A couple more snapshots from recent supervisory road-trips. From September 23rd through October 1st my circuit ride included Omaha to Lawrence to Manhattan to Beatrice and back to Omaha. Home for one night. Omaha, St. Louis for two nights, home for two nights. Ames and Iowa City overnight, home in time to ring-in PSL season. Felt like the old days to get in my own car, drive off into the sunset and put the miles on an expense report. IV would rather us not rack up all those miles on our own vehicles, but there has been quite a shortage of rental cars of late. My 17 year old Accord and I enjoyed our time together. 207K and still purring like a kitten! We’re a match made in heaven, well…
George has more miles on him than I do, but he still runs GREAT… hardly any rust!
This seldom happens anymore. Two staff workers, get in a car and drive to campus! [I know, sounds like a line a stand-up comedian would say] George Stulac is our GFM staff member in St. Louis who leads several faculty bible studies in the St. Louis area. Three groups connected with Washington University, a group at Forest Park Community College and a group at Lindenwood. We were on our way to Lindenwood in St. Charles, MO.
George has been studying 1/2 Samuel in his faculty groups. He uses manuscripts. Comes to campus with photo-copies and colored markers. Faculty love George. One woman just blurted it out right after meeting me. “Your George’s supervisor? I hope you’re not here to take him away! He’s the best. We love this man and how he leads our group.” The Lindenwood group just decided this past fall to increase the length of time their group meets. “We want 90 minutes to be together each week. One hour isn’t enough!”
The next few years of ministry for George are critical. His work with Wash-U faculty is unique. The Carver Project is a new faculty ministry at Wash-U that George helped found. He continues in a Spiritual Formation role as the leader of their Faculty bible studies. He also leads the Carver Fellows in their annual retreat. As an alumnus of Wash-U and a former pastor for a number of years, George is not only the perfect GFM staff member, but George is also pretty hard to replace! He would love to have some overlap between his years at Wash-U and other staff who could eventually replace him!
Pray for George’s groups and for his leadership. Pray for God to raise up more staff for faculty ministry in the St. Louis area. Pray for the kingdom of God to come to many academic departments at Wash-U, St. Louis U, Lindenwood and Forest Park.
I say this partly so I can relive the fun of doing Silas and Haleigh’s wedding back in July. But there are two other weddings I ought to mention so I don’t flood this post with pictures of my kids (and OH, I am so tempted).
Josh Ho and Bethany Panian
Here’s a wedding coming in the not too far off future for one of our staff at Washington University. Joshua Ho is a scientist who works for Bayer in St. Louis. As a student he was formerly a leader in GCF (Graduate Christian Fellowship) at Wash-U. He graduated a couple of years ago and got a local job specifically so he could help staff GFM. Josh plans to pass the patent bar exam and work in science patents longer term. But along the way he met Bethany, got engaged back in July, and will be getting married later this year.
I’m grateful to have Josh on our team. As a volunteer, his path to being on our team was very efficient! He and Linda Tuch are both volunteer staff who together work with graduate students at Wash-U. Linda and Josh make a terrific staff team because they both are insiders to the university – Josh, a former student and Linda, the spouse of a faculty member in the law school. They currently keep three things going in the student fellowship. They help students connect with each other for prayer. They facilitate bible study. And they help students plan and execute events (on-campus and off campus).
How are my newly-weds doing?
I think the coolest thing your kid can ever ask you to do is officiate his/her wedding. It dawned on me, in this my last-kid wedding, that one of the best things about being pastor-dad is the view I get. I get the best view in the whole place. Among so many fun moments in Haleigh and Silas’ wedding was this one.
I got to watch these two read their vows to each other. Way better than all my pastoral, dadly verbiage were their words of promise to each other. I think when you’re the one standing 18 inches away you can see it on their faces. They meant every syllable. And they were really good words they gave each other. I long for more marriages to get made just like this. I hope I get to keep doing this with other couples!
Haleigh and Silas came back from their honeymoon and started classes a week later! They live on campus in a third floor efficiency 2.2 miles from our home. They are settling into married life, studying, jobs, campus fellowship and church. Its so fun to get to see them, hear how things are going and process life with them. Silas is trying to figure out how God can use his degree to build up the church and do the mission of Jesus. He’s got so many gifts. And he’s now got a terrific partner to follow God with. Pray for them as they keep settling in at UNO. Pray for God to lead them to the people he wants them reach out to. Pray for Christian community for them. Pray for them to follow God’s leading and stretch their faith.
One last wedding I should mention.
On my way back from Kansas campus visits two weeks ago I stopped through Beatrice, NE. Maddie is one of my Occupational Therapy students at Creighton. Last year near the end of the semester I was on the phone with Maddie when she asked me, “Do you do weddings?”
Beatrice was on my way from Manhattan KS to Omaha. It was so fun to see her family’s acreage and their horses. I got to meet her new colt, Frank (and his mom). I’ll be doing Maddie’s wedding as well as her premarital counseling with Cade. It was a really nice surprise to be asked to do a wedding. I was pretty sure I was done with weddings when I married off my last child. I don’t think that’s true. Not at all. So glad you thought of me, Maddie!
More on my St. Louis and Iowa campus visits in coming posts. Also, more RE- studies will be getting developed. The next four will be in the New Testament. Can’t wait to get them all out there!
Looks like the pandemic has given me permission to make campus visits again. Last week – three days in Kansas to see Jake, George and Mark. This week, St. Louis, with Josh, Linda and my other George. Later this week – Iowa, Chad, Tom and Kevin. Why do we do this? Can’t you just supervise people via zoom and call it good?
Showing up matters. In the next few posts I’ll give you a glimpse into my staff members’ worlds, the opportunity for ministry they embody in their work and how they are impacting their campuses. In this post, I give you George Gardner.
George and Sharon live in Manhattan, KS and do GFM ministry through the avenue of International Students. George was an engineer in a former life before God called him to ministry. His style of doing ministry is to connect with students through bicycles, then bring them into community rich in friendship and bible study.
My visit to Manhattan was my first opportunity to join George and Sharon at Bike Nite – their weekly bicycle repair outreach at a ministry on K-State’s campus. I love what I experienced! You would too!
Students need transportation. Students need friendship. George and his team create the perfect storm of welcome, serving and networking. George has a team of volunteers from his church who show up shortly after George’s truck and trailer arrive. They assemble into work-stations on the lawn. Then, as if called supernaturally by the Holy Spirit bike-piper, internationals come from every direction with or without bikes.
Think about what it would take to reach out to Vidya if we were to engage her in her home country. Yet, Vidya and her family have done all the work to get her to this country, into a PhD program here in one of our communities. Vidya showed up last week requesting a bike – she didn’t have one. George and Sharon took down her name and request, introduced her to others and told her to come back this week and they’d have something for her.
Meanwhile George retreats to his magical bike repair garage at home. Using parts from hundreds (literally) of bike carcasses assembles at least three options for Vidya to choose from when we arrived. Vidya was the first student to show up at 5:58pm last Friday. It was a beautiful thing to see her pick out her new best friend (a used Trek mountain bike).
Vidya also met Dileep (another student from India) as well as Ashlyn – an American student volunteer in another ministry George is partnered with. Sharon invited Vidya to the brunch and bible study that meets in their home on Saturdays.
Presence. In a word, presence is why supervisor’s show up when and where staff do ministry. We get to see connection happening. Connection between our staff and their people. Connection between those who are present and the community they are forging. Connection between Christians and non-Christians. I don’t get to see all that in a zoom session. On site I get to see so much more I can affirm our staff for. I get to see staff using their gifts and personalities first hand.
Pray for Vidya. Pray for her to stay safe on that bike as she travels from her dorm to her Chemistry lab every day. Pray for her friendships with Christians on campus. Pray for those friends to share their faith with her. Pray for Vidya to attend George’s Brunch and Bible (Sharon is as good with food as George is with bikes). Pray for her to see Jesus and keep coming back for more.
More on my travels in coming posts. Thanks for your prayers for me!
In your opinion, what word(s) have I left out above? I’m sure I missed something you would have included.
When God renews his people, sometimes he just has to get them moving again. People get stuck for all kinds of reasons, but being trapped in one place, going nowhere isn’t what God wants. And its a good thing because we absolutely hate it ourselves. We all abhor the claustrophobia of something pinning us in place.
When was the last time you realized you were going nowhere? Physically, we can get shut down with sickness or injury. More often it seems we lock-up emotionally. We manage to look busy on the outside, but on the inside we’re impaled, writhing in bitterness, confusion or pain.
Try this.
In Psalm 25, David struggles with immobility of his own making as well as being pinned down by enemies from the outside. What follows is a list of things internal and external that can power us down. Rank them in the order of personal familiarity. Give a #1 to the top antagonist then descend to the one that threatens you the least. The order I’ve put them in is totally random.
The pandemic and its many ripple effects
A bad relationship with a lot of painful experiences that go with it
Job loss
A personal enemy who is seeking to harm, get revenge or block me
A sickness or medical condition
Not being the right age – too old or too young
A job or career that I cannot flourish in but can’t get by without
My own poor choices and the fall-out from them
An accident that I fear has permanently damaged me
An addiction or other self-sabotaging tendency
Of course this isn’t a complete list. Your number one might not even be there. But no one I know ever lives life perpetually upward and onward without at some point getting squashed in place like a bug under someone’s shoe. It may or may not be where you’re at right now, but Psalm 25 has good news for us. By now you know the drill…
David knew what it was like to get stuck. He mentions at least two kinds of antagonists. Enemies. And sin. But the common denominator is the need for freedom. Notice how the poem is comprised of three stanzas. It begins with hints of David’s predicament, then transitions to a creed-like sketch of God and his resources, and finally a deluge of petition for the last seven verses.
Some questions to help you explore and learn.
Stanza 1 – What David needs (vv 1-7).
1- David right away mentions enemies, shame and defeat. If you know a little about his life, what might he be thinking about?
2- Sin and shame always walk hand in hand. God is Holy, so why is David seeking him so earnestly if he’s convinced of the sin and rebellion of his own ways?
3- What is shame like in your experience? What does it feel like, and what does it make you want to do?
When you are experiencing shame, does the thought of being with God attract you or repel you? Explain.
4- The word PATH or WAY appears multiple times in this psalm. How is David using that idea in Psalm 25 – what does he mean by the term?
Stanza 2 – What the LORD does. (vv 8-15).
5- List everything David says God DOES with people. There are at least seven things. What is David showing us about God?
6 – Notice the repeated emphasis on the LORD teaching and instructing sinners. How can the failure and shame of sin be the starting point of learning and growth in a life of following God?
7 – Verse 14 seems out of place. What is odd about God confiding in sinners (especially in light of David confessing his sin to God)? Have you ever experienced a connection with God like this? How did it impact you?
8 – What does verse 15 say about finding freedom instead of being trapped? What alternative means do we sometimes seek to achieve our own preferred outcomes?
Stanza 3 – What David asks of the LORD (vv 16-22).
9- David lets loose in this section. This is a classic example of petition. David asks for ten things in this stanza. List them. What do you notice?
10- Lets make one more list. Notice the many antagonists implied or stated in David’s petitions. Loneliness, anguish, enemies, etc. List as many as you can.
On your list, put an EX by everything that is an EXTERAL threat to David. Put an IN by everything that is eroding David from the INSIDE out. What common denominators do you notice? Which one or which ones have you in their grip today? Why?
11- Prisoners often talk about what they would do if they could just “get out of this place.” If God were to give you release from any number of your afflictions what could you do with that new-found freedom? Where would you go that you currently can’t get to? How would it feel?
Bookends.
I often mention bookends in teaching the bible. A bookend study is when you look at the opening chapter of a book. Then you skip to the end and look at the closing chapter. Then you ask, “How do the bookends create an appropriate container for the whole story?”
The “bookends” show us the most important thing Psalm 25 teaches about freedom and release. If you read the first couple of verses and the last couple of verses, David begins and ends with a statement about hope. David’s hope is placed squarely on the LORD and no where else. I put my trust in you. (v1) May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, LORD, is in you. (v21).
No matter how much of a mess life became for David, he had the wisdom to burn the bridges to false hopes. David knew he would get nowhere without the LORD taking notice of him and releasing him from every snare. He doesn’t trust his own tricks for getting out of trouble. He doesn’t fight the trap (the more you fight, the deeper the hook is set). He doesn’t seek revenge on his enemies. He petitions the LORD. He hasn’t always known these things – they’ve been hard-fought lessons his whole life long. Psalm 25 is a masterpiece of disciple-making wisdom.
Much of God’s renewal in us is simply this: God getting us to stop fixing our own predicament and come to him. We’ve grossly underestimated the power of sin. We’ve lied to ourselves about just how stuck we are. Psalm 25 helps us stop pretending and start asking God for the freedom only he can give. Consider reading and praying through Psalm 25 once a day for an entire month. Let scripture lead you out of your pride and your pain and into the arms of the LORD who confides in you, longs to be gracious to you, who will guard and protect you, and will forgive and release you!
The alarm needs to fit the danger it forewarns. I was driving a newer car the other day. A rental. I didn’t realize it had a safety feature that beeps, flashes a light, vibrates and partially takes over the steering if you are drifting out of your lane! I was clueless the first time it engaged (just about lost my coffee). The warning fit the threat. If my driving at that moment continued unchecked, I could have been rammed by a vehicle rapidly closing in on me from behind.
Imagine if the designers of Timzrental would have programmed their safety feature to softly suggest “you might want to check your mirrors” (in a soothing British accent). Or worse yet, sent me a text message later in the day recommending I “mind my mirrors better next time”. It would spare my ego in the moment, but fail brilliantly to keep me out of danger.
In RE-moment number three, Yahweh steps in with what he considered an appropriate alarm. A rude siren through an obedient prophet named Hosea. The warning fit the threat. Before we open Hosea a quick word about the threat. And a quick word about the warning.
The worst sin.
I know you’re not supposed to say what sins are worse than others. Maybe that would imply some people are worse sinners than others. But let’s not make this about the sinner. Let’s talk about the sin. If sin were cancer what could we observe about it? First we’d have to admit not all cancers are equally fatal. What’s the worst cancer you can think of? Wouldn’t it be the one that does the most damage in the most stealthy manner? Before you knew you were sick, you’re chances of beating the dammed stuff would be just about zero?
The best clue about the worst sin rests with God’s greatest pleasure. Take whatever it is that is God’s greatest favor and spoil it for him. Block God from getting what he most wants. That’s the worst thing. Here it is:
“Hear O Israel the LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Deut 6:4
“I am the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or the earth beneath, or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God, am a jealous God…” Deut 20:2-5
This is the core. Destroy this and you destroy Yahweh worshippers! In the Old Testament. In the New Testament. In the Church. You and me. The fastest way to damage your relationship with God is reject his love in favor of your own objects of devotion. Rejecting and replacing God thru idolatry – the most dangerous threat!
The loudest alarm.
The medium for a warning with such dire consequence can’t be something easy to ignore. If it were a sound it would be sharp, ear-piercing, obnoxious. Something visual? It would have to stab your retinae. If it were verbal let’s just say it wouldn’t be nice to hear.
God shouted his lungs out over Israel’s idolatry. But here the medium he picked wasn’t primarily verbal. He reached into his communicator’s toolbox and pulled out Hosea. No kidding. He used Hosea. “Go, marry a sexually unfaithful woman, Hosea. And introduce her to the tribes of the northern kingdom. After you do that, let me do the talking – they’ll get the message loud and clear!”
Book-ends
By now you know the drill. Click here to download a fresh copy of the manuscript:
My scrawlings below will ruin it for you purists. We’re going to attempt to get a feel for the entire book of Hosea by looking at the beginning and the ending. At the top of the manuscript you’ll see the three selections we’ve chosen. As you scroll down below, you’ll find a series of inductive questions. I wrote about why I picked this moment to consider in the previous blog.
1- Do you agree with the statement: “The most spiritually dangerous sin is and has always been idolatry.”? What idols do you see when you look at our world today? What forms of idolatry seem to have a draw even for Christians today?
2- The prophets were supposed to give God’s word to his people. If you were Hosea, how would it feel to you being told to marry a woman like Gomer and to raise a family with her? Why do you think Hosea is willing to do this (compare him with Jonah who actually fled in the opposite direction he was commissioned to go)?
3- Hosea is ministering to the Northern Tribes of Israel in the closing years before Assyria destroys their capital city of Samaria (722 BC). The exile was an act of severe judgement by Yahweh for their unfaithfulness. Skimming chapters 4 and 5 will give you vivid picture of their rejection of God’s word and their preoccupation with Baal worship. Why has their idolatry come to such an extreme point of failure?
4- What do the names of the children reveal about what is happening between Yahweh and Israel?
Reading books like Hosea and Isaiah, one notices right away that messages of pending judgment and punishment are situated right next to messages of hope and promise! Emotionally it can be quite a challenge to put yourself in the story. Hosea chapter 2 is such a lift. “In that day” (actually the day of Jezreel or day of judgment) Yahweh says his people WILL be restored (not merely punished).
5- List everything Yahweh will eventually do for his people through (and in addition to) this coming act of judgment on them.
6- The LORD’s acts of healing and restoring are all cast in marital and familial terminology (my children, my husband, covenant, betrothal, etc). How do terms like this describe what it means for Yahweh to reclaim his chosen people?
7- Baal worship was a system of trying to please a pagan deity with sexualized acts of worship. A happy Baal meant that their crops and flocks and families would all be fruitful and multiply? How does this help us see why the LORD can tolerate no other gods before himself?
The Hosea and Gomer story comes back center-stage. It’s the classic relapse chapter. Remember that the story of Hosea’s family is telling the story of Israel and Yahweh.
8- Gomer has been rescued from a life of promiscuity (most likely prostitution). Why after being given a stable family identity (husband and three children) would she return to a life of sexual unfaithfulness – likely involving abuse and addiction?
9- Abstinence, deprivation, a season of radical estrangement – how is dealing with Gomer’s unfaithfulness similar to what Yahweh will impose on Israel via the exile? What gives Yahweh the right to require Israel to sever ties with all other gods?
The pathway of healing for Israel means not only will the LORD reclaim his people from their idolatry, but they also will reclaim Yahweh as their God. The identity and ownership once again will flow both directions. God will love and care for his people. God’s people will worship, serve and bless him.
10- Israel vows to never again give the devotion Yahweh rightfully deserves to something of their own making. Does idolatry still work the same way today? Explain.
11-Anger is a clue to idols. Not only does idolatry anger a God who loves us and longs for our good, anger is what people experience when our idols are exposed. Consider this quote from Tim Keller’s book Counterfeit Gods:
“When anything in life is an absolute requirement for your happiness and self-worth, it is essentially an ‘idol,’ something you are actually worshiping. When such a thing is threatened, your anger is absolute. Your anger is actually the way the idol keeps you in its service, in its chains. Therefore if you find that, despite all the efforts to forgive, your anger and bitterness cannot subside, you may need to look deeper and ask, ‘What am I defending? What is so important that I cannot live without?’ It may be that, until some inordinate desire is identified and confronted, you will not be able to master your anger.”
Is there an idol or a false god in your vicinity that leaves its fingerprints on you through your anger or other strong emotions? Explain.
12- Since idols can be almost anything, what is the best way to discern which things in our life, though in and of themselves might be good, have become an idol we must part with? In your experience, what is the best way to put an idol to rest?
13 – What forms of God’s goodness and care do you most long to enjoy without interruption? Would you say that your life is firmly in God’s grip of safety and care, or are you experiencing estrangement or waywardness? Why?
We’ll keep the series coming at you here! Hope you can join us.
So today I’m just putting this out here on the blog with no push notification. That means readers will on their own have to scroll down here to read this. It was so good for me to process this particular study in the series I’m developing. If haven’t noticed yet, I’m writing a series of bible studies on God RE-making, RE-newing and RE-building what the world manages to to tear apart. I’ve made a map for the RE- series that includes 12 stopping points in scripture. This week I’ve reached the first point in these studies that has given me pause – can I really take people here? Hosea, the prophet of God told to marry a prostitute!
When you realize that Hosea isn’t about adultery as much as it is idolatry, then the challenge seems somehow different. Adultery always sizzles! But no one really seems to want to talk about idols. I convinced myself today in my quiet time that we really should delve into Hosea as precarious as I’m sure it will turn out to be. In this post I reveal a few of my musings and the basic argument that convinced me. Hosea should be a RE- moment we look into because idol-making is more toxic and destructive than we realize. After we get further into the story you can tell me if you agree!
By the way these are just shots from my front porch quiet time journaling this morning. Enjoy.
God’s heart for Renewal springs from his commitment to Justice. We’ll see in Isaiah 61 that God concerns himself not only with the personal renewal of people spiritually, but he cares about their material needs in the process. The same God who comes bringing healing and freedom, also brings vengeance and judgment against the very things that have devastated his people. Finally we’ll consider how God’s renewal brings a redefinition of identity. God’s people are transformed in how they are recognized from the outside looking in. God’s justice, via renewal, imprints a new image on his people and displays it for the world to see. That image is Righteousness.
1- Name a few places in our world right now that could use God’s renewal like it is described in vv 1-3. What people groups in your own community are experiencing oppression, pain or brokenheartedness? Has your path ever taken you to a place like this – explain?
2- Why does the Messenger talk about the LORD’s favor and the LORD’s vengeance (v.2)?
3- The Spirit of the Lord empowers the Messenger to make an announcement about renewal. In addition to his proclamation, the Messenger will demonstrate his message with his actions? What will he do in addition to what he will say?
Isaiah himself lived at a time when the Northern Kingdom of Israel was being swept into exile by the Assyrians. He could have witnessed the fall of Samaria in 722 B.C. Yet this oracle portrays restoration set in a time long after the fall of Jerusalem by the Babylonian Empire (586 B.C.).
4- Why is the Messenger reassuring God’s people of such material restoration when the devastation of the exile will be so complete and take so long to realize? How will those reading Isaiah’s prophecy be impacted by a vision like this?
5- The rebuilding, restoring and renewing seems to happen through the efforts of the people themselves? What is the Lord’s part? What is the people’s part?
6- In our RE-series, our first study was from Ezra chapter 3 – the period of time when the exiles are coming out of captivity and re-inhabiting their lands (538-516 B.C.). What might Isaiah’s message mean to them as they were permitted (even blessed) to return?
The LORD himself is speaking now. We learn why he desires renewal and restoration for his people. Oddly it has to do with reputation. The nations will see who Yahweh is by looking at the Israelites. Rather than being an oppressed and scattered people, he desires them to be Oaks of Righteousness displaying his attributes.
7- Describe the connection between God’s renewal and God’s justice. Is God the same today with his people, the Church? How does the Church make God’s justice visible today?
8- Righteousness is what the Messenger displays to all who look at him (vv 10-11). It’s how he’s dressed from head to foot. Righteousness in the Hebrew language connotes right actions, doing and being right. What does it mean then that righteousness will be what the Messenger and God’s people will cultivate among the nations?
9- How do God’s people cultivate Righteousness in our world today? In society? In the Church?
A new identity
Oaks of Righteousness. Priests/Ministers of the Lord. The renewal the LORD wants to bring his people lifts their identity out of the pit of the exile and sets it on a new path. The oracle of Isaiah 61 actually continues through the end of chapter 62. The re-branding continues. No longer Deserted, you’ll be called Delight. No longer Desolate, you will be called Married. The Holy People. Redeemed of the LORD. Sought After. City No Longer Deserted.
10- Why is a transformed identity so important to God’s idea of renewal for his people? Why do names matter?
11- Are believers today aware of their reputation “among the nations”? How can our commitments to justice and righteousness affect how Jesus is seen and received in our culture today?
The Gospel writers each have their own way of portraying Jesus’ first miracles. It was as if John interviewed people at Cana. “We hear that Jesus worked his first miracle there at a wedding. What did he do?”
“It was incredible, the host of the wedding ran out of wine, Jesus just took 6 stone jars of water and made them into the best wine anyone had ever tasted! He saved the reputation of that bride’s family as well as the owner of the vineyard.” It was just incredible!
Mark interviewed people from Capernaum where Jesus began his teaching ministry in their synagogues. “What was happening, there, Peter?”
“It was unbelievable! There were people in the synagogue possessed by evil spirits and he drove them out. People were coming with all kinds of diseases like leprosy or paralysis and he healed them one after the other. He come to my home not far from the synagogue where my wife’s mother was sick and getting worse. He just picked up her hand and she got up out off the bed with no effort, completely restored!”
And then there was Luke. Luke tracked down people from Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth. “I’m writing an orderly account of the life and ministry of Jesus. I heard he also came to your town during his first Galilean tour. How did it go? Did he work any miracles?
“Well, he DID technically work a miracle, but none of the ones we were hearing about. It quickly became a problem. He did all these amazing things in Capernaum, but just stared us down after reading the scroll of Isaiah in our synagogue. We took him out to the precipice and were about to cast him down. That’s when the miracle happened.”
Jesus’ first Miracle in Luke’s Gospel
“Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.'” “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown…
When you visit the Holy Land today, this is were you’ll be taken – Mount Precipice, Nazareth.
“All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.” (Luk 4:23-30 NIV)
Jesus supernaturally quelled his deranged hometown. That was the only miracle he worked at Nazareth that day. What did Jesus say about Isaiah 61 that could have ignited mob violence? Why does Luke begin Jesus’ ministry like this? Isaiah’s prophecy is a famous redemption oracle about God renewing his people. Maybe the Nazarite response shows us that God’s idea of renewal isn’t what everyone wants. Let’s dive in and see why.
Click here for a clean copy of the Isaiah 61 Manuscript.
I’ve divided the chapter into 4 sections. I did this because of the change of voice in vv 8-9. The messenger (evangelist) is speaking in the fist part. The LORD himself declares his intentions. Then the messenger returns to his oracle starting in vrs 10. Here are a few questions to get you started:
1- What do you notice about the anointed messenger’s intended audience?
2- List everything the messenger is commissioned to do.
3- What do you make of the vivid contrast in vrs. 2? What seems to bring together the ideas of FAVOR and VENGEANCE?
In the next section (vv.3-7) notice what renewal will bring to God’s people.
4- There are several identity statements. List them. How would you describe the impact of renewal on what these people will become?
5- In addition to renewed identity, what will God’s people do and experience with the new life they’re being given?
6- What challenges exist for people who have been deprived for generations (not merely for many years)?
Vv. 8-9 is the LORD, Yahweh himself speaking.
7- What is motivating the LORD’s redemptive actions?
8- There is another change in voice in v.10. What else do we learn about the anointed messenger in this last section?
Grab a copy of the manuscript and get a friend or two to read it with you. What do you think of Isaiah 61? We’ll finish our study in the next post. Remember to write your questions in the margins as you scribble up your manuscript.
All around my four-state area ministries are re-starting this fall. Faculty groups as well as Grad student groups are regathering, face to face in most places. Here’s what it typically looks like. At Creighton for example our professional student group is focused in the School of Pharmacy and Health Professions (Pharmacy, Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy). Kathy Padilla is the best person I’ve ever worked an information table with! This year we had loads of very lively conversations at the end of which we had a stack of 19 contact cards. And that’s how it gets started.
Kathy is an InterVarsity alum, supporter and leader in our local faculty ministry. She teaches Spanish at Creighton and is the faculty advisor for our GFM group and our undergraduate chapter. She loves meeting students. She loves InterVarsity. And she loves Creighton University.
Pray for Kathy as she restarts her new year. Faculty at Creighton are relieved to be using only one platform this semester – face to face, in-person classroom instruction! After three semesters of turmoil and the complexity of being sometimes in-person, sometimes on-line, she’ll get to hear her students parse Spanish verbs live and up-close.
Pry also for this stack of cards! For the students whose names are on them, that is. This is what we have to re-start our fellowship this fall at Creighton. Last year we were a virtual community of at most 10 students. I met with three of those students for leadership, encouragement and prayer. The rest we met up with via our zoom bible study in the book of Ruth. We’re hoping to rebuild in-person community this fall. We’ll be meeting on the first and third Thursdays of the month. We’ll meet in-person for the first gathering, share some food and enjoy being together to do our bible study. The second meeting of the month will be virtual via zoom. We’re hoping to include distance students and alumni at our virtual gatherings.
Pray for me as I work through the list of people we met. I’m hoping to connect one on one before our bible studies get started. The biggest challenge with professional students in programs like Pharmacy or OT is TIME. Their programs are very demanding and all-consuming of their energy and attention. Pray that GFM will become a source of community they deem worthy to work their other commitments around!
RE- studies
So where are the rest of those RE- study guides Tim? They are in the works. I’ve been generating the entire series in rough outline form. So far I have identified 13 RE-moments I think will work well. They’ll be rolling your way soon. Isaiah 61 – RE-new, Psalm 85 – RE-vive, Mark 5 – RE-claim. And on and on. They’re coming!
Please keep us in your prayers as we get things going here in the rest of the month of August! Thanks so much.
The wedding was FABULOUS. That’s all I can say about it right now. Welcome to the Perry fam, Haleigh!
Christians have a tendency to overlook the value of the Old Testament because we assume we don’t need to understand it. We live on this side of the incarnation. “This side of the cross.” Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Covenant. There’s not much we can learn from an ancient faith steeped in a sacrificial system we no longer need.
RE-starting in Ezra 3 is all about understanding the book of Leviticus! The passage at hand begs the question – “If remaking the altar was how Joshua and Zerubbabel began again, what happened at that altar, day after day, year after year?” Let’s take a look at some of the details. What message might Ezra have for you and me today? I’ll summarize some of the background information as we go but feel free to download the following resource:
Do you know how to mark-up a manuscript? In my last post you’ll find a link for downloading your own clean copy of Ezra chapter 3. In this post I’ll show you mine, which is marked up all over (I mark things up electronically using the Noteability app). I’ve broken the chapter into three paragraphs and titled those sections. Ezra 3 is packed with references to the Jewish worship calendar and the daily priestly duties at the altar (see the background information for helpful details). Bear in mind that in 536 B.C. there was no temple. Only the footprint. It would be a little like showing up at your church on Sunday, but with no walls, no atrium and no fellowship hall. Just the foundations shorn to the ground. No roof, no pews (or padded designer theatre seats) no sound system, lights or smoke machines! Just a small scrap of platform where the stage used to be and maybe a charred table where the communion elements might have sat. Joshua restarts everything by remaking only the altar and restarting their worship calendar!
The Altar First (vv 1-6)
1) Who are the principle leaders – why are they leading the efforts to Re-start (see background information)?
2) Ordinarily, celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles would happen at a fully functioning temple and would require a lot of equipment and formality. Joshua is pulling this off with nothing but the altar in place (compare this to the Feast of Tabernacles celebrated when Solomon first built and dedicated the temple cf. 1 Kings 8). Why go ahead with the celebration without a temple?
3) The seventh month seems like an odd time to restart your worship calendar. The Feast of Tabernacles commemorated Israel’s wilderness experience following the Exodus. They lived in tents and ate the food Yahweh provided (manna and quail). They knew Yahweh was with them because he too dwelt with them in the tabernacle those 40 years. Why might this timing make sense to a people returning to their homeland from a 70 year exile?
4) The exiles’ Re-start was further complicated by the presence of people who didn’t welcome their return. Have you ever noticed how starting and re-starting things can bring a cascade of unforeseen challenges? How do you cope with resistance and set-backs when life already feels halting and fragile?
The Temple Next (vv 7-9)
5) What is the rationale for restarting the sacrificial functions at the altar seven months before starting to rebuild the temple? Why would the altar seem a more important starting point than the temple (which created structure for the sacrificial system)?
6) There are two streams of leadership and supervision – the civic office of Zerubbabel (royal descendant here functioning as a governor) and the priestly structure of Joshua and the rest of the Levites. How do these reflect the varying needs of a people restarting their homeland identity?
Mixed Reviews (vv 10-13)
7) The dedication of the temple’s reconstruction is an incredible occasion! The younger generation who had been born just before or any time since the temple’s destruction, knew nothing of Solomon’s temple except what they’d been told about it growing up. It seems they easily affirmed God’s goodness and love toward Israel (v 13). What might they be thinking and feeling during this special celebration? What would fill them with joy and hope?
8) The older generation – especially the priests and Levites were not thinking about the future. They were still lamenting the past. Was this appropriate? Why or why not?
Twenty years further into the future,
Israel was just about to complete the rebuilding of the temple in 516 B.C. What many suspected when the foundations were laid came true in their view of the remade temple. “This is just not what it once was.” The prophet Haggai has a firm but gracious word for God’s people:
(Hag 2:1-9 NIV) 1 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: 2 “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them,3 ‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing?4 But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the LORD. ‘Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the LORD, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the LORD Almighty. 5 ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’ 6 “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory, ‘ says the LORD Almighty. 8 ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty. 9 ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace, ‘ declares the LORD Almighty.”
Personal Application
I believe Ezra 3 shows us at least two challenges these Exiles have for you and me today. I’ve labeled them and written a few process questions you can select from to journal about or discuss with your small group.
The Tension between Lament and Remaking.
1-Think of an area of your life, the life of the Church, or our culture that is in decline, disrepair or abandonment. As you wrestle with exactly what is broken and account for what has been lost, what is your posture toward God and your future? Are you plagued by fears? Depressed? Stuck in lament only? Lament is appropriate when loss must be faced. It’s a disservice to what was valued to not mourn. But lament cannot be your only approach. Share with your group one place of renewal you long for. What is your posture toward it currently?
2- Is there an area of growth, improvement or reform that you feel energized by the Holy Spirit to work towards? Perhaps you’re like the younger generation coming out of exile who didn’t know what the former glory was like. Your posture is more open to the future. You are eager to do the work. Share with the group one way you are experiencing growth and blessing in spite of the brokenness around you. How is your creativity being tapped into? What gifts and skills can the Holy Spirit evoke in you as you move forward? What are your hopes focused on and how can you talk about them with others?
The Tension between the Altar and the Sanctuary.
1- Jesus is the fulfillment of the entire Old Covenant sacrificial system. He came as the incarnate Word. He was our great high priest as well as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It’s tempting to say we just don’t need to understand the temple and the altar. But Jewish believers knew what the altar meant (see the article on altar on the last pages of the resource document). It was the place where God would accept sacrifice for sin. It was the place where first-fruits of each year’s harvest would be offered to God. It was were the morning and evening sacrifices were given for the sin of the people. How do you understand the idea of Altar today in your relationship with Jesus? Of course Jesus died for our sins. But you, personally and daily, how do you account for that? Do you have a place and a space where you regularly meet Jesus and abide in him (John 15)? Share with your group or process in your journal. When you look at the altar of your spiritual life, is it in good working order? Are you meeting God and bringing your sin to him in confession? What are your “thank offerings” like? What do you give God in the time you set apart to be with him?
2- What kind of communal worship life do you have with other believers? If the altar is a representation of your personal worship what does sanctuary with others look like? Your church building might not be lying in ruins, but is it a healthy place to worship God? What are the weekly, monthly and yearly rhythms like – do they rival the rich spiritual and tangible corporate life of our Old Testament forebears? Without bashing, how do you feel about the corporate worship and witness of your church? What impact of salt and light does your church or fellowship make on others? How is your church handling our culture’s current crisis of reconciliation and justice? What fears or attitudes might be holding you back? Are you freely lending your gifts and resources to the body of Christ?
So that was RE-start 01 and 02. The exiles show us the way forward from painful devastation. Their powerful starting point focused on the very heart of their worship life with Yahweh. Remake the altar first – that’s the place where sinners bring their lives and their gifts to a God of grace who delights to meet them there.
We’ll post another RE- moment next week. Blessings and Peace.
PBR 