Tag: disciple

Cross Section

Psalm 78; Zechariah 8:1–6; Acts 2:14–21

Ever had an itch. One of those itches you just can quite reach. Maybe you’ve used a pen (or pencil). Maybe you’ve used one of those bamboo scratchers shaped like a hand. Or perhaps you’ve used a wall corner. Or, if push comes to shove, you ask for help.

In many respects, church (or the church service) has been a back-scratcher for years. There have been shifts over the years as how the service is done (from “liturgical” to “modern”, for example) to the musical instruments (no instruments, to organs, to brass and wind, to piano, to guitars, to electric guitars, to full bands) to the style of music (chant, hymns, country, contemporary, hip-hop, rap).

Music is one of the biggest backscratchers, as people will determine which church they will attend depending on the music genre (and then the instrumentation, too). Preaching styles, too, also affect church attendance (3-point sermons, topical, expository).

For the last few decades, though, the bigger one may well be programs, especially programs for youth and children. This isn’t a bad thing, to be clear. It does, however, have some problems. They are the same problems as service styles, music styles, instrumentation, preaching…they scratch an itch.

It was much easier when there was only one style. Then there would be only one expectation. There is also the reality that the lack or presence of any of the above (and this is not an exhaustive list) may be a “barrier” for a new person (whether unbeliever, new believer, or seasoned believer).

It is the whys of it all that matter. There was a quip (a stereotype that is sadly mostly true in the US) that the hour of church on Sunday is the most segregated hour of the week. The context of this quip is race. However, it applies to so much more.

In many churches, maybe even yours, you can look around during the church service and see the segregation of age. Sometimes the children leave at the beginning or in the middle if they’re there at all. Sometimes the youth leave. Sometimes they all sit together. Each church can do it completely differently.

The result, however, is contrary to what the New Testament seems to display…unified worship across age and people groups.

Some are beginning to question if we have lost our biggest opportunity to disciple one another by separating to scratch our itch.

This is not an attack on the way your church “does” church, though it might seem to be. The question we need to be asking ourselves is…how does [youth group, music choice, etc.] affect successful discipleship? How does it inhibit discipleship? How do we scratch our itches and still maintain our fidelity to “telling the next generation” the “great things that God has done”?

2020-09-23
Discipl…

Psalm 94; Proverbs 13:18; Matthew 18:15–17; 2 Corinthians 13:1–4

Discipleship is a buzzword these days. In church circles, digital and physical, there are regular (and worthwhile) conversations about discipleship. There are fancy names such as “discipleship pathway” or “growth tracks” or any number of others. All of them are one of many ways to think about and to name the daily work of becoming more like Jesus.

Sunday School was quite the thing at many points in church history. John Wesley, the “grandfather” of the Church of the Nazarene denomination, was a great proponent of it. Some would claim that John Wesley’s desire to serve and educate the poor led to the opportunity (with failures and success) of public schools to educate all the children, not just the rich and powerful ones.

As the cultural seasons have changed, however, the weakness of the knowledge imparted has become apparent. In following the Enlightenment’s path, knowledge of facts began to override relationship with Jesus. This led to intellectual assent of the Savior with hearts that were cold.

The Holiness tradition has long held that the true path of the Christian life is to become more like Christ. Yes, that is a high standard. One doesn’t do much if one aims low. The focus on discipleship would seem to fix the missing pieces. Except…

Discipline comes from the same root as disciple. This is not coincidental. To be a disciple requires discipline. We often think Jesus’ 12 Disciples weren’t that disciplined (impetuous Peter and corrupt Judas Iscariot often come to mind). They walk with Jesus for as long as 3 years. That simple action is one of discipline.

Often, we “soften” discipline by saying “spiritual disciplines”, being prayer, reading scripture, worship, fasting, fellowship, giving, and other depending on whose list you read. The spiritual disciplines are good and helpful to build up your Christian walk. They should not be ignored or dismissed. However, there is one aspect of being transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ that we, especially we individualistic Americans, don’t like…the other discipline.

This is a hard topic in many churches. Pastors don’t really want to talk about it. Most people don’t want to hear about it. Individualistic tendencies have created a monster that the people of the church will have to fight. Of course, they/we are the monster we have to fight.

Church discipline, that of correcting a member, is not something ever done lightly or without love and discernment. We have all heard horror stories of church discipline gone wrong, emotionally harming and spiritually devastating people. None of us want that.

The true depth of discipline is among fellow believers who hold one another accountable, not to shame or guilt them, but to be the tools by which a person is transformed into the likeness of Christ.

※Questions※

1) What disciplines are you following to become more like Jesus?

2) Who is involved in your sharpening and discipline? Whose walk are you involved in to sharpen and be a tool of discipline?

3) Why do you think discipline and disciplines (i.e., “spiritual”) have been separated from being a disciple?

※Prayer※

Jesus, let your Holy Spirit guide us and shape to be followers and do-ers of your will. Amen.

2020-09-17
Disciple, Baptize, Teach

Matthew 28:16–20; 1 Corinthians 1:14–25

One of the measurements of a church’s growth is the annual number of baptisms. If we were to review the church’s (and, by this, generally all American churches), the percentage is not particularly great. It certainly does not meet the so-called New Testament numbers.

A lot has changed over the years. In certain traditions, infants are brought to be baptized into the life of the church. While the Church of the Nazarene generally dedicates infants, functionally it often ends up being the same.

Is baptism a good measurement? Yes…and no. Baptism does not a disciple make. It would be nice if it were that easy.

There is probably a reason why the order is disciple, baptize, teach. The two primary modern pathways are baptize/teach and teach/baptize. Discipleship seems to not be part of the primary paths.

Yes, the word disciple is used a lot. The actually living as a disciple seems to be lacking. But, you say, we have a discipleship class or book or…really, something that teaches.

The evidence of a lack of discipleship is all around us. Look at our culture. Look at our news. Look at our sports.

Paul’s words somewhat feed into that. He states that he was not sent to baptize, but to preach. Now we often immediately equate preach to teach (not just because it rhymes). Paul seems to separate that.

Especially in the apologetic intellectual Christianity of today, preaching is often used as teaching. Paul calls his preaching foolishness. Paul’s foolishness wouldn’t seem to be the same as today’s preaching.

It might even mean that the wise, the teacher of the law, the debater of the age might very well be the church and its practices. This is not to tear down the church, but to examine it. This is meant to examine us.

Jesus, you commanded your disciples to make disciples. Help us to do our part. Amen.

1) What is discipleship? What does a disciple look like?

2) What is the difference between being a disciple and being taught?

3) Do you think Jesus meant the three (disciple, baptize, teach) in a particular order or to actually separate them? Or do you think Jesus had something else in mind? If so, what?

2020-08-27
I Hate You

Luke 14:25–35; 1 John 3:14–18

So, who do YOU hate? Your mom, dad, husband, wife, significant other, son, daughter, brother, sister, cousin, aunt, uncle…Really, who do you hate?

Trump, Clinton, Bin Laden, and many others have been (or are) hated. It could be because of politics. It could be because they murdered people. It might be something that you think they may have done.

This passage in Luke is a hard passage for many. Except in cases of abuse or other mistreatment, hating one’s family is out of the question. A religion that has long considered itself (especially in the West) a “family-centered” religion will struggle that which it says it is based upon. “Family values”, a decades-old purportedly Christian value, are questionable if we are to hate our family.

Then John, a disciple of writes that we are to love our brothers and sisters, and that anyone who hates their brother or system is a murderer (even if said brother or sister still lives), and because of that they don’t have eternal life. Confused, yet?

So, how does this work, exactly? Well, we’re back to the age-old problem of English versus Greek. Just like there are more words for love in Greek than in English, there’s the same problem with hate. Hate isn’t quite hate, sort of.

When Jesus talks about hate, it refers more to loyalty that like, dislike, love, or hate. Jesus sought to shock people into an understanding that they may have to choose where their loyalty lay. Was their loyalty with family, or was their loyalty with Jesus?

Hate may seem overly dramatic, however, in the cultural context, hate was the understanding. Only a hateful child, parent, spouse, and so forth would choose Jesus over family. In that time, the time shortly thereafter, and it appears now, family loyalty is against Jesus.

Which brings us to John’s words. His hate is more along the lines of what we think of when we hear the word hate. The kind of hate that blindly rages and cares more about hurting another than blessing the enemy. This is the context of John’s hate.

We are called to pray for the blessings of our adversaries. Even more so are we to seek the benefit of our brothers and sisters in Christ. John’s primary concern is not the family ties of blood and culture that Jesus brought to light. John’s concern was what we at Generations call framily (friends who are like family).

This framily is found within the body of Christ. Because of its place within the body of Christ, it should not have divided loyalties. Of course, when it comes to human frailty, we all know that isn’t the case.

As we work through our hopes and fears of COVID and elections, we will often be tempted to hate our brothers and sisters in Christ. We must strive against that, for a house divided against itself will not stand, and then what would we say to Jesus?

※Prayer※

Jesus, you prayed to the Father that we would be one. Help us to be united in you, while we yet still remain individuals with different thoughts and experiences. Amen.

※Questions※

1) Is there someone in the body of Christ with whom you are angry? Pray for them. Ask for the peace of the Holy Spirit to fall upon and fill both them and you.

2) How can you work to be one with your brothers and sisters in Christ while you have differing opinions?

3) How does the concept of Jesus before family still cause you and others trials?

2020-08-13
Self of Nothing

Judges 4:1–24; 2 Samuel 6:12–22; Psalm 18:20–29

Many have often condemned Barak as a coward who hides behind a woman’s skirt (so to speak). What if there is something else at play?

If you read the Book of Joshua and 1 & 2 Samuel, the Ark of the Covenant was part of the army’s formation. It went out into battle with the people. It was a symbol for the people of Israel that God was with them.

However, in the time of the Book of Judges, a lot was lost (and so very quickly, too). Perhaps, as a matter of morale and tactics, Barak wanted Deborah there as the symbol. Barak could have been doubtful of his military success, so wanted backup (God).

Regardless, it is Barak’s lack of a response to Deborah’s “penalty” that is our focus. Basically, Deborah told Barak that he would not get the glory of dealing with Sisera (the enemy leader) and that it would be given to a woman (a dig in a patriarchal society).

Whether it was acceptance or tolerance, Barak’s lack of response shows a greater concern for the success of the battle, rather than the resulting glory. Some call it cowardice. Some call it degrading. Some call it humility.

Humility does not just take one form. Whether you believe the Barak was weak, scared, or lacking faith, how many people hide those exact things behind a façade of bravado? Not hiding it, is often a sign of humility.

Sometimes humility is what you are willing to do and be in public. David’s dancing in public to display joy in front of the people must have been something to watch. Was it because of how he was dressed? Was it because he didn’t act refined?

His goal wasn’t the eyes of humanity, it was the eyes and heart of God. Yet, his first wife either tried to shame him or was ashamed of him.

David would not accept that. He understood that whatever her issues were, they were nothing in comparison to bringing glory to God.

It is interesting to realize that David didn’t say, “that wasn’t embarrassing!” He said that his personal honor and pride are not important when compared to the glory of God.

Two different men, with two different forms of humility. These are not the only forms of humility. It can play out in many ways in our lives. One person’s humility may seem like nothing to another. This is why true humility is between a person and God.

Humility is something we should all seek. As the person we call Lord and Savior was humble enough to touch the outcast, broken, dirty, and then die for all, humility is a characteristic of a disciple of Jesus.

※Prayer※

Holy Spirit, guide our hearts and souls to greater depths of humility, even while knowing that the humility of Jesus is deeper still. Amen.

※Questions※

1) Who is the humblest person you know? What makes them humble?

2) Name the ways Barak and David were humble. What are other means of humility?

3) Why is humility so important to growing the Kingdom of God?

2020-07-30
For and/or In and/or Of

Matthew 13:44–52

Translating the Scriptures is hard work. Whether it be the 1611 King James Bible, The Amplified, the New International Version, the Christian Standard Bible, the nuances of multiple languages (Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic) along with cultural overlays, makes it incredibly difficult.

Then you have the literal translations, the “thought” translations, the “concept” translations, and some that try do it all. What the intent is (i.e., transparent, understandable, etc.) also deeply affects the translation. On top of that, there is the motivation behind the translation that also gets into it.

It’s not that anyone is being disingenuous or deceptive, or even that the translation is necessarily false. Often times translations are similar to the 4 Gospels. 4 different writers with similarities, and also differences. Translations often work the same way.

This seems to be a long introduction, but, as you will see, it can make a difference.

In the NRSV, Matthew 13:52 reads, “And he said to them, ‘Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.’”

In the CEB, Matthew 13:52 reads, “Then he said to them, ‘Therefore, every legal expert who has been trained as a disciple for the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings old and new things out of their treasure chest.’”

In the NIV, Matthew 13:52 reads, “He said to them, ‘Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.’”

At first glance, and even second, or third, these sound pretty similar. There is a key phrase that needs some focus, for it is different in each translation, and may result in completely different understandings.

“…every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven…” (NRSV)

“…every legal expert who has been trained as a disciple for the kingdom of heaven…” (CEB)

“…every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven…” (NIV)

Can you see the difference? While it is a nuance, however, it seems to cover the history of the church in the 20th and the 21st Centuries (so far). The translations above are not in chronological order, for the record.

[NRSV] For generations, people were trained for the Kingdom. They had lots of knowledge. Sunday School really developed into in-depth readings of the Bible (this is a good thing). Lots of head knowledge is great. What is done with it, or not done with it, is something else entirely.

[CEB] The church, as a whole, did begin to realize something was wrong, for we had lost the concept of discipleship. The church began to recover the concept of discipleship but had not quite let loose the reins of knowledge.

[NIV] Especially in these times of COVID, there are many conversations of what it means to be a disciple of Christ, without the boundaries (some say limitations) of the building that was so central to church life. The concept of only pouring knowledge into people doesn’t work. They need to be on the mission for the Kingdom. They need to be disciples.

Lastly, the Amplified Bible combines all 3 of the thoughts above into 1 massive verse, “He said to them, ‘Therefore every teacher and interpreter of the Sacred Writings who has been instructed about and trained for the kingdom of heaven and has become a disciple is like a householder who brings forth out of his storehouse treasure that is new and [treasure that is] old [the fresh as well as the familiar].’”

Before anyone thinks that these are all in conflict, that really isn’t the case. The nuances of Greek are deep. It is definitely an understanding of what the Greek means. This verse, like many, are open to multiple equally valid interpretations. Besides, we have plenty of our own translation issues even when it comes to English-to-English.

※Prayer※

Lord, your 12 disciples asked you to teach them to prayer. We ask that you teach us to be your disciples. Amen.

※Questions※

1) What is your preferred translation? Why?

2) In what ways do you see the differences above as concerning or interesting?

3) How does having different voices (translations) helps us to understand God better?

For an overview, here is the Church of the Nazarene’s stance on the Scriptures:

We believe in the plenary inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, by which we understand the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, given by divine inspiration, inerrantly revealing the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation, so that whatever is not contained therein is not to be enjoined as an article of faith.

Despite the in-joke of the NIV being the Nazarene Institutionalized Version, the denomination does not hold a particular translation as a standard. Being an international denomination, doing so would diminish our brothers and sisters in Christ who do not use an English translation.

2020-07-29
Ready! Set!

Luke 5:1–11; Luke 6:12–16; Luke 9:1–6; Luke 9:28–36; Luke 24:44-49; Acts 2:14 (read online ⧉)

What’s your 6-month plan? What’s your 12-month plan? What’s your 3-year plan? What’s your 10-year plan?

Some variation of this question is often asked of high school students, college students, recent graduates, job interviewees. In this particular time of COVID-19, it seems a little far-fetched to even make a plan.

Depending on your personality and training/learning, you may have a plan laid out for even 10- or 20-years. Others look at their past life and the future, and say why bother? Who knows what the next monkey-wrench will be.

Businesses have begun to learn, thanks to the start-up culture, that rigid plans are deadly. There is a term for it, agile. Businesses are now called to be agile by their stockholders. It’s a necessity as the next technological disruption is just around the corner. Other disruptions, like COVID-19, are much harder to be agile toward, however, companies that already had some agility were better able to respond.

If you look at the verses from Luke in sequence and ending with Acts, you see a change in plans. Peter is a major focal point as he moves from fisherman, to acquaintance, to follower (i.e., disciple), to inner-circle follower, to faith healer and herald, to an even smaller inner-circle, to transformed (by the Holy Spirit), to preacher and leader. This was not part of Peter’s plan.

At the point we meet Peter, his lifetime plan is fisherman. Three years later he’s the leader (of leaders) of a religious movement! Peter met Jesus, and the plan…it was gone.

It’s not that plans are bad. Jesus even praised planning (Luke 14:28-32). However, we have to be ready and willing to toss out our plans when Jesus calls.

Plans are our way to control our circumstances. This is why we have planning departments. This is even how we have modern agriculture. Planning is good.

Planning still has to yield to Jesus’ call. That’s where we often fail.

There will be many churches, businesses, cities, and even families that will not recover from COVID-19. In many cases, no amount of planning will prevent that. On the other hand, churches (especially) chose to not be agile, because that is not the way we’ve done it before.

Churches chose to die, rather than respond to Jesus Christ’s call for them to be agile in how they performed their mission. It could be, sadly, that they forgot the only mission that they had, “Go and make disciples…baptizing them…teaching them…”

On a personal level, just like an organizational level, we need to be agile. Our plans (as much as we want them to be) cannot be rigid and inflexible.

Whether it was the leaders (it was) or the people (it was) forgoing the mission for the sake of “the plan”, it means that “the plan” became the mission, and Jesus became a mascot.

※Prayer※

Lord, give us your plans. Help us to release our plans. May we be the salt of the earth that you have called us to be. Amen.

※Questions※

1) What would be your response if God were to turn your plans upside down? What in your current life would you be willing to give up to follow God’s plan?

2) What are your plans right now? If you have none, why not? Should you? If you do have plans when was your last time to renew/refresh it?

3) Why do you think churches have a hard time changing plans?

2020-06-17
That’s a Christian?

Psalm 26; Matthew 23:11–15; Titus 1:5–16 (read online ⧉)

“One of their very own prophets said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. For this reason, rebuke them sharply, so that they may be sound in the faith and may not pay attention to Jewish myths and the commands of people who reject the truth.”
Titus 1:12-14

This is oddly comforting. That there were such people that Paul recognized as Christians is astounding in our current age. People are quick to call Christians hypocrites (including other Christians). Yet, it would seem that there were some lying, evil beast-like, and lazy gluttonous Christians in Paul’s day. It’s not really as if it’s new today. It’s also not as if Paul didn’t have “constructive criticism” for the Cretan Christians. The implication from Paul is that the Cretan Christians should not be identified with the Cretan stereotype. They need to mature in their Christian walk.

Hypocrisy is often a term cast at Christians, for we are not perfect. There was a time where Christians were very much like the religious leaders that Jesus castigates, “You travel over land and sea to make one convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as fit for hell as you are!” There has been a sea change in American Christianity. There has been a willingness to confront the uncomfortableness of being held to a Biblical standard that the world sometimes seems to understand better than we do.

On the other hand, there is a fundamental misunderstanding, too. Most honest and humble Christians that they have a long way to go. In comparison, the hypocrites were those that acted as if they were perfect. It’s not as if Christians don’t have this problem. Most humans do, as they do not wish to appear weak before others. Often the “we have it together” appears when we don’t say, “I know I have issues.” The other time is when we say “we’re fine” when we’re about to fall apart inside. These, however, are common to humanity. So, Christian hypocrisy (which definitely exists) applies when it refers to a Christian ideal.

An easy one is reading the Bible. If you tell people they ought to be reading their Bible daily, you’d better be doing it yourself. On the other hand, were you to say, “We all should seek to read the Bible and connect with God at least daily,” that indicates that you don’t measure up to the standard/expectation and that you know others don’t either, yet still acknowledging that there is a standard to strive to achieve.

And this is where it gets interesting. There are those that will call you a hypocrite for you don’t live up to the standards you call for and acknowledge that you don’t meet. Christians are called to live up to a standard (Jesus Christ) that they can never meet and will spend their lifetimes pursuing. That is not hypocrisy, that is being a disciple.

Prayer

Father, you send us Jesus as are the source of our eternal life. Jesus, you are the one we seek to resemble. Only by the Holy Spirit are we being transformed into your likeness. Holy Spirit, as the world seeks to keep us from being transformed encourage our souls to pursue Christlikeness. Amen.

Questions

1) Have you ever feel like an “impostor” Christian, never measuring up? If so, how so?

2) What is your definition of a hypocritical Christian? Is that any different than a non-Christian hypocrite?

3) What is an area that you call others to a better Christian walk? How are you doing in that area? If you were to broaden that area to a larger or more general application, how are you doing?

2020-04-26
Resurrecting Hope

Psalm 39; Luke 24:8–35; Acts 26:1–8 (read online ⧉)

Brian Sanders (Executive Director of Tampa Underground) shared some very interesting thoughts regarding the Emmaus Road story.

Cleopas and the unnamed disciple hadn’t yet seen the Resurrected Jesus. Like any of the “outer circle” disciples, they didn’t see Jesus immediately, and many of the inner circle missed him too. So, they were “stuck” on the outside. They knew of the wrongful conviction, abuse, and death. They’d heard this impossible to belief story—from people they trusted—that Jesus had died, but was now risen!

Sanders suggests that our 2 Emmaus Road disciples were running away from the confusing situation in Jerusalem. They were feeling overwhelmed. They were probably hurting. They were probably confused. Sanders also suggests that they were “packing” their “escape route”. The day we just celebrated, possibly people were trying to escape it.

Sanders’ suggestion just seems wrong in so many ways. How could these disciples be so confused and hope destroyed that they were trying to escape? Yet, Sanders makes a good point in that they were leaving Jerusalem. Leaving. They weren’t joining the other disciples. They were leaving.

They didn’t understand, not really. How many of us ourselves have been at the point where there was an internal disconnect between what we thought we knew/believed, and what we think we should have known? That point in our lives that we started to run away in some small way: alcohol, drugs, partying, gambling, videos, gaming, even reading.

Then Jesus shows up. That’s a pretty common story in the Christian world. It’s a pretty common story in the world outside of Christians, but far too many people are self-blinding and cannot (or will not) see Jesus. Sometimes that is us, too. Then Jesus shows up and life is changed.

Paul went from accuser and abuser of Christians to defender of the faith. He stood before people who could, at their whim, cause him to live or die. Instead of renouncing Christianity, he wouldn’t just defend, he tried to convert! Unlike the Emmaus Road disciples, Paul wasn’t hopeless or lost when he met Jesus. Quite the contrary. Paul was a rising star in the Jewish world. He was going to fix this minor annoying Nazarene sect, and get them back on the right path of the Law. Paul’s conversion story is the opposite of many’s conversion stories. He is in power. He has had—to our knowledge—no qualms seeking to fix the wrong-thinking of this new sect. It on his way with even more power in his hand, that Jesus turns the script. While many convert on their knees and in desperation with nothing to lose, Paul converted when he only had something to lose, a lot of something.

It really is the question Paul asks in Acts 26:8 that is Resurrection of hope that the Jewish people, and the world, really needed. “Why is it thought incredible by you people that God raises the dead?” Today we are told that this Resurrection is a fairy tale. In Paul’s day, it may have been far fetched, but it wasn’t unbelievable. In a time when people believed that gods could raise the dead, Paul still had to defend Jesus’ Resurrection. This should tell us something. Jesus’ Resurrection was something far greater than just a dead person coming to life! A dead person “just” coming to life wasn’t the greatest concern. It was Jesus’ Resurrection that was. The Jewish leaders knew and understood (no matter how much they opposed it), that this was no normal come-back-to-life tale.

This means that this Resurrection is something greater. Perhaps its the kind of thing that causes those who have lost hope or who have run away from their confusion, become empowered and full of hope and faith. When those who have a Resurrection hope and faith not only turn toward what almost destroyed them; they walk (or even run) to it with the ability to overcome it with a power that comes through the restoring power of God.

God of all mercies, grant us the power, faith, and hope to look at all the troubles of the world, whether they be distant or near, and know that through you the world can have the hope it seeks. Give us the eyes and hearts to see where we are called to be the agents of restoration, so that the hopes of the world may find true hope through the Resurrection of Jesus. This we pray in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

1) Was your conversion at a height or at a low? Why do you think it was there, rather than the opposite? If you’ve known no other life than life with Jesus (i.e., from childhood), what cemented your faith in Jesus Christ?

2) What are some characteristics of “Resurrection” hope versus “normal” hope? What could be the difference between Resurrection hope and Saving hope?

3) Often we look at the weaknesses of people in the Scriptures and respond with, “glad that’s not me.” Except it is. When were you like the Emmaus Road disciples? When were you like Paul?

2020-04-14
Peace and Blessings

Numbers 6:22–27, Luke 10:3–12, John 14:25–30, John 20:19–28 (read online ⧉)

The Levitical or priestly blessing has been a mainstay for the Jews and Christians for millennia. The pronouncement of blessing, protection, acknowledgment, grace, favor, and peace pretty much sums up what a life with God should result in. What makes this tiny passage even more strange, yet intimate and comforting is that God states that this is God’s name. Perhaps not a name in the proper sense, but God’s name nonetheless. God’s name would then be Blessing Protecting Shining (i.e., “I see and acknowledge you”) Gracious Favoring Peace-Giving God.

When Jesus, therefore, sends out the disciples, they are being sent out on his (God’s) behalf to bestow peace upon others. So, think about this…they are to withdraw their peace from houses that do not respond. If peace is there…if God is there. If peace is not there…God is not there. There there is how peace is lived out. The disciples were to go to the first house that welcomed and accepted them. They were to go from house to house to get a better deal (certainly not the way our culture functions). Were they to do this, they would be contaminating God’s peace that they were sent with.

This becomes even more apparent in Jesus’ bestowing of peace on his 11 disciples on his final night with them (Judas had left at this point of the evening). They were no longer just sent with his peace (as they were before), but now they were bearers of his peace. It sounds similar, granted, but it is different. Similar to baby birds, they went out (previously) and came back. However, now it was time to leave the nest, and they had to carry forth on their own.

Yet, even on their own, Jesus still has to restore their peace, just as it is with us. They had just witnessed something horrible, evil, and unjust. Then they experience the unimaginable. Now they were, they felt, like sheep without their shepherd. This time, peace is the tranquility in the storm. Only Jesus can give it so deeply. Only when we embrace it do we receive it.

1) What does it mean to embrace the peace of God? What might it mean to us and the way we live our lives to embrace the peace of God?

2) Surrender is a significant part of God’s peace. What needs to be surrendered for God’s peace?

3) What has to be surrendered for the world’s peace? What is the difference in surrendering to God and to the world for peace?

2019-12-07