Scripture Text (NRSV)
127:1 Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in
vain. Unless the LORD guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain.
127:2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating
the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to his beloved.
127:3 Sons are indeed a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb
a reward.
127:4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons of one's
youth.
127:5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. He shall not
be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
Comments:
What an interesting combination of Scripture lessons, esp. w/ regard
to the Ruth passage. In Ruth, God's faithfulness to a couple of widows
without offspring is the theological highlight of the story. The
Psalmist recounts the blessings of male children which are said to be
a gift from God. What is the significance?
This seems to be one of those discriminating passages again. What
about Daughters? Aren't they a blessing and a gift from God as well? .
. . Susan
Galatians 3:26,27,28
26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all
of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with
Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor
female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
If there's neither male nor female then there can't be sons or
daughters (vs 26)
My guess is that God does not distinquish between gender.
If you want to believe that only sons are a blessing from God and not
daughters, go ahead but I'm putting my money on both.
In a patristic society "heritage or the family name" is carried on
through the male children. I guess this is the psalmist way of stating
that "My line will continue."
This is a scripture that I have no problem at all changing "Sons" to
"Children." If you want to focus on the negative aspect of this psalm
and miss the whole point go ahead. But from what I make of the
Galatians passage, gender is pretty irrelevant to God.
John near Pitts.
How about the first verse? "Unless the Lord builds the house , those
who build it labor in vain," how do we know if the Lord is building a
new church plant? How do we know if God wants us to hold on to and
labor for a dying church. How do we know if God is indeed building it?
Sam
If you get a chance, listen to the Family Life Today broadcast for
today (11-9). There was a discussion on things that parents can do at
home with a "family night". Wonderful suggestions. There was a
reference to Blessing a child before bed or in the morning. What a
wonderful idea...laying hands on your child and praying God's
protection/guidance upon him or her. What a great way to send them off
to school.
There were also object lessons given for parents to do to teach their
children Scriptural truths. One dad went to the top of the steps and
told his children that whoever got up the steps to him without using
the banister or steps would get the candy bar in his hand. Then one of
the boys said to the other, climb on my back but you have to agree to
give me half of the candy bar. Then a discussion followed about how to
get to God...the only way is through the help of Jesus...that Jesus
carries us to God.
Just go to familylife.com The guest was Jim Weidmann. Look for his
Family Night Toolchest.
I think I'll be challenging parents this week to seriously think about
how their house is being built.
John near Pitts.
Hi all.
Thanks John near Pitts for the reminder that "house" in this Psalm
means "family," not just what we think of when we say "church."
Nevertheless, Sam asks a very good question, "How DO we know if God is
building our 'house'?" Whether that's family, church, nation, or
anything else!
For too long, we have settled for the easy answer, the visible answer,
"If we SUCCEED, we must have God's blessing." But how do we define
success? By numbers! Thereforee, the people of North America are "more
successful" than the people of Central America, Saharan Africa, etc.
I went through 5 years of hell attempting to build a new congregation.
Eventually, the wider church body decided there was no future for the
small group and cut it off (which was part of the hell!) It was a very
draining, painful time; yet I still get very angry when people say or
imply that God didn't want there to be a group of believers there!
God blessed us incredibly through those awful times: people came to
faith, people asked for Baptism, people discovered prayer, they
discovered "God with us" in the middle of the trials we suffered. Not
bad for a "failure."
I know, God wants our faithfulness, not our success. But when will we
start using this truth as our STARTING point, instead of trying to
cover our rear-ends after we "fail"?
In my good moments, of course, I can't help but see Jesus hanging on
the cross, being written off by everybody, as the ultimate "failure."
But when it's me on the cross, it's just more difficult.
Thanks for letting me rant.
Rick in Canada
I have been thinking about verse 1. I am church growth guru --ed out.
I see many churches grow in number and financially. And it is
entertaining. Could be on TV - uses lots of multimedia, lots of money
coming in, lots of business contacts in church. Yet many are
theologically weak. Is God building every church that is growing in
number and increasing financially. Prosperity does not equal blessing.
Have we taken the sickness of a culture and bought into it hook , line
and sinker?
