Tag: sit

Get To Your Seats

Luke 14:7–14

When I was young, my father insisted on making sure I was appropriately experienced in “high” culture. We went to ballet and opera. My dad said that we were sitting in the Grand Tier (still sounds a bit grandiose). This was the tier above the Opera (i.e.,floor) Seats, and below the Upper Tier, and certainly not the box seats. This would be so we had the best seats to see everything.

He was right. We were just high enough that barring a really tall conductor (I remember one), our view of the stage allowed to see everything from the top of the sets to the artists’ feed (really important for ballet, not so much for opera). Oddly, the Opera seats were more expensive, and the crane-your-neck-uncomfortably-for-hours box seats were even more so.

Which seats were the right seats? That depends on why you were there. For those in the box seats, sure there were those for the arts. There were those that were there to be seen. There were those who were there because it was expected of them.

Depending on the individual and event, what seat a person might choose to sit in changes. For some people, going to a party is a high-stress environment, and they’ll gravitate toward a “safe” person (if there is one) or a dark corner or wall to “hide”.

There’s also that person who will jump to the center of the room because they are the life of the party, or they will be.

When Jesus talks about the seating at the banquet, it about a lot of things. What we often don’t talk about in this parable is the parallel to Gentile life. This may have been less about the “honor” seating, but more about how the “pure” “religious” “sanctified” Jews were emulating the behavior of those they despised and feared.

This a jump for sure from the text to the context. However, when we see the behavior of the powerful or popular there is a strong tendency to emulate it. Romans were in charge. This is how the Romans behaved; therefore, it seems reasonable that the oppressed would copy it, not because they wanted to, but because it’s a natural response to avoid gaining the wrong attention of those in power.

If this is indeed the case (again, which is reasonable), then we have a possible case of syncretism, a combining of two different (often competing) worldviews and/or religions.

When a person was given the seat of honor due to their religious position in a non-religious setting or honor due to their secular position in a religious setting there is a mixing of two different worldviews that should be in tension with one another, and not in harmony.

※Questions※

1) Where do you see your political worldview and your religious worldview in harmony? Where do you see them in conflict?

2) Are you comfortable where your politics influence your religion? Does your religion affect your politics?

3) Do you evaluate people’s religious affections based upon their politics? Do you assume a person’s politics based upon their religion?

※Prayer※

Jesus, help us surrender our will to you, that you are the Lord of our religion and our politics. Amen.

2020-10-13
See and Be Seen

Genesis 16:7–14; John 1:47–51

Have you ever been to a big event? Maybe a concert? Maybe a sports game? And then you spend anywhere from 2 to 4 hours with thousands of your closest friends.

Most of those people really aren’t your friends. Unless you are ticket holder buddies, you are unlikely to see them again.

The reality is that a church service, even when small, can often feel the same way. You gather with other like-minded (at least somewhat religiously) individuals. You sit, stand, sing, pray, sit, listen, leave.

You may not feel that way. You may feel like your church is your family. If so, that’s great! It is also as it should be.

However, there are those that don’t feel that way. They can feel separated, ignored, unknown. They can feel unseen.

Hagar was cast out. She and her son were no longer welcome in the place she called home. She and Ishmael were now in life-threatening danger. In that day and age, being alone in the wilderness does not bode well for a woman and a boy.

There are a lot of people inside and out of the “the body of Christ” that are in a place of being alone. Human survival is far more than food, shelter, and clothing. We need to be known. We need to be seen. We need to be heard.

Hagar’s story is stronger than the simple story of Nathanael. Yet, Nathanael’s heart was open to Jesus because Jesus saw him. Yes, Jesus saw him from far away. Jesus, though, identified Nathanael’s character, as well. There is more than just sight. There is knowledge of the person.

Developing those relations is important for human thriving. It is also important for the spiritual growth of the individual and the body of Christ.

We all have spiritual growth of some sort. However, what sort matters greatly. If your growth is alone, then you can be sharp, but you can also be blunt. Without others to stand beside you, and sometimes in front of you, your growth may be that of a monster not of a believer.

Only in faithful fellowship are we kept on the narrow path. Only in faithful fellowship can we really be seen by others. Only in faithful fellowship can do more than just survive.

※Questions※

1) Who are you actively walking with to disciple and be discipled by? If no one, who could you see being discipling partners with?

2) Why do you think so many people do not have healthy discipling relationships?

3) What will you do to champion healthy discipling in your church?

※Prayer※

Jesus, thank you for your example of walking for years with people as broken as me. Help me see that I still need healing just like others. Help me be your light to others and help me accept your light from others. Amen.

2020-09-28
Cross Section

Psalm 78; Zechariah 8:1–6; Acts 2:14–21

Ever had an itch. One of those itches you just can quite reach. Maybe you’ve used a pen (or pencil). Maybe you’ve used one of those bamboo scratchers shaped like a hand. Or perhaps you’ve used a wall corner. Or, if push comes to shove, you ask for help.

In many respects, church (or the church service) has been a back-scratcher for years. There have been shifts over the years as how the service is done (from “liturgical” to “modern”, for example) to the musical instruments (no instruments, to organs, to brass and wind, to piano, to guitars, to electric guitars, to full bands) to the style of music (chant, hymns, country, contemporary, hip-hop, rap).

Music is one of the biggest backscratchers, as people will determine which church they will attend depending on the music genre (and then the instrumentation, too). Preaching styles, too, also affect church attendance (3-point sermons, topical, expository).

For the last few decades, though, the bigger one may well be programs, especially programs for youth and children. This isn’t a bad thing, to be clear. It does, however, have some problems. They are the same problems as service styles, music styles, instrumentation, preaching…they scratch an itch.

It was much easier when there was only one style. Then there would be only one expectation. There is also the reality that the lack or presence of any of the above (and this is not an exhaustive list) may be a “barrier” for a new person (whether unbeliever, new believer, or seasoned believer).

It is the whys of it all that matter. There was a quip (a stereotype that is sadly mostly true in the US) that the hour of church on Sunday is the most segregated hour of the week. The context of this quip is race. However, it applies to so much more.

In many churches, maybe even yours, you can look around during the church service and see the segregation of age. Sometimes the children leave at the beginning or in the middle if they’re there at all. Sometimes the youth leave. Sometimes they all sit together. Each church can do it completely differently.

The result, however, is contrary to what the New Testament seems to display…unified worship across age and people groups.

Some are beginning to question if we have lost our biggest opportunity to disciple one another by separating to scratch our itch.

This is not an attack on the way your church “does” church, though it might seem to be. The question we need to be asking ourselves is…how does [youth group, music choice, etc.] affect successful discipleship? How does it inhibit discipleship? How do we scratch our itches and still maintain our fidelity to “telling the next generation” the “great things that God has done”?

2020-09-23
A Different Desert Journey

Numbers 14:28–35; Numbers 21:1–4; Numbers 21:21–26; Numbers 21:31–35 (read online ⧉)

We often think of the Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years in kind of a nebulous way. There was indeed follow the cloud of smoke by day, and fire by night. They would settle where pillar did, and then move again when the pillar moved.

Yet, the problem with assumptions is that they are often wrong. We have all been repeatedly told that the Israelites wandered the desert for 40 years. From a certain theological and spiritual point of view, they did.

The wandering really was a time of waiting. This was the time of waiting between the failure to go into the Promised Land initially, and the ultimate entry into the Promised Land. It was a time of waiting for the rebellious generation to die so that a faithful generation would take its place.

Some of the Israelites did settle down for a time. As we read, they captured cities that were not in the Promised Land. They settled in them. This is where some of Israel did settle down, beginning the separation of the tribes to their ultimate demise.

Some were settling in. Some were waiting. Even those who settled-in were still waiting. There was still the next big thing.

When we wander the spiritual desert of our lives, sometimes things of permanence or stability seem to be there. Just like the Israelites who settled in the non-Promised Land conquered cities, we may be in places that seem as if they are permanent, yet the spiritual desert tells us things are not as they seem.

As we currently, sit and wait for the next thing in the world, whether it be COVID-19, the flu (that’s coming), the economy, the US election, political upheaval and tensions elsewhere, there are signs of permanence (homes, family, community, church, jobs) that are not quite as stable or secure as we want them to be.

One of the darkest temptations in the spiritual desert is to latch onto the wrong thing. Then we hold onto that wrong thing (sometimes even knowing it’s the wrong thing) rather than taking hold of the good thing that God wants for us.

※Prayer※

Holy Spirit, as we and others wander our spiritual desert, gently guide us (even unaware) from that which is not good for our journey with you. While we wander and seek, gather us into your loving embrace. Amen.

※Questions※

1) What is a spiritual desert for you? Does this concept even make sense to you?

2) Why is stability not necessarily good for our journey with God?

3) If confronted with the choice of good land that you have now, versus the supposed and unpossessed land of the future, which would you choose? Be honest with yourself.

2020-06-27
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
Worship Space

Exodus 35:21–36:7; 1 Chronicles 28:9–21; 2 Kings 12:4–16 (read online ⧉)

When things return to normal, well, they probably won’t return to the past normal. In fact, who knows what the new normal will look like. Will places such as churches have to remodel to meet the new “physical separation” expectation? Really. While we may return to the building this year, there will likely be an extended expectation of physical separation. There are some people who already have a 6-foot bubble of separation (or larger) and are looking forward to everyone being like them (truly).

The rest of us will also need to adapt. Grocery stores that currently have aisles designed (on purpose) to keep as much of the product in your eyesight as possible may have a cultural impetus to remodel. How this will affect tight spaces such as the arena in Everett (where one gets to watch hockey, for example) or the baseball fields or the football fields, or the gyms of schools, and so on. All these spaces originally designed to fit the maximum number of people in the smallest amount of space may very well find themselves having to change their maximized seating to fit the new reality (our knees will be grateful).

The church will have to adapt, too. Not just Generations, but the whole concept of church, too. The facility we have, for example, was going to start to get some major work done. Some of it has moved forward. Most of it (obviously) stopped. Now what? Do we remove every other pew? Do we hand 6-foot rulers? Does it matter anymore?

Here’s the harsh reality, the churches will likely be empty for a long time. It isn’t that everyone got used to meeting online (though it will that for some). It won’t be because people got used to having a mostly free Sunday (though that will be the case for some). It will because people will have become trained through fear (back to that, again) to avoid public places and tight gatherings. The culture may well have trained many of our people to stay away.

There is no doubt that renewal and remodeling often revitalize and grow a church. People are attracted (understandably) to something that is obviously growing (why numbers are often more important than spiritual growth). When the building is changed to reduce the number of people who can participate at a time, rather than increase, what then?

Now, the church is not a/the building. However, a sense of place creates a sense of identity. The Israelites gave large amounts until it was no longer needed. In Exodus, it almost seems, “Stop! No more! We have no place to put it!” The Israelites laid claim to “their” temple. Yes, it was God’s. It was also core to their identity.

Like many of us, we don’t recognize how a physical building becomes part of who we are. It may actually explain why people connect to certain places (including church buildings) and not others. What also is of concern is what happens to spaces when they are changed (for no matter the reason), and how people will respond.

Space deeply affects our worship and fellowship, too. How people fill a space affects behaviors and responses, too. All of the outpouring of support to our churches would be great, and the plans that are made will be the best we are able. In the end, it is the people…it is you…that will make the difference in the new church in the new space…that was the old church in the old space. Be ready!

Prayer

God, you have gifted us the ability to not fear in the face of such uncertainty. Strengthen our faith and resolve to face the world as it is and to present your love and grace to the world. Amen.

Questions

1) When you imagine the “perfect” church space, what is it like?

2) Before all of this, did you sit in the middle, the back, or even (dare we say) the front of a church? Do you think where you sit and with whom you might sit (other than your immediate family) might change?

3) How does a church building shape you? If you think it doesn’t, go back to question 1.

2020-05-01
Holy Night

29 April 2020 Devotional

Genesis 1:1–19; Genesis 22:17–18; Psalm 134 (read online ⧉)

I try to settle, but I just pass through
A rain dog, gypsy
A wandering Jew
All those homes were not ours
Then I slept one night
In Abraham’s field
And dreamt there was no moon
The night he died
Counting stars
from The Orphan by the Newsboys

One of the interesting conflicts in the Scriptures is the human tendency to fear the dark (because of bad people and wild animals). Yet, on the other hand, God did not make the dark to be bad. God called it good.

We want to conquer the darkness. As our cities become fuller (or at least were pre-COVID), the “light pollution” was significant. If Abraham was, for example, a homeless person in Seattle, there would be very few stars to count. It wouldn’t be much of a promise.

If you’ve had any experience away from cities, you’ll understand the magnificence of God’s night sky as created. If you’ve been someplace really remote on a moonless night (i.e., “new moon”), it is even more spectacular.

As the “church” aged, the simplicity of day=good and night=bad developed into a theology that worship happened in the day, especially in the morning to go with the day or morning star (the sun being a symbol of Jesus). Modern churches did develop night worship to a degree, but it has been far and away diminished in comparison to daytime worship.

The psalmist’s very short homage to the night workers at the House of God brings to point the many people behind the scenes of churches, schools, hospitals, and many institutions that do not get the recognition for they are behind the scenes. The night workers at the House of God were not any less important than the ones assigned in the day. It was just that they were not as visible. Did they get the accolades? Probably not. Did they fulfill their calling? Yes. Without them, worship couldn’t happen during the day. The night was just as essential to daytime worship as those who were there during the day.

There is one thing that the night can bring us that day often doesn’t…stillness. Under the night sky, there is often a greater willingness to just sit (or lay down) and stare at the jewels that God placed in the heavens. In that place of stillness and of sparkling jewels, God can speak in that still small voice…and we might actually hear.

Prayer

Father God, through the Word, Jesus, you made the moon and the stars, and all the heavenly bodies. Help us to recognize your glory and love in them. May your Holy Spirit guide us today to stop and just gaze in wonder at what you have made. Amen.

Questions

1) What do you think of when gazing at the stars? What is the strongest memory you have of the night sky?

2) Who are some of the people behind the scenes that you can think of, that glorify God by their humble and hidden service?

3) We often call on people to be humble. On the other hand, there is often this desire to have a superstar leader who is charismatic and often needs some lessons in humility. How do we get to this point?

2020-04-29
HE IS RISEN!

Psalm 118:1–24; John 20:1–23; Colossians 3:1–12 (read online ⧉)

What a day!

Most of us have lost a loved one. It is hard. Sometimes we have been present when they died, sometimes we weren’t. How deep the ache depends on the relationship. Even with people we barely knew or lost touch with, there is still a feeling of loss when they die.

All of them were still in shock. The women had a (culturally assigned) task to do, and that was perfume Jesus’ body so that his body wouldn’t smell as bad as it decomposed (yes, it is that basic and gruesome). They had a task which, as hard as it was, provided something to do and help process their loss. The male disciples didn’t have that. They got to sit and stare at each other, with each one probably more at a loss than the others.

And then their whole world got turned upside down…again!

HE IS NOT HERE!

HE IS RISEN!

Shock. Joy. Shock. Disbelief.

And then…now what? What does this mean?

We often skip verses 19–23 on Easter. However, note the timing of the commissioning of the disciples. It’s still the Day of Resurrection. Still. The day is not yet over. Doing something is not in the future. It is now.

Peace, sent, receive, forgive. Not quite the normal order that we think of when it comes to the disciples being commissioned, and perhaps the order isn’t quite as important as when they were commissioned. Everything thing has just been turned upside down…go and do likewise!

This immediacy even translates later when Paul writes to the Colossians. He calls on them to forego their ways of old, because they are saved (and with Christ) now. It’s not that we wait to be saved, or wait to go tell others, when we have it down, when we’re perfect. There is no step beyond our salvation at which point we are free or commissioned to share about Jesus. At the point of our salvation, no later, are we to start talking about Jesus.

No matter how you feel about yourself, whether you are worthy of Christ (you aren’t), or whether he loves you fully (he does), go and talk about Jesus.

1) Why do you think Jesus commissioned the disciples so soon after his resurrection? In today’s world we often provide “space” to “process”. Jesus didn’t do that. What does that tell us?

2) Paul tells the Colossians that they are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of God they already have. Why is that an important concept and awareness for us?

3) Jesus was killed by Jew and Gentile. Jesus came to save both Jew and Gentile. If there really is a both/and, why did the church divide then, and why does it divide now?

2020-04-12
Holy Saturday

Lamentations 3:1-9; Matthew 27:62-66; 1 Peter 4:1-8; Lamentations 3:19-24 (read online ⧉)

Imagine the heartache Mary and the remaining disciples. Imagine the heartache and disappointment that Jesus wasn’t really the Messiah (he died after all). Imagine the relief of the leaders, as the troublemaker was taken care of.

Before the previous sunset (Good Friday), per Jewish custom, a dead body needed to be taken care of, as the sunset was the beginning of the Sabbath when no work could be done. Quickly done. The desire and drive to properly care for Jesus’ body would have to be postponed.

Mourning for the death, and guilt for not properly preparing Jesus’ body. What an emotional state to remain in.

The disciples were a shepherdless flock, and one of their number betrayed everyone and was now dead. Shock and dismay.

Loss. This is the day of loss. As it was the Sabbath, there was truly nothing they could do, but sit in their loss.

Did they go to the temple or synagogue? Did they manage to praise God? Did they eat, or did they fast?

We want to skip to the good part…Easter. We really should sit with the disciples and Mary.

Let’s hurry up…and wait.

1. Waiting for God takes on new significance on Holy Saturday. Are you willing to wait for God?

2020-04-11
Lenten Rest

Psalm 51:1-12; Isaiah 30:15-18; Hebrews 4:1-13 (read online ⧉)

Rest. That seems to be a dream for many these days. In these odd times of COVID-driven angst, rest can be fleeting. There is currently an emphasis around the world that people are to stay home. Normally, when staying at home (and the chores are done), that means some sort of rest. However, the busyness of the world still remains. In addition to the various forms of media, the internet, activities of various sorts, all seem to keep us from resting (and can keep us, for a time, sane when stuck inside), people are working from home at a rate never experienced before. If we were “back” to our “normal” our weekends were almost as full as the workweek.

It isn’t just COVID-19. It is a growing need to fill an emptiness. Yet, emptiness is not always what it seems. Is the glass half full, or half-empty? This is the question of optimism versus pessimism. What if the better question is, what is the glass full of? In normal circumstances, a glass is always full. If it filled halfway with water, then the remainder is filled with air. The glass is full, we just are blind to what it is full of.

People look at a glass that is not 100% filled and feel the need to fill it. Some feel such a drive to fill the glass, that they keep pouring into it until it overflows. There is no rest there. Imagine trying to pick up a glass completely full to the top with water to try to drink from it. Most of the time, you’re going to spill some water. The gap—the so-called unfilled part—allows the water to move with the glass, and you don’t spill.
When people keep going, and going, and going, and going, and going, at some point, everything turns to chaos or the breakdown, or they get sick. God did not intend us to keep going. Even the earth was supposed to be given a break from growing food. COVID-19 is creating another type of going that is as unhealthy (potentially more unhealthy) as the busyness as it is often laced with fear.

Lent can act as a disruptor of our busy lives—not so that we cannot do things, or get things done—but so that we are jolted out of our busy habits, in hopes that we might reflect upon what is important. In this particular season of COVID-19, rest seems even further out of reach than it often is with our busyness.
Sabbath (rest) is critical for our physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. As many people are now in tight quarters, finding a way to get a Sabbath (rest) can be even more difficult and conversely is even more important.

When entering the Sabbath Rest, it is different than taking a nap or a vacation. It is a place and time where we are fully present with God so that God fills as we need, and as he wants us to be. This rest is where we release our expectations to God. When we allow God to outline his expectations, we will often find that his expectations are far less than ours, but that his fulfill our needs, desires, and wants far more than our finite understanding.

1) Do you set aside time each day, week, month, year to “sit” with God? If not, why not?

2) If you do, does it include a place (like a room, corner, or even a special place away)? Do you find places helpful in finding rest?

3) Why do you think we struggle in resting?

4) While the world tries to create more labor-saving things and techniques, it seems that there is less time. Why do you think that is?

2020-03-25