Devotion.al

Tag: remember

  • Rock Stories

    Rock Stories

    Joshua 4:1–13, Jeremiah 10:11-13

    A pile of rocks. What is this supposed to mean, exactly? Thanks for the field trip to the river. It’s a pile of rocks. I can make my own at home.

    How we connect the past to today is essential to passing history. If we make it boring and dry, some of it might stick, but most won’t. An enthusiastic teacher might be slightly more successful than the boring teacher, but it is still connecting it that matters. If the dry or enthusiastic sharing of facts doesn’t connect, should we just be quiet? Probably not. Only by sharing is there any at all of passing it on.

    So, then what? Story. Even the stories that make a person roll their eyes. Some have probably heard (or even said), “I used to walk 2 (or more) miles to school uphill (uphill is important) both ways in knee-deep (or deeper) snow.” There might be some wind in there, too. Some of you probably smiled or groaned. Sounds familiar? As a child it might indeed have seemed forever to walk, the snow too deep, and the wind too cold. A re-walk of those exact steps as an adult is a completely different . It’s the story that connects.

    At some point, it seems the pile of rocks pulled from the middle of a raging river, during flood stage, yet walking on dry ground, lost its magic. Did the Israelites during the time of Judges forget? Did somebody the stones? How could the symbol of God’s amazing turn into something boring? Easy. We can take a mirror and reflect our culture. History (except for a few) has become part of the dusty books on the back shelf. We’re not talking knowing all the amazing, angering, distressing, heart-wrenching stories, for who can know them all? We are talking about a common understanding of the way of things. Instead of common culture, we now have facts. And before one tears down the media or education, this is a long-germinating issue. It’s over a century, at this point.

    Christianity, with its own and longer history, has the same issue. We have to start sharing our God-encounter stories with each other. Whether the story is large or small, it is our story with God at the center that needs to be shared. When we all develop a culture of sharing our God encounter stories, they stop being strange or odd. It becomes no longer uncomfortable to . There is a caveat, however. The stories have to be shared in . If you walk up to another person, even someone at church, without a developed relationship, the story will seem awkward, and will likely fall flat.

    1) What story from American (or your country of origin) history do you ? What about that story connects with you?

    2) What God-centered story from a fellow do you remember? What about that story connects with you?

    3) Have you ever shared a God-centered story with a non-Christian? Why? What was the occasion? Did it connect with them? Why or why not?

  • Out of Line Annunciation

    Job 28:12–28, Luke 1:24–45, Hebrews 10:4–10

    It is often the case that humanity has to confront reality. Humanity is quite . When confronted by its own folly, humanity tries to hide it in so many ways. While searching for knowledge and , it analyzes and categorizes. Humanity can only be so knowledgeable and so wise. True knowledge and wisdom come from the one who created everything, including us. Part of the issue may be that we expect God to be predictable. Somehow, we seem to think that we are capable of understanding God. Perhaps that is the of the decision made in the Garden of Eden. is often not understanding, but accepting anyway.

    Elizabeth and Mary were in that exact situation. They didn’t completely understand, but they trusted God anyway. It probably seems strange that in the midst of to talk about the Announcement of ‘ birth, but timing is pretty close (though not exact). While on the journey to the cross, we include the beginning. There is indeed an echo of a beginning in the end. Lent is the journey to the cross, which is basically the end of Jesus’ ministry on earth. On the other hand, the cross along with the is the beginning of a completely new chapter in regards to a with God. Why not talk about the announcement of the coming Messiah. Oh, right, God moved (again) in a way that humanity couldn’t just categorize and analyze. The announcement of Jesus, along with his birth was not “how it was supposed to be”. God broke the rules, again. The rules? Human understanding and wisdom that is far short of God.

    The author Hebrews recognizes that humanity often doesn’t get it. The author reflects on the sacrificial system that is so superficial that it ignores the whole point: relationship with God. The sacrificial system was never intended to be a “check this as done” system, but an orientation to God that was really to recognize the distance that man had put between itself and God. In its quest to categorize and analyze, humanity destroyed the wisdom that God had presented.

    1) When was the first time that you recognized that God did not the way you expected or were taught to expect?

    2) Why is it important to that our wisdom is not God’s wisdom?

    3) What does the announcement of Jesus’ coming and the journey to the cross teach you about God’s wisdom

  • The Passing of Wisdom and Faith

    Proverbs 3:33–4:27, Genesis 3:21–4:7, Luke 3:4–18

    (Grand)Parents can pass on wisdom to their (biological, mentored, or spiritual) children and grandchildren. Sometimes the wisdom is things learned, sometimes it is survived. In Proverbs, we see a collection of wisdom sayings. Living a good life has been twisted in our culture to be a life of collecting stuff and wealth. The proverbs gathered in the book of Proverbs, if actually read, can be an antidote/counterbalance to that. For a number of years, some Christians have taken to reading a chapter of Proverbs a day. At least chapters 1-28 are read every month. Wisdom can be passed on, even habituated, but both the person doing the passing and the person doing the taking must be working . Often we can pass on and wisdom (think of all the hours students sit in classrooms). We can even test for knowledge. Ultimately, however, each person must choose to exercise the wisdom they’ve been given. The goal of passing on Godly wisdom is to silence the “wisdom” of the world, and the world is loud.

    Cain, only the second generation(!), succumbed to the world. The first murder happens in the second generation. Let that sink in. It was only the second generation. There is an important lesson in this. The next generation can lose it all. There is a modern proverb, “the (thus Christianity) is only one generation away from out.” We who pass the faith and our wisdom on to the next generation (and the generation that follows) can only do our best. However, if we understand God’s story, our small story in the middle of God’s story, and that to those who follow, we increase the likelihood that the will pass to the next generation. There is a dark side to being the recipient, too.

    The Jews had had the faith passed on to them. They carried it proudly. While they were indeed God’s people, there was an arrogance in many that because their forefathers had passed on the faith and traditions to them, that they were still blessed and protected. John the Baptist wanted them to understand that while the faith was passed down, it wasn’t the rules and rituals that saved and preserved them, it was the grace of God. This grace-filled God wanted a relationship, not empty rituals. While the Israelites had successfully talked to their children in their going and sitting, they had not (apparently) passed on a relationship. The church is often guilty of this same thing. There was a time where as long as the right words were spoken and the right doctrine passed on that all will be well. Except it wasn’t well at all. In response, generations turned to an entirely relational view of God, which made new rules and often disregarded doctrine. Both were (and still are) extremes that the church—to pass on the wisdom and faith—must strive to and find a balance between the two.

    1) What Bible story (or stories) can you ? What Bible stories do you think non-believers know?

    2) What did the stories teach you about God? What do you think those bible stories teach non-believers?

    3) In those stories, do you see relation, doctrine, or both? Are you able to those differences with others?

    FD) If you know what is right, do you do it? If not, why not?

  • Spirit of Ashes

    Spirit of Ashes

    Isaiah 58:1–12, Psalm 51:1–17, Matthew 6:19–21

    Ash Wednesday is the start of Lent, the reflective Christian journey to the cross. One of the symbolic pieces are the themselves. The “official” tradition is that the ashes are from last year’s Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday is the day that observes Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem with the pomp and circumstance of a ruler. This jubilation is crushed that same week with his crucifixion. The ashes, therefore, are a somber reminder of earthly pride, joy, and power crushed. Often they are a reminder of our own prides and joys and their short-term nature.

    In the “spirit” of ashes, the following is a modified form of the Book of Common ‘s Burial liturgy:
    In sure and certain of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, we commend to Almighty God oursleves—our very beings; and we commit our bodies and lives to your on earth; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The Lord bless us and keep us, the Lord make his face to shine upon us and be gracious to us, the Lord lift up his countenance upon us and give us .

    It seems strange and morbid to share a passage from a burial rite, yet an integral part of Ash Wednesday is our mortality. Another part, the part which we often focus on during Lent, is our frailty. By frailty, we mean and the weaknesses inherent to the condition. What we may “give up” during Lent is a upon what we believe is one of our biggest “frailties” at the moment, meaning it can change.
    The importance of understanding our finiteness, our mortality, is summed up in Jesus’ words regarding the storage of treasures. The earthly stuff is stolen or rots. It doesn’t last. Only treasures that we store in Heaven last forever. Those treasures are people.

    1) We are all “given” treasures that we are responsible for that are not our children, grandchildren, or other family members. Who are those treasures in your life?

    2) Why is important to the quickness of life when as we approach the cross in our spiritual journey?

    3) What do you value: time, money, things, people? All of these have value. Which has priority?

    FD) On Ash Wednesday a cross of ashes is put on our forehead. Why ashes? Why a cross?

  • The Why of Right

    Psalm 18:21-36, Deuteronomy 6:16–25, Hebrews 2:1–10

    Sometimes the greatest we leave is the little things we do. Where we were not shown love, we show love to . Where people did not build up, we build up. We may never see any of these little steps, but if we are faithful to follow God, letting him guide us, a Godly legacy comes naturally. When it becomes a Godly habit, we don’t have to ponder long to answer of why we do things.

    In Deuteronomy, we really are reading the legacy that Moses seeks to pass on, not just to his children, or his immediate tribe, but to the entire people called Israel. Imagine having such a potential legacy. The self-imposed pressure would be huge. Yet, the purpose of a legacy is not to bear the entirety of the burden yourself, but to it. It is shared with the leaders with whom you work, it also is shouldered by the ones to whom it is passed.

    Moses wants to make sure that it is not just the leaders or priests that bear the burden. The next generation (and the generations that follow) is the goal of passing on a legacy. Moses wants the parents to understand their place in passing on the legacy of God. The parents, leaders, and priests all have their place in passing on the legacy that they have received. It is not just passing it on, however, that makes it successful. Just passing on information is just that. It is out what was passed on that makes the legacy successful. Just as with the Psalm, there is a result that comes with the successful passing, God’s preservation and looking out for them.

    Right and True information and living is the expression of a legacy. The author of Hebrews, even after such a short time of Christianity, is already concerned in his writing that the Right and True information is being lost. The author of Hebrews would be already well aware of the memory that Israel experienced after escaping Egypt. The author reinforces the importance of the right information being passed along. Often this gets confused, too. People often turn to “right” without “right” belief (and vice-versa). When the “right” action is done it loses its long-term effectiveness and purposed when divorced from the why. Doing “good” things, for example, doesn’t earn one’s way to Heaven.

    1) What “right” thing(s) have you done without knowing the “right” reason(s)?

    2) With whom do you work (or have worked) to make sure that you pass on a legacy having?

    3) Why is it good for us to what legacy we are passing on and why?

    FD) Why is important to know why we do things?

  • A Day Off Or A Day For

    Psalm 99, Deuteronomy 16:1–17, 1 Corinthians 10:23–11:2

    If you look at the calendar of any country, you will find a number of secular (i.e, non-religious) observances. Sometimes these to get mixed into , and some are just odd. Today, for example, has the following “observations”: Day of Unplugging; Pig Day; Employee Appreciation Day; Salesperson Day; Horse Protection Day; Fruit Compote Day; Plan A Solo Vacation Day; World Compliment Day; Refired, Not Retired Day; Dress in Blue Day; Wedding Day. Whew! Did you know so many things/people were “observed” today? That doesn’t even include the week or month observances that March 1st occurs in. Yikes!

    Our word holiday—as you might have guessed—is a conjoining of and day. Just the conjoining of the two words creates a problem. In the British Commonwealth (the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, Canada, etc.), holiday has come to mean vacation. That came into being as holy days were the days people didn’t work. It became associated with leisure rather than God. Even in the US, we use the word holiday to note a day off (except for Holidays, when we mean all the observances starting with Thanksgiving through New Year).

    As the Israelites are about to enter the Promised Land, certain days are being as Holy Days. Some of these Holy Days are non-working (Sabbath) days, but they are not all required to be. What is common across all of them is that God is part of the day. In fact, God is the focus of each of these days. What elevates them over the “normal” Sabbath day is the purpose of their observances, whether it be Passover (salvation/escape from Egypt), bounty of the harvest (that God blessed them), or remembering the wilderness wandering (God lead and took care of them in the wilderness for 40 years).

    Why we remember is as important as what we remember. As we quickly approach the season of Lent (Ash Wednesday is March 6th), it is easy to dismiss holy days as either a mindless or fruitless activity. This is especially true with Lent, as many people use Lent to stop/pause an activity (Facebook, certain foods, etc.) that they need a healthier with anyway. This is not to dismiss these actions (for they can be very good), but to understand the why. Lent is a time of intended to identify with ‘ 40 days in the desert, to set our minds to look to the cross, and Good Friday. In other words, it’s about Jesus, Jesus, and Jesus (respectively).

    Why do we remember Holy Days? For the same reason the Israelites were to…God. What do we remember? What God has done, and how God has done it. As a Jew, was very much aware of the power of Holy Days and traditions (Lent is both a group of Holy Days and a tradition, for example). Paul valued them as part of his identity, and also part of his . While Gentile Holy Days were minimal (versus Jewish ones), there were still plenty of secular days of observation, and they all mattered.

    1) Have you ever been bored by a holiday? If not, how do you stay excited and engage with a holiday? If you have, how will you become engaged again?

    2) Does recalling or focusing on the fact that a Holy Day (holiday) is about God how you view them?

    3) Holy Days and their rituals can be empty of any value or meaning if you let them. What will you do to maintain or put value and meaning back into them?

    FD) What is you favorite Holy Day? Why?

  • Lost in Memory

    Genesis 39:21–41:36, Psalm 9:1-16

    Old age, being “blonde”, being scatterbrained, being AD(H)D, having a bad time with names are all often used to excuse memory issues. While there are definitely cases of that being true, another cause of memory issues is being overly mentally occupied and pride. Each person and even each situation may have a different cause for why we don’t names, dates, or other important things. Today it is quite easy to be overly mentally occupied. We are being bombarded with messaging and media. Even if you don’t have Facebook or Twitter, the bombardment doesn’t stop.

    The question we need to ourselves when it comes to memory problems is it about me, or is about how important they are to me? Yes, that’s a poke indeed, isn’t it? You just met someone and ten seconds later you forgot their . It sadly probably means that you don’t care enough to remember. Yes, that is harsh, and we all bear that failure to some degree or another. The reality is that we only have so much capacity to remember, and we prioritize information unconsciously. If we don’t think we need to remember the person, or that it’s okay that we don’t, we won’t. The Dale Carnegie course trains people to remember people the first time. Yes, there are other things with the course, but often the feedback from the very first day is the instructors’ ability to remember everyone’s name the first time and keep the to the next week. We don’t deliberately think this way. It’s natural.

    That’s part of what makes this part of Joseph’s story so interesting. With the help of God, he interpreted the dreams of two men. All he asked in was to be remembered. Think about this. Both the baker and steward were in the midst of a significant event. Generally, when people are involved with our significant life events, we remember them. The baker, of course, would have liked for Joseph to be wrong. The steward’s dream was positively affirmed, and then the baker’s demise was yet another confirmation of Joseph empowered by God…yet the steward forgot. It seems it was a pretty quick forget, too. While we might be quick to condemn the baker for forgetting, we have to remember that we, too, forget people, and even those that were part of a significant life event can be forgotten.

    Remembering people’s names is important. They feel cared for by that simple gesture of being remembered. We show we care for them when we remember.

    Eventually, the steward did remember, and it’s a good thing, too! Imagine what would have happened had the baker continued to forget Joseph! Egypt would have enjoyed its bounty and been destroyed along with the of the region during the famine. God’s would not have been . Who knows what would have happened to the tribe of Israel? What about ? Yes, we can say it was God’s plan, yet like so many things it revolved around singular defining events, including remembering a Hebrew slave prisoner.

    1) Have you had the experience of someone remembering you unexpectedly? How did that feel?

    2) It is important to God that we remember. What is something significant that God has done in your life that you continually remember?

    FD) Do you have any special trips or experiences you like to remember? How do you keep them in your memory?

  • Remembrance, Power and Identity

    Genesis 9:8–17, Psalm 8

    Remembering is an essential part of the condition. The philosopher George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Through technology, humanity is creating nearly 50 billion GB of data a day. At most, the Bible as written is 10 megabytes. This means that if the bible is rewritten everyday, it is only .00001 of the data made in a day. It is quite easy to see that it takes effort to keep the Bible from drowning in the mass amount of data created everyday.

    ‌In the early days, when humankind was still relatively simple there was still a barrier between humanity and God. Through poor judgement and pride, humanity had separated itself from God.

    ‌As a result, humankind received punishment…the flood. While there are many arguments regarding the depth and extent of the flood, the that a majority of religions around the world have a flood story. There is something there that cannot be ignored. A story that is almost universal even today, and yet to many it is exactly that. A story.

    ‌Story is what binds humanity . Story helps humanity know who it is, where it has been, and were it is going. So, why does God need to remember? After Noah, God set the rainbow to remember, or did he? Sometimes a parent has to say something like, “I’m doing this for me,” so that their children will remember. That is what God is doing here.

    ‌Think of the rain as . As it continues, it soaks us to the bone. It gets inside of us. Then the sun comes out and dries the rain. In the midst of from soaked with sin the comes to warmth us. The beauty/ of that change is the rainbow.

    ‌Another way to tell the same story. The flood was the result of the mass of sin that humanity had committed. The rescue of Noah and the of the rainbow are the and restoration of us all.

    ‌Remembrance is power. Remembrance is .‌‌

    • 1) What family stories do you tell, share, or repeat? What do they tell you about your family and your identity?
    • ‌2) Our salvation stories can differ from person to person. Each is unique. Do you remember your story? Tell it to someone.
    • ‌3) In an attempt to share the story, we sometimes focus on the wrong parts. What elements of the story do you think of? How do they expand or limit the story?
    • ‌FD) What is/was you favorite bedtime story? Why?

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