Jeremiah 25:8-14 Can God Use "Bad Guys" to do Good Things?

Observation: God pronounces judgment on his nation of Judah through Jeremiah's words. Because they have disobeyed God's words, God will send an invader to take over the land: Nebuchadnezzar, a Babylonian King, whom God calls "my servant," even though he does not believe in or follow Judah's God. Strange that God would call a ruthless king, a member of a different faith, "servant."

Application: It grates on me when people say, "It's all part of God's plan." I don't believe that. I don't believe God gives cancer to kids, or starts bloody civil wars, or sends famine on countries, as part of some grand chess game. God is as hurt as any of us is by the awful fallout of our decisions and of life in a fallen world, where we can not live in harmony with nature. To say it's "part of God's plan" as though there was no other way, as though starving children may ultimately be a good thing if we just were able to take the long view, is an insult to God and to human intelligence. 

But I do hold as a core belief that God can take our mess and turn it into healing. God can take even the actions of a cruel, repressive bully like Nebuchadnezzar and use them to teach faithfulness to the Judahites. God can use even the unspeakable cruelty of a Roman cross to bring new life. 

God does not wish us pain, much less actively cause it as part of some grand scheme. But God can and does take our pain and transform it in ways we could not have imagined.

Prayer: God, for those who are suffering today, dwell with them and help me to be present for them too. Only you can turn our pain into healing. Amen. 

John 21:15-19 Breakfast on the Beach

The sea of Galilee. Photo credit: Larry Kohlenstein

Observation: After a dramatic resurrection appearance on the shore of the sea of Galilee, the miracle of catching 153 fish, and a breakfast of grilled fish by the Lakeshore, Jesus and Peter talk one on one for the first time since Peter denied him on the night before Jesus died. Peter gets a chance to tell Jesus that he loves him three times--once for each time he denied him--and Jesus' response is similar each time: feed my sheep.

Application: When I went to the "sea" of Galilee in 2015, the first thing that hit me was the smell. I knew that smell. I grew up with it each summer. This isn't a sea at all.  It's a freshwater lake. If there's a better place than the Lakeshore at dawn to sit quietly, reflect, and have a real, in depth conversation about what matters, I haven't found it. 

And when Jesus and Peter (who stands in for each of us as believers, and all of us together, too) finally have that conversation, it centers on care and compassion for others. If I were to sum up Jesus' message here, it'd go something like this. "Look Peter, I forgive you for not being there for me. You were scared. But if you love me, you had better show up for those I care about." 

And if we read the rest of John's gospel, we realize that who Jesus cares about--his "sheep"--could very well encompass all people. We can sing, praise, and pray about our love of Jesus all the live-long day. But if that doesn't translate to caring for and feeding the people Jesus loves, we're not fooling anyone.


Prayer: Jesus, show me how to love you today. Show me your sheep who need to be fed. Amen.

Psalm 6: I'll Be Mellow When I'm Dead

Observation: Psalm 6 is a song of lament, which is very common, in which the writer asks God's help in a difficult time. An interesting feature of this particular Psalm is the argument that God should save the psalmist "for the sake of your steadfast love," or in other words, so that God's reputation as kind and merciful may be kept intact. Also, the psalm shares a fairly common Old Testament view of the afterlife: that there isn't much to it. "In Sheol [the abode of the dead] who can give you praise?"

Application: Noone knows for sure what happens to us after we die. Every religious tradition has at least one take on it, and truth be told, the Christian tradition, based on the Bible, has several. Different believers put it together in different ways. But this we agree on: our time in this life is very limited. My Father-in-law just reminded me of a saying of Laura's grandfather, that "In this life you get three-score and ten, and the rest is extra." By that measure, I'm over halfway there. 

I remember a song by Weird Al Yankovic, of all people, called "I'll be Mellow When I'm Dead." It's a goofy song, as you'd expect, but there's a wisdom to it, too: if you feel passionate about something, and particularly an issue of right and wrong, as the psalmist faces, there may not be time to be laid-back about it. God promises us times of rest, even in this life. But we'd better also put each day to use. We can be mellow when we're dead. :)

Prayer: Lord, teach us to value each day, and seize the opportunities you give us to do the right thing. Amen.  

Jeremiah 27:1-12, It's Not the Mail Carrier's Fault

Observation: Jeremiah is being asked by God to prophesy some bad news to the kingdom of Judah. If they don't turn from their ways and follow God, their kingdom will face destruction at the hands of the Babylonian Empire. It's interesting that before Jeremiah speaks God says "It may be that they will listen." In order for the Judahites to have free will, even God can not know exactly how they'll respond. It's not a lost cause. But it's quite clear once Jeremiah opens his mouth which way it's going: his countrymen are not happy to hear from him.

Application: The best clichés are often true. "Don't shoot the messenger." It isn't your mail carrier's fault that you have bills coming due. And it isn't a prophet's fault when there's bad news from God about how we've fallen short of God's expectations. But it's still not easy to hear, and we still tend to pin our frustration and guilt on the one delivering the message, instead of turning inward and examining if this news rings true, and we just don't want to hear it.

Yesterday my friend Bob said something I thought was very scriptural: "You can either be a follower of Jesus, or indifferent to the needs of the poor, but not both." It hit me like a ton of bricks, because I knew it was true, and yet I also knew it demanded a reaction from me. It wasn't Bob's fault. In fact I'm very grateful to him for putting that into words. But it wasn't fun to hear. That's what God's Word is like most days.

Prayer: God, help us avoid our knee-jerk reaction. Help us not "shoot the messenger." Help us treat prophets as your doctors: diagnosing, giving us power through knowledge and truth. Amen.

Acts 11:19-30, 13:1-3 Scattered for Growth

Observation: After Stephen is stoned to death in Jerusalem for proclaiming Jesus, the community of believers faces even more persecution, and so they scatter all over the known world. They resolve to only speak the message of Jesus to their fellow Jews. Yet some in the areas where they are relocated take that message and share it with "Hellenists" (either Jews who spoke Greek and observed Greek customs, or simply Greeks--the text is unclear). If the community of Jesus had remained in Jerusalem, it may only have lasted for a generation or two, a fringe group of Jews with an interesting backstory. But because of this scattering and persecution, the Church is able to grow in leaps and bounds, taking root in places where the original apostles may have had no inclination to go otherwise. 

Application: I dabbled in gardening for a few summers after moving to Baltimore. I'd like to get into it again whenever/wherever we get settled. My initial approach was that when it came to planting seeds, "more was better." Sure, the packets said you should plant them a few inches apart, but there were so darn many of them in there, and who knows how many would really get going, so why not two or three seeds in each indentation, and a little closer than it says?

The result, of course, was a mess. Tiny little spinach plants, fighting their sisters and brothers for the same water and sunshine. A tangled jungle of tomato plants, all leaves and virtually no fruit. I didn't trust the instructions--or the life inside the seeds--enough to really scatter the seeds properly. 

The life of disciples is the same way. Of course, when you have a group of people with certain gifts and interests, whether it's a small group of friends or a cozy little congregation, your instinct is to want to stay together and enjoy each other's company. But becoming too insular can stunt your spiritual growth. In order to really grow spiritually, and to better share the wonderful riches of God's grace, we need to scatter. We need to spend time in groups that don't agree on everything. We need to talk theology with people of other faiths, and even with people of no faith. We need to cultivate friendships with folks on the other side of issues we care about, not for the purpose of winning them over, but for the purpose of deepening our own understanding and appreciating their gifts and perspectives. Disciples of Christ do not default to the safest and most homogenous space, where our beliefs and views will not be questioned. We head out for the frontiers, to see what God is up to in other corners of the creation. That's where we can grow. 

Being scattered does not mean abandoning our commitments and beliefs. It doesn't mean setting aside our belief in Christ as Savior of the world. It doesn't mean acting as though selfishness, greed, racism and violence are equally valid approaches to the love and equality we find in God's kingdom. Quite the opposite, in fact: if we truly believe the love and trust Jesus taught us is stronger than death and destruction, then why on earth would we shield it from the real world, and hide it away? It is precisely because we hold strongly to our belief in Christ that we should allow ourselves to be scattered a little more thinly on the ground, where the leaves of our faith can spread to their fullest, and we can truly bear fruit.

Prayer: As the grains of wheat once scattered on a hill were gathered into one to become our bread, so may all your people from all the ends of the earth, be gathered into one in you. Amen.

(Prayer text: Marty Haugen, based on the Didache)

Job 38:12-20 "Surely You Know..."

Observation: After losing everything, Job has been arguing back and forth with his friends for hours about whether he did something to "deserve" his grief: something that would have angered God. Though his friends insist, based on what they've been taught, that he must have done something to deserve his fate, Job in turn insists he did not. God then answers Job "out of the whirlwind" with this ironic poem. It basically says, "If you know so much about my ways, tell me where light comes from. Where were you when the earth's foundation was laid? Have you been to the depths of the sea?" In short, God says, "Who are you to tell me how to be God?"

Application: In all honesty, the book of Job for me is more about how NOT to give compassionate care to friends than anything else. With a friend struggling with a tough diagnosis, PLEASE don't take the lead of Job's friends and say something like, "well, everything happens for a reason." Even if you do believe that--which is a whole other post--now is not the time to say it. And if a person just lost their home or was laid off from a job, now is NOT the time to flip open Job 38 and say, "Well, who are we to say God was wrong to do this to you? Were we there at the beginning of time?" 

 Please. Don't. Just stop. Let it be.

In an adult education class once, I plotted out a chart, with the X axis being "Things that are helpful" and the Y axis being "Things that are true." Not every "comforting" statement is true, and obviously not every true statement is comforting. Not surprisingly, a whole lot of things that people say all the time to grieving friends are neither. 

In my experience, a book like Job is not as helpful for someone with fresh wounds of grief, but more for someone trying to sit with them. In fact, the best thing Job's friends do is in the beginning of the book, simply sitting with him, on the ground, for seven days. Just being with him is better than blurting out the first thing we saw on a Hallmark card once. 

Sitting with a grieving friend is not the time to get up and play defense for our faith or our theology. God loves your friend dearly, and can handle it if they are mad or even losing faith in the moment. God put you there for them, to be God's presence in their pain, not to be their Sunday School teacher. So before we open our mouths, let's take God's words into our own hearts: "Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this." 

If not, maybe better to simply say, 

"I'm so sorry. I'm here, and I care for you." 

Prayer: O Lord, when I start thinking I know your ways and your mind, shut my mouth. Amen.

2 Timothy 2:8-12a Do Not Be Ashamed.

Observation: This letter is addressed from Paul to Timothy, a young pastor in the early generations of the church. Timothy is facing what church leaders have faced since the very beginning: struggling against false teachings, and trying to remain faithful to Christ even when it seems he is alone. Paul tells him: "Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join me in suffering, relying on the power of God". 

Application: This really reminds me of a great song by MercyMe called "Greater". 

"Every day I struggle with the voices that keep telling me I'm not right

That's alright

Cause I hear a voice and he calls me redeemed

when others say I'll never be enough

Greater is the one who is inside of me

than he who is living in the world"

When life gets tough, I tend to default to shame. I tend to assume I'm doing something wrong. 

"I've bungled it up, I've stepped on someone's toes, I've hurt someone's feelings, I should have planned better, I should have executed better, I should have been smarter, etc., etc., etc...."

And sometimes I am absolutely to blame for difficulties I face. No argument there. I'm not perfect. God calls us as we are, foibles and all, and forgives us along the way.

But other times, I need to remember what Jesus said: "Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account." I need to accept Paul's invitation to "join me in suffering, relying on the power of God."

See, sometimes we're going through a hard time precisely because we're doing something right. Sometimes, when we are being faithful in following Jesus and his message, there will be resistance. 

Scratch that. Not sometimes. Always. There will always be resistance, in a self-centered world, to a Christ-centered life. Who we are, what we say and what we do challenges the judgmental, capitalistic, competitive, hierarchical way our world chooses to organize itself. Just living life as a disciple of Christ is an affront to the world, and the world will not take that lying down.

Some of what I'm talking about is relational: that we will occasionally say things that offend people, or that they don't want to hear, and we'll have to deal with the fallout from that. But, without going too supernatural, some of it in my experience is situational. Sometimes, difficulties and headaches will arise, seemingly by coincidence, when you are on the right track, about to attempt something big--or rather, when God is about to do something big through you. In those situations, Paul's words should ring true: "Don't be ashamed." It's not your problem. It's Satan's problem. 

Prayer: God, help me to join my fellow disciples today, in bearing the challenges we face for your sake. Help me not to be ashamed, or too hard on myself, when things seem to go awry. Be my north star, to navigate when the winds pick up and stuff gets confusing. Amen.   

Numbers 11:24-30 Conductors and Insulators

Observation: This is my favorite Old Testament story that most folks have never heard. Moses is fed up with the peoples' complaining about only having manna to eat. He is frazzled, and exhausted with the burden of being the one and only leader of these hundreds of thousands of people. So he asks God for help. Not only does God promise to provide enough meat for the whole nation to eat for a month, but God does Moses one better: God asks Moses to gather seventy leaders, with whom God then shares the same Spirit who has been inspiring Moses. When this happens, all seventy of them start prophesying, which causes a couple of guys from Moses' inner circle to freak out. They come to Moses and ask him to put a stop to it. Moses responds as any good leader should: "Stop them? I wish everyone was like them!" 

Application: I found this great diagram that explains the difference between conductors and insulators of electricity. It was an interesting reminder for me of how it works: conductors are materials that allow their electrons to wander. The diagram calls them "bad parents". But the insulators are "good parents" because they hold tight to their electrons. Consequently, if you want to get electricity from one place to another, you'll use a conductor that allows for freedom of movement. But if you want to stop electricity in its tracks, you find a good insulator. 

God's power is like electricity. It needs and wants to move from one person, one group, one community, one nation to another. To the extent that leaders let that happen, God does amazing things. But to the extent that leaders try to stop the flow of God's power, the community becomes stagnant and lifeless. 

For too long in Western society, we have been like Eldad and Medad, trying to stop the flow of God's power. we are afraid of what will happen if more people have access to it. We have trained leaders to "take charge," to be the gatekeepers of what gets done and what doesn't. We limit the scope of our ministry to what our leaders can do themselves. What the leader is good at, the community does well. What the leader is bad at, the community doesn't even try. We have asked them to hoard power. To be insulators. 

Jesus' way was different. Like Moses, he gathered seventy people, and gave them the power to do everything that he was doing. He was a conductor. His mission was to build a network where the power of God's Reign of love, healing, reconciliation and justice flows freely. In order to do that, he gathered other conductors around him: those who he knew would catch his message and mission, and allow it to flow freely to others. Eventually, this network grew to include even those from whom the rest of his culture insulated themselves: tax collectors, prostitutes, sinners, and in time, people from all nations. 

We need to learn from the example of Moses and of Jesus. We need to start working from a mentality of abundance, rather than scarcity. Power shared is power multiplied. The more voices are heard in God's Church, the more the Church reflects the super-charged spiritual juggernaut that God intends us to be. Christian leaders, both professional and lay, desperately need to unlearn the cultural model of leadership that we have inherited from the world, that says our job is to hold onto power like an insulator hangs onto electrons--trying to stay a "good parent" to the fully grown adult disciples of Jesus with whom one ministers. Instead, the task of Christian leaders in this and every age is to model ourselves on Jesus and Moses before him, conductors of heavenly power, builders of a network of God's gifts, with the mantra, "would that all the Lord's people were prophets, and the Lord would put his spirit on them!" 

Prayer: Lord, let me be a conductor of your power of healing and peace, and your message of grace. Let me stop asking how to hold onto your power, but how to give it away. Build a network of conductors around me, and around all your leaders, that your beloved community will charge up the world. Amen.  

Romans 8:18-24 Jesus Died for the Whole Creation.

Laura and Soren (re)discovering Lake Michigan.

Observation: After talking about God's offer of grace as a free gift to the whole human race, both Jew and Gentile, Paul makes an interesting move. He starts talking about the implications of God's grace, and of the new age begun by Jesus' resurrection, for the creation itself: animals, plants, oceans, mountains, and all that we see. He writes about how all living things--not just humans--are negatively affected by sin, and groaning as they await the fullness of life promised in Jesus' resurrection. We're not alone in leaning forward and longing for this new future. Paul talks about how someone "subjected" the creation to futility and decay. Some commentators believe he means Adam himself, the primordial human. Ever since the very beginning, human sin has alienated us not only from God and each other, but from all forms of life. It was this sin which Jesus overcame on the cross. When he returns, the Lord will not just renew human beings, but all things. 

Application: Christians are often (and rightly) accused of being indifferent or even hostile to the idea of caring for God's creation. We wrongly interpret God's call in Genesis 2 to "be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it" as carte blanche to do whatever we like with the earth's resources and our fellow creatures. In reality, God called Adam (and the entire human race) to steward the creation. To care for it, and allow it to fulfill its God-given purpose. Fun fact: God's first commandment in Genesis was not to humans at all: God first commanded the birds and sea creatures to "be fruitful and multiply!" If humans misinterpret our own God-given commission to "be fruitful", we make the rest of creation unable to fulfill its God-given commission to do the same. 

It comes down to this: If I was told that a member of my family was gravely ill, and something I was doing had caused it, I would stop. Immediately. No question about it. And yet, much of the way I live my life--the routines I follow out of convenience, the purchases I make, the way i choose to travel--has an impact on my fellow creatures, whom God has called good and commanded to flourish. This is not just impolite or insensitive. It is sinful. And while there's no perfect way to avoid any and all impact on other living creatures, repentance calls me to look at what I'm doing today that I could do differently tomorrow. Jesus died to renew human life, but not just human life. Creation, too, "will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God." Jesus says "Behold, I am making all things new." Thank God for that. 

Prayer: Lord, help me know better, and then help me do better. Forgive me when I fail to love my neighbor as myself--both human and not. Amen.   

Exodus 19:1-9 A Priestly Kingdom and a Holy Nation

"Then Moses went up to God; the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites."

Observation: It's just three months into their Exodus out of Egypt. The people of Israel legitimately have zero clue what they are in for. Suffice it to say it won't always be an easy journey. There will be hunger, disease and danger. There will be conflict. And a whole lot of them won't make it to the Promised Land. But God has already delivered them on eagle's wings from slavery. And God assures those who trust that they will be a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. 

Application: Ten years ago when Laura and I loaded up a U-Haul with all our worldly possessions, including a freshly minted theology degree and certificate of ordination, it's very safe to say I had no idea what I was in for. But as I sit and watch the sunrise in Ocean City Maryland on the final day of my ninth Synod Assembly here (I missed my first because Maggie was a week old), I can't help but believe that the same God who delivered me from sin and death on eagles' wings at my baptism, has introduced me to a priestly kingdom and a holy nation in this place. It hasn't always been easy. I've faced many of the heartbreaking realities of ministry (some of them self inflicted.) But I am grateful to God for every single day of it. 

Prayer: O God, you once called me to ventures of which I could not see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Thank you for giving me the grace to go out with good courage, not always knowing where I went or what I was doing, but knowing your hand always protected me, your love sustained me, and your priestly people have loved, trusted, taught, and many times forgiven me. Thank you Lord. Amen.