literary nerd. No running from reality. Words matter. Profoundly. The word “Word”(Logos in Greek: λόγος) is crucial: it is Christ, the Word. God incarnate. 

True Story: I cannot think of a man that I loved more than Papa. His name was Randy. He was my father-in-law. I know of very few people who lived their testimony as consistently as Papa, He was, to be cliche, the real deal. No fluff. He was consistent, day in and day out. The same man. And there is comfort in dependability. There are few folks who are the real deal, and when you find one, befriend him/her. 

Segue: Papa is gone unto his reward now. And I have no doubt his reward is great. But where does that leave us–we who are still here? Well, some encouragement for us is below:

* God says that all will be brought to light (Luke 8:17).

*God says that we’ll answer (Romans 14:12).

*God is the Judge (Acts 17:31). 

Encouragement: If and when you clasp your hands this week, and utter a prayer, have the intellectual consistency to admit this: You are grateful for the goodness and truth that has come your way, and it is not by accident or chemical reaction by unguided forces, but by the hand of the sovereign providential God who is. 

Happy Thanksgiving.

“May I share something with you?” the person asked.

“Of course,” I responded.

“It’s from Ephesians 5, where Paul is talking about discernment.“

Then, the person read it aloud to us both. I followed along with my finger in the text:

⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. ⁷ Therefore do not become partners with them; ⁸ for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light ⁹ (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), ¹⁰ and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹ Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. ¹² For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. ¹³ But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, ¹⁴ for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

“Awake, O sleeper,
    and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”

¹⁵ Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

I am teaching through Matthew’s gospel account of Christ currently, and I am camped out in chapter 13 for several weeks. Why? Well, it’s about how so many are blind to what is right in front of their eyes. It is staggering how much of the Bible is about willful ignorance and suppression of the truth.

My Prayer: Lord, Shape your saints to be a people characterized by wisdom and love for the truth and for the body you purchased. Expose the lies; reward the good, true, and beautiful. Glorify your name. Amen.

I was listening to a podcast awhile ago and the host mentioned he was reading Weaver’s Ideas Have Consequences, and how much he (the host) was benefiting from studying it.

A few days ago I ordered it, and am halfway through it now, and could not agree more with Jon Harris’ appreciation of the book.

Weaver was an English professor (as will be evident to all who read the book), so I’m quite at home with his allusions to the Classics, but his thesis is as germane and vital today as it was when he penned the book–which, of course, was his entire point: When we abandon the universal truths and wisdom, we disintegrate spiritually, intellectually, and morally.

Issue: Why Some Hear & Understand & Yet Others Don’t

Intro: One of the beauties of teaching through the 66 books of Scripture systematically and verse-by-verse consecutively is that you must address the hard sayings of Jesus. You can’t cherry-pick if you go through Scripture faithfully. This week I’m in Matthew 13 where Jesus tells the Parable of the Sower. This issue is straightforward: Why do some people see, hear, and respond to the truth while others remain blind and hardened to the truth and reject it?

Below is the passage from Jesus’ own lips:

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. ² And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. ³ And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵ Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, ⁶ but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. ⁷ Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸ Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹ He who has ears, let him hear.”

The Teaching: The disciples did then what people still do today. They asked questions. “Why do you speak to them in parables?” (Mt 13:10b). Jesus’s response was straightforward—some can see and hear spiritual truth; but others refuse and remain blind and deaf to it:

¹⁰ Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 
    and turn, and I would heal them.’

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¹¹ And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. ¹² For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ¹³ This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. ¹⁴ Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

“‘“You will indeed hear but never understand,
    and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
¹⁵ For this people’s heart has grown dull,
    and with their ears they can barely hear,
    and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
    and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
    and turn, and I would heal them.’

¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. ¹⁷ For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. (Mt 13:11-17)

Encouragement: The truth is that not all will admit the truth. Many remain blind and deaf. But another truth and great encouragement is this: Many will admit the truth, see, and hear it, and respond appropriately to it. This is why we continue to press on—because we are assured that God will grant some eyes and ears to see and hear. This is why we don’t lose hope. This is why we continue to sow the seeds of truth. Because God’s word will not return void but will accomplish its intended purpose (Isaiah 55:11).

Happy early Thanksgiving to all.