Is This the Same Elijah?

1 Kings 19:1-9  - Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”

Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”  Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.

All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.”  He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.”  So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.  There he went into a cave and spent the night.

You may have noticed that today’s reading immediately follows the dramatic showdown on Mount Carmel between Elijah and the prophets of Baal we read yesterday.  What a stark contrast we see in our hero Elijah!  The cocky bravado on Mount Carmel has turned into running for his life and praying that he might die.  The blatant defiance of King Ahab has turned into desperate fleeing from Ahab’s treacherous Baal-worshipping wife Jezebel.  Oh the ups and downs of a prophet!

It’s not just prophets that are plagued with this roller coaster ride.  I remember the day I performed my first wedding.  My memory of that day is glorious even 28 years later.  I was serving a charge of four small country churches in northeast Georgia as a student pastor and the wedding was in the largest of those churches, Raytown UMC.  I was really nervous about the wedding which was to take place right after worship that Sunday.  It was a really fun day.  The church was full (not the norm), the worship was lively, my sermon was awesome (that’s the way I choose to remember it 😉), and the wedding went off without a hitch despite my nervousness.  It really was a great day.

Barbara and I drove back to Atlanta late that afternoon because I had seminary classes the next day.  That night we had dinner with some friends and after dinner we were visiting and laughing and I was telling them about our wonderful day of ministry when the phone rang.  The deep voice of Nolan, my Lay Leader from Raytown was on the other end of the call. 

“Eric, my heart is broken.  Our church just burned down.”

I don’t remember the rest of the conversation after that because I felt like I had been punched in the stomach by Muhammad Ali. 

We drove back over the next morning and I will never forget the sight of seeing nothing but smoldering ashes surrounding the brick stairway to what used to be a beautiful 104-year-old wooden country church building.  Many of the church members were there buried in their grief for a loss they had no words to express.

The feeling I remember that day was the exact opposite of the day before.  I had felt affirmed and confident in my call the day before.  Now I was feeling like these grieving people needed a way more gifted pastor than I to help them through that time.  But they had me and I honestly felt sorry for them and for myself.  Although Elijah had much more justification than I, I certainly identify with his little pity party before God.

“Get up and eat,” the messenger Angel said to Elijah.  It took two times before Elijah resumed his journey. 

I don’t remember how my little pity party ended, but somehow, God also gave me the strength to “get up” and resume my work.  Raytown UMC and I muddled through the next few months and exactly 200 days after the church burned, we worshipped in and consecrated a new church building, another ministry high for me.

The life of following God is for most of us a series of ups and downs.  The temptation sometimes is to get off the roller coaster.  But God’s gentle message to us in those dark moments is “get up.”  You need strength for the road ahead and so I’ve provided some nourishment.  Elijah went on to many more years of faithful service after that day under the broomy bush when he wanted to die.  We can all do the same in the strength that the same God of Elijah provides. 

 

Prayer:  God help us look for your provision when we feel unable to keep going.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people who are planning to take some time off this summer (including me).  Pray that God will give them the nourishment and support they need to “get up” and resume the long journey.

 

Song: Matt Redman – You Never Let Go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NM14VZVu0og

Day of Elijah

Long scripture but one of my favorite OT stories.  It’s my birthday, so indulge me!  1 Kings 18:16-39

So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah.  When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”

“I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals.  Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.  Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”

But the people said nothing.

Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.  Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it.  Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.”

Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”

Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.”  So they took the bull given them and prepared it.

Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.

At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.”  So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed.  Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.

Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs[a] of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”

“Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.

 

“Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time.  The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.

At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.  Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”

 

I love Elijah’s bravado that stems from not just his unflinching faith in the power of God, but his conviction that he could call upon that power.  I aspire to that kind of faith-full confidence.  I’m guessing I’m not alone. 

 

Though he occupies relatively few verses in scripture, Elijah is a towering figure in the faith of Israel.  Every year at Passover dinners in Jewish households, one of the cups prepared is the cup of Elijah, a remembrance that Elijah is prophesied to be the precursor to the coming of the Messiah.  The cup is prepared as a welcome to the salvation the returning Elijah ushers in. 

 

Jesus suggests that John the Baptist is the returning Elijah in Matthew 11:12-15

“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it.  For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.  And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.  Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

 

Today we celebrate the faith and power of Elijah that continues to inspire new generations of prophets challenging injustice and speaking truth and challenge to the powers that be.  Lord knows we need those prophets to step forward now.

 

Prayer:  Lord, send a new generation of prophets to call us all to justice for all your people.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for leaders at every level to seek God’s guidance for the challenges we face right now.

 

Song:  Robin Mark – Days of Elijah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca9LnzJnpjQ

If You Could Ask for Just One Thing …

 

1 Kings 3:4-15 - The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.

“Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.  Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.  So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.  So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice,  I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.  Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.  And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.”  Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream.

 

 

We will give a one-day shout out to Solomon, David’s son.  After all, he was the one chosen by God to build the first Temple in Jerusalem, an event of such importance that it cannot be overstated.  But for me, the most significant thing about Solomon was that he goes down in history as an icon of wisdom and discernment. 

 

“From all nations people came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.”                             1 Kings 4:34

 

God asks the young Solomon what he wants and he doesn’t choose wealth, women, power, or the death of his enemies.  He asks for wisdom.  Asking for wisdom is itself wisdom.  Proverbs 4:7 states:

“The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.”

So before God grants Solomon wisdom, Solomon displays it.  God gives him more.  Solomon uses it.  And using wisdom actually leads to more wisdom.

The reality is that God didn’t just choose Solomon to have wisdom.  God desires that we all have it and use it.  James 1:5 reminds us that, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

When was the last time you asked God for wisdom?  When was the last time you put some wisdom God gave you to good use?

 

Prayer:  Lord, give us wisdom and discernment for these uncertain days. Amen

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for our country today that has been further divided by the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the US Supreme Court.

 

Song:  Wisdom Song - Laura Woodley Osman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMnIVe4-QUY

David Unfiltered

 

Psalm 142 – A Psalm of David

I cry aloud to the Lord;

    I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy.

I pour out before him my complaint;

    before him I tell my trouble.

When my spirit grows faint within me,

    it is you who watch over my way.

In the path where I walk

    people have hidden a snare for me.

Look and see, there is no one at my right hand;

    no one is concerned for me.

I have no refuge;

    no one cares for my life.

I cry to you, Lord;

    I say, “You are my refuge,

    my portion in the land of the living.”

Listen to my cry,

    for I am in desperate need;

rescue me from those who pursue me,

    for they are too strong for me.

Set me free from my prison,

    that I may praise your name.

Then the righteous will gather about me

    because of your goodness to me.

 

We couldn’t leave David without at least talking about one of his Psalms.  David was a prolific writer of these songs of comfort, lament, joy, and wisdom.  No one knows for sure how many he wrote, but most scholars are pretty sure he wrote Psalm 142 above when he was in a cave hiding from Saul, who was trying to kill him.

I find it compelling that David thought to write down his thoughts to God all the while knowing Saul could show up with soldiers to kill him at any moment.  For me, that’s one of the powers of the Psalms; they capture raw emotion and stream of consciousness in the heat of a moment.  This psalm above reads like a pity party – “no one is concerned for me. . .I have no refuge. . . no one cares for my life.”  Poor David.  Poor David indeed.  He’s not holding anything back.  I would submit to you that’s a good thing.

How often do we try to “clean up” our prayers before we utter them to God?  I’m sure David did that from time to time, but the Psalms show us that David and other Psalm composers mostly just let God have the unfiltered version.  I honestly believe that God prefers it.  God prefers the real cry of our heart, not the “prettied up” version as if we would impress the Almighty with our prose.  What God wants is a relationship with you… the real you.  David knew that so he just laid his soul bare before God.  Maybe we should do that too.

 

Prayer:  God, I want to tell you about the real condition of my soul today. . .

 

Prayer Focus/Challenge:  I challenge you to write your psalm today.  What are the unfiltered thought and feelings swirling around inside of you today.  Write them down and offer them to God.

 

Song:  Amy Grant – Better Than a Hallelujah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm5kx3xqmg0

David & Bathsheba

  

David, Bathsheba, & Birth of Solomon – 2 Samuel 11-12

 

Yesterday, we held up David’s honorable nature displayed in his treatment of Saul.  Today we read about the dishonorable side of his nature in the events concerning Bathsheba and Uriah her husband. Adultery, murder, cover-up abound in this story.  David sleeps with Uriah’s wife, has him killed, then tries to cover it up.  He marries Bathsheba. The prophet Nathan cleverly confronts his hideous behavior and David sees his despicable behavior for what it is.  Then in chapter 12, we learn that Solomon, the future king of Israel is born to Bathsheba.  If you were to read the rest of the book of 2 Samuel, you would learn that David’s life is never the same after this whole affair.  His actions set in motion a cascade of actions that would continue to stir dissension and unrest in his house for the rest of his days.  It is really quite tragic. 

My aim in these devotions is to always try to offer a hopeful word.  And there is hope in the end of David’s story.  Despite his flawed character, God used him to establish the united Kingdom of Israel, a nation that persists to this day.  He is the author of many Psalms that continue to comfort and inspire millions. He is remembered as a “man after God’s own heart.”  Despite the dismal last chapter of his life, David shaped the hopes of a nation for a Messiah that persisted until Christ came.  Taken as a whole, David’s life is still heroic.

But today’s episode is undeniably a cautionary tale.  Following our unhealthy desires have consequences that cannot be undone.  The sin can be forgiven, but the natural consequences remain.  David came to accept that and found peace with God in the end.  His last recorded words give testimony to that in 2 Samuel 23.  But if he sees Bathsheba and walks away, his life doesn’t spiral out of control like it did.  Our choices matter, sometimes a lot.  I’m going to let that sit with us today. 

 

Prayer:  God help us keep our thoughts and actions steered toward the ways that you teach us.  Help us to sincerely repent (turn away) when we stray. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for those who are dealing with the consequences of their ill-chosen actions.

 

Song:  Your Heart (David) – Chris Tomlin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aWEhNqnjuY

David and Saul

 

1 Samuel 24 – David Spares Saul’s Life – I urge to actually read this fascinating story.

 

No one would have questioned David’s killing of Saul.  At the moment, Saul (David’s Father-in-law at this point) was trying to hunt down and kill David.  Saul had just slaughtered dozens of priests just because they helped David.  David had already been anointed to be King by the Prophet Samuel and Saul was doing everything he could to prevent that from happening.

But just because you CAN do something without repercussions doesn’t mean you should.  David was ready to be King, but the way he became King was important to him.  He sought to be an honorable King and if he killed Saul, no one would have faulted him for it.  However, they also would quietly begin to see him in the same light as Saul.  His sparing of Saul accomplished something even better than his killing of Saul would have.  Others witnessed the honorable way in which David had treated the King and this made them love David even more.  In other words, David gained future respect and devotion by denying himself revenge in the present. He also glorifies God by his choice.

There is a lot of talk about rights these days.

“I have a right not to wear a mask.”

“I have a right speak my mind on facebook.”

“I have a right to fly the Confederate flag.”

I have to admit the truth;  the people who say such things are correct.  They do have the right to do such things.  Once again though. . .just because you CAN do something doesn’t mean you should.  God calls us to much higher standards then “what we can get away with.”  We are called to the following:

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,  not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” (Philippians 2:3-4)

Just like David, we can gain future respect for caring for others now.  However, caring for others now sometimes involves doing unpopular things and/or things that are not convenient for us to do.  They might even include doing things we really don’t want to do. Nevertheless, that is what we are called to do  - not for our sake, but for the sake of others – not for our glory, but for the glory of God. 

What we need desperately right now are people with hearts of peace instead of war, people with hands of caring instead of mouths shouting in anger, and people with a fire in their belly for truth instead of minds resigned to indifference.

Do something BETTER than you what you can get away with today.

 

Prayer:  Prince of Peace, teach us your higher ways of peace, love, and wisdom.  Help us to be better for the sake of others and your Kingdom Lord. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for God to show you one thing you can do today for others that no one would never notice if you didn’t do.

 

Song:  Puddles the Clown – Cover of Elvis Costello’s “What so Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding?”

I chose this version because Puddles voice is so clear and the lyrics are very understandable.  (plus I just love the irony of a clown singing this poignant song)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfWfLOX2-2c

David and Goliath

Read 1 Samuel 17 – It’s too long to post here. It’s the story of David and Goliath.  See if you notice details that you didn’t know about before.  I’ll be here when you come back.

 

This story has been used to illustrate how any battle can be won with the Lord’s help for ages.  This is a true and worthy “moral” of the story, but there’s so much more here.  Malcolm Gladwell actually wrote a whole book based on this story with a really original title, David and Goliath.  His angle on this story is that David simply saw this situation differently than everyone else and that is the foundation for his victory.  Goliath was big and slow; David was small and fast.  Goliath was pretty much impervious to traditional weapons, so David chose a sling.  David was just as skilled at using the sling as Goliath was with a spear. (For a demonstration of how deadly a sling could be, go here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWHV2WYdfTI )  Gladwell, and other Biblical scholars, believe David knew all this and saw Goliath as the underdog - hence, his bravado with Saul about “taking care of this Philistine.”

Some will argue, “but this takes God out of the equation.”  I say, “How?”  Why would God choose David, a shepherd, whose primary weapon is a sling, to become the leader of Israel.  Because Israel would need a leader who saw the world differently than most.  When the masses were fearful, David was confident.  When all the experts saw disadvantages, David saw advantages.  God prepared David’s vision and skills to match the Goliath moment perfectly.  This way of looking at this story is way more powerful and faith-inspiring to me than a “magical shot” with a smooth stone. 

This is why people who soon be shouting, “Saul has killed his thousands, David his ten thousands.”  It was clear to the people that God had chosen him, prepared him, and was blessing his leadership.  This is what they wanted when they asked Samuel for a King.  However, David’s adversity was just beginning. We pick up with that tomorrow.

 

Prayer:  God you have chosen me, prepared me, and will bless me in the work you have called me to do.  Give me David’s brand of confidence to do that work.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for God’s leadership of our leaders as they face the issues of our day. 

 

Song:  Petra – The Battle Belongs to the Lord

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLZJZsRJIC0

Samuel (Intro to David)

  

Long scripture today as we begin a week focusing on David, one of my OT favorites:

1 Samuel 16:1-13

The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”

But Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.”

The Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’  Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.”

Samuel did what the Lord said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, “Do you come in peace?”

Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.”

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.”  Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the Lord chosen this one.”  Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.”  So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”

“There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.”

Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”

So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features.

Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.”

So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah.

 

So all this week, we’re going to talk about David, but to talk about David, you’ve got to talk about Samuel first.  If the prophet Samuel doesn’t carefully attend to and discern the Lord’s guidance, David has no shot of being considered as a candidate to be anointed King.  Samuel has enormous power here (Notice that the Elsers of Bethlehem tremble when Samuel arrives).  Who he anoints will be seen by most as God’s chosen leader of Israel. 

 

While very powerful, Samuel also has a dangerous responsibility.  When he anoints someone else to be the next King, he will almost certainly incur the wrath of the current King, who in this case, is Saul. And Saul can easily have Samuel removed or even killed.  So his instruction from God to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as King must have weighed heavily on him.

 

I love the conversation between Samuel and God while Jesse brings his sons, one by one to him.

“Surely this one, Lord”

“Nope, not that one.”

“How about this one?”

Nope!”

This continues until seemingly there is no one left.  But God says, “none of these.”

So Jesse admits there is one more son, but he’s not present.

“So, get him; we’ll wait here.”

They fetch David and the moment he arrives, God whispers to Samuel, “That’s the one; anoint him.”

Samuel does as he’s told and David becomes the chosen one.  But multiple reasons, this should have never happened.  The youngest of eight sons is chosen to be King.  That never happens.  Someone other than someone related to the current king is chosen; that rarely happens.  A shepherd? Forget it.  If God doesn’t choose David AND Samuel doesn’t follow God’s guidance, David would NEVER be King.

Often, in the Bible and in our lives now, the way is paved for a well-known “hero” by someone who will never get the credit.  The big deal is not the credit but the way being paved.  We pave the way for each other.  I often pray that God will help me help others succeed in ways in which I’ll never be informed.  The beautiful thing about that is I can only assume that God is answering it.  I just keep paving.  I hope you will too.

 

Prayer:  God help us be way-pavers that are not worried about who gets the credit.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for God to show you what you could do today to make someone’s life even a little bit easier.

 

Song:  Leeland – Way Maker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJCV_2H9xD0

Ruth

 

Ruth 1:16-18 - But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.  Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”  When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

                                                                               

The book of Ruth is always been peculiar to me.  It is, relatively speaking, an ordinary story.  No miraculous military conquest, no red-sea-like drama, or dramatic revelation from God. There is hardly a mention of God.  Ruth is important in Hebrew history because she is David’s great-grandmother.  But her story, although not overly dramatic, is heroic nonetheless.

 

Ruth loses her husband and Naomi, her mother-in-law, also loses her husband.  Instead of returning to her homeland, Ruth decides to stay with Naomi and remains devoted to her the rest of her life.  It is a touching and inspiring decision that eventually leads to her and Naomi’s redemption.  Ruth is celebrated in the festival of Shavuot as a model of loyalty and devotion.  That would be enough to celebrate but there are at least a few other significant things we can take from the story of Ruth:

 

God is concerned about all people regardless of race, nationality, or status.  Ruth was not a Jew. She was a Moabite. Even though many discriminated against her, the fact that a Moabite is celebrated as part of the David’s (and thus Jesus’s) ancestry is a powerful statement that all have a role to play in God’s plan.  In addition, Men and women are both equally important to God. In the midst of a patriarchal biblical narrative, the book of Ruth holds up the value of women in God’s story. There is no such thing as an unimportant person in God’s eyes, regardless of sex, ethnicity, or history.

 

At a surface level, few saw Ruth as an important person. She was from Moab, which was a nation that originated from an incestuous encounter between Lot and one of his daughters She was a poor widow. She was living in a foreign land away from her birth family.  God’s plan includes people who are considered to be unimportant or unimpressive from a human perspective.

 

Prayer:  God help me to see people the way you do.  Help me to see myself as you do. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for race relations in this country and across the world.

 

Song:  Aiton Birnbaum – Song of Ruth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0MZO7kQW7Y

Tough Act to Follow

 

Joshua 1:1-6 - After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide:  “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites.  I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.  Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.  No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.                  

 

How’d you like to be the leader to follow Moses?  Such was the task given to Joshua.  Not only that, he is given the task of finishing what Moses was supposed to do – lead the Israelites into the promised land.  Joshua had the blessing of Moses to do this, but still, how hard would that be?  It had to be hard for Moses to not get to finish the task of his lifetime and to still be gracious enough to bless Joshua to do in his place.  How hard for Joshua to try and walk in Moses shoes. 

So today we celebrate leaders with the humility of Moses and the courage of Joshua.  These two Old Testament heroes move God’s promise to Abraham forward through the establishment of a homeland for God’s chosen people that endures to this day.  So have others in our own day. Take some time to thank God for the leaders that have made God’s promise more real to you.  If you have the opportunity, tell them what they have meant to you.  If they have already passed, thank God for them.  I will name one of mine here.

His name is John Ortberg.  I don’t know him personally, but I have followed his career, listened to his sermons and read his books since I was a first year full-time pastor twenty-eight years ago.  His ministry has shaped my own and helped my faith to grow more than any other one influence in my life.  He helped grow two different churches into ministries of international significance.  I thank God for him. 

Who are your spiritual heroes and why?  Maybe you never thought about it, but I believe there is value in taking time to remember that you didn’t get where you are by yourself.  It helps you be motivated to do the same for those coming up after you.   I’m guessing that it did indeed pain Moses not to be able to lead God’s people into the promised land.  However, I’m quite sure that if he couldn’t do it, there is no one Moses would have rather see do it than Joshua.  Who are your Moses’s and who are your Joshua’s?

 

Prayer:  God thank you for the leaders that have made us who we are.  Help us to do the same for others.  Amen

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for God to raise up a new generation of leaders to carry God’s kingdom forward in this critical time.

 

Song:  Josh Groban – Thankful

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBEI1F22uqE

What’s With Moses's "Magic" Staff?

 

Exodus 17:8-13 - The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.  Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”

So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill.  As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.  When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset.  So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

 

Self-reliance is NOT a biblical virtue.  That might need repeating because it is hard for us rugged individualists to hear.  Self-reliance is not a biblical virtue.  The stories of our biblical heroes we are journeying through show over and over that the heroes and she-roes of our faith did not do what they did by their own power and skill.  They relied first and foremost upon God’s strength, but they also relied on other people.  This story of the Israelites battle with the Amalekites illustrates both,

Moses instructs Joshua, his military commander, to go and fight the enemy. Moses’s role would be to simply hold up God’s staff.  This is a crazy strategy if you think about it.  Imagine a modern day battlefield where the only thing the General does is hold up an iPad.  Holding up something brings no advantage UNLESS that act of holding something up is an act of complete surrender and dependence on God.  God had given the staff to Moses to signify that God’s power was with the Israelites.  Moses held the staff up to remind himself and all who fought that God was with them. 

But even this act of faith is not sustainable alone.  If you doubt this, try holding just your arms straight out from your side for one minute.  Go ahead; I’ll wait.  I’m guessing it wasn’t really hard, but imagine doing that all day long.  It’s humanly impossible on our own.  So invariably, when Moses held up his staff, his arms eventually failed him. He couldn’t sustain even this simple act of faith.  So others stepped in and held up his arms.  All of a sudden, an impossible task becomes easy.  The battle is won because God’s power is invoked not just by the leader, but by the entire community.  That is God’s desire – that we trust him together.  We invoke his presence and power together.  It brings Jesus statement into greater focus; when two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

Our faith is not an individual faith.  We do our faithing together or we fail.  This is a harder proposition right now, so we have to work a little harder at it.  But there are ways to “hold each up” no matter the circumstances.  I know because many of you have been doing it for me.  You send me encouraging emails or cards in the mail.  You are encouraging and kind in social media posts on our worship services. Some of you have even called me. I want you to know that really helps me. Do these things for each other as well.  We’re all having trouble “holding up our staffs” right now.  Let’s find ways to do it together. 

 

Prayer:  Hold us together Lord. Show us the ways we can rely on your power together in these challenging times.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for churches that are on the verge of closing right now because all that’s happening and thank God that our church is NOT one of them.

 

Song:  United We Stand - Brotherhood of Man

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=460INShy3BU

Moses & the Red Sea

 

Exodus 14:21-31 - Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and God, with a terrific east wind all night long, made the sea go back. He made the sea dry ground. The seawaters split.
The Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground with the waters a wall to the right and to the left. The Egyptians came after them in full pursuit, every horse and chariot and driver of Pharaoh racing into the middle of the sea. It was now the morning watch. God looked down from the Pillar of Fire and Cloud on the Egyptian army and threw them into a panic. He clogged the wheels of their chariots; they were stuck in the mud.
The Egyptians said, “Run from Israel! God is fighting on their side and against Egypt!”
God said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea and the waters will come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots, over their horsemen.”
Moses stretched his hand out over the sea: As the day broke and the Egyptians were running, the sea returned to its place as before. God dumped the Egyptians in the middle of the sea. The waters returned, drowning the chariots and riders of Pharaoh’s army that had chased after Israel into the sea. Not one of them survived.
 But the Israelites walked right through the middle of the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall to the right and to the left. God delivered Israel that day from the oppression of the Egyptians. And Israel looked at the Egyptian dead, washed up on the shore of the sea, and realized the tremendous power that God brought against the Egyptians. The people were in reverent awe before God and trusted in God and his servant Moses.                        
 
  It took a lot to convince Moses to do what God had asked.  But once he was in, he was all in.  He boldly went to Pharaoh many times to demand that the Israelites be let go.  And after 10 nasty plagues, including the last plague which took the life of Pharaoh’s son, Pharaoh relented and allowed the Israelites to leave.  Then after they had left Pharaoh changed his mind and began to pursue them with his army of chariots.  The Israelites were trapped between the Red Sea and the Egyptian army.  And the rest is the stuff of legends and Hollywood movies.  God delivered them through the sea and destroyed Pharaoh’s army. 
  God delivered an entire nation and he used the all-in Moses to do it.  God did it, but the trust and obedience of God’s people was a necessary part of it.  Why?  Why couldn’t God just simply deliver them whether they trusted or not?  The truth is God could have.  But what God is interested in is a relationship with the Israelites, not just to take care of them.

  God is not a helicopter parent.  God doesn’t swoop in every time there is adversity and take care of everything so God's children don’t ever experience stress. God didn’t do that for the Israelites and God doesn’t do that for you or me.  However, it is through trust and obedience to God’s guidance that we find our way through the “Red Seas” of life.  There are times when it looks like that trust and obedience is foolish and it’s not going to work out.  If the message of the entire Old Testament could be boiled down to one sentence, I believe it would be “trust and obey God anyway.”
  I need to hear this right now when the news about the pandemic, economic stresses, and war just keeps coming.  Trust and obey God anyway.  When people seem to get more impatient and turn on each other instead of helping, trust and obey God anyway.  When leaders create more chaos than solutions, trust and obey God anyway.  When hate seems to be winning and love seems nowhere to be found, trust and obey God anyway.  Fill in the first part of the sentence with anything you want but the second part of the sentence is always “trust and obey God anyway.”
 
Prayer:  God, many of us are feeling like we’re in between treacherous waters and an overwhelmingly powerful murderous army.  Help us to trust and obey you anyway.
 
Prayer focus:  Pray for peace for the tens of thousands of people waiting to the results of medical tests right now.
 
Song: Pharaoh, Pharaoh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PkMC7O1lq0

The Calling of Moses

 

(Long Scripture not included here)  Read Exodus 3:1 – 4:16

 

A much longer scripture today so I’ll keep it short.  This story of Moses’ call is very dear to me.  I so identify with Moses’s objections to what God wanted him to do.  I could not imagine myself doing what God was calling me to do over thirty years ago.  I was quite sure I did not have the skills to be a pastor.  I so wanted God to send someone else. 

Like God was with Moses, God was patient with me.    Every objection was slowly and quietly met with encouragement and comfort.  There were people saying just the right words at just the right time.  However, God did not relent.  It was six years that I kept resisting, so I was much more stubborn than Moses.  But God did not stop.

Here’s the bottom line.  If you pay attention to the language used in the scripture.  God was not asking Moses if he would like to go lead the Israelites out of Egypt.  He said, “I am sending you.”  God was not asking me either.  He was saying, “Eric, I’m sending you.”

At least one someone reading this is hearing those same words, “I’m sending you.”  My encouragement, and Moses’s encouragement if he were writing this would be simply this; obey.

I shudder to think what I would have missed if I kept saying no.  I shudder to think what would have been if God had given up on me.  But God never will.  God won’t ever give up on you either.  Obey.  I promise you’ll never forget it.

 

Prayer: When you call us Lord, help us through our objections so we can obey.  Your plan is our best plan. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people who struggling with God’s call

 

Song:  Go Down Moses – Louie Armstrong

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP5EfwBWgg0

Moses

 

Exodus 2:1-10 - Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman,  and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months.  But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.  His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”

“Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother.  Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”                               

 

Like Abraham, Moses is revered by many of the world’s faith traditions.  Unlike the story of Abraham, which begins with Abraham already being an old man, Moses’s story begins with his birth.  God’s activity in his life begins before he is aware of it – long before.  Moses is grown before he really acknowledges God’s activity in his life in any meaningful way.  But that’s a story for tomorrow. 

Today, we remember his birth.  The story of Exodus is the story of God delivering His people from slavery in Egypt.  And that story begins with the birth of Moses.  Pharaoh had ordered all baby males to be executed in order to control the Hebrew population, but Moses is saved by his clever mother who actually gets paid to take care of her son for Pharaoh’s daughter.  The irony of this is so thick that it seems divinely orchestrated, which is the storyteller’s point.  Moses, who Pharaoh wanted dead, ends up growing up in his own house.  Pharaoh actually has a hand in preparing Moses to be the leader that will be the incarnation of Pharaoh’s own fears about the Hebrew people.  No wonder so many movies have been made about this story!

Although few of us have lives as dramatically providential as the birth and early life of Moses, the writer of Exodus would love us to see that God works in similar ways in all of our lives as well.  Clever parents, strangers who show us kindness, sworn enemies, and others all knowingly or unknowingly play a role is God’s providential plan for our lives.  God is not above using anyone or anything to serve specific purposes in our lives.

Much, much later in the history of the world, John Wesley would call this attribute of God prevenient grace – grace that works in our life before we know from where it came.  This grace has been at work in your life just as was in the life of Moses.  Take some time today to look back on your history to see God’s fingerprints.  It might just change your life. 

 

Prayer:  God of prevenient grace, help us to see how you’ve been up to something in us long before we were aware of it.  Amen

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for God’s protection of children today all over the world – in poverty, in cages, in broken homes, in “the system,” or wherever children are in danger.

 

Song:  Through Heaven’s Eyes – Brian Stokes Mitchell (From “The Prince of Egypt” soundtrack)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mSCu4DRMHo

Seeing in the Dark

I apologize for missing on Thursday;  I’m trying to make amends by posting on Saturday. 😊

 

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.  By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.  For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.  And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise.  And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.                                   Hebrews 11:8-12

 

I finished up yesterday by suggesting that the fact that we are unable to understand the who, what, where, when, and whys of what God does is actually forms the basis for deeper trust in God.  This seems counterintuitive because from our experience with human relationships, the less we understand someone, the less we trust them.  And at first, this is how it is with God.  We learn more about God and it seems like we can trust a bit more with our growing relationship.  We find God faithful and that our prayers seem to be answered and our life is blessed.  Our trust grows. 

But sooner or later, something terrible happens that seems to call that trust into question. We lose someone we never thought we would.  We are stricken with a terrible illness or tragedy.  Or like Abraham, we are faced with a terrible choice that one should never have to make.  As we talked about yesterday, these events force us to see that God is “wholly other.”  We are reminded of the words of Isaiah:

                “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,  neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.   (Isaiah 55:8-9)

This wholly otherness of God causes a crisis of faith;  are we going to trust God despite what I cannot comprehend or overlook or do I walk away.  Most people face this crisis at some point in their life.  Some even face moments like this more than once.  Soren Kierkegaard, one of my favorite theologians, spoke of these moments as the most important in forging deep faith that goes beyond reason and common sense.  One of his more famous quotes alludes to this:

“Faith sees best in the dark.”

Here’s the larger quote from Kierkegaard’s Gospel of Suffering:

“The believer humanly comprehends how heavy the suffering is, but in faith’s wonder that it is beneficial to him, he devoutly says: It is light. Humanly he says: It is impossible, but he says it again in faith’s wonder that what he humanly cannot understand is beneficial to him. In other words, when sagacity (definition of sagacity: acuteness of mental discernment and soundness of judgment) is able to perceive the beneficialness, then faith cannot see God; but when in the dark night of suffering sagacity cannot see a handbreadth ahead of it, then faith can see God, since faith sees best in the dark.”

The promise to Abraham was indeed fulfilled, but Abraham never got to see it in his life on earth.  But what is obvious is that Abraham was able to see God in the darkness of that unfulfilled promise and keep obeying anyway.  We are all sons and daughters of Abraham.  May we all inherit his unshakable trust in God, even in the darkness.

 

Prayer:  God, give us faith that sees in the dark. Amen

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for God to give you the name of someone to invite to online worship tomorrow.

 

Song: I double-dog dare you to dance along to this one as we wrap up our celebration of Abraham.

Father Abraham - Kids on the Move

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASXowiv3FAc