╨╧рб▒с>■  CE■   B                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                ье┴% Ё┐z5bjbj%ч%ч %FGНGН`1      lььььььь▄▄▄8 Ў2HH"jjjjjjuwwwwww$( HИЫьjjjjjЫ ььjj░   j"ьjьju ju м  ░)ььuj< аС├мх5╚▄▄МжAu╞0ЎI,╨2 ╥╨u ьььь┘Title: TAKE NOTE OF THE SHADOWS Focus: The name of Jerusalem points to peace. But the peace of the earthly city of Jerusalem is like a shadow. Its reality is found elsewhere. Function: To help the people see their relationship to O.T. Jerusalem and to point them to Christ. Text: Psalm 122:1-9 INTRODUCTION Jerusalem means Уcity of peace.Ф Its name contains a precious Hebrew word: УShalom,Ф which means Уrest, tranquility, harmony, or peace.Ф For centuries, however, the city of Jerusalem as we know it in the Middle East, has been anything else but a city of peace. Even today, the world is holding its breath as Palestinians, Israelis, and Arabs alike are engaged in a conference that is supposed to lead to peace for the entire Middle East, but especially for the Palestinians and Israelis. There are many bones of contentionЧone of them the city of Jerusalem. Who shall control it? The Jews or the Palestinians? Or both? The peace that the city of Jerusalem embodies in its name seems so terribly elusive all throughout the centuries. Finding and establishing peace in Jerusalem is like chasing a shadowЧyou just canТt capture and take hold of it. I think that is partly because the reality of JerusalemТs peace is found somewhere else. PSALM 121:1-9 Listen to the Psalmist (presumably King David) and the expressed desire of GodТs people: УPray for the peace of Jerusalem: СMay those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels. For the sake of my brothers and friends, I will say, СPeace be within you.Т For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your prosperity.Ф Now what do you think King David and his people were praying for about 3000 years ago? What were Jesus and his contemporaries praying for about 2000 years ago? What are Orthodox Jews in Israel today praying for when they recite Psalm 122? And yes, what are you and I praying for when we take this psalm on our lips? Are we chasing shadows or do we long for and embrace the reality of the city of Jerusalem? SOME OBSERVATIONS Psalm 122 is a pilgrimТs prayer for the city of Jerusalem. Early on in the life of Israel, God had instructed his people to unite as a nation under God by commemorating three annual festivals: the Passover Feast; the Feast of Weeks (or Pentecost); and the Feast of Tabernacles. When King David established his kingship in Jerusalem and when he brought the ark of God into Jerusalem, the people had a center of worship that united them as a nation under God: Jerusalem had God in her midst (by way of the ark and later by way of the temple) and Jerusalem had its king under God in her midst. At the time that David wrote this psalm, the divine house of God and the royal house of David are at the center of GodТs people in the land of Israel. When the people would trek to Jerusalem for worship, they would first take note of the hills and mountains surrounding Jerusalem. Then they would sing Psalm 121 УI lift up my eyes to the hillsЧwhere does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.Ф As they continued their pilgrimage, they would finally see Mount Zion, surrounded by the walled city of Jerusalem, with the temple of God in her midst. And they would shout for joy and say: УI rejoiced with those who said to me, СLet us go to the house of the Lord.ТФ And then they would come near the gates of the city and they would enter Jerusalem saying: УOur feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem.Ф Oh, it was a thrill to be a pilgrim, to enter Jerusalem and worship God in the temple. Psalm 122 is a pilgrimТs psalm of joyЧa prayer to God for Jerusalem. The structure of the pilgrimТs prayer is very simple. The opening verses (vs. 1-2) locate the pilgrims entering the city of Jerusalem. Then we notice two stanzas. The first stanza (vs. 3-5) mentions the compactness or unity or closeness of the buildings in Jerusalem. The citizens of Jerusalem live in close proximity of each other. Also, we note the close relationship between the citizens of Jerusalem and the rest of the nation of Israel. All the tribes of Israel go up to Jerusalem and delight in her. All unite to praise the name of the Lord their God. And all recognize GodТs rule over them by means of King David, whose palace and kingship are established in Jerusalem. The first stanza then is a song of joy from the lips of pilgrimsЧa song of joy over GodТs house, GodТs name, and GodТs rule through the house of King David. The second stanza (vs. 6-9) contains a prayer request for the welfare of Jerusalem: УPray for the peace of JerusalemЕ.Ф But are we hearing that correctly? Peace in Jerusalem? Peace for Jerusalem? How can there be peace in Jerusalem? In DavidТs days, in JesusТ days, in our daysЧhow can there be peace for that city that, according to Jesus, is unwilling to repent from her sins? That has killed many of the prophets sent by God? That crucified the Son of God called Jesus? Peace for that city that was flattened and destroyed by the Romans in AD 70? That has seen turmoil time and time again down the centuries? Peace for Jerusalem that is today contested over by Israelis, Palestinians, and Arabs alike? Peace? Praying for peace for that earthly city called Jerusalem seems nothing more but chasing a shadow. How must you and I take Psalm 122 on our lips? What is our relationship to that city of Jerusalem? Should we be concerned for Jerusalem? Which Jerusalem: the one that is a shadow of things to come, or is it the Jerusalem whose peace reality is found elsewhereЧthe Jerusalem from heaven above? (LetТs pray Psalm 122) Title: WELCOME THE REALITY Focus: Christians pray for the peace of the heavenly Jerusalem, established by the living God in Christ, and made up of all GodТs people in heaven and on earth. Text: Hebrews 12:14-29 INTRODUCTION In order to pray Psalm 122 as a follower of Jesus Christ today, you need to know your place. When GodТs people during the O.T. era prayed for the peace of Jerusalem, they did so as people who located themselves in the story of Moses and God revealing himself at Mt. Sinai, giving his commandments and decrees. They saw themselves as people in a covenant relationship with God, who ruled them by way of kings, who shaped them by way of temple sacrifices and priests, and who guided them by way of prophets and Holy Scriptures. They knew their place. Looking back at GodТs mighty acts in the past, they celebrated GodТs promises and blessings in the past, and they looked forward to the day when the Messiah would come and make all things new. They knew their place in relationship to God. We, too, must know our place. And our place is located in Jesus Christ. He is central to our identity as GodТs people today. And it is through Jesus that we take Psalm 122 on our lips and pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Jerusalem in Psalm 122 is for us the city on high of which Paul writes in Galatians 4:26 Уthe Jerusalem that is above.Ф And this УJerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother,Ф says Paul. (Following Insights gained from Patrick ReardonТs writing on the Psalms) Jerusalem is the city whose name is emblazoned on our brows, as John writes in Revelation 3:12 УHim who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my GodЕ.Ф Jerusalem is the city referred to in Hebrews 12:22 where we read that Christians Уhave come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God.Ф The city of Jerusalem for Christians, then--from the perspective of being in ChristЧis the church in heaven and on earth, united, tightly knit or compacted together, inseparably connected to Christ and to all GodТs people down the centuries. УThe church on earth receives her very identity from the church in heaven. She exists on earth only with a view to heaven; heaven alone holds the key to her being,Ф for as Paul says in Ephesians 2:6 УGod raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his graceЕ.Ф The city of Jerusalem is the city of God; it is the universal church of ChristЧin heaven and on earthЧunited and located in Christ Jesus. THE PASSAGE: Hebr. 12:14-29 Under the old covenant, O.T. IsraelТs worship and relationship with God connected directly with Mt. Sinai, with the tabernacle, and later with the temple in Jerusalem on Mt. Zion. These were the shadows of something new to come. But today, because of Christ Jesus ushering in the new covenant, GodТs people no longer chase shadows; we welcome the reality of these shadows. Listen: УBut you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God.Ф (In contrast to the shadows of the old covenant era). УYou have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assemblyФ (We are united with the saints in heaven who live in the very presence of the risen, glorified Lord Jesus; and we are joined with the angels in heaven as well) (You have come) Уto the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.Ф (You see? Christ, the first-born from the dead has drawn all who believe(d) in him to himselfЧon earth as well as in heaven). УYou have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.Ф (AbelТs shed blood cried out for revenge; ChristТs shed blood, however, brings forgiveness, reconciliation and cleansing). All of this is the new reality bundled up in Jesus Christ. This is the new Jerusalem, where Christ is King of kings, where Christ rules in heaven and on earth, where all GodТs people find their identity, and where we are taught to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. PRAYING FOR PEACE So what does it mean for us, Christians, today to pray for the peace of Jerusalem? First of all, of course, we may and ought to pray for that city of Jerusalem found in the Middle East. Prayers for peaceful relationships among nations and people groups are appropriate and pleasing to God. So, pray for such peace among the Palestinians and Israelis today. Secondly, and more pertinent to what God has done in Christ Jesus, establishing the new Jerusalem, we pray that the new Jerusalem will have peace. We pray that the church on earth will enjoy tranquility, in which to serve God with an undisturbed and quiet mind. And thus we pray for the peace of the whole world. There are many forces besieging the church on earth: atheism, materialism, agnosticism, secularism, communism, and a host of other УismsФ--idolatries galore! In the midst of these opposing forces, we hear the voices of martyrsЧmany of whom have shed their blood; others who have lost their limbs and freedom, or who fear for their lives daily on account of their faith in Christ. Praying for the peace of Jerusalem means that we pray, in particular, for the persecuted church. Finally, praying for the peace of Jerusalem also means that we pray for conversion and transformation in the lives of people who do not know Jesus Christ and his peace today. I like what theologian Patrick Reardon says: УЕto pray for the peace of Jerusalem means to pray that, even now, we may enjoy, in measure, the peace of eternal life. This prayer, too, it is most appropriate to make. Truly, we pray it first. Even before praying for the peace of the whole world (and for the welfare of the church on earth) we are careful to pray for the peace from above and for the salvation of our souls. For the one is the wellspring of the other. The peace for which we pray is not that which the world gives (or, more often, fails to give). It is the peace with which the risen Lord greets us.Ф In this season of Advent, I long for the day when the city of God, the church above unites with the church on earth on the restored creation. I long for the day when Christ, the King, shall come again and establish perfect peace, for evermore. I invite you to pray, therefore, for the peace of JerusalemЧfor GodТs Son to enter our hearts and spread abroad his peace; for GodТs persecuted people in the world to find steadfastness and faith in the midst of their turmoil; for you and me to live the mission of the churchЧto bring peace, to sow peace, to make peace by spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. 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