Category: Applied Theology

When Hope Dies?

On By Bp. Justin ElwellIn Applied Theology, InspirationLeave a comment

In Torah portion Chayei Sarah, the Life of Sarah, we read:

וַתָּמָת שָׂרָה בְּקִרְיַת אַרְבַּע הִוא חֶבְרוֹן בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן

“And Sarah died in Kiryat Arba, that is Hebron, in the land of Canaan” (Gen. 23:2).

The portion of Sarah’s life records her death, at the age of 127. Why did Sarah die now? This chapter follows the binding of Isaac. After Abraham takes Isaac to Moriah, laying him down upon an altar in an act of obedience to the Lord, the rabbis have speculated that one of the servants with Abraham observing this fled to tell Sarah. In shock, she died. Hope it would seem, the hope of the future, of generations to come gone in an instant.

One verse is dedicated to the years of Sarah’s life (23:1). One verse to her death (23:2). And the remainder of the chapter records the events surrounding her burial.

What happens when our hopes and dreams seem to die, suddenly? I am sure that many of us can relate to Sarah’s shock and sorrow. Perhaps not to the point of physical death, although this is not unheard of, but perhaps to the point of asking, “What’s the point now?”

Him. When a hope or a plan ends suddenly, the Lord is asking us to trust Him. This is not a value judgment about Sarah, but a lesson learned.

The binding of Isaac was not the end of hope, it was the beginning. Abraham and Sarah both loved and hoped in Isaac. Prior to his birth, their hope rested in the Lord’s promise. The Lord asked Abraham to lay his hope upon the altar and dedicate it entirely to Him. By this, Abraham would once again look past the immediate means of God’s promise to the ultimate fulfilment of it: Yeshua/Jesus. Perhaps they were so fearful of losing their hope, that they lost sight of the miracle that brought him.

When the Lord seems to remove our hope, it is only because there is a greater hope yet to be revealed: Him. Ultimately, our hopes and dreams, in faith, lead to Him; not the immediate destination we have before us. Isaac surrendered his life upon Moriah, as he willing laid himself down in obedience to his father Abraham. Isaac’s resurrection restored hope, yet in a future Lamb and a future promised Son.

When hope appears to have expired, wait, for in Him it is resurrected and renewed. Tim Keller wrote, “Christ’s resurrection not only gives you hope for the future; it gives you hope to handle your scars right now.”

What are your scars? What is the pain that has seemingly disconnected your hope? Lay it down. Trust Him. And when the knife is set to the throat of God’s promise, you will find hope eternally resurrected in the person of Messiah Yeshua.

Paul wrote: “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:16-18).

It is the hope that cannot perish that satisfies the heart, as God’s hope, תִּקְוָה/tiqvah, is the cord holding us tightly to Him. The promises of God that are wrapped up in Messiah (2 Cor. 1:20) will not perish, regardless of life’s circumstances; as we are caught up in Him, and He has overcome death and the grace.

Sarah lives, and so do you. He is faithful (Heb. 10:23).

Be well. Shalom.

How Should We Behave in Pain?

On By Bp. Justin ElwellIn Applied Theology, InspirationLeave a comment

In parsha Vayera, וַיֵּרָא/And appeared, we read in its opening verse:

וַיֵּרָא אֵלָיו יְהוָה בְּאֵלֹנֵי מַמְרֵא וְהוּא יֹשֵׁב פֶּֽתַח־הָאֹהֶל כְּחֹם הַיּֽוֹם

“And the Lord appeared to him in the plains of Mamre; and he sat at the tent door in the heat of the day” (Gen. 18:1).

The sages connect Genesis 18:1 to the events of Genesis 17: the circumcision of Abraham and his household. Here, Abraham recovers as he sits at the door of his tent. Then in 18:2, three men appear before him, seemingly out of nowhere. How did he greet them? “He ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground.”

There is an interesting discussion among some rabbinic commentators regarding the action of Abraham. The Lord appears to him, yet Abraham makes the Lord wait while he tends to these travelers?

While there are many ways of unpacking this, I find this simple thought appealing. Abraham did not make the Lord wait, as one commentator suggests, while Abraham left the Lord’s presence by the door of the tent, he went to the Lord’s presence in the midst of the three. Simply: he went from and to.

What did Abraham do? He tended to their needs. He downplayed what he would supply (18:4-5), and then provided a feast (19:6-8). Even while in pain, Abraham showed kindness and hospitality, even as unto the Lord Who appeared to him (18:1).

Great hospitality is a cultural norm in Jewish and Arabic households. Providing the best of what you have, as if it is of no consequence, in order to set your guests at ease, and to tend to their comfort. Additionally, it should be a character trait among the spiritual sons and daughters of Abraham as well (Gal. 3:29).

Abraham was in pain. That could have been an excuse, but his pain was an opportunity and an occasion for kindness. Reaching out to serve others when we are at our most vulnerable, it is difficult, yet we should aspire to such character.

We can all relate to pain, physical or emotional, and how unappealing taking care of another would be in those moments. Here we love the neighbor and stranger as ourselves (Lev. 19:18, 34). How then should we live in light of the physical and emotional pain that seems so prevalent these days?

Show loving-kindness (חֶסֶד) in service to the Lord. There will be times when we need to leave the presence of the Lord as we recover from pain, in order to meet the presence of the Lord in the human other, just as Abraham did. Still, where is this exampled for us in the Apostolic Scriptures?

“When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home” (Jn. 19:26-27).

While in excruciating pain on the Cross, nearing death, Yeshua/Jesus took note of His mother. To tend to her need, He calls down to her and John, ensuring her care from that day forward. Here, God Himself, in His suffering, demonstrates for us the way of loving-kindness (חֶסֶד). Here Yeshua/Jesus leaves His pain and ministers life.

How should we behave in pain? Just as the Messiah did; and when we fall short, there is still grace.

Be well. Shalom.

Why, Go Out?

On By Bp. Justin ElwellIn Applied Theology, InspirationLeave a comment

In Hebrews 13:14 we read, “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the one that is to come.” This, of course, is echoing Hebrews 11:10, “For he (Abraham) was waiting for the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”

In the Torah portion of Lech Lecha this week, the Lord calls to Abraham saying:

וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-אַבְרָם, לֶךְ-לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ, אֶל-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ.

“And the Lord said to Avram, ‘Go to you, from your land, from your extended family, from the house of your father; to the land that I will show you.’”

The Lord calls to Abraham, “Go to you — with Me.” In other words, you can only know who you are when you travel the way with Me. The Torah gives us an amazing clue to the Lord’s intention to transform, not only Abraham’s life, but also ours. When we read Genesis 12:1, the word order is unusual to begin either a physical or spiritual journey, as the order is:

1. Land.

2. Relatives

3. Father’s House.

From our perspective, it may seem more logical in this order:

1. Father’s House.

2. Relatives.

3. Land.

As you are exiting your current location, the natural order would be to depart the house of your youth, whereby you also leave behind your relatives as you depart the land. However, the Lord is explaining to us that the influence of our earthly father’s house leaves a lasting impact on us, which is often very difficult to detach from.

While many of us have wonderful father’s, many others have not shared the same experience. The subject of this devotional is father’s, good or bad, per se, but the division that following the Lord often brings, even with the most loving family.

In Genesis 11:31, we read, “Terah took Avram his son and Lot, Haran’s son, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Avram’s wife, and he took them out of Ur of the Chaldeans to the land of Canaan. But when they came to Haran they settled there.”

Abraham’s journey to Canaan, the Promises Land, actually began with his father Terach; but Terach’s journey ended in Haran. The rabbis have wondered about this, why could Terach not finish the journey?

Terach was perhaps looking for business opportunities in Canaan, which would have caused Abraham to be labeled, not as a monotheist by the inhabitants of Canaan, but as a polytheist just as they were. With this identity, there would be nothing different about Abraham. Abraham’s journey to and arriving in could not be influenced by his father’s house – he needed to trust in a new Father – the covenant Lord.

See, the Lord was saying to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, “You are cutting ties with all you have depended on – father, cousins, and familiar places – to travel to a place that I will show you, so that I will be the source of your blessing there, and you will be a blessing to all the families of the earth.” This promise was given after Abraham sees the scattering of the nations far and wide.

The most difficult place for Abraham to leave behind was his father’s house; as the memory/influence of Terach would travel with him. Abraham needed to cut the connection between who he had been and was influenced to be, and who the Lord called him to become: a father of nations.

Abraham would be the new beginning of generation promise and influence.

The apostle Paul writes: “And if you are Messiah’s, then you are Abraham’s seed/offspring, heirs according to promise” (Gal. 3:29).

In a dramatic way is helping those coming to faith in Messiah walk out to themselves, just as Abraham was called, to a new life and people previously unknown: away from the security and safety that we have previously known. As I wrote above, the Lord called to Abraham, “Go to you — with Me.”

Abraham, and in faith those in Messiah, go out to a new protection, a new inheritance, a new people, a new Savior and Friend, and a new Father. We leave behind who we were, in order to be who He has called us to be in Him. But, we must “go out to you.” Leave behind the old, destructive influences, and walk into a new identity, where others will say of you, as they said of Abraham: “Hear us, you are a prince of God” (Gen. 23:6). Why? Because the Lord will go before you, and He will be with you.

Be encouraged, when the Lord calls you, He always calls you out of where you have been, as He leads you to where you will be: “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (Jn. 14:2-3). It’s not easy, but He will be with you.

Be well. Shalom.