Devotion.al

  • Mixing It Up

    Mixing It Up

    It can seem strange to question and particularly fear the unity of disparate people, but that is what is happening here. Jew and Gentile in a single . The Jew and Gentile outside that faith assaulted it.

    Unity is a great thing. The is supposed to be a place of unity. Yet, the church also remains the most divided. It is divided by culture, , skin color, , location and many other reasons.

    Yet, the “obvious” isn’t all bad. Really. If we didn’t have divisions, well, there would be one pastor…one…for everyone. Already, we know that wouldn’t work.

    Some sociologists state that our effective relational capacity is approximately 100. This “tribal” view of humanity would certainly explain much of what each of us experience in life. It also explains the church.

    In many regards, the divisions that we see in the world are not that surprising. As the ability to connect the whole world in real-time expands and becomes embedded in our lives, we are all experiencing the stress of a “tribal” size beyond our capacity to deal with and understand.

    This does not spare us the responsibility to and understand. The “tribal” concept may be about to be turned upside down.

    The church of Iconium, for example, broke the “tribal” boundaries. The tribal-breaking church remains the world’s greatest . It is this that makes the divided church so painful.

    The world needs an enemy. Tribes need enemies. The enemies may not be ones of warfare. They may be economic or cultural or something else.

    The church is called to cross enemy lines not to defeat the enemy, but to reconcile the enemy, so that there are no more enemies.

    ※Reflection※

    • Which “tribal” identities do you identify with?
    • Which “tribal” identities do you struggle most with?
    • How do you think the early church overcame “tribal” identities?

    ※Prayer※

    Lord, grant us the wisdom and grace to follow the example of your along with the first churches, that we can truly be the witnesses to the world of your great love. Amen.

  • Freely

    Freely

    Psalm 147:1–11; 1 Corinthians 9:16–23

    Psalm 147 opens up powerfully. It really is good to sing praise to God. Every leader hopes that it is the pleasure of everyone who attends (whether physically or online) finds it a pleasure to praise God through singing.

    Of course, the psalmist is a songwriter/performer, so is obviously a tad biased towards this form of praise. There is indeed something powerful about music. On the other hand, there are plenty of people who find their best time of worship and praise through or stillness.

    The of worship is honoring God. A heart that honors God, worships God. Those people faithfully for the next experience of God’s .

    The expectation of experiencing God’s faithful love produces a response that can seem odd to a person who does not believe the same. Paul has such an expectation. That is part of what motivates his approach to his (Christ directed) mission to share the Good News.

    Paul’s response to God’s faithful love? Share the Good News freely. Not only freely in regard to cost, but also freely to whomever, and freely however.

    In many respects, the whomever and however continue to be a problem in regard to sharing the . In some church somewhere, someone is saying, “Let’s not share the Good News with those people.” In another church (or maybe the same one), someone is saying, “We just can’t do it that way.”

    It’s easy to say, “Paul would…,” but the reality is that we don’t know what Paul would have done. We can only at the “heart” of Paul as seen through his words.

    We are often quite ready to put boundaries on many things in our lives. With whom and how (granted, without changing the ) however, the fewer boundaries we place the more likely we are to be where God already is.

    ※Reflection※

    • What surprising/unexpected ways have you seen the Good News shared/spread?
    • How should honoring/praising/worshiping God lead to sharing the Good News of the Gospel?

    ※Prayer※

    Lord, may we find ways to share the Gospel that builds bridges of and love. Amen.

  • Life Giving God

    Life Giving God

    Isaiah 46:1–13

    Much of the tells through visual stories. Sometimes that imagery is disconcerting. It can also be mind-altering.

    Many of us struggle with some of that imagery. Being the of Christ can seem odd. Or there is the thought of being the clay pot.

    Most of us are very familiar with God as Father (in particular, God the Father, God the , God the ). So, when it comes to this passage in Isaiah it could be jarring. If you read this passage in the NIV, it won’t seem so, but most of the other translations have God being pregnant.

    Yes, God is pregnant. Of course, it is an image. Yet, it is an important one.

    One of the great mysteries (and, as a guy, great honors) that women have is the ability to bear children (definitely not saying pregnancy is easy). With God as Creator, perhaps we should be surprised that God isn’t identified more often this way.

    The imagery in the context of this passage is critical. The comparison is between God (-bearer) and idols (no life in them).

    God addresses the reality that the Israelites have “treasured” their idols, and that they put so much value upon them. They put their to escape the surrounding powers. Instead, they are hauling their idols with them to exile. As the idols were often covered or made of precious metals and gems, the likelihood is that idols would be destroyed as part of the exile.

    The idols that the Israelites made and worshiped so that they could maintain the lives they had…did nothing. The God they had abandoned promised to remain with them and to them.

    While carrying their empty, lifeless idols into captivity…God reached out. God said—in effect—I am here to carry you…and you life.

    ※Reflection※

    • What other symbols (i.e., pregnancy) can you associate with the life- aspect of God?
    • What modern idols do people believe “give life”? How do they mimic life?

    ※Prayer※

    God, thank you for your life-giving nature. May we embrace all that it means. Amen.

  • Wages of Worth

    Wages of Worth

    1 Corinthians 9:1–16

    are not a small thing. There have been a number of studies that for the same position and experience women make less than men, and minorities make less than whites. The results of such studies can be quite disheartening.

    Numbers can be deliberately misinterpreted or mishandled or presented in a deceiving fashion. Numbers don’t lie. People do.

    If numbers were to portray the value of people, many of the remuneration studies would “say”: “white man” > “white woman” > “minority man” > “minority woman”. This is even the case in technical organizations that function in numbers and where skills and experience supposedly guide the way.

    I have been in a position to know the pay of . Some were paid more than others due to experience, skillset, and talent. Others were paid more than others because they came at a time where their skillset (even if normally inadequate) was needed (premium pay). To my , no one was paid differently because of their or gender, but that part was never part of my purview.

    chided the Corinthians about their tight-fisted-ness. Based on previous verses, it is likely that people are maligning Paul either because he doesn’t take payment or because others were getting paid. As a bi-vocational pastor, I have been told I was (and have been treated as) not a “real” pastor because I wasn’t paid. I was also told that a “real” pastor wouldn’t be working a second job (even though that’s the one feeding my family).

    To protect the innocent, I will say there once was a with a pastor and his family (and this isn’t about me). They paid their pastor so poorly (and the church was in a wealthy ) that their pastor was on food stamps. In outrage, one of the board members successfully pushed a pay increase, putting the pastor over the food stamp eligibility. The only problem is that because of that, the pastor and his family went into a higher tax bracket, and he made less. The family was worse off. The board was fine with it, as the optics of their pastor on food stamps was removed.

    These differences in the treatment of pastors (my experience and the innocent pastor) me a good reason to look at Paul. This weird dichotomy of it’s bad that Paul isn’t paid to it’s bad these leaders are paid makes a person’s head hurt.

    Paul’s biblically grounded of, “Yes, I have earned the right to be paid; you have the obligation to pay me,” and then saying, “but I choose not to be paid so that I am not a burden to you,” is amazing. His defense of his fellow leaders, who were getting paid, displays a lack of or a sense of being where he belongs.

    The whole situation might seem strange. However, as we look at our own society and culture, we can recognize similarities. “You get what you pay for,” would put Paul in question as he was “free”. “I can get a better orator or cheaper speaker here,” would put the other leaders’ wages in question. If we’re honest with ourselves, many businesses (we should that churches wouldn’t do this) can look at an employee and see which one costs more. If they have a family, they will naturally require a higher wage. A young unmarried person has nothing to tie them down (they might work more), so they can accept a lower wage.

    We say that people are equal, but we often don’t treat them that way. Wages should not define a person, but we often treat them as the test of their worthiness. God forgive us.

  • Walk Out Your Faith

    Galatians 5:2–15

    I’ve probably shared this before; forgive me. A number of years ago, I was in a bible study. In it was a woman who said, “I don’t believe in the God of the Old Testament, only the New One. Only the God of the New Testament is a God of Love.”

    Our study leaders were not the most theologically conservative. Even so, they quickly (and gently) corrected her. Yet, I know many people like her who were raised with the “hellfire and brimstone” type of sermons and teachings which predominately used the Old Testament to cause people to be terrified of God.

    The Jews of ‘s time weren’t so much afraid of God as they were not following the rules. The rules were the source of alongside the religious leaders who instilled fear.

    This same affliction has been part of the for generations. People followed rules because they could “safely” belong following the rules. Of course, that does not mean they understood the rationale behind the rules, or believed it.

    Rules can be good and beneficial. Having an understanding of consequences of decisions is also good. When they become the or “proof”, they will often defy our with God.

    The biggest victim in that situation is grace. People like the woman in the story, or those who experienced hellfire & brimstone sermons often become unable to see God’s grace. That inability to see God’s grace then becomes the inability to see God’s love.

    Paul’s words to the Galatians were to remind them that they had God’s grace. To put an exaggerated point on it, he was telling them that they traded a city of gold for a rotten turnip. They embraced the rotten turnip, and dumped the city of gold.

    There is, of course, the danger of developing in such a way of needing grace that the way of living leads you to slavery. However, willfully (or ignorantly) skipping out on grace may be far worse.

    Being grace-filled is counter-cultural. It has been for quite some time. Being grace-filled is not being a doormat, it is giving people what they don’t deserve…God’s love.

    Read the for this devotional on BibleGateway.com
    • If you were asked to live out your in grace, what would that look like?
    • How does living out grace work with those with whom you ?
    • If you were to choose grace or rules, which would it be? Which does your life display?

    ※Prayer※

    Lord, let your grace flow in, through, and out of us more and more. Amen.

  • Mud or Glory

    Mud or Glory

    Jeremiah 29:1–14

    Bittersweet seems to be the sentiment of these verses. Sweet for God “sees” the Israelites in exile, and provides them a . Bitter for the reason that the promise will only be after a long time in exile.

    From the of Genesis to the beginning of Exodus is around 400 years, with the 430 years being the final tally of Israel’s time in Egypt. During this time there is no mention of God and the Israelites. The Israelites’ time in Egypt started well, but by the time of Exodus, it was a of slavery.

    There is a huge difference between the two situations. Many commentators posit that the reason for Israel’s time in Egypt was to ween them from the Canaanite religions, especially as a precursor to claiming the Promised Land (where the Canaanites lived).

    This time their exile was shorted, but perhaps it was more dangerous; dangerous to the of their with God. There was a warning about not listening to false prophets. In particular, these false prophets were promising that everything would be fine, and all would be restored.

    (I’m not sure if they were asking for political donations, but sure sounds like far too many campaign promises.)

    One would that the promise of God would forestall such people and would keep people from following them. Humans are weak, however. They will fall prey to many.

    The message of hope that Christians ought to be wearing proudly as cloaks of have been muddied and stained over the years. The last four were the culmination of it. It was never that all of a sudden we chose the mud over the hope; it was that the mud became our hope. The cloaks lost their brilliance. The world lost a lot of hope.

    You may feel that the last four years were a mess of misery. You may feel that the next four will be as bad, or even worse. That’s the mud.

    Let’s let God clean off our mud again. Amen.

  • God and Relationships

    God and Relationships

    1 Corinthians 7:25–40

    God and is a pretty big topic. First of all, we have to set our starting point. God is a relational God. God created humanity in relationship with God.

    The first was Adam. One thing to keep in mind with Adam is that according to some translators and some Jewish traditions was without gender upon initial . It wasn’t until the “rib” was removed from Adam that the division of gender came about. This flies in the face of much of the , I understand, but it further emphasizes “two shall become one” and that it occurs (with the realm of Eden, before the fall) between man and woman.

    This seeming aside is also important as God declared that it was not good for humanity to be alone. This is peculiar in that if God is in a relationship with them, then the human wasn’t alone. Even at the point of Eden (again, before the Fall), God understood (even created) the situation that a human would need human fellowship. It’s odd to say that God wasn’t enough, yet human history shows that there is something fundamentally different in human-to-human relationship versus human-to-God relationship.

    Therefore, with all of this before us, there is a tension from the beginning of man and woman, their relationship with God, and their relationship with each other. The inherent need of humanity for relationship also extends, eventually, to fellow humans. God desires a relationship with humanity. Humanity needs relationship with humanity (even we strong introverts).

    This may seem to be a lot of preamble. Human relationships are at the core of Paul’s message to the .

    We primarily focus on marriage because it is culturally (and often personally) significant. There is good reason to focus on it. There is also good reason to ignore it in these verses.

    Paul makes it clear that while he is spiritually led regarding the church and the (more at the of these verses), he also has no clear direction from the Holy (at the beginning of the verses). This means that these verses, in particular, need to be viewed in context. Paul’s perspective is that Jesus would be returning shortly (days, weeks, months, maybe a year or so). Paul has an end-times view. Why, from Paul’s perspective, would you confuse the little remaining time in your life with that kind of intimate and focused human relationship?

    Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:16–17, “All Scripture is inspired by God, and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in , 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” When we take context into consideration, we must also keep this passage in mind.

    Paul’s highest concern is the Corinthians’ (and our) relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Paul recognizes that often our human relationships hinder our relationship with God. This can be a result of trauma from childhood to the spouse who has changed (or us who changed). Even healthy relationships may distract or interfere with a relationship with God. An unhealthy relationship will hinder it even more.

    Our relationships with fellow humans really do deeply affect our relationship with God. One could even go so far as to say that if your relationships with humans are broken, so is your relationship with God. Yep, that one stings.

    ※Reflection※

    • What human relationships did you think of as being damaged? How might those relationships inhibit your relationship with God?
    • What human relationships can you think of that are good or great? How might they inhibit your relationship with God?

    ※Prayer※

     God, we often say you are first in our lives, but the human relationships in our lives sometimes say different. Grant us discernment, healing, and grace to make them be what is best regarding our relationship with you. Amen.

  • What A Sight

    What A Sight

    Numbers 22:1–35

    Moab feared Israel. Israel “just” had a military victory against major forces around Moab. Israel had marched around Moab and yet hadn’t done anything directly against Moab. Moab was deeply concerned that they were next.

    According to Moses (in Deuteronomy 2:9), God had directed him to leave Moab alone.  There is no record of “official” interaction between the Moabites and Israel, so it would seem that Moab’s fears were based on assumptions rather than experience. Which leads us to Balaam.

    The King of Moab called upon Balaam to curse the Israelites. Accusing the Israelites of being, basically, locusts seems to be a case of hyperbole. Yet, there was unsurety in Moab. It’s safer to wipe out the “other” than to communicate with them.

    At first, it seems that Balaam was a God-follower. As we continue the story, it seems that perhaps it was not quite so. There is an implication that God condescends to Balaam going to prophesy on King Balak’s behalf. The “go” seems to be more along the lines of, “You can go. You’re going to anyway. So, I will use your human desires to bring to me (God).”

    And then we come to the famous part of the story, which recently came up in a . The entirety of the conversation was about a talking animal. Which I get it. None of us have had an animal to us in human speech.

    While human speech is important, our dog communicates just fine: whines, stares, growls, barks, licks, gnaws, pounces on, and so forth. She generally is successful in communicating her needs without human speech. A human baby communicates. It’s usually the parents who get the subtle differences between, “I’m hungry” cry, and “my stomach hurts” cry.

    We could blame children’s Sunday School for the emphasis on a talking beast of burden. The adults are just as nonplussed as the children, though. The talking animal wasn’t the point of the story, not even close.

    The talking animal was more along the lines of, “Yes, you (Balaam) said you heard me (God), but you need to understand how important it is that you actually listen to me!”

    In the , preachers/pastors/teachers will often say something along the lines of, “Yes, this hard, but the say…” Part of this is the reality that preachers/pastors/teachers don’t want to deliver hard . It’s hard, and we all want to be liked. In a community that respects the Word of God, that can work.

    Balaam probably doesn’t have that particular protection. Like many people of power, and especially with the gods of that era and place, they thought with the right amount of or right sacrifice they could “move” gods to do their will. God doesn’t work that way, and Balak would likely have little joy in being thwarted.

    However, that talking donkey and then the of the sword-bearing angel? That imagery was probably quite strong in Balaam’s eyes and heart. Likely, it was that which gave him the strength to deliver the oracles for Israel despite Barak’s insistence on curses.

    A vision/experience like that would many of us the strength to face the world.

    ※Reflection※

    • When you recall the talking donkey, what else do you recall? Do recall the rest of the story?
    • Why is important, especially with stories like this, to understand that the Scriptures use imagery?

    ※Prayer※

    Lord, may we have the strength of your vision as we navigate the chaotic waters of this world. Amen.

Devotion.al

Mixing It Up

It can seem strange to question and particularly the unity of disparate people, but that is what is happening here. Jew and Gentile united in a single faith. The Jew and Gentile outside that faith assaulted it.

Unity is a great thing. The is supposed to be a place of unity. Yet, the church also remains the most divided. It is divided by culture, , skin color, , location and many other reasons.

Yet, the “obvious” isn’t all bad. Really. If we didn’t have divisions, well, there would be one pastor…one…for everyone. Already, we know that wouldn’t work.

Some sociologists state that our effective relational capacity is approximately 100. This “tribal” view of humanity would certainly explain much of what each of us experience in life. It also explains the church.

In many regards, the divisions that we see in the world are not that surprising. As the ability to connect the whole world in real-time expands and becomes embedded in our lives, we are all experiencing the stress of a “tribal” size beyond our capacity to deal with and understand.

This does not spare us the responsibility to and understand. The “tribal” concept may be about to be turned upside down.

The church of Iconium, for example, broke the “tribal” boundaries. The tribal-breaking church remains the world’s greatest hope. It is this that makes the divided church so painful.

The world needs an . Tribes need enemies. The enemies may not be ones of warfare. They may be economic or cultural or something else.

The church is called to cross enemy lines not to defeat the enemy, but to reconcile the enemy, so that there are no more enemies.

※Reflection※

  • Which “tribal” identities do you identify with?
  • Which “tribal” identities do you struggle most with?
  • How do you think the early church overcame “tribal” identities?

※Prayer※

Lord, grant us the and to follow the example of your servant along with the first churches, that we can truly be the witnesses to the world of your great love. Amen.