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Devotion.al

Tag: give

  • Waiting to See

    Daniel 7:13-14, Luke 24:44-53, Ephesians 4:1-16

    The Book of Daniel contains many prophetic writings. Often the prophet themselves may not know what exactly the words mean. Christians, by-and-large, don’t disagree much on these verses in Daniel have to do with Jesus. It seems pretty obvious, but we can often deceive ourselves when it comes to prophesy (think the Book of Revelation). However, with our understanding (and belief) about Jesus, this passage in Daniel seems to us only applicable to Jesus. Just think about that. Daniel was given a vision of the future that in no way matched his understanding of God, yet here it was.

    Even living with Jesus, experiencing his life, death, and resurrection, the disciples had to have Jesus open their minds so that they could understand Scripture, including the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. It wasn’t easy. God had to open their minds. The disciples lived with God during his time on Earth, and their minds still had to be open. What does that tell us about ourselves?

    Jesus commands them to stay in Jerusalem until they are “empowered.” Yes, we know what that means, but did they? Jesus then blesses them and ascends to Heaven. And off they go to the Temple? How many people would go to someplace different, rather than stay at their “great” experience? They had someplace to go, for they had something to declare.

    The experience, the declaration, the way of life. Through the grace of Christ, it is to that we are called to live.

    1) Do you ever wonder what people in the Bible thought about the events that they were living? Do you give them more credit (or less) than they are due?

    2) The Holy Spirit had not yet come, yet the disciples’ minds were opened to an understanding of Scripture. What does that tell us and our understanding of Scripture?

    3) More waiting. The worship at the Temple may have just been the outlet for the waiting. What do you do as an outlet when waiting for God?

  • Whose Plans to Follow

    Jeremiah 29:4–19, Jeremiah 40:1–6, Jeremiah 45:1–5

    Jeremiah 29:12 is an oft-quoted verse:
    “For I know the plans I have for you”—this is the LORD’s declaration—“plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

    That verse is very comforting, and it should be. However, surrounding that verse is a whole lot of uncomfortable stuff: slavery, exile, 70 years away from home, expectation to live in exile and seek the benefit (?!) of their captors. We often don’t think about these things when quoting Jeremiah 29:12. Who does really want to hear, “yes, I’ve got the plan, and it involves losing everything you hold dear and supporting your oppressors?”

    Jeremiah was offered a place in Babylon where he would be taken care of. He could be a prophet to his people and at least have some protection (often needed from his own people and the Babylonians) and decent accommodations with food. Instead, Jeremiah chose to stay with those that remained in the land. Instead of choosing power and security, he chose hardship.

    The words given the Baruch may not seem to have a place here, yet the words spoken to Baruch are along the same line as those spoken to those going into exile. “Don’t seek your own ends.”

    1) We can easily justify our goals and decisions by saying it was, “the right thing.” Have you ever experienced the right thing not being the “God thing?”

    2) Why is the passage in Jeremiah 24 just as appropriate today as it was prior to the exile? How can we misuse it?

    3) We often look to the big, new, bright, and shiny things. What do God’s words to Baruch (both verses 4 and 5) have to say about that?

  • Frameworks and Consequences

    Acts 10:9–35, Acts 15:5–34, Romans 14:13-23

    Rules are everywhere, aren’t they? Rules are a good thing. Often rules give us the freedom to act for we have a pretty good idea what others will do (assuming they know the rules). This is true in examples such as driving. We know (we hope) what the other person will do, as they should have learned (and been tested) the same rules.
    Rules are often also put into place to better level the playing field. These rules are often disliked, not because the concept is bad, but because the execution leaves a lot to be desired.

    Another set of very important rules are those for leaders or in other responsible positions. People, for example, who are in charge of educating, children, and money should all follow rules, so that everyone knows what their obligations are. Often, sadly, the rules are put into place after someone else has done something wrong, so the “good” folks don’t like to be treated like the bad ones. That is the whole rotten apple ruins it for everyone concept.

    Peter was schooled on the rules. In this case, these rules were put into place for the Israelites (then Jews) to follow. The problem was that God wasn’t just calling the Jews. The official reach had expanded. The rules that Peter lived by had outlived their usefulness, and now were a barrier to the world.

    After his vision and experience with the Gentiles, he then had to remind his fellow Jews (whom he had previously told this story to) that they couldn’t live up to the rules either. They certainly had a quick revision of “the rules”.
    Yet, even in Rome (the “home” of the Gentiles) the rules were still an issue and were a hindrance to the church and the hearts of its people. Rules are a framework of behavior. They should not crush spirits, or seek to destroy lives. Yet, the consequences of breaking the rules are not the same as the rules themselves. Consequences are the result of our choices, yet we often blame the rules.

    1) When have you found rules to be helpful at work, at home, at church?

    2) When have you found rules to be more crushing of spirit, rather than a framework of guidance/protection?

    3) When do you find rules to be a problem? Have you ever analyzed your response to the rules to see if it is your pride or the effect of the rule that you are reacting to?

  • Inherting Legacy

    Genesis 47:18–26, Acts 4:34–5:11

    In the United States, land has long represented freedom, self-reliance, hope, and self-determination (on one hand), slavery, clearances, eviction, theft, and deceit (on the other hand. How can such divergent perspectives be? Well, for many Native Americans the initial immigration of Europeans may have not been a disaster, but what occurred especially after the Civil War (or the War Between the States) was often cruel and morally questionable (at best). For those trying to escape the crowded East Coast and the memories of the recent war and slavery, it was something to seek.

    Even today land is essential. While in the United States the land and the buildings (for example) are part of the value, in places like Japan, the land is the only thing that matter (for cultural reasons). Land has long been a symbol of power. It also is a symbol of life. It can also represent family roots.

    When the people of Egypt sell their land and themselves to Pharoah, they are surrendering their lives and that which allowed them to live. They had surrendered their future, their children’s future, and even their grandchildren’s future. In all likelihood, they sold themselves into bonded servitude to pay off the debt they took on to survive. It isn’t clear how long this servitude was to last. Theoretically, it was until the debt was paid off, however, as both the land and the people were sold, we can assume that it would take a while to pay off the debt. How the land would have been purchased back is something else. It would have been a process and a slow one. One’s only hope would be the dim one that one’s children would be free of the debt.

    With all the comes to mind in these situations, how people viewed themselves, their (lack of) freedom, or their hope (if any), is anyone’s guess. We can conclude that in desperate times that people surrendered their freedom and the one thing (land) that would allow them to continue to be free.

    Land is still pretty important. As we watch property values skyrocket, we are all very much aware of it. As more people move in, rural areas that were once affordable are no longer so. If someone were to just sell their property and give it to the framily (i.e., the church friends and family of Generations Community Church), we would all be grateful, but we would also be a bit confused. If that same person were to sell that property and only give the proceeds to those in need in the church, we would be a bit more understanding, but it would be unusual. This is not a moral judgment, but a recognition of just how strange the First Century Church was. It broke all the traditions.

    Tie this back to culture. The land was the family’s legacy and inheritance. Selling it was done only in desperation. Yet, here we are talking about exactly that. While Barnabas is called out in Acts (yes, Ananias and Sapphira are too), the implication is not that Barnabas’ act was unique, but it does imply that it was a significant sale. One of the differences that we can infer (easily) is that Barnabas did it to take care of his church family, while Ananias and Sapphira did it for acclaim. Both land sales took care of the church family, but the hearts of the sales were completely different.

    1) What relationship, reflections, and feelings do you have in regards to owning land (not necessarily buildings)?

    2) How desperate would you be to sell yourself, your property, and your foreseeable future to someone? How desperate must the Egyptians have been?

    3) What does Barnabas’ action tell you about who he viewed as family? What does that tell you about the First Century Church?

  • Blessings and Love

    Ecclesiastes 4:4–8, Ecclesiastes 5:8–17, Luke 12:13–21
    “Earn all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can.” —John Wesley

    Money and all that it can get a person is what drives so much. The worst aspects of capitalism are very visible, and rightly so. The media (capitalistic endeavors) are quick to question many with money. However, not all are questioned equally. Even as certain capitalistic practices are in the spotlight, still others are being hidden or ignored. Capitalism, despite being the current target, isn’t the only one with severe gaps of power.

    The wisdom of Ecclesiastes warns that those that pursue money/wealth/power may find themselves to be very lonely people, without companion, children or grandchildren. In this day and age, people consciously make that decision. When Ecclesiastes was written, this was really a huge insult and failure. The family was the primary social group. If you didn’t have a family and seemed to have chosen a path to not have one, you were letting down your parents, ancestors, and tribe. For such people, the value of all the work, all that life working, is lost in an instant. Despite all the wisdom, including secular and other religions, a shiny coin (proverbially) will lead people down a path away from people and God. They miss a lot of the Very Good Life. Very Good Life involves people. Of course, people also can be painful to live with. So, money often becomes a substitute relationship, for it doesn’t emotionally hurt you.

    When Jesus speaks to the man about his inheritance, it is not a matter of justice, but a matter of wealth. Obviously, there were some family issues that needed to be resolved. The inheritance was just a sign of the problem. The man had confused gain (wealth) with something completely different. This is why Jesus talks about the landowner who had had a successful crop. The landowner’s first response wasn’t, “Praise God!” It was, “horde more!” It is not that great crops and riches are bad, it is where they fit into our relationship with God and people. In verse 20, Jesus says, “…whose will they be?” The echo of Ecclesiastes is there. “No one you cared for will receive it,” could be said, “because you cared for no one other than yourself.”

    1) Have you ever made a decision of money or power or influence over people? If you say no, then you might want to reconsider (we all do it to some degree). If yes, what was that decision? Did you evaluate the decision based on people or something else?

    2) Throughout history, there have been people who have had no companion to love. How do you see yourself in such people? Do you know anyone like this? How can you love them?

    3) How do you balance God’s blessings (including those you worked for) in comparison to seeking more?

  • Wednesday after Easter

    Genesis 1:24–2:1, Genesis 3:6–13, Psalm 11, Matthew 6:22–23

    Up through verse 25, God’s creative acts end with the epithet, “…God saw that it was good.” Then God made mankind. With the completion of that act, “…God saw that it was very good.” The word very can also be translated as exceedingly. Look around. Do we look exceedingly good? Our wars, our violence, our hatred, our favoritism, our biases, our brokenness. Exceedingly good? It is indeed true that our issues are not as God intended. Creation with the advent of humankind was very good. Then humanity lost it all.

    “Your eyes can deceive you. Don’t trust them.” -Obi-Wan Kenobi*

    Eve saw. Adam witnessed. Their eyes “were opened.” Obi-Wan Kenobi was very wise in sharing with his young disciple about how our eyes do indeed deceive us. Illusionists and magicians are very much aware of this. If you’ve ever had motion sickness, it is often a result of a disconnect between your eyes and your inner-ear (or your stomach). Your eyes give your body a signal, and the rest of your body disagrees.

    Yet, we have many phrases (like Thomas) such as, “I’ll believe it with my own eyes.” It’s as if we think our eyes are more “honest” or “true” than another’s. There is also the reality that often what we see is not the whole story. Most people now believe that the Earth revolves around the Sun. It wasn’t that long ago that people believed that a chariot pulled the Sun through the sky or some other similar mythology. They based their conclusions upon what they saw.

    Now, this could easily end up being a wild goose trip, if we let it. This is where both Psalm 11 and Jesus’ words in Matthew come in. The physical aspect of our eyes is one thing. Our eyes “lead” to our soul. While the serpent’s deceit and Eve’s (along with Adam’s) pride to “be like God,” definitely are part of the picture, Eve “saw” the apple. If we look at the 10 Commandments, much of it involves vision to some degree.

    God sees all we do. Our eyes deceive us in that we don’t see God, so he must not see us (the sinner’s version of peek-a-boo). When Jesus warns us about the relationship between our eyes and our souls, it is because of how our eyes will often draw us away from the True desire of our souls…a deep and abiding relationship with God.

    1) We often look to others and compare ourselves to them. How does that lead us away from the Very Good Life?

    2) Our culture is very visual. Advertisers and media companies are aggressively pursuing our eyeballs. How should Jesus’ words influence our response? How does that reinforce Jesus’ words?

    3) The original sin has a symbol…an apple and a snake. Our salvation has a symbol…the cross. The church as #framily has a symbol…the cup and bread. What other symbols can you think of that evoke a powerful response?

    *GEEK ALERT! Just in case you don’t know the reference, this is from the movie Star Wars: A New Hope.

  • God’s Good Life

    John 14:15–21, John 15:26–16:11

    There are two types of “good life.” There is the world’s version of the good life. There is God’s version of the good life. In some ways, they overlap, but let’s be honest with ourselves, we want them to overlap far more than they do. Some believe that being in a post-Christian world is actually harder than the pre-Christian world that the disciples and early church were in. Much of that is the culture’s assumptions about churches, church people, and Christians. Sadly, some of their assumptions are correct, especially superficially. The world’s good life is full of good (even great) people. Everyone can be good, except Christians, and an ever increasing list of people. Now, that seems a bit harsh. However, the list of new “sins” of the world grows increasingly long. People who were on top of the righteous have now found themselves at the bottom, for the “sins” have changed. We can see more than a few people who have experienced this looking around wondering what has happened. Yet, there is a claim for a good life. Happiness is the key.

    Happiness. A fleeting feeling is proof of the good life. As anxiety and depression soar, and people buy the latest greatest thing (that other not-so-new thing was last week) leading to a greater amount of waste. In fact, the world’s good life doesn’t lead to true good life, but a treadmill that goes nowhere.

    This is why Jesus made the promise he did to his disciples (and thus to us). Jesus understood that the world would constantly pull his disciples away from him, tempting them with “the good life.” The Counselor. The Spirit of Truth. That Jesus understood what we needed, should give us hope that God does indeed understand us. He also understood that emotionally we often feel alone and separated from not just God, but from others, too. Thus, Jesus reminds us that we are not orphans.

    The Spirit—the Counselor—while not leaving us orphans, also testifies to the Truth. This is not the world’s truth. It is God’s Truth. This is where the good life begins.

    1) If we know that God has the True good life, why we do we often chase after the world’s good life?
    2) Why is happiness confused with the good life?

    3) Knowing that you are not an orphan, no matter what the world tells us, would seem to be a key feature of the good life. When was the last time you share this key?

  • Sacred Mourning

    Psalm 25, Lamentations 3:22–27, Matthew 27:62–66

    Are your clothes in 1 piece? One of the traditional Jewish responses of extreme grief or anguish is the tearing of their clothes. Yesterday was Good Friday. Jesus died on the cross. Are your clothes torn?
    While they were able to put Jesus’ body in the tomb in time, nothing else happened. Everything just stopped. On top of their world being disrupted by Jesus’ death, now they had to wait to honor the body of their friend, master, brother, son. In our day and age, we don’t have this waiting period. We just get it done.

    Today, people will have Easter egg hunts, parties, family gatherings, trips, and so on. This is not to knock such, after all, often they are a way we (as Christians) get to share the good news.

    However, perhaps it is time for us to come up with a new tradition, a Sabbath unlike any other that we hold (if we actually observe any). It is probably too late for you this year but put this as something to think about. Perhaps we too busy preparing for Resurrection Sunday that we stop waiting. Why is this important, you may ask? It is a symptom of our lives and even our religious practices. Hurry up and get it done. When this is how we live our lives, how do we ever have the ability to wait for and on God?

    In the movie, the Passion of the Christ, there is a raindrop from the sky, implying that God the Father mourns. Let us mourn with God the Father, and with all those who lived beside Jesus. Below is the Mourner’s Kaddish, a Jewish prayer usually spoken in Aramaic (not Hebrew, interestingly). While there may be no “leader” (L) to lead you the people (P), think of a congregation together saying this in an annual (for it is done annually in honor of those who have died) service.

    L: May His great Name grow exalted and sanctified…
    P: Amen
    L: …in the world that He created as He willed. May He give reign to His kingship in your lifetimes and in your days, and in the lifetimes of the entire Family of Israel, swiftly and soon. Now say:
    P: Amen. May His great Name be blessed forever and ever.
    L: Blessed, praised, glorified, exalted, extolled, mighty, upraised, and lauded be the Name of the Holy One.
    P: Blessed is He…
    L: …praise and consolation that are uttered in the world. Now say:
    P: Amen
    L: May there be abundant peace from Heaven and life upon us and upon all Israel. Now say:
    P: Amen
    L: He Who makes peace in His heights, may He make peace, upon us and upon all Israel. Now say:
    P: Amen

  • Drawing Waters of Salvation

    Isaiah 12:2–6, Jeremiah 31:31–34, Luke 22:14–20

    Isaiah is often not filled with much encouragement. This particular “song”, however, is a pronouncement of the saved telling the unsaved that they can be saved.

    Isaiah starts out with his salvation, and that his relationship with God is sound. He then tells the wayward hearer that they will joyfully (note they are miserable) draw water of their salvation. Then they will sing praises to God. Springs of salvation, or could we say Living Water? What do you think?

    Water is life. This is a special truth in the desert, where water is scarce. From a scriptural standpoint, blood is the life of a creature. Thus when we come to communion, we are to consider both the aspect of blood as life (Jesus’ blood) and water as life (Jesus is the living water). When Isaiah speaks about the spring of salvation, it is reasonable to see a foreshadowing of communion.

    With its darker tone (the blood of Jesus), it is also easy to see that this is not quite what had happened before, yet had similar attributes to the sacrificial practices of the Israelites. When Jeremiah speaks of a new covenant, there is little chance that the Israelites would have expected how that covenant would come to be. That this new covenant also changes how the “law” worked would also be beyond expectation. How would the Israelites “know” God’s law? It is not until the Holy Spirit is fully expressed that an understanding of this new way of the law fully revealed. There is also a special promise in Jeremiah’s New Covenant speech. If we all know God’s law, and have to be neither taught nor teach (admonish) others. Looking at the world around us, and our own lives, the only way that happens is if we fully yield ourselves to God. Yielding ourselves to God often starts with the simple acknowledgment that we cannot fully understand God.

    The disciples didn’t fully understand God, and they spent 3 years with Jesus! Have you heard, if only Jesus were here, we’d get the real/whole story, and we’d understand (or even believe). If his disciples who were with him (even one going so far as to betray him) for years didn’t get it, would we be any more likely? With our post-Enlightenment and scientific tendencies, we might be even less likely to understand! Even Judas Iscariot (the betrayer) up to this point didn’t get what this specific night meant for the future. They were just celebrating Passover with Jesus.

    When we celebrate communion (a sacrament), we become participants in this last meal.

    Instead of the usual questions at the end (besides, there were plenty of questions already), we will end with Book of Common Prayer, Contemporary Collect for the Fourth Sunday of Lent:

    Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world:
    Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him;
    who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
    one God, now and for ever. Amen.

    US Book of Common Prayer, 2007

  • False Sacraments

    Joshua 22:9–34, 1 Samuel 2:12–17, Psalm 40

    What’s for dinner?

    In other denominations, Fridays in Lent are meat-free. No steak or burgers. No bacon. Oddly, due to the latin root “carno” (i.e., carnivore), fish isn’t a “meat”. So, fish Friday it is. If you’ve ever gone out to dinner on a Friday, there is always clam chowder. This originates from the Roman Catholic tradition of not have fish on any Friday. After Vatican II (a revision of the Roman Catholic ways), fish Friday became a thing only during Lent, like today. So, what’s for dinner, again?

    Why ask this? Did you know about the reasons why clam chowder on Fridays? Some geographic areas follow this same observation, but often don’t know why. It just is. There are a lot of “that’s the way it is.” Do we ever wonder why? Let’s unpack this together a little. Our supermarkets full of pork, beef, chicken, fish are an historical anomaly. Sheep, goats, beef (okay, not pork for Israelites) were not part of the normal diet. Such meat was eaten as either part of the sacrifice (hence the deep sin of Eli’s sons) or a celebration. Both of these events have a deep tie to worship and thanksgiving to God. While in the early church, eating such meats (beef, sheep, goat, etc.) was still not a regular practice, it was decided that to honor Good Friday throughout the year, meat (i.e., flesh) was not eaten in honor of God (Jesus) who died in the flesh.

    How we approach Fridays in Lent, Good Friday, Easter, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas is very important. Even secular holidays are important in how we observe them. As Christianity fades from our culture, Lent, Good Friday, Easter, Christmas, and other Christian observances, how we mindfully observe them becomes critical, for it becomes our witness. How the culture raises other observances into almost a sacramental view is important for us to understand. It is because something is missing.

    When the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh built their alter it was a sort-of good thing. It was a hedge against being forbidden from worshipping at the Tabernacle. That sounds smart until you think through the heart. They didn’t trust their fellow Israelites. For some reason, there was already an emotional barrier in place. The heart of worship is supposed to be God. The sacrifice is an act to remind us of God’s grace. When a culture raises things to the point of God-relational act (such as sacrifice or worship), it becomes a secular holy thing. It wasn’t that long ago, that the Super Bowl was the event of the year. Yet, because it really isn’t important (sorry, football fans), it loses its shine. Something else will replace it. When the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh build this altar they effectively declared that the altar defined their relationship with God. They even put it in God-honoring language that the remaining Israelites bought into.

    So, what does this have to do with dinner? There are many things (habits and traditions) we do that we are not even aware of, or are so accustomed to that to not do them seems wrong. To most of us, fish Friday is not a religious act of devotion, yet it remains one for others. Eli’s sons didn’t care about the sacrifice, but more about the choice food. The Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh built an altar that their descendants became entrapped and confused (in regards to worshipping and relating to God). As we approach a discussion of sacraments and legacy, sometimes our legacy can be false sacraments we left behind.

    1) Think of a normal worship service (whichever you attend). What’s one thing, that if removed, would keep you from feeling as if you were truly worshipping God?

    2) Spiritual Disciplines often can become actions we do, but have no life. What spiritual disciplines do you practice? How do they give you life?

    3) If you chose to abstain from something during Lent, have you been consistent? If not, why not? If so, have you experienced and changes or had significant reflections?