Devotion.al

Tag: reflection

  • At The Gates

    At The Gates

    Psalm 118:1–2, 19–29; Jeremiah 33:10–16; Mark 10:32–34, 46–52

    When we read the “barren” in Jeremiah, we often think it is talking about the land, in particular the environment. The barrenness is in regard to people, in particular, God’s people (and their herds). They will soon no longer reside in the Promised Land, praising and worshiping God.

    Poor decisions made by the People of God led to the barrenness and their exile. In to their despair of exile, God promises them . They have not even repented and God already promises their return. God spoke into the darkness. God spoke hope in the face of the people’s fear.

    Fear is often a response to the unknown. Fear is also a response when we think we know what bad will come to pass. Those that followed Jesus behind the Disciples likely presumed the demise of this Messiah (self-declared Messiahs weren’t unknown, and they all died). They weren’t wrong.

    This particular journey of Jesus to Jerusalem would indeed in Jesus’ . Those that feared weren’t wrong. Without being too specific (we have to remember that we often read the end into Jesus’ words, and the Disciples weren’t there, yet), Jesus spoke hope to the fear. Even while describing what would happen to him, Jesus spoke hope into the darkness.

    The story of blind Bartimaeus seems to be just one of those stories of Jesus, but don’t overlook its placement within the context of Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem. Bartimaeus was physically blind. Bartimaeus, on the other hand, had spiritual . We could just dismiss his cries to Jesus as pure desperation. Jesus, though, doesn’t seem to respond to sole desperation at other points in the Scriptures. Bartimaeus was something more. It seems quite reasonable that Bartimaeus’ place in the was to represent a counterpoint to the physically sighted who were spiritually blind.

    The particularly glaring issue with the spiritually blind was how much vision they thought they had regarding spiritual issues, and definitely someone as significant as the Messiah. The so-called enlightened being compared to the least (a physically impaired person whose only source of income was through begging) would have been quite insulting.

    Mark’s intent likely was that jarring comparison. As Mark wrote after the life, death, and of Jesus, Mark (along with other followers of Jesus) would be striving to confront those that thought they were spiritually enlightened with the world-changing Jesus.

    ※Reflection※

    • Which is your strongest tendency? (1) Seeing the bad that can/will happen and being overwhelmed with your fear of it (i.e., like those who followed the Disciples), (2) So consumed with the spectacle that your are blind to the darkness around or ahead of you (i.e., the Disciples), (3) Are sure you know that bad or darkness ahead but face it with the and strength of God (i.e., like Jesus)?
    • Are you quick to assume you have Godly spiritual vision, or do you wonder if you are spiritually blind?

    ※Prayer※

    Lord, each of us have different responses to the world and its struggles. Help us to build Godly responses to the darkness. Amen.

  • Love Surrendered

    Love Surrendered

    Psalm 118:1–2, 19–29; Deuteronomy 16:1–8; Philippians 2:1–11

    Passover begins very shortly. In fact, there is a great symmetry in this. Passover starts with Israel’s from Egypt (sin), passing through the Red Sea (baptism), and in more modern understandings of Passover, the last day (or the last 2, depending on nation), is the “future looking” meal with the Messiah as the center (the /).

    Confused, yet? Amazed? The Jewish aspects of Christian theology and symbolism are there in plain sight.

    One of the interesting pieces is that there remains an expectation that the Messiah will come in , glory, and might. This was the expectation of any person claiming to be the Messiah in Jesus’ day. Thus, when Jesus didn’t fulfill that, most Jews disregarded Jesus as Messiah.

    It is this quest for earthly which continues to haunt all of humanity. The constant pursuit of power, glory, wealth, continually seems to be against following God. It isn’t that power, glory, wealth, and gain are against God, but that the means and hearts of people are. Much of this is the desire to be above , so that others look up to you, and you have those you can look down upon.

    Paul’s observation that Jesus total divinity and became man is one of the linchpins of Christian theology and faith. That Jesus did this shows two things, that God loves those Created, and this is so profound that God became not just identified with humanity, but actually became human. That is not a quest for power, glory, wealth, or gain, at least in the sense.

    Only God could turn becoming nothing into something beyond understanding.

    ※Reflection※

    • What else does this tell you about God?
    • What does this make you reflect on when comparing your actions to God’s?
    • Who has the harder comparison, a person of Christ or a person of the world?

    ※Prayer※

    God, you have called us to follow your example, and it’s hard. Help us, in our pride, to yield our will to yours. Amen.

  • Beyond Sight/Site

    Beyond Sight/Site

    Psalm 119:9–16; Haggai 2:1–9, 20–23; John 12:34–50

    Haggai and Zechariah were the two prophets that accompanied the Israelites from exile to home. Their primary focus was the restoration of Israel, not so much as a powerhouse, but as a people and of God, including both worship and the Davidic kingly line. Later on down the chronological line (beyond today’s readings), the temple is completed. However, the temple that was completed did not have the glory of the old one in status.

    As Haggai’s words are considered canonical (i.e., verified as the of God), then the Jews saw something much different than the literal word (often our temptation when we are reading). From a Jewish standpoint (especially Haggai’s traditionalist perspective), the temple isn’t so much the point as a people faithfully pursuing God with one of the signs being worship as prescribed in the Old Testament. What does it matter what it looked like today (remember the original Temple was David’s plan, inspired by God, but not prescribed) when faithful worship and a God-fearing king were what was required?

    That Haggai was seeing beyond the immediate temple and even beyond the immediate kingly line tells us that ‘ words were not without historical precedence (as some have claimed). As we look beyond Jesus’ time on earth, we can see the fulfillment of Haggai’s words, as in Jesus Christ has changed the world. Though, sadly, many of those who cried, “Lord, Lord,” were liars, murderers, and power-grabbers beyond the average struggling .

    Haggai’s understanding of a God-honoring relationship revolved around the temple. That is what tradition and the taught. Haggai understood quite well, as he was coming from exile, that empty actions were not what was needed. It was actions that were firmly grounded in who God is, and that the Israelites were God’s chosen people.

    While Jesus’ words may have seemed revolutionary at the time, Jesus did answer the “Christ will be with us forever” in a way unexpected, though by pure reason, it probably should have been an idea. The Christ was with the Children of God forever…in their souls, their temple to God. Thus a relationship through the temple was now very personal, and the Christ was with them.

    Would Haggai have been able to recognize that Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of his in only a way that God could make it happen? Perhaps. We can only look at Haggai’s words and see Christ in retrospect.

    ※Reflection※

    • What practices do you fulfill in relationship with God? How about in regards to the temple, both body and church?
    • What do you think is comparable to the Davidic kingly line in regards to lively rightly before God?
    • When was the last time you evaluated your habits through the lens of habit or “because you need to”? Why is it important?

    ※Prayer※

    Lord, guide us ever deeper into meaningful and life-changing relationship with you. Amen.

  • Depths of Lent

    Depths of Lent

    Psalm 119:9–16; Isaiah 44:1–8; Acts 2:14–24

    Lent has various aspects. The first is our mortality (“from you came; to dust you ”). The second is sin. Mortality and sin are connected. Without the original sin, there would be no death. Sin brought death to Creation.

    From there, to some degree, sin is broken into original sin (that which brought death into Creation), and personal sin. Personal sin is often what we confront when it comes to Lent. This that sin which personally maintains separation from ourselves and God. More importantly, it is us through our sin that maintains that gap. The known end of Lent is , the commemoration of when God died to bridge the chasm of holiness between God and man. This makes our personal sin all the more tragic.

    Lent will often include some sort of spiritual discipline that is usually a “giving up” of something. There was a time when it was primarily meat (still is in Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic communities). As that was in a time where meat was in short supply already, there is some question as to how “sacrificial” it was. Now we think in terms of news, social media, phones (that would nice), internet, alcohol (for those who drink), a meal (not just meat). All this with the intent, though rarely practices, to instead use that time to approach the throne of God.

    Lent is really a time of pretend. That’s not mean in a bad way. In many respects, we blessed so much that it is hard to lament or mourn because we know what’s on the other side of Good Friday. Many of us have such a life of ease, that we don’t understand just how important God’s words are to the broken.

    We are not just talking about the -ese of the “lost” or the “wayward” or the “not-yet Christian” or the “cold to Christ”. We are talking about people abandoned and lost. As much as this may grate on you, this includes people fleeing to the US from their native country. While there are some who are truly not doing this to become a part of the US people, the majority are giving up (and gave up) everything for a sliver of a to become something new.

    That hope, as small as it often is, is that same sort of redemptive hope and life change hope that God had promised to the Israelites for generations. That is the hope in the that Lent exemplifies. Unless we have been in a dark place, any understanding of hope in the face of is an intellectual exercise lacking depth.

    To not take this as dismissive. This is coming from the depths of my own heart’s darkness these last few weeks. Certainly, not the darkest, but only by a few shades. As I look at that, I understand even then how much I cannot comprehend the depth and breadth and length of the despair of Israel, that was answered by the depth and breadth and length of God’s redemptive .

    ※※

    What life experience can you use to relate to the hope in despair of Israel?

    ※※

    Jesus, thank you for walking the road of the cross for us. May we pick up our cross and follow you. Amen.

  • Found and Find

    Found and Find

    Psalm 119:9–16; Isaiah 43:8–13; 2 Corinthians 3:4–11

    God said, “I announced, I saved, I proclaimed…”

    says, “…our qualification is from God.”

    As much as the Christian “world” tries to keep these two concepts in mind when out our lives, we really struggle with it. There is a constant desire to perform and prove. Many of those who gave in their general lives did so because they believed they could not perform and prove. It is often even more difficult in our spiritual lives.

    The tricky balance of a spiritual is that it should pour out of us naturally. It is often hard (if not impossible) to determine if the life displayed of authentic pouring out or if it is by will and effort alone. We can be tricked into thinking that effort will produce spiritual life . We can also be tricked into thinking that our spiritual life is strictly an internal thing. A spiritual life will pour out something.

    ※Reflection※

    ※Does your spiritual life pour something positive into the lives of , just lost amongst other lives, or does it hurt the lives of others? ※

    In our quest to not shame people (including ourselves) regarding our spiritual journey, we often disregard effort and work. This was often covered under the term, spiritual disciplines. Spiritual Disciplines weren’t (and aren’t) checkboxes to completed. They are ongoing forming, reforming, and reconciling actions. While the performance of them has been used unspiritually to abuse and shame people into outward conformance, the spiritual disciplines are no less important.

    Paul notes that the gives life. Spiritual disciplines are to be the same. There is a big caveat there, however. The spiritual life often goes against the physical life (i.e., “spirit of the flesh” or “worldly”). This means that the physical life is crying, “I’m ,” while the spiritual life is crying, “I’m gaining life.”

    ※Further Reflection※
    • Have you experienced your physical/worldly life dying while your spiritual life was growing? What was that like?
    • Why do you think we often believe our spiritual life is supposed to be easier than the worldly life to ?
    • How do the opening words (from Isaiah and 2 Corinthians) affect or influence (or should) both worldly and spiritual lives?
    ※※

    Lord, often we make spiritual living too hard, but more often we think it should be easy, and thus it is all hard. Help us to submit our hearts and spirits to you, so that we may live lives fully committed to you. Amen.

  • Look and See

    Look and See

    Jeremiah 31:31–34; Psalm 51:1–12; Psalm 119:9–16; Hebrews 5:5–10; John 12:20–33

    In circles and theology, we talk about the New . When we read about the New Covenant from Jeremiah, the honest person might question which New Covenant Jeremiah was talking about. “They will no longer need to teach each other to know the Lord.”

    One of the primary ways the church has understood this over the years is the of the in believers. That’s a good way of thinking. When we add the instructions, we may begin to see a problem. Based upon the words of , we could simplify the instructions (which makes sense in of the New Covenant) to God and love .
    It is, however, this combination that can cause a person (especially a non-believer) to wonder if the New Covenant has actually come. Depending on your circles (whether of happenstance or decision), we have seen our brothers and sisters behaving in ways that do not seem to be motivated by the love of God or others.
    As we say we are Bible-believing people, the Bible is going to be one of the first places that non-believers (in particular, those who seek to not believe) go to check what Christians are supposed to be. This is what we should be thinking about as we read the .
    ※Reflection※
    • According to today’s passages (not just Jeremiah), what should a Christian display?
    • What happens when an apparent non-believer shows all the signs of a believer as an of nature versus an act of will?
    ※Prayer※
    Lord, we hold onto the promise that we are indeed New Covenant people. Guild us and strengthen us to live New Covenant lives. Amen.
  • Serve and Sit

    Serve and Sit

    Psalm 51:1–12; Habakkuk 3:2–13; John 12:1–11

    That household is a problem. That’s pretty much the description for the household of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. One dies, is buried for 3 days, and then lives again (and will die again). Another takes some really expensive stuff and washes feet with it!

    At least one was , right? Martha at least understood proper propriety when hosting a guest (even though it was ). Oh, except at the tomb of Lazarus she declared Jesus the Messiah (before Lazarus was raised from the dead). Nevermind. She’s just slightly better. Barely.

    If you had had Jesus at your house, would you have been Lazarus, Mary, or Martha? All of us would have tendencies to be all of them. For most of us, we would not be solely any of them. Even I would be sorely tempted to start cleaning house (and that’s not my thing). Perhaps I would be like Lazarus who would recline almost as an equal (but still with the “this guy raised me from the dead” look). Maybe I would be like Mary who didn’t care about propriety or place and at the feet of Jesus.

    Many of us would like to immediately say we should be like Mary, however, is that really the case? Jesus didn’t tell Martha to come sit. Was it Martha’s place to sit at Jesus’ feet? There are a great many people in the (and in the world) whose particular gifting is service. They feel more connected to Jesus when serving.

    That doesn’t mean that they should never sit at the feet of Jesus, but always sitting at the feet of Jesus is not good either. Sitting and learning only is good when it is applied to .

    ※Reflection※

    Do you know what your spiritual /calling is? How do you use it for Jesus?

  • Given

    Given

    Psalm 51:1–12; Exodus 30:1–10; Hebrews 4:14–5:4

    Even if every single Israelite behaved completely within the bounds of Law, and thus no sin offerings were offered for an entire year…still Aaron would have to perform the ritual of reconciliation. No matter how perfect every Israelite was, reconciliation was still needed.

    In the of the Nazarene (and similarly in other denominations such as the Free Methodist, Wesleyan, Methodist, Church of God in Christ (Anderson), and others) we have a concept of Entire Sanctification. This is not as universal in understanding as it could be, yet it is (ultimately) being like Jesus Christ insofar as we have been enabled by the Holy Spirit (and, yes, this is far more complicated and much simpler). This is a high standard. Others have defined it as giving oneself wholly over to Christ through the of the Holy Spirit (different ways of explaining it).

    By the Law, even if every single being were Entirely Sanctified, the purification offering for reconciliation would still be required. To many, Entire Sanctification is entirely impossible (and it is without the Holy Spirit). Yet, even were it possible to the many, the offering was still needed.

    That is the weight of the Law. It isn’t all the offerings needed to cover our sin. It isn’t all the festivals to celebrate and recognize God’s miracles and saving works. The weight is the Truth that we can do nothing to ourselves.

    As the author of Hebrews is unknown (plenty of speculation), we don’t really have an idea of their or history. Yet, it seems that he () was a Jew. It wouldn’t surprise me, based upon sections like this, that he was from some sort of priestly background. As such, the Law and the symbols of the would be significant to him.

    To the author of Hebrews, Jesus was the ultimate High Priest. Due to Jesus’ eternal nature, Jesus was always acting as the reconciling . Though only a sacrifice once, that sacrifice resounds throughout Creation.

    Like the earthly High Priest, Jesus was tempted and therefore understands our frailties. Unlike the High Priest, Jesus did not yield to the temptations, and thus does not need to offer sacrifices. Through Christ, then, the weight of the Law is removed, for the reconciliation is done and remains done for eternity.

     

    ※Reflection※

    • Most of us (as non-Jews) do not understand the weight of the Law. With your understanding, what “weight” would you come up with to explain this to another?
    • What is one thing you do every year that weighs you down or overwhelms you? How might that be similar to the “weight” of the Law and how might it be different?

     

    ※Prayer※

    Lord, we are unable to fully grasp the chasm between your holiness and our fallenness. Thank you for crossing the chasm for us and aiding us in being to you. May our hearts and lives reflect it. Amen.