Worship Opportunities

August 8, 2024. 

This year the pastors of our church prompted us as a body to individually/collectively read through the Bible in one year. In past years, I’ve made this attempt but never succeeded, probably giving up somewhere in Leviticus.

Though I’ve been faithful in reading the Bible since I was 16, some years more than others, here I am at age 43 and this is my first time staying committed to this goal. The way our plan is formatted, we have an Old Testament reading, a New Testament reading, and a Psalm two or three times a week. 

It’s been amazing to observe connections as I watch themes flow from the Old to the New Testament. Sometimes I see them and sometimes I don’t. Or maybe they’re there at times and at other times they aren’t.

But today was one of those days that really stood out to me where I saw a bridge span across these sections of Scripture. 

The plan today consisted of reading the end of Hosea and reading the 19th chapter of Matthew. Here’s the bridge I saw: God values dependent disciples. 

Ok, so Hosea 13:4-6 says,

Yet I have been the Lord your God since the land of Egypt; and you were not to know any god except Me, for there is no savior besides Me. I cared for you in the wilderness, in the land of drought. As they had their pasture, they became satisfied, and being satisfied, their heart became proud; therefore they forgot Me. 

This is a snapshot of God’s message through the prophet Hosea to His people who responded to His faithfulness with faithlessness and forgetfulness. If the whole mention of Egypt is unfamiliar to you, I’ll give a quick recap. 

God’s people, the Israelites, were held in slavery in Egypt under the tyrant rule of the Pharaoh at the time. It was a time marked by oppression and injustice for God’s people. But God saw His people in their oppression, and after appointing a special leader, Moses, He was going to do something about the situation. He was going to bring freedom to His people.

In order to prompt Pharoh’s oppressive hold on this people group, God sent 10 plagues. Not until the tenth plague when death struck the firstborn of all families who did not have the blood of an unblemished lamb (that’s important) on their doorpost did Pharaoh finally drive them out of the land. Out of oppression.

God’s people had been graciously warned by Him to be ready to go. THOUSANDS of men, women, children, and animals evacuated Egypt to go to some mysterious promised land. But here was the problem: they didn’t know exactly where they were going, and God did not send them on the most efficient route according to our definition of efficiency.

(I have lots of thoughts on that…God’s “efficiency” and our “efficiency” have different definitions and endpoints…His definition has a better destination in mind, though…)

Anyways, throughout the years spent WANDERING under His direction in the desert, they watched God provide and perform so many miracles. 

You’d think so much wilderness-wandering would bring on a deep satisfaction and dependence for generations to come, but unfortunately, no. It did not. 

As it’s written in Hosea 13:6, their satisfaction was found in their pasture. They were done with the dependence they needed in the wilderness wandering and their satisfaction was found in something material: their land. 

The result of their land-dependence was detrimental to their hearts: they became proud and FORGOT GOD. They FORGOT HIM! They forgot what He had done! Isn’t that a sobering reminder to REMEMBER?! Rehearse it every day. Remember what God has done for you in Christ and take notice of all the good and hard things He does!

SO, now bridging from Old to New Testament. I was reading the assigned passage in Matthew chapter 19. At some point (maybe when I studied Matthew back in 2021/2022?) I had written at the top of this chapter: “Countercultural kingdom values and thinking.” I’m not sure if those were my words or someone else’s, but it sums up the chapter well. 

In verses 16-30, Jesus has a conversation with a rich man who is curious about obtaining eternal life. His words are evidence of where he thinks this will come from: from within Himself. Isn’t that such a pervasive way of thinking? “I can earn my way to God.” Jesus gives the man answers he’d prefer to not hear that would really expose if he was truly willing to humble himself and follow Jesus  (unlike me, Jesus was never afraid of an uncomfortable situation). The young man’s treasure is here exposed. 

These are verses 21-22:

Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.

Catch this connection with the hearts of the Israelites who God was not so happy with– they found satisfaction with their pasture. Contrary to Jesus’s calling to FOLLOW, the rich young man WENT AWAY grieving. He had a lot of “pasture” to get rid of. 

We don’t really know what he was doing– was he obeying Jesus’s command to go sell his possessions to give to the poor and then follow Jesus? I mean, he went away GRIEVING. Big changes are hard! For a young person, particularly, letting go of things you value is difficult! Or was he going back to his pasture? We never hear about him returning, so we might assume this man chose his riches over his rescuer.

Either way, Jesus makes the point that it’s difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Like threading a needle with a gigantic camel. Impossible, right? There’s a lot of comfort in riches, isn’t there? Riches bring a level of security and with that, sometimes PRIDE (referencing the Hosea passage). Jesus is saying here, “There is no security in those riches.” The riches are found in JESUS.  

The disciples’ response is this: they were “very astonished” and said, “Then who can be saved?” 

Here comes a highly misapplied scripture (but also true in many circumstances), but catch the context. Jesus replies to His disciples’ questions:

“With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Do you see what He’s saying? GOD GIVES THE SALVATION AND THE SATISFACTION. YOU CAN’T HAVE ETERNAL LIFE ON YOUR OWN. 

Now, what I think is so incredibly sweet is what’s captured BEFORE all of this in Matthew 18:13-15. Jesus takes some very unlikely people to give a visual for His disciples to understand what He was about to say regarding the rich young man.

Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Do you see the contrast? Jesus is saying that humble, childlike dependence on Him, not dependence on self is what He values. Even if they scream out in a tiny voice, “I can do it all by myself!” children have an awareness that they actually can’t. They are dependent on their parents. This is exactly what God wanted from and for His people as He led them out of Egypt to the land He promised them. The pastures were to lead to praise of Him for His provision. But what did the people do? They FORGOT who gave them the pastures! 

So, this morning I’m asking myself where my security lies. I’ve lived a comfortable, American life for 43 years and almost 5 months. Who am I depending on not only for eternal life, but also for a life pleasing to God while I live on this earth? Can I rejoice when temporary things slip from my grasp? Does it make me cling more deeply to Him? 

True worshipers are dependent disciples.