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Not Ashamed!


            I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you. You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help. (Psalm 22:22-24)
           Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. He says, “I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.” And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again he says, "Here am I, and the children God has given me.”  (Hebrews 2:11-13)
           Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high. My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; on behalf of a man he pleads with God as a man pleads for his friend. (Job 16:19-21)

            How do you see God? Many years ago, I was in a Bible study that looked at the different ways people see God. To some, He's an old Grandfather, kind but a little senile. To some, He was the Judge, just waiting for a chance to strike you with lightning for the smallest infraction. To some, He's the Life of the Party who wants everyone to have a great time. There are, of course, as many wrong answers as there are people because everyone has his/her own slight variation and what that variation looks like depends on their
circumstances and personality. Some are further from the truth than others.
          My own wrong answer tends to be a mix of the Judge and a big Brother. It's not that He's looking for a chance to strike me with lightning. He's just constantly disappointed. I'm an embarrassment, but, I'm family and He promised to take care of me. In other words, "despise" and "disdain" and hiding His face are my expectations. I know better but those are my expectations when I'm not thinking. That's part of the reason I hung a sketch of Jesus on my office wall. In it, He is holding a lamb and has His face buried in the Lamb's wool. I don't tend to like pictures of Jesus, because they are wrong in any of a number of ways, but this one is designed to combat a specific error in my thinking. Today's passage also combats that lie. It says God doesn't despise or disdained my suffering. He doesn't despise or disdain me because I'm afflicted. He hasn't hidden His face from me (returning to the sketch, He hides His face "in" me.) 
          In Hebrews 2, this idea makes a turn that has meant a lot to me, when I've remembered t think about. it. In Psalm 22, the focus is on God. In Hebrews 2, it looks at the other side of the coin. It focuses on the  singer's relationship with the brothers and congregation. I know that the "you" in the Hebrews passage refers to God just as it does in Psalm 22, but at the same time, the writer of Hebrews was discussing Jesus' relationship with His brothers. He seems to me to suggest that in addition to praising, honoring and honoring God, Jesus is not ashamed of me, and is willing to praise me in the congregation, not because I'm impressive, but because I'm one of His brothers.
           That brings me to the passage from Job. I have an Advocate who is my friend. He's not ashamed to stand up for me. Suppose you had a lawyer you knew would stand by your side no matter what. If someone mentioned needing a lawyer, would you send that someone to your lawyer or suggest they go elsewhere? Would you sing the praises of your lawyer?

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