Tag: presence

Rusted Jalopy

Rusted Jalopy

3 September 2020

Judges 2:11–23; Ezekiel 24:1–14

Prior to the discovery of titanium (and development of ways to use it), steel was the material of choice for strength, durability, and being shapable. Even now it remains the primary tool material as it is less expensive than titanium. It does have its issues, however.

We’ve all seen photos of old rusted/rustic cars. The photos are artistically beautiful, but the cars are useless for what they were built to be.

Rust is a sign that the iron in the steel is being “attacked”. Rust breaks down the bonds in the metal to the point that formerly strong steel turns into dust when touched.

Rust can also build onto itself. So, while it is growing “down” into the metal, it can grow thicker. Then it can become like armor to the steel or iron, however, there is the risk that while the “armor” may be strong, the underlying metal is very weak.

There are several techniques to remove rust. One is to blast it with a combination of sand. Another method is to grind or sand it. Another is to dip it into acid. Interestingly, acid is also used to help steel (specifically, stainless steel) become more corrosion-resistant.

In metallurgy terms, rust is corrosion. Corrosion is not a good thing. Corrosion is built on the same root (in English) as corruption. Corruption, like rust, can start small and almost unnoticeable. However, unless it is cleansed, it will destroy the “host”.

In many ways, the People of Israel left Egypt with the seeds of corrosion embedded in them. For 40 years, they were “sandblasted” in the desert to remove the corruption. It didn’t last.

The “seeds” were still there. They succumbed to temptations and became corrupted. The Book of Judges talks about the ebb and flow, but the people never seem to be able or willing to give up the seed of corrosion.

By the time of Ezekiel, the corruption was to the point that their spiritual hearts would crumble to dust at a touch. The rough vision presented is along the lines of the corruption of Israel became the pot that was the crucible of their destruction. They willingly jumped into the pot and became nothing at all.

We, sadly, are not much different. The seeds of corruption remain in us, even after our salvation. Our purification (progressive then entire sanctification) is a result of our willingness to set ourselves at the feet of God, allowing and asking to be cleansed of everything the separates from the holiness of God.

While it is easy to look at the world and see its corruption and eventual destruction, we must be aware that we will also fall to corruption and destruction if we do not daily surrender ourselves to Christ and ask for cleansing by the Holy Spirit.

※ Prayer ※

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, guide us into your perfect will. Help us to follow your will and walk the path that you have laid before us. Amen.

※ Questions ※

1) What’s the first thing you think of with the word “corruption”? Why is that the first thing that comes to mind?

2) Why is it important to understand the ever-presence of the “seeds” of corruption?

3) Do you really think that we need “purification” after our salvation? Why or why not?

2020-09-02
…Who’s There?

Matthew 7:7–12; Luke 13:22–30; Revelation 3:14–22

“Knock, Knock” jokes rank up there with “dad” jokes. Most of the time they are a play on words, and almost all the time they’re only cute (or funny) when a kid says them.

These passages with knocking in them are probably quite familiar to you. If not, hang around Christian circles, and they will show up.

The first passage is probably number two on the knocking list. It is filled with a great promise. However, some have misunderstood the promise, and that has caused a lot of pain.

When taken out of context, the passage sounds like God is some cosmic vending machine. You just put your prayer in and out comes whatever it is you want. Within those same circles, there is an added, God just wants you to be happy.

In context, though, the passage is about entering the Kingdom of God. It’s not about wealth or health. It’s about where your citizen is while on Earth, and where you will be after your time here is gone.

The second knocking passage is similar to the first, however, it adds a rejection clause. The implication is people trying to force their way “past” the gates. The implication in this passage is that just because you’re at the right place (let’s say, church) and saw God, that doesn’t mean your heart has submitted to God.

As Jesus continues, he goes so far as to poke at the Jewish pride of being the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Just because they were born in the right place of the right blood did not give them the right to enter the Kingdom of God.

The third of our knocking passages is probably the most famous of them all. It sounds so warm and fuzzy that Jesus is knocking on the door. However, when we have the warm fuzzy feelings, we should often double-check them.

The message isn’t Jesus come on in. The message is really a question, do you know Me? One generally does not open one’s doors strangers without some caution. One certainly doesn’t invite them in for dinner. The implication is that they don’t know or forgot Jesus!

Knocking is making one’s presence known to another. It can be a sound of warning. It can be a sound of greeting. What it is exactly depends on the relationship between those on the other sides of the door.

Knocking doesn’t stop at knocking. There is a choice that goes along with it: yelling, “go away”; opening the door grudgingly; opening the door gladly with a warm welcome; ignoring the knocker, and hope they go away; there are probably other responses, too.

Which door will Jesus walk through?

※Prayer※

Lord Jesus, there are many doors in this life. Help us to view them as opportunities to seek and see you, and to also bring others through those doors to you. Amen.

※Questions※

1) What feelings did/do each of today’s passages create in you? Why?

2) The first two passages are about the Kingdom of God. How does the third passage affect your understanding of the first two?

3) We all want to believe that we would warmly and gladly welcome Jesus if he knocks. How comfortable are you if he knocks right now? Now what?

2020-07-31
Whatcha Doing?

Psalm 46; Luke 10:38–42

It’s a crazy world. There is so much going on. If you live in the United States, you know the next election is just around the corner. Although, it seems all of 2020 has been an election year.

If you are on social media, your “stream” may be flooded with this and that. People arguing over things worth discussing, just not worth hating. The amount of content created by the end of this year will likely be quadruple the amount of the previous five years.

There isn’t much that is settled at the moment. In fact, as far as the world around us goes, it seems to get more unsettled every day.

“God is our refuge…Stop fighting (be still).” Psalm 46 may well be the mantra for 2020. God is our refuge. We just have to stop fighting in our own strength.

We also cannot allow the world to distract us. It isn’t the government that’s the problem (which everyone, or ones, you don’t like). It isn’t the rioters that are the problem (though many are destructive, while others are not). It isn’t even COVID or terrorism or (insert some “global” issue here).

It’s the human heart. In the story of Mary and Martha, we see the struggle firsthand. Martha is busy. It’s not even that she is busy with bad or wrong things. It’s that Mary chose to be busy with the better “thing”.

We’re all busy with things. Right now, it would seem that we are best situated to be like Mary. It doesn’t seem to be the case for far too many.

They are distracted by the bad news, filled with anxiety, filled with anger, feeling the need to respond (just to do something). They are busy.

However, many are busy not because they are doing good/right things at the wrong time. They are busy doing non-Jesus-following things right now.

※Prayer※

As we watch the world seem to spin further into chaos, remind us, God, that you are God, and we are not. Help us to work on being still in your presence. Amen.

※Questions※

1) What struck you about you in this? Why are “you” more important in this than others?

2) How will you help be the light of Christ’s peace in a time of anxiety, anger, and fear?

2020-07-28
Money Change

Luke 7:36–8:3; Luke 24:1–12 (read online ⧉)

In Jesus’ day, women held a “lesser” societal role. It’s not that they held no role. In Roman culture, women’s roles were actually in somewhat of a cultural disarray as “free” marriage was opposed by Augustus Caesar who wanted a “traditional” male-dominant marriage. Marriage differed between “noble” and “common” people, too.

In Jewish culture, women did have a lesser role, but today rabbinical tradition holds to matrilineal which is estimated to have begun in Jesus’ lifetime! In other words, “the fathers” that were held in apparent esteem, would no longer be the “line”.

This means that in the time of Jesus’ ministry, there was likely a lot of turmoil regarding women’s roles in both Roman and Jewish societies. Having named (versus anonymous) women listed as Jesus’ followers could either have been a cultural shock or no great surprise.

Currently, the general consensus has been that the women’s presence with Jesus would have been a shocking thing. Yet, even the words of the Sadducees and Pharisees don’t mention the women as followers. In the first of today’s verses, the scandalous (“sinner”) woman was pointed to. Jesus was questioned for pardoning her sins. Her presence didn’t seem overly surprising.

As Jesus continues his story of the debtor, the gender is irrelevant to God’s grace and mercy. We go from hair being used to wipe feet, a parable of the debtors (money), then the jump to the financing of the mission of Jesus. We learn that women appeared to be the financial backers (or at least the mentioned ones) of the mission. Judas Iscariot may have “held” the purse strings (John 12:6), but he obviously was not the fundraiser.

These women had all had (apparently) miraculous healing encounters with Jesus, so they supported Jesus’ ministry. Joanna is culturally the most interesting, as her husband was Herod’s household manager. In some respects, her presence may have caused some to be more hesitant when it came to dealing with Jesus, for who knew what Joanna could have had happen. Perhaps not in reality, but people will invent large stories in their fear, to justify their inaction.

According to Luke, Mary Magdalene and Joanna were two of the women (Mary at the grave of Jesus on the Day of Resurrection. That these two women showed up, which means that they viewed Jesus as family, for they were taking on the role of family caring for the dead.

The transformation of these 2 women, in particular, is a good lesson. Jesus saved them. They responded in gratitude (giving) and following (discipleship). Then they became family (possibly sanctification). What their role was after that is, sadly, unclear. It may not matter in the end. That they allowed Jesus to continue to upend their life is what matters.

※Prayer※

God of our transformation, help us to have hearts of peace as you upend our lives. May our lives be continually transformed so that they can display your light. Amen.

※Questions※

1) Other than COVID-19 itself and the general upending of all our lives, what is the biggest thing being challenged and changed in your life?

2) How have you experienced the Holy Spirit initiate, transform, and sustain life change?

2020-06-25
Despairing Flames of Joy

Ecclesiastes 3:16–4:3; Job 3:1–26 (read online ⧉)

Let’s be honest, Ecclesiastes is not the most uplifting book of the bible. In many respects, it can be a bigger downer than the story of Job. Both books are generally put under (along with Proverbs) the category of wisdom literature.

Wisdom literature often doesn’t seek answers (though people search wisdom literature for it). Wisdom literature seeks understanding. That would seem to be the same thing, yet if we look at all the clicks a person makes on their computers or on Facebook, we know things about them, but it does not mean we understand them.

The hard thing about Ecclesiastes is that the writer (“the Teacher”) is quite willing to confront the darkness of the world, facing it head-on. Most of us would prefer to avoid the darkness of the world, and so such writers make us uncomfortable. This is a good thing.

It is for times such as this, that wisdom literature may help us. Wisdom literature won’t hand us the cure (whether for disease or human depravity). Wisdom literature can help us step back from our immediate responses and reactions, and help us to develop a framework with which to handle reality.

Ecclesiastes 3:16 begins with the presence of wickedness where justice and righteousness are supposed to prevail. It is not just with police brutality. It is not just with racism. It is not just with the distribution of wealth. It is not just with misogyny. It is with humanity.

This is not a paean to make us feel better about ourselves or to deaden anyone’s anger, frustration, pain, or fear in the drama that is 2020. This might, might, be the straw that finally breaks the camels back, and brings Christianity where it needs to be, united on our knees in prayer, supplication, confession, remorse, celebration, and reverence.

Seems to be an odd mix? That is the beauty of wisdom literature. Conclusions drawn from it, just like in life, are not always easy to put in a box.

As the Teacher seems to envy the dead and the neverborn, Job wishes that the day of his birth had never come. Similar to George in It’s a Wonderful Life, Job believed that it would have been better were he never to have been born. This is often the voice of despair in our lives, as it was in Job’s.

“When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: fear God and keep his commands, because this is for all humanity.” —Ecclesiastes 12:13

“There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.” —Acts 4:12

Often, it is these two verses that can keep despair at bay. The passage from Ecclesiastes is the conclusion of this book of wisdom. The passage from Acts was Peter’s first public sermon and strong proclamation of the Gospel.

When lost in despair, or tending toward despair, God remains steadfast.

※Prayer※

God, thank you for your steadfast love for all Creation. Help us rely and trust in that. May we look at our fellow humans as people who are looking (whether they know it or not) for the wisdom that only you can provide. Amen.

※Questions※

1) How is your soul in this turmoil?

2) How do you view your fellow humans at this point?

3) How do you attempt to redeem the darkness of yourself and your fellow humans?

2020-06-04
Falling Down

Numbers 11:24–30; Joel 2:27–29; Acts 2:1–21 (read online ⧉)

Just in case you didn’t know, today is Pentecost. Some call it the “true” birth of the Church for the Holy Spirit fell upon the people of God, and has not left us yet. It is also called Whitsunday, of which part that is white (for purity) and the other is whit (Old English for wit, or wisdom).

It is not the case that Jesus left us bare. It is the case that Jesus left us with fire. The tongues of flame (whether in Numbers or Acts) were representative of the Holy Spirit and God’s word/speech being active. It is not coincidental that the tongues of flame seen on Pentecost were previously seen in Moses’ time.

Think of Moses’ words to Joshua in response to Joshua’s complaint that 2 elders who dishonored God and Moses spoke via the Holy Spirit, “If only all the LORD’s people were prophets and the LORD would place his Spirit on them!” This also goes hand-in-hand with Joel’s words, “I will pour out my Spirit on all humanity.”

In all likelihood, you have not seen some with tongues of fire over their heads. You may have witnessed—or been part of a tradition—where people spoke “in tongues”. Neither is required as evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a gift of God, and is God. Through the guidance (wisdom) of the Holy Spirit, we see the Scriptures for what they are…the Word of God.

This is not to say that the Holy Spirit was never present before, quite the contrary. What this means is that the presence of the Holy Spirit in the church is distinctly different than what is and was present outside of the church. Theologians still try to discern the whys and wherefores of the difference.

One of the biggest differences is that while the Holy Spirit was generally present (just as today), the Holy Spirit as expressed through prophets was unique to the calling of the prophets. The Pentecostal gift of the Holy Spirit was that all received the Holy Spirit expressly, not generally.

This does not mean that all are gifted with foretelling (often called prophesy) or Truth-telling (also called prophesy, or preaching). The Holy Spirit works in and through each person differently. Your gifting may be quite different than another’s, that does not invalidate either.

※ Prayer ※

Holy Spirit, we thank you for your ongoing gift of yourself to us. Help us to honor you, God the Father, and Jesus the Son, as we are the church, the bride of Christ, to the world. Amen.

※ Questions ※

1)How would you evaluate/discern whether someone was gifted by the Holy Spirit or by the natural talents they had? What is the difference?

2) Why is Moses’ story so important in the context of Pentecost? What about Joshua’s response?

3) Why do you think people thought the disciples of Jesus were drunk? What might their rationale be for how a drunk person would speak as if a native speaker of their own tongue(s)?

2020-05-31
Holy Grounding

Exodus 3:2–6; Exodus 20:22–26; 2 Chronicles 3:1–2 (read online ⧉)

The concept of “holy ground” has a long-standing history. In popular imagination, church buildings and their lands are—by their very nature—holy ground. Whether it was vampires (or other unholy creatures) or Immortals (e.g., Connor MacLeod) or something else, the concept was powerful.

While popular imagination puts holy ground more in the realm of something magical (or a convenient plot device), it does not deny or invalidate the reality of holy ground.

So, what could holy ground be? The simplest one is where God says so. The only place where holy and ground are together in this way is here in Exodus (This passage is quoted in Acts, so that mention doesn’t count). However, the concept of a place set apart as holy is not unique to this verse.

Sometimes, as later in Exodus 20:22–26, is a place set aside as holy (in this case, an altar), but it is not, in and of itself, holy ground. Yet, it is.

The burning bush in Exodus is pretty simple. However, this holy ground, that God said was holy ground…we don’t even know where it is. Perhaps, then, it wasn’t so holy.

David had a confrontation with God. The place where he offered a sacrifice to remove his sin, which was causing the destruction of the people, was a threshing floor. It was a place of work.

Using it, though, for a holy act, it became a holy place. So holy, in fact, that the temple was built there. We know where that place is right now. It wasn’t called holy ground, though.

What made the former threshing floor holy ground was the acts that would occur there. It wasn’t just praising and worshiping God. It wasn’t just praying to God. It was the place where God “set his foot”. This was the formal Godly residence on earth.

Just as the (not-so) burning bush (miracle notwithstanding) was holy ground, so were the uncut rocks, or piles of dirt, or a beautiful temple. It wasn’t the place per se that was holy, but the encounters with God that made that space, for a time, holy.

For generations, for example, the sanctuary of the church was holy ground. As the megachurch rolled in, however, it transformed into a worship center. It’s not that God was not encountered, it was just a change in the understanding of how it worked.

Even now, as we “gather” online, there are places (hopefully) of Godly encounters. They just happen to be living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms, other rooms, cars, even backyards. This is one of those things that Christian mystics can teach us…any place is holy when we are knowingly, purposefully, seekingly in the presence of God.

※ Prayer ※
Lord, help us to seek your presence so that we are overwhelmed by your glory. Help us to find holy ground wherever we are. Amen.

※ Questions ※
1) Other than a church building, what are some other “holy grounds” for you?
2) What makes a place consistently a holy ground?
3) Why is it critical to our theology, our relationship with God, and our Christian growth to understand that holy ground is not just at a church building (especially right now)?

2020-05-24
Throne of Hearts

Psalm 47; Job 23:3–12; Job 26:2–14; John 1:43–51 (read online ⧉)

The Stone of Scone is a stone that supposedly all the “legitimate” rulers of Scotland were/are crowned on. After one of the many wars between England and Scotland, the English King Edward I took the stone to England, where it generally remained until 1996 as the coronation “cushion” of the (soon) British Crown. One of the legends of the stone was that when the “real” heir to the Scottish throne was crowned, the stone would groan.

The legend, of course, probably had more to “prove” that the English nobility had no “true” right to the Scottish crown than anything else. There was also the knowledge that the stone’s home was really Scotland, but became the cushion of the usurpers.

Thrones were/are the symbols of legitimate authority over a nation or community. There is still plenty of royalty who sit on thrones. As monarchies die off and lose their importance, thrones have been replaced.

In the United States, the Oval Office could be considered at least a throne room. If you were to look at the arrangements of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Supreme Court, you will see similarities between the chairs of leaders and thrones. That isn’t by chance.

We seek throne rooms and thrones. Not always for ourselves, but to understand who is in charge, and often who we can blame.

Job seeks the throne of God to plead his case (another reason people seek thrones). Job believes that were he only to get there and plead his case, everything would get better.

Job defends or describes God with many positive terms and observations of God’s power. Yet, Job talks about God obscuring the throne. This could be an observation, however, where it is among Job’s words, it is likely a complaining observation (God is making it hard to find him).

With God, though, while it may seem while God is far away or hidden, it is often our hearts that are truly far away. Job’s story is not about God’s lack of presence, it is more about Job’s faith.

We see just how close God is to us through the life of Jesus. Jesus calls people into his presence. His throne is with him at all times. Jesus drew people to him that dismissed on the very outset (such as Nathanael). Sometimes the throne we are seeking is right there next to us, but we are looking for something that God does not always make known the way we want God to. God’s throne could be the sun, the Milky Way, the person next to you, in your heart and soul.

The last “throne room”, though, is the one we like the least. It often reminds us of how small we are. It also reminds us of how spiteful or petty we are. That’s not the throne room we are looking for. It is also the throne room that tells us that we have far to go; we are not there yet.

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, help us to see the throne you occupy in our lives. May we see your majesty and royalty. Jesus, thank you for the cleansing work in our lives, help us to keep the Godly throne room in our hearts and souls clean. Holy Spirit, guide our work so that we do it all for God’s glory and not our own. Amen.

Questions

1) How do you envision a throne room?

2) If you had to choose the most important throne room of the world, where would it be? Who would be in it? (Note: context of the world; God/Jesus is not this answer)

3) What kind of person draws you closer to them? What does that tell you what you look for in regards to God? What way might that mean you are not looking to God?

2020-05-08
Calling Others

John 6:44–51; Acts 15:12–21; Romans 1:16–25 (read online ⧉)

One of the hardest things for any believer is the understanding that a loved one may not be with them in Heaven. Whether one believes in Dante’s 7 circles of Hell, the Hell of endless torment, or the Hell of eternal life “merely” not being in God’s presence, or the Hell that is interim before the Great Day of Judgement and one’s final decision toward life or annihilation (Revelation 20:11–15) it doesn’t matter insofar as not having that loved one with you in eternal life.

So, in avoidance of this hard truth, many people have developed a folk theology that there is no Hell and no eternal separation from God. It is not just Christianity that is experiencing it. In face, if one were to boil down the religions of reincarnation (mostly Buddhist and Hindu, but not exclusively), it’s that one is not good enough to not be incarnated so they get to start all over again. It’s not Hell in the Christian sense, but repeating lives until perfection can sound pretty close.

The hardest part for all of us is the tension that we walk. Most of us aren’t “old school” knocking on our neighbor’s doors and barging into their lives to “save” them. Sometimes we are made to feel guilty because we’re not. Yet, if your neighbors are automatically resistant to Christianity because of a lifestyle choice (for example) that they “know” God “hates”, only time will ever work through that. That being said, one has to be will to work through that time.

Family is often the hardest. Oddly enough, we won’t know all the pieces that brought a person to walk away from, ignore, or even hate Jesus and his church, and that’s even when they’re family. Sometimes, even more heart-wrenching is that some of the events that solidified our faith are the very ones that destroyed the faith of others. Shared experiences do not necessarily equal the same results (part of the whole nature versus nurture debate).

It “used to be” so much easier. We would recite a formula (as I look back on it, almost like a magic spell), and people would be saved. Or we’d follow a “road” in the Bible, that “proved” that Jesus was the Way, the Truth, and the Life. There is no perfect formula nor is there a perfect road that will finally bring people to Jesus, at least not one that works in every time and place, and for every person. The reality is that this often displays a human sinful flaw…our desire to be the hero…our desire to save…our desire to be Jesus.

Paul’s words seem rather harsh to our post-modern ears. Some people read them as, “They don’t believe in God? Then to Hell with them!” However, Paul is addressing a fundamental reality, “they” want proof? It’s all around them, and you (personally) will not change that perspective. This is when Jesus’ words of calling people to the Father make the most sense. The Truth is there. People’s hearts have to be open to see the Truth behind the truth. Only God does that.

Prayer

Father God, we know only you, through the sacrifice of your Son, Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit, call people to you. Only you can truly call. Help us to surrender that to you. Help us remember that it is not us. Guide us into the places and conversations that you want us to have, that is part of your calling of others to live in and with you. Amen.

Questions

1) What was the most recent conversation with a non-believer like regarding Jesus? When you look back on it, how does that make you feel?

2) Do you feel responsible for someone else’s decision to follow Jesus? How is it your responsibility? How is it not your responsibility?

3) Knowing that there is no perfect way to bring people to Jesus, how do you react to that? How does that make you feel in regards to the conversation in question 1?

2020-04-30
Grace of Perfection

Psalm 119:9–16; Isaiah 44:1–8; Acts 2:14–24 (read online ⧉)

The beginning of this passage in Isaiah has an important meaning that is easy to overlook.

Hear | Servant
Chosen | Israel
Do not fear | Servant
Chosen | Jeshuran

At the beginning, it is certainly more direct and imposing. At the second part, though, the tone changes. Hear (or Listen!) becomes do not fear. Israel becomes Jeshuran, a poetic “perfect” Israel. The way of addressing the people goes from formal to informal, some might even say endearing or intimate. Israel is not just someone to be commanded; they are someone loved intimately, warts and all, and are “perfect” despite their imperfections.

This loving God then declares that he will pour his spirit into his people! It will be like water filling the desert.

A fisherman standing up and making a scene was probably not in the top 10 ways expected to have this played out. In a very public sermon, Peter invokes the prophet Joel’s vision, and we can easily see the parallel between Joel’s vision and Isaiah’s.

In both, God seeks to give more than the Imago Dei and the weakness of human frailty. God seeks to fill us, upon our acceptance, with the Holy Spirit filling us with life eternal.Us being filled by the Holy Spirit can be viewed as the ultimate expression of the intimacy expressed by Israel being called Jeshuran, or us (as the church) being called the Bride of Christ. With the Spirit in us, we should never be unaware of God’s presence in us, and the intimacy that conveys.

1) When you hear God in you, what goes through your mind?

2) Have you progressed to the point where it is not just spiritual or intellectual, but both? If not, what could help you get there?

2020-03-30