Tag: human

New Year’s Prayers
Psalm 8, Galatians 4:4-7, Numbers 6:22-27

“What is a human being that you remember him, a son of man that you look after him?” [Psalm 8:4]

“So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then God has made you an heir.” [Galatians 4:7]

There are some important concepts shared in our first two passages today. God created everything, including us. Despite us being created, God still set humankind in God’s own image. Created from dust we are still bearers of God’s very image.

Paul takes it even further and calls us heirs. We are inheritors of God’s Creation and will. We are no longer mere creations with God’s stamp. We are his children! The awesomeness of this is that we get all of God! We, despite our nature, are given something beyond our comprehension.

There is a flip side to this. One of the roles of an inheritor (in Paul’s and Jewish custom and culture) is to preserve and expand what was inheritor. In other words, the inheritance is not to stay the same, but to grow! We get it all. We are also responsible for it all.

Let that sink in. We are responsible for all of Creation because has given it to us as our inheritance. There will and are arguments for how that is supposed to work out. That isn’t the point. The point is why. Why are we doing what we are doing? Are we doing it for ourselves? Are we doing it for others? Are we doing it because it’s the right thing to do? Are we doing it to bring glory to God?

Creation, including people, is our responsibility. We are responsible for others, and we are responsible to others. This past year has been filled with people banging their drums, sometimes for righteous reasons, other times for self-righteous reasons. As we enter the new year, pray for those who offend you. Pray for those who hurt you. You are responsible to them. Bring them to the throne in prayer, not so that they will be like you, but so that they will be like Jesus.
```
May the LORD bless you and protect you; 
may the LORD make his face shine on you 
    and be gracious to you; 
may the LORD look with favor on you 
    and give you peace.

[Numbers 6:24-26]
```
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
2019-01-01
Foundations and Firmaments

Psalm 148, Colossians 3:12-17, Luke 2:41-52

What are your thoughts when reading Psalm 149? Do you ever think of all of Creation praising God, the Creator? If you haven’t seen Louie Giglio’s Stars and Whales (link below), I strongly recommend it. To think that it is not just us (human beings) that are called and made to praise God. It is important to understand that praise is a core piece of our very existence. If we are not praising, the foundation of our Christian life is in question. It might even be in jeopardy.

A firm foundation is important, especially in light of our passage in Colossians. Verses 12-14 are not easy. When we live out our lives with others, our compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience are often put to the test. As we bear with others’ weaknesses (and as they bear with ours), letting go of offenses can seem impossible, and even unfair or unrighteous. This is why the Peace of Christ (v 15) is essential to lay down upon the foundation of praise. With praise and peace, comes thankfulness. This is where we need to pause and remind ourselves that there are acts of thankfulness (which is a spiritual practice), and then there is a spirit of thankfulness, which is an outpouring of trusting God.

It is from all of this, that then Paul (the author of Colossians) gets to correction. He notes that it is through God’s word, psalms, hymns and spiritual songs that we correct the excesses of others, and others correct our excesses. It is important to look to Scripture as to what might be (emphasis on might) going on in the spiritual lives of others, rather than depending on our own understanding, which is likely missing crucial pieces of information. As we get to the story Luke provides us, it is important to see the different spiritual stories going on.

For Mary and Joseph, who knew the prophecies about their son, their return from the temple was part of their spiritual practice and were comfortable in their return home. Young Jesus, on the other hand, wasn’t done yet. Here was a young boy among elders, who themselves were astonished by Jesus’ insights. It is quite easy for us to be disappointed with Mary and Joseph not understanding. Just like Jesus, we can find ourselves saying, “of course, that’s where he is!” A new Christian or even an unbeliever(!) can provide spiritual insights that cause others to be shocked with a new insight and grow closer to God! Who are we to set aside spiritual insights provided by God through others?

When our foundation is firm, we trust God, and are humble toward one another, we are open to receiving spiritual insights from whomever God puts in our path.

1) What spiritual insight did you receive from the person you were least expecting?

2) Why do you think praise might be essential to spiritual insights?

KD) Why do you think it was huge that Jesus asked his mom and dad that question?

2018-12-30
Stones Alive
Psalm 148, Acts 7:37-53, Hebrews 2:9-13

…[Jesus’] followers began to shout and sing…”Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!” But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, “Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!” [Jesus] replied, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!” (Luke 19:37-40, NLT)

All of Creation knew and knows the Creator (Psalm 148). Jesus’ walk upon the earth was even transformational for the non-human aspects of Creation. Creation has its own part to fulfill, and that was to second what humanity was crying out. In the law, a testimony wasn’t true without at least two witnesses. As a whole, Jesus’ followers were witnesses, and Creation wasn’t going to be silent either!

In the story of Israel, piles of stones or a single large stone were physical memorials (i.e., witnesses) of what God had done. When Jesus says the stones would cry out it was reminiscent of the stones of witness.

Stephen (Acts 7:37-53) reminds the Jews of what God had done, sending witnesses (prophets) to remind them of who God is. While they were alive, sometimes the Israelites would listen, but after they died, their hearts were dead stone. In other words, their hearts of stone were unable to proclaim God’s glory, unlike the stones that were on the road that Jesus walked.

Jesus, who for a time was slightly lower than the angels (Hebrews 2:9), brought the world to life, so that Creation (that man too often thinks of as mute) wanted to sing out the redemption of the world.
- 1/KD) What would you do if a stone started singing (or shouting), “Great is the Lord!”?
- 2) Does thinking that all of Creation celebrates redemption through Christ change how you celebrate?
- 3) What symbols (e.g., stones) do you use/have that remind you of God’s faithfulness and love?
2018-12-26
Wait For It

Micah 5:2-4; Psalm 96; Luke 2:1-20

The beauty and mystery of God’s word comes alive when it comes to Jesus. Much of the prophecy that surrounds Jesus is in the middle of prophetic statements that on their own may have seemed insignificant. However, when so many words and phrases, seemingly disconnected, are fulfilled by the coming, life and death of one person, one cannot help but take notice.

We think of Bethlehem as significant. For Christians, it is. For the Jews, it was a backwater. Yet, God set it down in his word as the origin point of the great leader of Israel. From a human perspective, it seems that God is rewriting what was written. The reality is that mankind cannot comprehend the depth of God. Only as scripture was revealed through Christ could people have a “duh” moment.

On Christmas Eve, there is a old song being sung, but with a new meaning. Glory to God in the Highest!

God came down. God came down here. God set aside power, might, glory, holiness, and became a baby born where animals lived. Just as Bethlehem was looked down upon, where Jesus was born was looked down upon, as an outcast. There was no room for them.

In our Western culture, too many people are concerned about dates of such and such event. The date? That is a point in time. Perhaps we ought to look to those not of Western culture where the event (the presence), not the time (or date), takes precedence. GOD CAME DOWN! God came down where God promised! The world has become concerned about time and date, for then we can be distracted from the event.

On this day, can you sit and just wait? Are you able to not look at your watch (or phone)?

The Jews waited centuries for their Messiah. The event, the advent, of the Messiah was what they waited for. Expectation. Advent and especially Christmas Eve are all about expectation. Expecting the Messiah.

1) Are you actually expecting the Messiah? Have you replaced expectation of the Messiah with expectation for gifts or food?

2) With the first Christmas in the past, why is important to wait expectantly for Christmas now?

3) If the Messiah were to come tomorrow, would you be looking for him?

KD) Why did God decide to start life as a baby? What does that say about God?

2018-12-24
Embracing Difference

Genesis 29:18-35, Deuteronomy 10:12-22, Psalm 5

Jacob found himself in a strange situation. The wife he thought he had spent 7 years of his life to earn the right to marry was not the one his father-in-law had presented to him. Laban set up a dysfunctional marriage (two, actually) by doing this. The sisters would be competing for their husband’s affections. Children became trophies over the other sister. Yet, God chose these children born in a family of broken relationships to become (eventually) the leaders of a tribe that changed the world.

All of us have experiences of family brokenness, whether it was our immediate family, extended family, spouse’s family, the family of a friend, or the family that we have in the church. Sadly, the majority of human relationships involve brokenness, whether ours or someone else’s.

In the midst of his last commission to the Israelites, Moses brings in two forms of brokenness. The first is in the form of family: fatherless and widowed. This truly would be a sign of familial brokenness, as there were no family to take care of: children with no parents, and widows with no children. In a culture that valued family, and relied upon family to function, this was catastrophic. The orphaned and widowed could be viewed as cursed. Being so alone without family was inconceivable. Then Moses goes a step further and brings in the foreigner. This person, whether by war, slavery, abandonment, fleeing, was not only not with family, they were among people of completely different families.

The orphan, the widow and the foreigner were the ultimate example of broken family connections, as they had none. Even today, we avoid those that are different than we are. There is something in the case of orphaned, widowed and foreigner (even in the U.S., a country of immigrants) that triggers some of our deepest fears and insecurities.

Moses calls on the Israelites to love them anyways. As we are called through the love of God, we are also called to live this life of love.

1) How can we show love to others?

2) Orphaned, widowed and foreigner are relational terms. Think beyond their immediate definition. For example, the foreigner may be the new person in the neighborhood, at work or at church. Who are the orphaned, widowed and foreigner that God has placed in your lives?

3) Why do we often get so obsessed with the differences between ourselves and others, rather than focus on the similarities?

KD) How do welcome and love people different from you?

2018-12-21
Trusting Joy

Psalm 37:3-6, Joel 2:12-13, Isaiah 12:2-6, James 1:2-4

Integrity, so it is said, is doing the right thing when nobody is watching. It can be tempting to do the wrong thing when no one is watching. It is often easy to do the right thing when everyone is cheering.

It’s when no one is cheering, or people are even grumbling or threatening those who do right, that we come to the hard part of living out our faith.

“Trust in the LORD, and do what is good…”
Psalm 37:3

“…I will trust [the LORD] and not be afraid…”
Isaiah 12:2

When it gets tough to do right, all we can do is trust God. Sounds easy, but how often do we fail to trust God, and instead trust ourselves, others, or things?

James calls on us to be filled with joy in these situations. Joy? Yes, even in these situations. Perhaps, joy is most critical in these situations. The freedom to feel joy is fully reliant on trusting God.

Let us pray:

Dear Heavenly Father, we know with our heads that we need to trust you. As we are frail human beings, help our hearts to trust you further than yesterday, and even more so tomorrow. Grant us the peaceful assurance of your grace, compassion, patience and love. Help us to continue to seek the coming Messiah, and to be filled with joy of knowing you.

Holy Spirit, be with us through the remainder of the Advent season, stirring our hearts to not take Christmas for granted, but to be stirred into action of joy-filled praise of the Father, Son, and You. Continue to quicken our hearts and aid us in our journey of faith.

Jesus, Son of God, thank you for becoming like us. Thank you for experiencing a life like ours. We are thankful that you know temptation, yet did not sin, giving us strength to choose the God-lit path of faith that goes through the darkness.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we lift you up on our praise. Help us to joyfully sing your praise, for your glory.

Amen.

2018-12-14