Tag: reflection

Get Lifted

Psalm 25:1–10; Psalm 32; Matthew 9:2–13

Have you ever carried something really heavy for a while and then put down? Do you remember that moment when you put it down? That feeling of freedom?
That is should be just a taste of the feeling that the Psalmist brings out:

The one whose wrongdoing is forgiven,
whose sin is covered over,
is truly happy!

The one the LORD
doesn’t consider guilty—
in whose spirit there is no dishonesty—
that one is truly happy!

For many Christians, they actually don’t have that release. Those who grew up in the church may have never had the kind of life they perceived as such a gap between themselves and God. Others came to faith through intellectual decisions. As such, they often cannot grasp that feeling either. Another group is the one that cannot forgive itself and so struggles to accept the forgiveness that God has given.

Lent is a definitely a time to process our mortality and sin which brought death into the world. However, the intent is not to be morbid, it is meant to free us. While we focus on this during Lent, we all (I think) know what ends Lent. At the end of Lent is the freeing from the burdens of sin and death.

The end is what makes the Lent-ing do-able, worthwhile, and not-so morbid.

Perhaps the invalid was like so many of us in our hearts, faithful to and trusting of God, but something was missing to connect. Maybe it wasn’t just to the legal experts he was speaking to. Perhaps the invalid needed to understand what exactly was meant. His burden was lifted. He was lifted. His sins were forgiven.

※Reflection※

Does being free of you sins really feel (or did it feel) as if a burden was lifted? If not, why not?

※Prayer※

Lord, help us to be weighed down by our sins and our mortality so that we experience (or experience again) the freedom of our burdens lifted by you. Amen.

2021 02 20
So Over It

Psalm 25:1–10; Daniel 9:15–25a; 2 Timothy 4:1–5

For nearly a year, we’ve had COVID. For nearly a year, there have been limitations in gathering and movement. Finally, 9 months in, there was news of a vaccine. Then there were multiple vaccines. Now we wait.

Still, though, we often catch ourselves asking, “when will this be over?” Or the question that many are asking, “when can we get back to normal?”

Daniel’s words really aren’t that different than ours. Yes, he’s talking about the Israelites. Yes, he’s talking about Jerusalem. “When can we go home?” “When can we return to the new normal?”

Just as the generations that passed in Egypt, breaking free of the practices left behind. Then leaving Egypt with new practices to learn and form. Those fleeing Egypt, “when can we go home (Egypt)?” “When can we go back to normal (slavery)?”

The words that Daniel received, “yes, Israel will go back.” “Thinks will seem to be positive and even (the new) normal.” “Then disruption again.”

The promise of return for the Israelites (though not really for Daniel) was not exactly all positive. There would definitely be loss. There might be gains. They just couldn’t judge the return to the before, because they were different.

Many people have spoken words similar to Daniel’s about “the people” not listening to God, and not following God’s commandments. The words were often spoken against the US culture as it appeared to diverge from its so-called Judeo-Christian roots. Whether it was a particular disease primarily affecting a “different” culture/people, or whether it was COVID or some other virus, or the internet, or rock music, or free love, or what have you.

Those who often spoke those words forgot important words: mercy, justice, grace.

When we read the words of Paul to Timothy, many often conclude with something like communism, capitalism, consumerism, any of a number of things. “They” don’t want to hear the “truth”. These words weren’t Paul’s to Timothy for the world. They were Paul’s words to Timothy about the church.

There are a lot of things the church is hearing, but doesn’t want to. While the church has been huddled in homes and buildings, God has been moving. While phrases such as, “the new normal” are becoming, well…normal. Everybody wants whatever the new normal is going to be to happen already.

※Reflection※

What if God doesn’t want us to “normalize”? What if God wants to shake us free of our (the church’s) complacency? What if we have 70 more years to go? What will you do?

※Prayer※

Lord, we don’t know what is coming. In Lent we are called upon to strip away that which is not for you. Help us, Lord, to follow your will in this. Amen.

2021 02 19
Beyond Confessing
Psalm 25:1–10; Daniel 9:1–14; 1 John 1:3–10

“But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from everything we’ve done wrong.” —1 John 1:9

Have you said those words to yourself lately or ever? The power and grace in those simple words are awe-inspiring.

Daniel understood this. He analyzed Jeremiah’s words and recognized that there was no quick way back to the way things were. Daniel, being the faithful God-follower that he was, likely wasn’t eager to the way things were, as they hadn’t been working, especially in regard to Israel’s relationship with God.

Daniel recognizes—confesses—that Israel went its own way and purposefully ignored the voice of God through the Scriptures and the prophets. Unlike many people, whether Jeremiah’s, Daniel’s, or our day, Daniel notes that it is not the fault of God that Israel (or anyone) wanders away from God. Especially in the case of Israel, there was no blaming God. The penalties and (ultimately) exile were the result of the path Israel chose to walk in spite of God’s persistent voice calling them to repentance.

Repentance may be a bigger stumbling block than confession. The Roman Catholic practice of confession could lead to a confession of words without repentance of the heart. Roman Catholicism isn’t the only one. The opening words of 1 John are stated weekly in the Lutheran churches. Other words of confession are spoken in other liturgical traditions (Orthodox, Episcopal, Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist, etc.). People say these words, but they may not actually repent of that which they confessed.

Most Evangelical traditions, like the Church of the Nazarene, don’t have a confessional creed. The confession has moved into specialized small groups (general Bible studies not fitting that mold), where people actually live life together. Here repentance has the opportunity to occur in ways other methods often don’t. In these groups, we can be shaped personally and be held accountable.

Regardless, if we are not willing to confess, repent, and change, we should really question if we are Christ-followers. Being a Christ-follower means being willing to be changed.

※Reflection※
- Thinking about your confessional, repenting, and changing activities, where can you improve?
- How would you rate the difficulty of each: confessing, repenting, changing? Why in that order?
※Prayer※

Holy Spirit, guide our hearts to confess and repent all that we have done against your will for our lives. Work in us and through others in our lives so that we are shaped from the inside out into Christ-shaped people. Amen.
2021 02 18
Billboard or Reflection
Isaiah 58:1–12; Psalm 51:1–17; 2 Corinthians 5:20b–6:10; Matthew 6:1–6, Matthew 6:16–21

Today is Ash Wednesday. This ancient church tradition goes beyond Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox. It a time of self-reflection. Many call it a time of self-mortification. This is why it is often a time of fasting (of varying sorts). Truthfully, the fasting is often something that should be done anyway as a form of self-improvement or just a matter of separating oneself from the immediate to dedicate time to the truly important.

The words in Isaiah allude to this. Sacrificing (e.g., fasting) because it is the religious thing to do is not the point. It seems, in fact, that religious sacrificing is actually an affront to God when one’s life around it is not God-honoring. That should be a gut check (no pun intended) for us all.

Pursuit of the knowledge of God without pursuit of the heart of God is often an empty pursuit. Yes, we can learn more facts about God. That doesn’t mean we actually know God. God wants us to know God, not merely know of God.

2020 was a banner year of self-mortification realization. From politics, to race, to gender, to the police, to riots, to COVID, there was so much that God seemed to be telling the church. The church has been too busy, for too long, doing the religious sacrificing without knowing the heart of God. Looking back on 2020, you may well have an idea of what God wants you to put to death.

From an Isaiah point of view, 2020 was a great year! All that extra stuff (much of it dead) just needs to be cut off! The church, and people in general, still want to cling to what is dead, rather than lean into what and who gives life.

The Psalmist though cries out the Lenten cry, “HAVE MERCY ON ME!” While Lent is to be a time of putting un-Christ-like things and behaviors to death, it is such a time of joy, for God had mercy on us. This mercy, and the joy because of it, is part of our witness to the world. It is part of that which makes us Christian.

Some churches will have Ash Wednesday in the morning, so that the congregants go into the world proclaiming Christ. It could seem to be a billboard of, “look how religious I am!” For some communities that may actually be the case. On the other hand, Ash Wednesday is a “stamp of strangeness” for most people. If you were to go to work (whether in person or on a video call) with a big black cross on your forehead, you might get some strange looks. Others might even mock you. Yet, it is a chance that it might open the door to talking about Jesus.

It isn’t bad to wear a cross of ashes, nor is it bad to fast. It is about the why and the rest of your life.

※Reflection※
- What does a cross of ashes mean or represent to you? Why?
- What have you decided to “put to death” for Lent? Why that? If nothing, why nothing?
- How do mercy and joy fit into your understanding of Lent?
※Prayer※

Lord, as we begin this time of reflection, help us to truly be reflective and not reflexive. Grant us the grace to see more of you and to become more like you. Most of all, help us to reflect your light into the world. Amen.
2021 02 17
It Is Written
Psalm 110:1–4; Job 19:23–27; 1 Timothy 3:14–16

Job’s words of optimism amid the words of anguish provides quite the contrast. The context seems to be that Job wants his words of trust in God to be recorded (written on a scroll). Then he goes further and wants them engraved on stone. The implication being that a scroll is not permanent (or significant enough) to encapsulate the mercy and redemption of God.

The Book of Job is often thought of in the context of Job’s trials and misery. It might be that these few words of Job here show the heart of Job that every follower of God should also have. Imagine…if you can…how the church would be known…how the followers of Christ would be known…if they had the same trust as Job.

As people of “the Book” (as Christians are known in the Arab world), we speak as if we believe the Word (the Bible) was engraved in stone. Yet, we often don’t act that same way. The way we live out our lives often seems (and is) in conflict with the Word.

This is Paul‘s concern for Timothy and the church in general. While the CEB (the primary translation being used for these devotionals this year) individualizes behavior (e.g., “you”) while other translations are more generic (e.g., “one”). The Greek as neither. Both “you” and “one” are interpretations of the “space” between the words (this really is an English problem).

I see the phrasing as being more like, “this is the knowledge required to live rightly as part of the household of God.” In the Greek, Paul is making clear that all who are known as/by “Christian” have certain rules and expectations to be part of the household of God.

In the current secular culture, the church has found itself in an awkward place. It wants to be welcoming to all (as it should be). On the other hand, it is also called to have expectations of behavior and spiritual growth (which it must be).

The sad reality is that the church may have to suborn the expectations to earn the reputation of being welcoming. Yet, the church cannot keep kicking that can down the road, either.

Ultimately, our hope is that our Redeemer lives, and our Redeemer seeks to redeem all of humanity.

※Reflection※
- From your perspective, how does the knowledge of permanent redemption (from Job) affect, influence, and guide your understanding of and living out the obligations of being part of the household of God?
- Do you find yourself to be more “welcoming” or more “conduct” oriented? How is that lived out in the faith community? How is that lived out in the wider (i.e., non-faith) community?
※Prayer※

Jesus, guide our actions through your example. Thank you for being our Redeemer. Amen.
2021 02 16
Wait and See
Psalm 110:1–4; Exodus 19:7–25; Hebrews 2:1–4

God tells the “master” (king) to “sit”. It is quite common today for rulers to sit while the armies go forth to wage war or defend the nation. When the Psalm was written, it was normal that kings/rulers went to war with the armies. So, for the ruler/master/king to sit was to say that the war/battle would be won without their presence. As it is God saying it, it’s more along the lines of, “I’ve got this.”

In our American thinking, we often think we have to do it ourselves. There is a reason why we think of “good” businesspeople having “pulled themselves up by their bootstraps.” If we analyze that phrase, we can see that it may have not been a positive statement, but a tongue-in-cheek quip that someone was quite arrogant in thinking they did by themselves.

As we read the Scriptures, it becomes apparent that often the call on God’s people is not to do great things, but to witness and testify to the great things that God has done. When God has done great things, the pressure is often taken off of us, because it is not by our strength of will. When we testify, often we have to testify to our weakness and testify to God’s strength in the face of our weakness.

When the people meet God at Mount Sinai, their actions are minimal. They are to prepare, listen and respond. You might think that “obey” would be part of that, but obedience would be lived out, and obedience would be part of their testimony to the world of what God has done.

The story of Exodus may have a lot of anecdotal stories of Moses, Aaron, and the people of Israel. However, most of the stories are witnesses of God’s glory and might. Even during the plagues, while Moses had his part, it was God who was the major actor.

Exodus was, along with the other books of the Pentateuch (Genesis, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) are formational to what it meant to be an Israelite. The books were not only a witness of God, they were also the witness to and for the Israelites.

As they were formational, they were core to being Israelite. Yet, it is amazing how people can be formed by something they do not know. We’d say that this couldn’t be, yet even being an “American” is often based upon far too many things we only think we know.

The author of Hebrews speaks of drifting away. Often, especially in a country as blessed as ours, it is very easy to quickly forget our salvation. Our lives are (despite a bad economy, COVID, and grace-less politics) blessed. This is not to diminish the hardships that people experience here. In fact, because of the blessedness, it makes such hardships an even greater travesty.

Drifting away is subtle. It takes time. A quick divergence (or apostasy) is easy to grasp. It is when it happens over time (years, decades, centuries) that it becomes the hardest to recognize. When it happens over time, it also becomes hard to determine Truth versus fact.

We are in such a time as this, if we’ve ever left it all. Perhaps this should be our greatest fear as the church…we have lost what should make us different than the world.

The deepest, darkest, and saddest aspect of this drifting away is that we cease being witnesses of God, and our lives ceasing being witnesses to God. While we are called to wait and see what will do, we are called to say what God has done.

※Reflection※
- What ways have you been tempted to “drift away” from faith?
- What kinds of “drifting away” damages our witness the most?
- What is the danger in not “waiting and see” what God does? What is the danger in “waiting and see”? How does discern when to be still and when to act?
※Prayer※

God, you have called us to witness what you have done, and to be witnesses. Help us to be faithful to that call. Amen.
2021 02 15
So Bright
Psalm 50:1–6; 2 Kings 2:1–12; 2 Corinthians 4:3–6; Mark 9:2–9

“From the rising of the sun to where it sets,
God, the Lord God, speaks,
calling out to the earth.”
—Psalm 50:1 [CEB]

God has never stopped calling out to the earth. Even after humanity’s exile from Eden, God has continually sought humanity.

There are unique stories in the Scriptures for certain unique people. Elijah was one of them. He had done many miraculous things under God’s auspices. Even his exit from this mortal coil was a miraculous event.

While we often get “caught up” with Elijah’s being whisked away, it is all that is happening with Elisha that should, perhaps, catch our attention. If you read the story well, you can see that God had let Elijah and Elisha know that “today” was the day.

Then to make it undeniable, some other prophets were also told (based upon the phrasing, separately from Elijah and Elisha), and they told Elisha. This story may really be less about Elijah than about Elisha. Despite the miraculous, Elijah seems more of the forefather character, rather than the main character.

When Elisha asks for a double portion of the spirit, he is requesting to become Elijah’s inheritor. As Elijah’s “inheritance” is God-imbued and not that of man, it’s hard for Elijah to make that decision. As the story progresses, it becomes abundantly clear that this story is about Elisha’s inheritance from Elijah.

It may seem that God is not calling out or seeking, yet there is plenty of God moving both from telling Elijah and Elisha that the day is here, to a number of other prophets who also hear the same thing. We are often blind to God moving because we have expectations of how God is to move. We can see this in our Sunday Services with the varying traditions from church to church, from Pentecostal to Eastern Orthodox. We box-in the movement of God…God will break out.

Much of Jesus‘ ministry was God breaking out of the box that Jewish worship had turned into. The trip up the mountain turned into another “break out” moment.

For the 3 disciples, they had their own “Moses” moment. Instead of a burning bush, they were next to a cloud filled with God’s glory. It might have even reminded them of the story of God’s glory filling the Tent of Meeting in the time between leaving Egypt and entering the Promised Land. It might have reminded them of the story of God’s glory filling the (at the time, newly consecrated) Temple after Solomon’s opening prayer.

The 3 disciples had plenty that they could associate with this experience. While we might consider them naive in their response, at the same time, they understood that this was not the “same old” experience. They were blessed to “pierce through” the veil, as Paul calls the “gap” between God and humanity’s perception of God.

“…He is the same one who shone in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.” — 2 Corinthians 4:6 [CEB]

※Reflection※
- When are you guilty of “putting God in a box”?
- What is (or would be) your response were someone to say to you, “God does not move that way”? Have you ever said something similar to someone else?
※Prayer※

Lord, may we be ready and willing to meet you where you choose to meet us. Amen.
2021 02 14
Seeing Well
Psalm 50:1–6; 1 Kings 16:1–7; Luke 19:41–44

“If only I had known…”

We often will look back on our decisions as if we could have fixed them, or even with the assumption that we are wiser now than we were then. “Hindsight is 20/20,” is a pithy saying, but even our hindsight may only be slightly better than our foresight.

Baasha had hindsight. God’s word had come true about Jeroboam’s fall. Baasha, therefore, had foresight of what was expected. Baasha maintained the false worship set up by Jeroboam (and continued by his son, Nadab). This was after assassinating Nadab.

Jehu was sent to announce the consequences. Baasha had a chance and still went his own way, and his family died out as consequence. Baasha had foresight and hindsight…and still, he made the decision of false worship.

While the false worship of idols and such from Jeroboam to Baasha is certainly large and significant, the false worship that Jesus confronts is different. Jerusalem, from a Jewish perspective, was the City of God. It had a special place. One would think that the exile would have dealt with some of that, but it is quite likely that the Maccabean revolution restored much of that perspective.

Along with that was the inability of people to see God moving among them. We’re not just talking about Jesus, but the entire era. The Jewish world was unsettled, with and without Roman oversight. God was shaking things up.

Jesus’ words were aimed at two things. The first was the false idol of Jerusalem. It sounds almost blasphemous. However, transforming, “I will meet you there,” and “I will put my name there,” into only meeting God there is a problem.

The other issue is being unable to see the Kingdom of God when it is right next to you. The phrasing here in Luke is distinct as it is about peace. This contrasts with the imagery of Jerusalem falling in conquest. Seeing (and accepting) the Kingdom of God (peace) is the opposite of the world (conflict).

We often view these words in Luke as a kind of end times prophecy, especially as Jerusalem did indeed fall a few decades later. God, though, isn’t so concerned about a place (not that God isn’t), as God is concerned about the people. It may be that Jesus was looking for people to see the disruption of God’s Kingdom on earth when in the middle of the corrupt world.

※Reflection※
- What do you have the greatest hindsight regret for? What do you have the greatest hindsight appreciation for?
- How do you see God moving today in comparison to the story around Baasha, and in comparison, to Jesus going through Jerusalem?
※Prayer※

Lord, as you transform us, may we transform the world around us. Help us to look for your hand in the past and look for your grace in the future. Amen.
2021 02 13