Welkom by ons GRACE CHALLENGE of in Afrikaans GENADE-UITDAGING vir 2024. Alhoewel die verkondiging van die Woord sentraal staan tot hierdie UITDAGING, wil ek dit oor die volgende 18 maande kommunikeer en toepas deur ‘n nuwe pas te handhaaf, ene wat ek noem THE PACE OF GRACE in Engels of dan die GENADE PAS VAN ‘N PELGRIM in Afrikaans.

 Die Pelgrimsliedere in die Bybel word so genoem as gevolg van die Hebreeuse frase voor elkeen van die 15 psalms wat begin by 120 en eindig by 134. Ma’alot beteken “om op te gaan” en verwys waarskynlik na die Israelitiese pelgrimstog tydens die drie jaarlikse feeste waarvan ons lees in Deuteronomium 16:16: Elkeen in Israel moet elke jaar hierdie drie feeste vier: Paasfees, die Fees van die Weke en die Huttefees. Elke man moet voor die HERE jou God kom verskyn en elkeen moet ‘n gawe vir die HERE bring op die plek wat Hy sal kies.

• Tydens Paasfees het hulle hulle verlossing as volk gevier.
• Wanneer hulle terugkeer na Jerusalem gedurende Pinkster, 50 dae later, het dit hulle herinner dat hulle as volk onder die gesag van God gestaan het.
• Die Huttefees vroeg in die herfs het hulle herinner dat hulle ‘n geseënde volk was!

 ‘Die mense het hierdie realiteite in daaglikse dissipelskap tussen feeste uitgeleef totdat dit tyd was om weer op te gaan na Jerusalem. Kan jy jou dit voorstel, hoe hulle hierdie vyftien psalms sing terwyl hulle hul roetines neersit en hulle dorpe, plase en stede verlaat om na Jerusalem te reis,’ skryf Eugene Peterson in sy ikoniese boek oor dissipelskap, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.

 Ek het ek hierdie psalms uitgekies om oor die volgende jaar en ‘n half te bestudeer, mediteer, daarby te vertoef maar ook te memoriseer vir ‘n baie spesiefiek doel. Een van die redes hoekom die bywoning van hierdie feeste so belangrik was in die Ou Testament, is omdat dit oor die herstel van die teenwoordigheid van God gegaan het. Die Hebreeuse teks suggereer die gedagte dat sy kinders sy aangesig moes opsoek en nie net sy hand nie. Met ander woorde, dat dit eerstens oor God self moes gaan en nie oor wat Hy vir hulle kon doen nie. Ek is vas oortuig dat God ons in hierdie dae terugroep to iets soortgelyks.

 Dit is dus my gebed dat ons meer gereeld sal stop, die amper koorsagtige pas van ons lewens met erns sal evalueer en sal herfokus op die kernwaarhede van ons geloof, naamlik om in die Wingerdstok te bly, verbind daartoe om God die Drie-eenheid ons tuiste te maak. Dit word versterk deur Mike Leake, wat na die Pelgrimspsalms verwys as ‘n oproep om weer ‘n woning by God na te streef. Geïnspireer deur hierdie konsep het ek iets ontwerp en dit op my blog, www.avividlife.co.za, geplaas. Saam met John Mark Comer, die skrywer van The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, glo ek vas dat alle verhoudinge tyd neem. Die daaglikse FREE TOOL wat ek geskep het en wat julle kan gaan aflaai en iewers op ‘n muur of yskas plak, is om ons te help om te volhard in ons geloof en om Christus alleen die sentrale strewe van ons lewens te maak.

 Dit bring my terug na die term pelgrimstog, die beskrywende frase voor elke psalm. Dit is inderdaad ‘n waardevolle metafoor vir ons wandel met Christus en is dalk net een van die redes waarom die boek wat die tweede meeste verkope van alle tye in die wêreld John Bunyan se The Pilgrim’s Progress, is. Hierdie idee word versterk deur Eugene Peterson, wat skryf: “The trip to Jerusalem acted out a life lived upward toward God, an existence that advanced from one level to another in developing maturity – what Paul described as “the goal, where God is beckoning us onward – to Jesus.”[1]

 Maar terug na die volgorde van die vyftien psalms. Volgens navorsing het koning Dawid vier daarvan geskryf, tien is anoniem, en die enigste een wat deur Salomo geskryf is, Psalm 127, is reg in die middel van die versameling geplaas. Dit is inderdaad baie betekenisvol, volgens verskeie kommentare. Een kommentator gaan so ver as om te suggereer dat psalm 127 die lens is waardeur ons die ander psalms moet interpreteer, ‘n voorstel waarvan ek baie hou.

 Salomo, wat die eerste tempel gebou het, begin met: “As die Here die huis nie bou nie, swoeg die wat daaraan bou tevergeefs.” Wat ‘n kragtige herinnering om Jesus die middelpunt van ons vele drome en strewes te behou, die hart van ons huise te maak, die rede hoekom ons Bybellees, die kern van ons besighede, die ruggraat van ons verhoudings, die hoofrede agter ons kerkbywoning, die som en inhoud van ons hele lewe.

 Terwyl ek hierdie skryf, wil ek dit benadruk, dat ek hierdie nie as algemene goeie raad beskou of dat ek wil hê julle moet dit gebruik as ‘n tipe van ‘n vae nuwejaarsvoorneme nie. Dit is die kreet van my hart dat daar ‘n seismiese herverskuiwing in my lewens sal kom wat my dramaties sal hersentreer in die volgende agtien maande. Ek self smag daarna om daaglikse besluite te neem wat om hierdie een kontra-kulturele konsep sal draai: om Jesus te volg en te gehoorsaam!

 Mag ek jou nooi om by my aan te sluit as een van God se vakleerlinge, Sy opdragte nougeset te volg en Sy lewe in die fynste besonderhede na te streef oor die volgende paar maande.  Om ons te help om Sy genadepas vol te hou, soos ek dit graag noem, gaan ek net een psalm ‘n maand bestudeer. Elke maand sal ek ‘n sleutelbegrip identifiseer, wat ons gebede sal rig en wat ons kan afbid oor ons huise, ons families, by ons werk, oor ons land, waar ons tussen vriende kuier, by die hospitaal besoek aflê, langs die sportveld staan om ons kinders te ondersteun of wanneer ons oor die telefoon en sosiale media kuier.  Wat ‘n voorreg om God se standaard met ons saam te neem, as’t ware met Hom saam te stem wanneer dit kom by onderwerpe soos vrede, eenheid, liefde, en talle meer.

 En hiermee groet ek en bid julle toe ‘n geseënde en gesonde 2024 beleef!

[1] Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience In The Same Direction, pg.12

Welcome to our Grace Challenge for 2024 – one I will refer to as the Proclamation Challenge but as today is only an introduction, I  would like communicate another important aspect at the heart of this challenge, that I call The Pace of Grace!

 The Psalms of Ascent are also known as the Song of Degrees, the Pilgrim Songs or the Gradual Psalms. They are named as such because of the Hebrew phrase before each psalm. Ma’a lot means “going up” and probably refers to the Israelite pilgrimage during the three annual feasts we read about in Deuteronomy 16:16: Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place He will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles. 

• During Passover, the first feast mentioned, they celebrated that they were a redeemed people. 
• Returning to Pentecost 50 days later, reminded them they were a commanded people.
• The Feast of Tabernacles in early autumn reminded them that they were a blessed people! 

 ‘The people lived these realities in daily discipleship between feasts until it was time to go up to the mountain city again. Imagine them singing these fifteen psalms as they left their routines and made their way from towns and villages, farms, and cities, as pilgrims up to Jerusalem,’ writes Eugene Peterson in his iconic book on discipleship, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction[1]

 Why have I chosen these psalms to study, meditate upon, linger over, and memorize over the next year and a half? As the goal of attending the feasts was about the restoration of the presence of God or seeking the Faces of God, as the Hebrew text suggests, I believe God is calling us back to the basics of our faith, which is a relationship with Him. We will take a break every third month to pick up where we left off one month later. 

 I am more convinced than ever before that God wants us to stop regularly, evaluate the frenetic pace of our lives and then re-focus on the essence of our faith, which is to abide in the Vine or make our home in the Trinity. This is reinforced by Mike Leake, who refers to the Psalms of Ascent as a call to once again pursue a dwelling with God.[2] Inspired by this concept, I designed something and posted it on my blog, www.avividlife.co.za. Together with John Mark Comer, the author of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, I firmly believe that all relationships take time. The daily handout I created is to help us make abiding the central pursuit of our lives. 

 This brings me back to the language of pilgrimage, as suggested by the descriptive phrase before each psalm. It is indeed a helpful metaphor for our walk with Christ and may just be one of the reasons why the second greatest-selling book of all time is John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress. This idea is strengthened by Eugene Peterson, who writes, “The trip to Jerusalem acted out a life lived upward toward God, an existence that advanced from one level to another in developing maturity – what Paul described as “the goal, where God is beckoning us onward – to Jesus.”[3]

 But back to the arrangement of the psalms themselves. According to research, King David wrote four of them, ten are anonymous, and the only one written by Solomon, Psalm 127, is placed right in the middle of the collection. This is indeed very significant, according to several commentaries. One commentator goes so far as to suggest it is the interpretive centre of all the songs of Ascent, a suggestion I like. 

 Solomon, who built the first temple, begins with, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain.” What a powerful reminder indeed to keep Jesus at the centre of our many pursuits, at the heart of our homes, the reason for our Bible reading, the core of our business, the backbone of our relationships, the main force behind our church attendance, the sum and substance of our very lives.

 As I write this, it is essential to know that I don’t mean this to be generally good advice or a vague reference to what people call New Year resolutions. It is the cry of my heart that a seismic shift in our lives will dramatically re-centre us in the next eighteen months. I, myself, yearn to make daily decisions that will revolve around this one counter-cultural concept: to follow Jesus! 

 May I invite you to join me and become an apprentice under Him, copying the details of His life and taking the template of His day-to-day life as our own.[4] To help us keep His pace of grace this year, as I like to call it, I will stick to one psalm a month. Each month, I will identify a key concept, guiding our prayers and proclamations to declare His eternal truths as we agree with what God says about, for example, peace, unity, love, and more, in the Bible. 

 And may I add = may you truly have a blessed and prosperous 2024 WITH God by your side.

[1] Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience In The Same Direction, pg.13

[2] [2] https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/finding-encouragement-for-our-journey-in-the-psalms-of-ascent.html#:~:text=These%20psalms%20(120%2D134),the%20story%20of%20God’s%20redemption.

[3] Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience In The Same Direction, pg.12

[4] The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer, pg. 113