1 Kings 4:29-34 Wisdom is to Share

1 Kings 4:29-34 (NRSV)

​²⁹God gave Solomon very great wisdom, discernment, and breadth of understanding as vast as the sand on the seashore, ³⁰so that Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east, and all the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹He was wiser than anyone else, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, children of Mahol; his fame spread throughout all the surrounding nations. ³²He composed three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five. ³³He would speak of trees, from the cedar that is in the Lebanon to the hyssop that grows in the wall; he would speak of animals, and birds, and reptiles, and fish. ³⁴People came from all the nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon; they came from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

Observation:
When God grants wisdom to Solomon, Solomon puts it to use in a big way! Three thousand proverbs, a thousand and five songs, and countless teachings on animals and plants. Solomon shares what he's got, to make his whole kingdom a wiser place.

Application: This is just an important reminder that any gift, talent or skill God gives us is meant to be shared. I fear that we are in an age where we are devaluing wisdom and expertise, which people pour years of their life into gaining. It should not be so among people of faith. If we know it, we should teach it. If we don't know it, we should receive it as a gift, and learn from it.

Prayer: God, thank you for the gift of wisdom. Help me, like Solomon, to devote my life to sharing it. 

1 Corinthians 4:14-20 A Parent in Christ

1 Corinthians 4:14-20 (NRSV)

​¹⁴I am not writing this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. ¹⁵For though you might have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers. Indeed, in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. ¹⁶I appeal to you, then, be imitators of me. ¹⁷For this reason I sent you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ Jesus, as I teach them everywhere in every church. ¹⁸But some of you, thinking that I am not coming to you, have become arrogant. ¹⁹But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. ²⁰For the kingdom of God depends not on talk but on power.

Observation: Paul reminds his church in Corinth that he is their "father" through the Gospel and they should imitate his life.

Application: I don't come from a faith tradition where leaders are referred to as "father" or "mother", so that language doesn't come naturally to me. But this passage from 1 Corinthians reminds me that God places people in our lives who invest their time in us, to be an example for us, and help us grow. And whether or not we acknowledge it, God has also placed us in others' lives, too, so that we can be their example. These are not necessarily blood relatives, but they're connected to us by circumstance, by our own decisions to make ourselves available, and most importantly by the Holy Spirit.

Prayer: God, my Loving Parent, help me to be a good parent, too. Help me invest my time and effort in being a good example for my kids, and for those you have placed in my life to learn from me. Amen. 

Zephaniah 3:1-13 Keeping Hope Alive

Zephaniah 3:1-13 (NRSV)

​¹Ah, soiled, defiled,
oppressing city!
²It has listened to no voice;
it has accepted no correction.
It has not trusted in the LORD;
it has not drawn near to its God.
³The officials within it
are roaring lions;
its judges are evening wolves
that leave nothing until the morning.
⁴Its prophets are reckless,
faithless persons;
its priests have profaned what is sacred,
they have done violence to the law.
⁵The LORD within it is righteous;
he does no wrong.
Every morning he renders his judgment,
each dawn without fail;
but the unjust knows no shame.
⁶I have cut off nations;
their battlements are in ruins;
I have laid waste their streets
so that no one walks in them;
their cities have been made desolate,
without people, without inhabitants.
⁷I said, "Surely the city will fear me,
it will accept correction;
it will not lose sight
of all that I have brought upon it."
But they were the more eager
to make all their deeds corrupt.
⁸Therefore wait for me, says the LORD,
for the day when I arise as a witness.
For my decision is to gather nations,
to assemble kingdoms,
to pour out upon them my indignation,
all the heat of my anger;
for in the fire of my passion
all the earth shall be consumed.
⁹At that time I will change the speech of the peoples
to a pure speech,
that all of them may call on the name of the LORD
and serve him with one accord.
¹⁰From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia
my suppliants, my scattered ones,
shall bring my offering.
¹¹On that day you shall not be put to shame
because of all the deeds by which you have rebelled against me;
for then I will remove from your midst
your proudly exultant ones,
and you shall no longer be haughty
in my holy mountain.
¹²For I will leave in the midst of you
a people humble and lowly.
They shall seek refuge in the name of the LORD —
¹³the remnant of Israel;
they shall do no wrong
and utter no lies,
nor shall a deceitful tongue
be found in their mouths.
Then they will pasture and lie down,
and no one shall make them afraid.

Observation: God's judgment on the city of Jerusalem is severe. Its leaders are like lions, its judges like wolves, its prophets faithless. Yet God promises not just to condemn but also to restore pure speech and a remnant of faithful people.

Application: It's easy to be overwhelmed by the headlines. I often am. I resonate deeply with Zephaniah's outrage at corruption in his day. Yet I also resonate with his hope, that God hasn't given up. God is still paying attention, and justice will reign. It is still worthwhile to be faithful to God, even in a seemingly faithless world. It's the only way to be.

Prayer: God, I pray for justice and peace. Be among us in this fallen world, and show us your mercy. Give us hope. In Jesus' name, amen.

Isaiah 44:9-17 Making of an Idol

Isaiah 44:9-17 (NRSV)

⁹All who make idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit; their witnesses neither see nor know. And so they will be put to shame. ¹⁰Who would fashion a god or cast an image that can do no good? ¹¹Look, all its devotees shall be put to shame; the artisans too are merely human. Let them all assemble, let them stand up; they shall be terrified, they shall all be put to shame.
¹²The ironsmith fashions it and works it over the coals, shaping it with hammers, and forging it with his strong arm; he becomes hungry and his strength fails, he drinks no water and is faint. ¹³The carpenter stretches a line, marks it out with a stylus, fashions it with planes, and marks it with a compass; he makes it in human form, with human beauty, to be set up in a shrine. ¹⁴He cuts down cedars or chooses a holm tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. ¹⁵Then it can be used as fuel. Part of it he takes and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it, makes it a carved image and bows down before it. ¹⁶Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he roasts meat, eats it and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, "Ah, I am warm, I can feel the fire!" ¹⁷The rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, bows down to it and worships it; he prays to it and says, "Save me, for you are my god!"

Observation: The prophet drives home the point that idols are of no value, and idolators are mere mortals, too, by describing how idols are made. The same artisans who cut down trees for warmth and to cook their food, fashion those trees into idols, and pray to them for help.

Application: We may not literally pray to idols made of wood or stone anymore, but we still turn some finite things--buildings, styles of music and worship, religious institutions--into idols. We focus on them so much that we forget they are meant to point past themselves. Nothing human made, not even churches, should be the object of our worship. If we find ourselves unable to connect with God without them, it is definitely time for some introspection and prayer.

Prayer: God, help us trust in you alone, and not in the works of our hands. Amen.

Hebrews 2:1-9 Why Humans?

Hebrews 2:1-9 (NRSV)

¹Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. ²For if the message declared through angels was valid, and every transgression or disobedience received a just penalty, ³how can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? It was declared at first through the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard him, ⁴while God added his testimony by signs and wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, distributed according to his will.
⁵Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. ⁶But someone has testified somewhere,
"What are human beings that you are mindful of them,
or mortals, that you care for them?
⁷You have made them for a little while lower than the angels;
you have crowned them with glory and honor,
⁸subjecting all things under their feet."
Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, ⁹but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

Observation: The author of Hebrews says that the coming world, in which God will reign forever, to angels, but to humans.

Application: Why humans? I sometimes wonder why God, who commands armies of angels and all the forces of nature, would entrust God's message to humans. We are frail, forgetful and selfish.

Granted, there are some key moments when angels share God's message--the Greek word "angel" literally means "messenger"--but mostly, God trusts human beings to share God's Word and ways with one another.

My best guess is this is because God doesn't want to be a puppet master. God wants a relationship with humanity, and relationships are based on free will. If the Kingdom were entrusted only to conquering angels, we'd listen and obey out of pure fear. But if we hear about it from friends, family and people we trust, it's the Spirit in our  own heads and hearts that can say "yes" to God.

Prayer: God, open my heart today, and open hearts through my words. Not with fiery angels but with love. Amen. 

Matthew 13:10-17 Seeing and Hearing

Matthew 13:10-17 (NRSV)

¹⁰Then the disciples came and asked him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" ¹¹He answered, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. ¹²For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. ¹³The reason I speak to them in parables is that 'seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.' ¹⁴With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says:
'You will indeed listen, but never understand,
and you will indeed look, but never perceive.
¹⁵For this people's heart has grown dull,
and their ears are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes;
so that they might not look with their eyes,
and listen with their ears,
and understand with their heart and turn —
and I would heal them.'
¹⁶But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. ¹⁷Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.

Observation: Jesus' disciples ask why he speaks in parables. He responds that this is a fulfilment of an Old Testament prophecy (Isaiah 6:9-10). He already knows his message will only be understood by a small group of people, so he doesn't try to water it down so everyone will get it.

Application: Everyone has a desire to be understood and liked. Christians, too. But sometimes Christians can convince themselves that they HAVE to be liked and understood, and it wouldn't hurt to also be popular and powerful, for the sake of the Gospel: so we can "get the message out there," and more people can experience saving faith in Christ.

Seems like Jesus himself was far less anxious about that. He knew ahead of time that his message wouldn't be widely embraced. Even his own disciples were famously bad at "getting it". But at least in this small group he found people committed to trusting him, following, and trying their best to do life his way.

Jesus did not spend his life trying to win over those who had already committed their lives to misunderstanding him. I don't see why we as his disciples should either.

Prayer: Jesus, help us to find our people of peace, who are ready to hear and receive you through our words and actions. Amen. 

Deuteronomy 28:1-14 The Law and Blessings

Deuteronomy 28:1-14 (NRSV)

¹If you will only obey the LORD your God, by diligently observing all his commandments that I am commanding you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth; ²all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the LORD your God:
³Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.
⁴Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your livestock, both the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock.
⁵Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
⁶Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
⁷The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you; they shall come out against you one way, and flee before you seven ways. ⁸The LORD will command the blessing upon you in your barns, and in all that you undertake; he will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. ⁹The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. ¹⁰All the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you. ¹¹The LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground in the land that the LORD swore to your ancestors to give you. ¹²The LORD will open for you his rich storehouse, the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all your undertakings. You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow. ¹³The LORD will make you the head, and not the tail; you shall be only at the top, and not at the bottom — if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I am commanding you today, by diligently observing them, ¹⁴and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I am commanding you today, either to the right or to the left, following other gods to serve them.

Observation: God promises blessings to the people if they follow the Law. Prosperity, status, security.

Application: I don't know that it's been my direct experience that life is good only when I'm following God's law. I find that God is pretty generous and patient even when I stumble. But I do find that when I'm intentionally focused on modeling my life after Jesus', I notice all the blessings God has already given.

Prayer: God, I believe you are more ready to bless than we are to receive. Help us to watch and give thanks for your many blessings, and use them to bless others. Amen. 

Romans 15:14-21 "Those Who Have Never Been Told"

Romans 15:14-21 (NRSV)

​¹⁴I myself feel confident about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. ¹⁵Nevertheless on some points I have written to you rather boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God ¹⁶to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁷In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to boast of my work for God. ¹⁸For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed, ¹⁹by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and as far around as Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the good news of Christ. ²⁰Thus I make it my ambition to proclaim the good news, not where Christ has already been named, so that I do not build on someone else's foundation, ²¹but as it is written,
"Those who have never been told of him shall see,
and those who have never heard of him shall understand."

Observation: Paul wraps up his letter to Roman Christians by saying he is confident in their ability to teach the faith to one another. He now expresses his sense of a call to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus to people who have never heard of him. 

Application: It is way too easy as a Christian, and even easier as a congregation, to become inwardly focused. When change happens, we think first, "how does this affect me?" When we're discussing important group choices, we think first, "How will our members feel about this? How does this serve their needs and interests? Will we get complaints? What if they decide to stop worshiping or stop giving? What about the financial future of our church?" We can fall a long way down the rabbit hole of worry and anxiety before we start to examine these thoughts and recognize them for what they are: distractions. 

Mind you, every congregation should make consensus-driven decisions. You need to agree as a group about how best to serve your mission. But if you are a church, and you accept Jesus' Great Commission to "go and make disciples of all nations," then your mission is not to please the people who are already part of your church. Your mission is to share Jesus with people outside of your church. People who don't know him or have a relationship with him. Yes, you need to trust and care for each other to do that. But you don't have to devote you entire focus to making each other comfortable. That's what clubs do. The Church is not a club. It's a movement. We exist to benefit those outside ourselves. 

Prayer: God, focus our eyes, our hearts, and our minds on those who desperately need your peace, your love, your grace. Give us the ability to tune out distractions as we seek to share you with those who most need to hear. 

John 13:1-7 For the Chronic Over-Explainers

John 13:1-7 (NRSV)

​¹Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. ²The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper ³Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, ⁴got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. ⁵Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. ⁶He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" ⁷Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand."

Observation: Jesus performs the act of a slave, washing his disciples' feet. When Peter questions him about it, Jesus doesn't explain himself. He says "later you will understand."

Application: There's a profound prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, which says in part, "grant that I may not so much seek to be understood as to understand." That's a hard one for me to pray and mean. You see, I am a chronic over-explainer. If you have received a long, carefully written email from me, you know what I mean...and I'm sorry about that. I'm trying to get better.

To be a Christian, and especially to be a Christian who leads and disciples other Christians, you have to occasionally do things people around you don't understand. Worse yet, things they won't understand and won't like. Even worse than that, things some will commit themselves rather dramatically to misunderstanding, and even convincing others to misunderstand as well. Jesus dealt with it. He knew Peter would eventually deal with it too. And what he did was profound: he let them not understand. At least for now. He did the loving thing, and he let his followers scratch their heads for a while. Mind you, Jesus does go on to explain his footwashing, but it would be a stretch to say they "get it" after that. And that's okay.

If you are a Christian leader (and let me be clear, if you are any kind of leader who is Christian--teacher, administrator, pastor, elected official, manager, parent--YOU are a Christian leader), you need to hear this: you are not responsible for making sure everyone understands and accepts everything you say and do. You are definitely responsible, within yourself, to examine what you say and do in light of your faith. But your students, your constituents, your customers and clients, your kids, do not need that full explanation each and every time. And as a dad of four, I can tell you that a full, reasoned explanation isn't what they want. They want to know you care for them. And you can't demonstrate that with just one post or email. That takes consistent compassionate actions over time. You don't have to make them understand. You have to keep doing the loving thing, and asking God for guidance. That's it.

Prayer: God, save me from the need to be understood. Help me seek instead to understand. Amen. 

Romans 3:1-8 Beyond "Live and Let Die"

Romans 3:1-8 (NRSV)

¹Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? ²Much, in every way. For in the first place the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. ³What if some were unfaithful? Will their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? ⁴By no means! Although everyone is a liar, let God be proved true, as it is written,
"So that you may be justified in your words,
and prevail in your judging."
⁵But if our injustice serves to confirm the justice of God, what should we say? That God is unjust to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) ⁶By no means! For then how could God judge the world? ⁷But if through my falsehood God's truthfulness abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? ⁸And why not say (as some people slander us by saying that we say), "Let us do evil so that good may come"? Their condemnation is deserved!

Observation: Paul is asking a really interesting question here. He admits that many of his fellow Jews have been unfaithful to their covenant with God. And yet, God has used human dishonesty to show God's own faithfulness. So essentially, Paul is asking, "should humankind be punished for bad actions that led to a good result?"

Application: For some strange reason, reading Romans 3 draws me back to the first time I heard the Wings song, Live and Let Die, from the 1973 James Bond film of the same name. I was a teenager in the 1990s, and I'd worked my way through the Beatles' catalog, excited to hear where Paul would go next. I was a little shocked, to be honest. Less than five years before, Paul was singing, All You Need is Love. Now, Live and Let Die. In five years we go from "Just do the right thing and let the chips fall where they may," to "Unless doing the wrong thing advances your mission, Mr. Bond." The whole point of the song was abandoned idealism. I was distraught.

The reason Romans 3 brings me to this point, I think, is because I'm wondering if our souls have a similar struggle at times. I'd venture to say in many situations, we know what the "right" thing to do is, but it isn't always easy; plus, throughout history, God has done such a great job at salvaging things even when we do the "wrong" thing. If God will just go fix it and forgive everybody later, why should I worry about the consequences of what I do? Isn't that what grace is for? 

Okay...in a word, no. That's not what grace is AT ALL. Grace is not some blanket coverage, get-out-of-hell-free card that you are issued at the moment of baptism. The truth is, grace isn't for the comfortable. Grace is for the desperate and despairing, hanging on tight to the end of their rope;  it's not for the confident and secure, who think nothing of cutting someone else's. Sometimes we need to really sit with the consequences of our actions, even the actions we thought were for the greater good. If we dare to say "live and let die," we need to be prepared to attend some wakes and sit with some families. Grace is at the end of that journey, not the beginning. Maybe All You Need Is Love would be a better starting point. 

Prayer: God, help me be uncomfortable sometimes. Help me hang on tight with those who are at the end of their ropes. Help me repent, and to value your grace as a true and blessed surprise, every time.