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Seek God

June 3, 2015 by Leave a Comment

fromthisday

From this Day Forward – Seek God*
Sycamore Creek Church
May 31 & June 1, 2015
Tom Arthur

Peace friends!

You’ve heard of Chuck Norris jokes, right?

At Chuck Norris’ wedding, instead of flower girls dropping flower petals, they were tossing dead ninjas to walk on.

After his wedding, Chuck Norris sent “You’re Welcome” cards to his guests.

Chuck Norris is starring in the sequel to “Four Weddings and a Funeral”.  It’s called “Four Funerals and a Funeral.”

Chuck Norris tried to be romantic once, so he wrote a love letter to his girlfriend. It went something like this: Chuck Norris.  She married him.

Ok, maybe Chuck Norris isn’t the best model for how to live a happy marriage.  So today we’re beginning a new five-week series called From This Day Forward.  For those of you not married, we want to spend the next five-weeks helping you prepare for marriage someday.  For those of you who are married we want to make your marriage better.  And if you’re single and have no plans for marriage, there’s nothing more holy about being married than being single.  Jesus was single after all.

When we get married there are some stereotypical dreams many of us have.  If you’re a lady, you probably dreamt a lot about the wedding, what kind of dress you’d wear, how many kids you’d have, what you’d name them, how you’d write your name.  If you were a man you maybe dreamt of having sex twice a day and three times on Sunday.  So how many of you are still dreaming?  Some of us may be asking, is a good marriage possible? Today I am celebrating 18 years of marriage, and I can tell you that the answer to this question is: Yes, a good marriage is possible, but it is not likely if you do what everyone else is doing.

Divorce Statistics
According to a New York Times article summarizing the current research on divorce, the divorce rate is thankfully on the decline.  In the 1970s-1980s it was 45-50%.  But current trends still show a 33% divorce rate.  The reason for this decline is complicated.  One key reason is people are getting married older.  In 1890, Men got married at age 26 and women at age 22.  In 1950 men got married at age 23 and women at age 20.  But in 2004 men were getting married at age 27 and women at age 26.  Research also shows that the more education and income you have, the less likely you are to divorce.  Although if you make less and have less education, the divorce rates are comparable to the 70s & 80s.  Add to this continued change in gender roles.  2/3 of divorces are initiated by women (Men, you better pay attention the next five weeks!).  The social acceptability of single parenting has reduced the number of “shotgun weddings.”  And the feminist revolution of the 70s & 80s has slowly begun to find a new normal for gender roles in a marriage.  All of these things have contributed to a decline in the divorce rate.

Although there is one more big reason the divorce rate is in decline: fewer people are getting married.  More people are cohabitating, living together without getting married.  More cohabitation = more “breakups” rather than more “divorces.” According to an Atlantic Magazine article, in the 1960s there were less than 500,000 people cohabitating.  In 1996 that number jumped up to 2.9 million, but by 2012 7.8 million people were cohabitating.

This raises an interesting question: should you “test drive” the relationship before you decide to “buy” the marriage?  While this may sound like common sense, research has shown that cohabitation can have a negative effect both on the quality of marriage and the length of it: “The likelihood that a marriage would last for a decade or more decreased by six percentage points if the couple had cohabited first” (New York Time article).  Prof. Pamela J. Smock—PhD, University of Michigan—says, “From the perspective of many young adults, marrying without living together first seems quite foolish…Just because some academic studies have shown that living together may increase the chance of divorce somewhat, young adults themselves don’t believe that” (New York Time article).  So if you want to do what everyone else is doing, live together before you get married.  But if you want to give yourself the best chance for a healthy long-lasting marriage, do what no one else is doing: wait to move in until you’ve made the life-long commitment.

So if you’re an average person, you’ve got a 33% rate of divorce in your marriage.  What other area are you satisfied with a 33% chance of negative outcomes?  33% chance of getting cancer from eating something?  33% chance of not getting your money back from the bank?  33% chance of getting attacked outside your house by man-eating-cats?  I’m not satisfied with a 33% chance of divorce.  I want to live fully into the vows I made when I got married:

To have and to hold,
from this day forward,
for better, for worse
for richer,  for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish,
until we are parted by death.
This is my solemn vow.
This is not a beat up on divorce series.  It’s a series about making changes from this day forward.  We’re crossing a line from the past and living by God’s grace into the future.  We’re going to do this over the next five weeks by make five commitments:

1. Seek God
2. Stay Pure
3. Have Fun
4. Fight Fair
5. Never Give Up

Seek God First
Let’s start at the beginning: Seek God first.  Most of us are seeking not God first but a spouse first.  We have this idea floating around in our culture that you can’t be happy until you meet the ONE.  You’ve heard that one right?  The ONE soul mate out there for you.  The ONE who you are always looking for and if you miss that ONE person, then you’re doomed for the rest of your life.  Now, I don’t believe that God has only ONE right person for you (there are a lot of good God-honoring people you could marry), but there’s something wrong even deeper with this way of thinking.  What if someone said, “I think I’ve found my TWO”?  TWO?  Yes, your TWO.  Your ONE is God and your spouse is your TWO.  Jesus teaches us that:

“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
~Jesus (Matthew 22:37-38 NLT)

God is your ONE.  Your spouse is your TWO.  You get that mixed up, and you’ve built a faulty foundation.  So let’s explore this idea further with two further commitments.  If you’re not married, but you’d like to be married someday then make this commitment today:

1.       I will seek the One while preparing for my two!
Too many of us put the God thing off until later when you “really need it.”  We party now and find God later.  This reminds me of something St. Augustine said:

“Oh, Master, make me chaste and celibate – but not yet!”
~St. Augustine (4th & 5th Century Church Leader)

If you hope to have a godly marriage one day, seek a godly life today.  Here’s the key: It doesn’t matter what you want, like attracts like.  If you want a particular kind of person to marry, then you must first seek God to become that kind of person.  If you want someone who has had multiple sex partners, then by all means, have multiple sex partners.  If you want to marry someone who tells you white lies, then learn to tell the best white lies right now.  If you want someone who is critical, then learn to criticize before you get married.  If you want someone who has no idea how to manage money, then don’t learn how to manage your own money.  If you want to marry someone who is in denial of their mental and physical health, then deny your own mental and physical health issues.

During my second year of college I began to notice some serious relationship challenges I was having with my family, particularly my dad.  I made a decision that year that has had positive consequences for the rest of my life.  I decided to go see a counselor.  You see, my dad was not being the dad that I wanted him to be.  I was so frustrated and angry with him.  Over a year of counseling I began to realize that the problem wasn’t with my dad.  The problem was with my expectations of my dad.  Moreover, I began to realize that I played this pattern out with most everyone around me.  I was trying to get them to all fill my expectations and if they didn’t, then I was sorely frustrated with the relationship.  In a word: I was very judgmental.

Over that year, my counselor helped me in some very subtle ways to let go of my expectations and have a relationship with the person my dad actually was.  It was incredibly freeing to give up judgment and let grace define the relationships around me.  My relationship with my dad improved in significant ways.  But even more importantly, I met Sarah, my future wife, during this year.  I went into this relationship with her with my eyes wide open about my own judgmental tendencies and patterns of relating to people around me.  I can’t say I don’t still struggle with this, but it’s one thing to be ignorant or in denial, and it’s another thing to actively seek God’s grace for a better way forward.

If you’re not yet married and you want to be, then begin by seeking the ONE while preparing for the two.  For those of you who are already married, here’s a commitment for you to make today:

2. I will always seek the One with my two!
We have a tendency to idolize our spouse when we put them in the ONE spot.  Perhaps the highest moment of idolization is the most romantic moment ever captured on film.  You know it.  The “You complete me” scene in Jerry Maguire.  Come on!  Sarah does a lot of things for me, but to think that she is the total completion of myself is to say that Jesus was incomplete without a spouse and that God is not the one who ultimately completes each one of us!  This idolization puts undue pressure on our spouse who is incapable of meeting all our needs.  When they let us down, we stop idolizing them and we demonize them.  When we’re idolizing our wives we say, “She’s so organized and driven and passionate.”  But when then we demonize the saying, “She’s a control freak.  She wants everything her way.  She just nags…nags…nags…”  When we idolize our husbands we say, “He’s so laid back, comfortable and easy going.”  Then we demonize him saying, “He’s a bump on a log.  He does nothing.  He’s not a leader.  All he does is play video games.”  In each case, we’re making our two our ONE rather than seeking the ONE with our two.

So how do we seek God together?  There’s lots of things I could say about this.  We could read the Bible together.  We could attend worship regularly together.  We could join a small group together.  We could serve together in the church and community.   We could raise home run kids together.   All of these things are excellent ideas and practices. In fact, the common wisdom that Christians divorce at the same rate as everyone else is actually false.  It all comes down to how you define Christian.  Ed Stetzer, Executive Director of Lifeway Research, summarizes the effect these spiritual practices have on our marriages:

“What appears intuitive is true. Couples who regularly practice any combination of serious religious behaviors and attitudes—attend church nearly every week, read their bibles and spiritual materials regularly; pray privately and together; generally take their faith seriously, living not as perfect disciples, but serious disciples—enjoy significantly lower divorce rates than mere church members, the general public, and unbelievers.” ~Ed Stetzer, Exec Dir of Lifeway Research (Christianity Today Article)

When you practice these spiritual habits together regularly, your chance of dodging divorce and staying happily married improves:

“Catholic couples were 31% less likely to divorce; Protestant couples 35% less likely; and Jewish couples 97% less likely.”
~Ed Stetzer, Exec Dir of Lifeway Research (Christianity Today Article)

So let me focus down on one keystone habit of all of these.  A “keystone habit” is one discipline triggers positive or negative habits across the board.  For example: flossing is a keystone habit.  I floss every morning because it gets me going with the day in the right direction.  When I stop then my discipline goes out the window.  I stop exercising.  I stop eating well.  I get fat.  I stop working because I don’t have the energy.  I get fired.  In frustration I speed home.  I run a red light.  A cop chases me.  When I finally get pulled over after a high speed chase on the news, I go to jail.  All because I stopped flossing!  Flossing is a keystone habit.  OK, you get the point.

The keystone habit I want to encourage you to make a commitment to today is to pray together.  Seek the ONE with your two by praying together every day.

If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
~2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT

Can we say, “Restore their marriage?”  I think so.  It all begins with humbling ourselves before God together in prayer.  But how do you pray together?  It seems kind of obvious, but I think most of us are a little clueless about how to do this.  I want to share with you one way that Sarah and I pray together each day.  We meet in bed at or around 10PM (if you’re not married, don’t pray in bed together!).  Then we use the Daily Devotions for Families and Individuals from the Book of Common Prayer (you can find the whole thing here).   Here’s the prayer for bedtime:

At the Close of Day
Psalm 134

Behold now, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, *
you that stand by night in the house of the LORD.
Lift up your hands in the holy place and bless the LORD; *
the LORD who made heaven and earth bless you out of Zion.

A Reading

Lord, you are in the midst of us and we are called by your
Name: Do not forsake us, O Lord our God.    Jeremiah 14:9,22

The following may be said

Lord, you now have set your servant free *
to go in peace as you have promised;
For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, *
whom you have prepared for all the world to see;
A Light to enlighten the nations, *
and the glory of your people Israel.

Prayers for ourselves and others may follow. It is appropriate that
prayers of thanksgiving for the blessings of the day, and penitence for our
sins, be included.

The Lord’s Prayer

The Closing Prayer

Visit this place, O Lord, and drive far from it all snares of the
enemy; let your holy angels dwell with us to preserve us in
peace; and let your blessing be upon us always; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.

The almighty and merciful Lord, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
bless us and keep us. Amen.

That’s it.  It takes us about five minutes to pray through this prayer each night.  Other friends of mine take a moment to ask what went well and what didn’t go so well in their day.  Then they thank God for the good stuff and ask God for help with the bad stuff.  Others just pray the Lord’s Prayer together each day.  Another set of friends uses a prayer list together that has all the important people in their life and various other prayer requests on it.  Sarah’s parents take time each morning at breakfast to listen to Pray as You Go then pray for two people they received Holiday Cards from.  They then send them a post card letting them know they prayed for them.  Another couple reads a devotional together and discusses it before they go to bed each night.  Another friend texts prayers back and forth throughout the day.  There’s no one right way to do this.  There are lots of good ways to pray together.  The question is: will you seek the ONE with your two by praying together daily?

OK, I know it’s complicated for some of you.  You’ve got a spouse who isn’t a believer.  So do you pray for your spouse each day?  There’s a popular country song out right now by the Notorious Cherry Bombs titled, “It’s Hard To Kiss The Lips At Night That Chew Your Ass Out All Day Long.”  Well, you could say it’s hard to chew the ass off the person you’re praying for all day long.  It’s really hard to fight with someone you’re praying with.  It’s hard to commit adultery or get hooked on porn when you have regular spiritual intimacy with your spouse.  It’s hard to divorce someone you’re seeking God with.

So you’re thinking this is too hard?  Fine, take the odds.  33% failure rate.  Or you’re thinking, But we don’t do that.  Well, from this day forward do it.  But we don’t like each other.  From this day forward.  We don’t know how to do this.  From this day forward.  But I’m uncomfortable.  Get over it.  From this day forward!

I was listening to an interview with Elmer Towns.  He was asked about the recent death of his wife.  He said that toward the end of her life as she lay in bed drifting between this life and the next, her favorite gospel song came on the radio.  Elmer prayed to the Lord in that moment, “God, this would be a good time for my wife to end this life and begin the next.”  By the end of that song, the Lord answered that prayer.  I sat in my car crying and thought, I want to be the kind of husband who prays with and for his wife so much that when it’s time for her to meet the ONE, I’m ready to let go of my two.

Lord, make it so in each of our marriages.

 

*This message is based on a message first preached by Craig Groeschel.

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Curious

January 6, 2015 by Leave a Comment

hello

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello: My Name Is Sycamore Creek Church – Curious
Sycamore Creek Church
January 4/5, 2014
Tom Arthur

Happy New Year, Friends!

I bet you ask lots of questions about God, faith, and life.  I know I do.  I’ve always been full of questions about the faith.  I grew up in a Christian home, and prayed for Jesus to come into my heart when I was five years old.  It was a real commitment, but the commitment of a five-year-old needs to grow as that five-year-old grows.  As I got into high school I began asking lots of questions about this whole faith and Jesus thing.

When I was in high school I set up a meeting with my pastor to ask him a question that came up during my time of reading the Bible.  Why did Jesus tell people not to say who he was after he had healed them?  That was the beginning of my formal search for answers to my questions.  I remember that meeting with my pastor, whose name happened to be Tommy, a very good meeting.  I wasn’t chastised for asking questions about the Bible.  He even seemed encouraged that I was asking questions about the Bible.  There even seemed to be a pretty good answer to that particular question.  Either Jesus was still figuring out what kind “messiah” he would be or he was concerned that his healings would lead to crowds that wanted him to be a “king.”

When I got into college, some of those questions led me to leave the Christian faith for a while.  What I found out when I left Christianity was that there wasn’t any more certainty on the side of unbelief.  The only difference was that unbelief seemed to offer no ultimate hope or meaning, whereas belief offered ultimate meaning and hope.  Eventually I came back to put my trust in Jesus, in spite of the uncertainty I felt.  But the questions remained.  Here are some of the questions I’ve asked over the years:

  1. If you have to hear about Jesus to go to heaven, what happens to the Native Americans?
  2. Why should I trust the Bible?  Are there any errors in the Bible?
  3. Why are there two different stories of creation in the Bible?
  4. Did Adam and Eve have belly buttons?
  5. If Cain and Able were the first children of Adam and Eve, then who did Cain marry?  His sister?
  6. Where do the dinosaurs fit in?
  7. How can evolution and faith work together?  Can they?
  8. What am I supposed to do with all these seemingly arcane rules in the Old Testament?
  9. Why does God tell the Israelites to wipe out everyone, including all the children and even the animals?
  10. Is it OK to swear?
  11. If sex outside marriage is wrong, what exactly is sex?  Does oral sex count?
  12. What does God think about people with same sex attraction?
  13. What if the Greek for “faith in Jesus” can also be translated “faith(fullness) of Jesus” as I learned in my seminary Greek classes?  What does that mean for what I believe that we are not saved by “faith in Jesus” but by the “faithfulness of Jesus?”

So while I’ve always been very curious about questions of faith, God, and life, I’ve mostly committed to following Jesus except for that short time in college.  My curiosity and my commitment have always made me just a little bit weird.

I’m not the only one asking questions.  I asked my friends on Facebook what questions they’ve asked about faith, God, and life.  Here are some of their questions:

  1. If faith is a gift from God (Eph 2:8), then does God not give some that gift so they can be saved? Does God draw everyone? (John 6:44) What is a person’s part in faith?
  2. How does God care about a little speck of dust like me when He created the universe? Why is it so hard to obtain faith when it’s so free to have it?
  3. How do I make the church relevant in my life?
  4. Why does it seem like most people who don’t believe in God, choose to come to God when they are having difficulty in life?

Here’s some good news for all the question askers at Sycamore Creek Church and in our community.  Sycamore Creek Church is curious, creative, and compassionate.  We’re starting a three-week series today called “Hello: My Name Is Sycamore Creek Church.”  We’re going to spend three-weeks introducing ourselves to the community and remembering what hasn’t changed, even if we have changed our Sunday morning venue.  While we are no longer a “Church in a School” (are we a “Church in a Church”?) we are still curious, creative, and compassionate.  But what does each of those things mean when applied to a church?

Here’s a question to begin the whole thing: where did “Curious, Creative, Compassionate” come from?  Good question.  When we started our Church in a Diner, we were looking for a tag line to describe the kind of community that we were going to be.  It had to be faithful to who we were and it had to be catchy enough to grab the attention of someone who didn’t really see church as something they were interested in.  And it had to be a quick way to describe to them what we were doing, an “elevator speech” if you will.  I believe it was Amberlee McCloud and I who came up with these three words.  Once we had them down on paper, we realized that they didn’t just describe Church in a Diner but these three words captured and described all of Sycamore Creek Church in a way that was faithful to who we have always been and who we wanted to continue to be.  So today let’s look at the first of these three words: Curious.

Merriam-Webster has two definitions of curious:

cu·ri·ous adjective \?kyu?r-?-?s\
1. having a desire to learn or know more about something or someone
2. strange, unusual, or unexpected
~Merriam-Webster

The first definition is obvious.  Sycamore Creek Church welcomes all your questions about God.  You don’t have to leave your questions at the door.  As you heard, I’ve had my fair share of questions too.  Jesus seems to be open to having questions and not being so certain about everything.  When a father brings his son to Jesus and asks if he can heal him, Jesus responds that he can heal him if he believes.  The father honestly presents his uncertainty and questions to Jesus.  We read:

The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”
~Mark 9:24 NLT

So what does Jesus do?  I’d guess that Jesus would say, “Well, go get your questions figured out and when you can believe without any questions, then come back and see me, and we’ll see what I can do.”  But that’s not what he does.  He heals the father’s boy.  He meets him where he’s at, questions and all.

In the book of Proverbs, the wisdom book of the Bible we read:

It is God’s privilege to conceal things and the king’s privilege to discover them.
~Proverbs 25:2 NLT

God likes mysteries and gives us things to hunt for.  God gives us things to ask questions about so that we can discover answers.  This is a theme that various church leaders have been exploring for hundreds of years.  St. Anselm was a church leader during the 12th century and his motto was “faith seeking understanding.”  He wrote:

“I long to understand in some degree your [God’s] truth, which my heart believes and loves. For I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this also I believe–that unless I believed, I should not understand.”
~St. Anselm (12th Century Church Leader)

Anselm believed that sometimes you have to believe first before you can understand.  He also believed that it was just fine to have faith but then to seek answers to questions you’ve got.  Apparently this meant that faith usually comes before answers.  Faith leads to curiosity.

So the first definition of “curiosity” is seeking understanding.  But there’s a second less familiar definition of curiosity.  Curiosity also means unusual or peculiar.  When we decide to make a commitment to follow Jesus even though we’ve still got questions, we become somewhat peculiar.  This isn’t really new.  Peter, one of Jesus’ closest followers said:

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
~1 Peter 2:9 AKJV

Following Jesus even when we’ve got questions, even when we’re uncertain makes us weird.  In our day and age, we value certainty.  We value having everything figured out before we make commitments.  But if you wait to get everything figured out before you make any commitment, you’ll never make any commitments.  Making a commitment to follow Jesus can make you kind of odd, unusual, peculiar, or curious.

1.     Be curious about what the Bible/God says about a topic
So I’d like to offer you three practices of curiosity.  First, be curious about what the Bible says about a topic.  When Paul showed up in Berea and taught there we are told that the Bereans were a curious bunch:

And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth.
~Acts 17:11 NLT

You see, the Bereans were curious if what Paul was teaching was in line with the Bible.  So they dove into the Bible to see what it said.  Now there are some things that are important to understand about being curious about the Bible.  First, the Bible is sometimes very complex.  Even the Bible says this about itself sometimes.  Peter, one of Jesus’ closest followers and the author of two books in the Bible said that Paul, the first missionary of the church and author of several books of the Bible, was sometimes hard to understand:

This [teaching] is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture.
~1 Peter 3:15-16 NLT

If Peter found Paul complex to understand, then don’t get too down on yourself when you read the Bible and don’t always understand it!

Second, the Bible can sometimes seem to contradict itself, although this is rarely at a fundamental level.  Take the four books that tell the story of Jesus’ life: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  All four tell the story with different details and even seem to tell it in a different order.  But they all agree on some very basic things: Jesus lived, he died, and was raised from the dead!

Third, interpret the unclear sections through the clear sections of the Bible.  If you’re not sure what to think about something in the Bible, then let the things you do know about the Bible guide your curiosity.  If you still don’t know what to do, always err toward love.  St. Augustine, a 4th and 5th century church leader said:

Whoever, then, thinks that he understands the Holy Scriptures, or any part of them, but puts such an interpretation upon them as does not tend to build up this twofold love of God and our neighbor, does not yet understand them as he ought.
~St. Augustine (4th – 5th Century Church Leader), On Christian Doctrine

Fourth, reading a little sporadically is better than reading none at all.  Sometimes we really trip ourselves up on not reading every day or as consistently as we would like.  It may be helpful to know that I’m just now getting into day 300 of a yearly Bible.  Sounds pretty good right?  What if I told you I began in January of 2012?  I’ve taken over two years to read a “yearly” Bible.  Yeah.  Be patient with yourself.  Don’t beat yourself up.  Reading consistently is great.  Reading a little every once in a while is better than none at all.  Four websites that I’ve found helpful for reading the Bible include:

www.pray-as-you-go.org
www.youversion.com
www.biblegateway.com
www.blueletterbible.org.

2.     Be curious about what others say about it (especially those who disagree)
So you’re practicing curiosity by searching for what the Bible says about a topic.  A second way to practice curiosity is to be curious what others say about a topic.  It can be especially helpful to seek out differing perspectives on the issue.  Who disagrees with you?  Why do they disagree?  How do they see the issue and the answer?  What questions are they asking?

Seek out what others are saying by participating in a faith community.  Listen to a sermon each week.  Participate live or download the sermon if you missed it, or read it on my blog.  Or seek out others in a small group.  This week we begin GroupLINK for our spring semester’s small groups.  There are over 20 small groups that you can join to begin to build spiritual friendships with people who can indulge your curiosity.  Or seek out what others say about a topic through books or videos or audio online.  I continue to wrestle with the question of homosexuality.  I’ve read about ten books on the topic that cover the whole spectrum.  I’m being curious by seeking out the perspective of other people, some who might not agree with me.  Warning: reading a lot of books can leave you with a lot more question than you began.  Whenever I’m reading several books about a topic I’m reminded of this wisdom from the Bible:

Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
~Ecclesiastes 12:12

So nurture curiosity by asking others what they think about a topic.

3.     Be curious in prayer
The third way to practice curiosity is to be curious in prayer.  James, Jesus’ brother says:

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.
~James 1:5 NLT

If you don’t know what to think about a topic or if you’ve got questions that you don’t have answers to, then ask God for answers.  Or ask God for wisdom to be able to ask the right questions or better questions.  Or ask God to give you help in seeking answers or to be able to commit while still having questions.

Over the years of being a student, I’ve compiled a bunch of prayers for study.  Here is one of my favorite prayers for praying before you begin studying something:

Most blessed Lord, send the grace of Your Holy Spirit on me to strengthen me that I may learn well the subject I am about to study and by it become a better person for Your glory, the comfort of my family and the benefit of Your Church and our world. Amen

Curious About Our Community – Demographics
So what does it look like when you take this penchant for curiosity and point it out at our community?  We as a church have just moved into a new building.  This means we’ve been curious about our new neighbors.  A couple of weeks ago we hired a demographics expert, Tom Bandy, who helped us learn about our community.  What we found out was that there’s a key group we’re reaching that demographers call “Singles and Starters.”  Experian, the credit reporting company, describes this in this way: “Young singles starting out, and some starter families, in diverse urban communities.”  SCC is currently made up of about 14% “Singles and Starters.”  Here’s the really cool thing.  The biggest group right around our new building is “Singles and Starters.”  They make up almost 28% of the population just around our new church building.  Here’s what Tom says about this group:

“These younger singles, single parents, and ‘friends with benefits’ are not just too busy for traditional church. The church is not on their radar screen. It doesn’t easily fit into any part of their lifestyle…at work, play, or background soundtrack. Music may play constantly in their minds, but spirituality may not… For many people in this group, religion is not particularly relevant now, and perhaps not in the foreseeable future, but they are remarkably open to surprise.”
~Tom Bandy

So apparently this is a group that is somewhat hard to reach.  They make up the largest group of people that we’re already reaching, and there are twice as many of them right around this building.  Wow!  Tom Bandy uses these words and phrases to describe this group:

Looking for “Heroes of Faith”, high energy, contagious enthusiasm, online, music soundtrack in the background, progressive, sociable, seeking fulfillment, high drive for affluence, high pursuit of personal growth.
~Tom Bandy

We’re going to continue to be curious about our new neighbors.  And we’re going to continue to invite them to be curious with us.  We’ll invite them to be curious about the Bible.  We’ll invite them to be curious with our community.  We’ll invite them to be curious with God in prayer.

Are you ready to be curious?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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God on Film: Maleficent – Real Evil

June 2, 2014 by Leave a Comment

GodOnFilm

 

 

 

 

 

God on Film: Maleficent – Real Evil
Sycamore Creek Church
June 1 & 2, 2014
Tom Arthur

 

Peace friends!

Today we’re beginning a new series called God on Film.  During the summer we’ll be looking at some of the summer’s biggest blockbusters and exploring the themes those movies raise from a biblical perspective.  Today we’re kicking the series off with a nice light topic, evil.

There are three kinds of evil that we find in the world.  The first kind is supernatural evil.  This is the kind of evil that a movie like Maleficent brings to mind.  Supernatural evil from a biblical perspective would include demons and the chief demon, Satan.  Then there’s what is often called natural evil.  This would include things like natural disasters.  Consider Hurricane Katrina or the tornado that recently hurt nine people in North Dakota.  The third kind of evil, and perhaps most disturbing, is moral evil.  This kind of evil would include war like the Ukraine civil war going on right now or the girls kidnapped in Nigeria or the shooting by Elliot Roger at  University of California, Santa Barbara that killed six or even more close to home the shooting at Frandor a couple of weeks ago.  It’s not hard to look around the world and see all kinds of evil.

A book that has been helpful to me preparing this sermon is N.T. Wright’s Evil and the Justice of God.  If you want to explore this issue further, pick up Wright’s book and read it for yourself.

The Predictable Argument
When it comes to these three kinds of evil—supernatural, natural, and moral—there is a very predictable argument that springs up for the Christian.  It goes something like this:

If God is all powerful and all loving, why did God create a world that allowed evil?  We all have heard this argument and most of us probably know the predictable response to it.  Perhaps one of the most succient and clearly articulated responses to this argument comes from C.S. Lewis:

God created things which had free will. That means creatures which can go wrong or right. Some people think they can imagine a creature which was free but had no possibility of going wrong, but I can’t. If a thing is free to be good it’s also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible. Why, then, did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata -of creatures that worked like machines- would hardly be worth creating. The happiness which God designs for His higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other in an ecstasy of love and delight compared with which the most rapturous love between a man and a woman on this earth is mere milk and water. And for that they’ve got to be free.

Of course God knew what would happen if they used their freedom the wrong way: apparently, He thought it worth the risk. (…) If God thinks this state of war in the universe a price worth paying for free will -that is, for making a real world in which creatures can do real good or harm and something of real importance can happen, instead of a toy world which only moves when He pulls the strings- then we may take it it is worth paying.
~C.S. Lewis, The Case for Christianity

The Unpredictable Argument
So that’s the predictable argument and while there is more to be said about it, that’s not really where I want to spend our time today.  I want to wrestle with the unpredictable argument.  The unpredictable argument goes something like this: What is God doing about evil?

The answer to this question is not so predictable, but there are two things that God is doing about evil:

  1. God judges evil;
  2. God promises to overcome evil.

Let’s go back to the very beginning of the story and see where evil enters in.  Right at the beginning of the Bible in the book of Genesis, which means beginning, evil enters the story.  God creates Adam and Eve and a garden with one rule to follow: don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  A snake shows up and tempts Adam and Eve to eat the fruit.  They do, and their eyes are immediately opened to what good and evil are because they have just participated with evil.  Of course we want to know the answer to all kinds of question chief of which is, why was there a snake, how did he get there, and what is he doing talking?  But the Bible doesn’t seem very interested in these questions.  The Bible assumes that evil exists and doesn’t try to explain why.  Rather the Bible tells us what God does about this evil.  He judges it.  Here’s how God judges the evil that has been done in his creation.

The Curse: Genesis 3:14-20 NLT
Then the Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this, you are cursed
more than all animals, domestic and wild.
You will crawl on your belly,
groveling in the dust as long as you live.
And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
Then he said to the woman,
“I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy,
and in pain you will give birth.
And you will desire to control your husband,
but he will rule over you.”
And to the man he said,
“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree
whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you.
All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
though you will eat of its grains.
By the sweat of your brow
will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
from which you were made.
For you were made from dust,
and to dust you will return.”

God judges the evil that has happened.  He holds it up to the standard of good and finds it lacking.  So he pronounces a judgment, a curse, upon the evil.  This continues throughout the entire Bible all the way to the end of the Bible in the book of Revelation.  We see in Revelation the story coming full circle.  Jesus returns to judge the evil that has taken over the world.

The Second-Coming of Jesus: Revelation 19:11-16 NLT
Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords.

Jesus comes in a “robe dipped in blood.”  This is a reference to his death by crucifixion.

One of the key claims of the Christian story is that Jesus’ death and resurrection is the ultimate victory over evil.  I don’t want to go into this a great deal right now because in August we’re going to do a whole four weeks on the question: why did Jesus die?  Rather, what we see in this story is that Jesus is the King of all kings and Lord of all lords, and thus, he rightfully pronounces judgment on evil.  The story continues…

The Final Judgment: Revelation 20:11-15 NLT
And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Jesus sits on this throne and judges all who come before him.  “All were judged according to their deeds.”  Even death itself is judged and is thrown into the lake of fire.  No more death.  Death is dead.  So if death is dead, what’s left?  What’s left is God’s promise to overcome evil and restore and renew creation.

The New Creation: Revelation 21:1-2, 22-27
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband…I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light. The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all their glory. Its gates will never be closed at the end of day because there is no night there. And all the nations will bring their glory and honor into the city.  Nothing evil will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Notice that “nothing evil will be allowed to enter.”  Evil is done.  No longer.  Kaput.  Sayonara.  Hasta la vista, baby.

So what is God doing about evil?  God judges evil and God promises to overcome evil.  But that’s not the end of the story.  Because it’s not enough for God to overcome evil at some future point.  God is in the business of overcoming evil right now.  That’s where you and I come in.  We participate in God’s judgment of evil and restoration of creation.  So now the answer to the question about what God is doing about evil becomes another question: what are you doing about evil?  God has given us three things that each one of us and we as a community are to do about evil.  We are to pray, seek holiness, and establish justice.  Let’s look at each one.

What Are You Doing About Evil?  Praying.
Prayer is fundamentally about aligning our will with God’s will for creation. The other day I was in Noodles and Co in East Lansing, and I thought prayer was making a comeback.  There were lots of young college students in the restaurant.  I was one of the older people there. I looked over at a table and saw a young woman sitting with her head bowed and I thought, “That’s cool.  She’s praying.”  Then I noticed her fingers twitch under the table and I realized, “She’s not praying. She’s texting with her phone under the table!”

One of Jesus’ disciples named John wrote about prayer.  He said:

And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
1 John 5:14 NRSV

Did you catch that?  This is an “if…then” statement.  If we ask how?  According to his will.  Then we know that God hears us.  Prayer is a process of aligning what we’re
asking for with what God wants for us.  Søren Kierkegaard, a 19th Century Christian Philosopher, said, “The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.”

So how do you do this?  I think you do it by listening in prayer.  Prayer is essentially communication.  And most of our prayer, I think, is us talking expecting God to listen.  While this isn’t bad, don’t forget that communication goes both ways.  You ask and you listen.  Or maybe you listen first then you ask.  Prayer can be understood as an acronym, P.R.A.Y.  Praise, repent, ask, and yield.  The key word for our conversation today is “yield.”  You ask and listen and then you yield to God’s will.

What Are You Doing About Evil?  Seeking Holiness.
The second thing each of us can do about evil is to seek holiness.  Holiness is another word for righteousness or right relationships.  Holiness is having a right relationship with God, others, ourselves, and all of creation.  When we seek holiness we seek to align our actions with God’s love for creation.

Holiness is kind of like growing up.  Holiness is a kind of maturing.  It’s like moving from being a grown up toddler to be a grown up adult.  What if we adults all still acted like toddlers?  It might look like this:

 

There would be no peace anywhere!  The ultimate effect of a holy alignment between our will and God’s will is peace.  The prophet Isaiah said:

The effect of righteousness will be peace.
~Isaiah 32:17 NRSV

Perhaps the most important way you can align your will with God’s will is to read scripture daily, or at least as often as you can.  A couple of months ago we did a series called Committed to Christ.  One of the sermons in that series was making a commitment to read your Bible.  Many of you made commitments to read your Bible daily.  How are you doing?  Read your Bible to learn what holiness is all about, to align your will with God’s love for all of creation.

What Are You Doing About Evil?  Establishing Justice.
Let’s review where we’re at so far.  We’ve been exploring what God is doing about evil.  God judges evil and God promises to overcome evil.  One of the ways God is overcoming evil right now is through each one of us and what we’re doing about evil.  We judge evil and overcome evil through prayer and holiness.  We also judge and overcome evil by establishing justice.  Justice is aligning our systems with God’s image in all of creation.

Sometimes justice happens on an individual level.  I recently read about some eBay justice.  A guy posted and sold two sports tickets for $600 to a woman.  He kept waiting for the payment but it never came.  The night before the game he got this email from the woman who won the bid: “I overbid and my husband won’t let me buy these. Sorry and enjoy the game! :)… It’s eBay, not a car dealership. I can back out if I want.”  With time running out he tried to sell to the other lower bidders but had no luck.  He decided to take justice into his own hands.  He set up another eBay account and a Google voice phone number.  He emailed the original winner with a fake name telling her that he saw she won the tickets and offered her $1000 for the tickets.  After some assurances were made, she emailed the guy back and offered to buy them for her original bid of $600.  The met at  midnight to exchange the tickets.  Then he emailed her back under his pseudonym saying, “It’s eBay, not a car dealership. I can back out if I want.”  LOL!

The Psalms are the prayer book of the Bible and Psalm 94 says:

Judgment will again be founded on justice, and those with virtuous hearts will pursue it.
~Psalm 94:15 NLT

Justice isn’t just about individuals.  It’s also about entire systems.  This past year I was given season passes to Peppermint Creek Theater Company (PCTC) right next door to North Elementary.  Sarah and I were thrilled to have a theater so close to our house in South Lansing.  The passion statement of PCTC is: to produce contemporary theatre that addresses vital issues in our society, raises awareness, and encourages dialogue while entertaining. In other words, they want to engage issues of justice in our culture in a way that is engaging and entertaining.

The last play of the season was called Clybourne Park and was about racism and white-flight in Chicago.  The first act was set in the 1940s in a white neighborhood.  The family is moving out to the suburbs and has sold their house to a black family.  The local neighborhood association sends a representative over to try to stop the sale.  The sale goes through.  The second act is in the same house, but this time the neighborhood is a black neighborhood.  The family that wants to buy the house is a rich white family.  The neighborhood has created guidelines for remodeling these homes so that the current residents are pushed out by rising housing prices and rising taxes.  This phenomenon is called gentrification.  The issues are complex and there are no easy answers, but I was grateful for PCTC putting on the play and creating the opportunity for reflection and dialogue around this issue of racism and justice.  I was reminded of a distinction that I learned in college between prejudice and racism.  Prejudice is an attitude of superiority or bias.  Prejudice is individual.  Racism, on the other hand, has to do with systems that unjustly privilege one group over another.  You can be unwittingly and without prejudice participating in racist structures in society.  This distinction helped me humbly examine my own actions and how they play into privilege without getting defensive about whether I was prejudiced or not.  Clybourne Park brought up all these questions in my mind again.  It was an opportunity to ask: am I living justly or am I buying into unjust systems that perpetuate racism?  So if you want to live justly, one step you could take is to go see some plays at Peppermint Creek Theater next season and allow the play to challenge and examine you.  I don’t always agree with everything the theater does, but I do appreciate the opportunity for self reflection.

So what is God doing about evil?  God is judging evil and overcoming it.  How is God judging and overcoming evil?  God will have an ultimate day of judgment and renewal of creation but in the mean time, God is working through you and me.  So what are you, what are we doing about evil?

 

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Committed to Christ: Bible Reading

March 17, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Committed to Christ: Bible Reading
Sycamore Creek Church
March 16/17, 2014
Tom Arthur
Psalm 119

Peace Friends!

books

Let’s face it. The Good Book is hard to read.  In fact, it may be the best selling book of all time with enough copies to get us

to the moon and back, but I suspect that many of those copies are setting on a shelf somewhere gathering dust.  I came across this helpful infographic that shows us the state of things when it comes to books being sold, but I’m skeptical that those 3,900,000,000 Bibles sold have all been read.  I read that most families have about four copies of the Bible.  I probably have fifty!  But I don’t read them all.

When we look at those in the room, there are a lot of different people in the room when it comes to the Bible:

  1. Some are apathetic about it and simply don’t read it.
  2. Some think it’s a dangerous book and stay away from it.
  3. Some think it’s a hard book to understand and not worth the effort and don’t read it.
  4. Some think it’s a hard book to understand and worth the effort and put a lot of time into reading it.
  5. Some think it’s God’s inerrant (without error) and infallible (reliable) word and read it daily.
  6. Some think it’s God’s inerrant (without error) and infallible (reliable) word and rarely read it.
  7. Some think it’s a good spiritual and moral guide and read it occasionally when looking for guidance.
  8. Some don’t know what to think about it but read it daily and encounter God regularly in their reading.

During the month of February we took an anonymous survey to get a lay of the land for how often people in our church read the Bible. Here are the results:

Survey Results: Do you read the Bible?
2 – No, I have never read the Bible.
1 – No, I don’t read the Bible, but I want to with all my heart.
6 – I used to, but I don’t anymore.
32 – Yes, I read the Bible sometimes.
17 – Yes, I read the Bible frequently.
12 – Yes, I read the Bible on a daily basis.

JudyB

My own experience with reading the Bible has been mixed.  I remember growing up and walking in on my mom reading the Bible in her prayer chair.  It still happens today!  She’s never upset that I’m interrupting her reading the Bible. She just looks up with a smile and waits for my question or comment.  Once she has satisfied me, she goes back to reading her Bible.  This makes me wonder how often my kids will walk in on me reading the Bible. How likely is that to happen in your home?  I share this just to let you know that I had a mother who modeled for me the importance of reading the Bible daily, but as a kid I didn’t follow her model.

When I was in third grade I had an incident with a skateboard.  In the wisdom of a third grader I decided to skate down a huge hill while wearing my plastic soccer cleats.  When the skateboard got going so fast that it wobbled back and forth, I jumped ship.  Of course, my plastic cleats had no traction on the asphalt to stop me, but my knee did.  I tore my knee up pretty bad, and there was a lot of blood everywhere.   I had to walk a mile to get home, bleeding the whole way.  When I got home my mom wasn’t there, so I climbed into bed, and prayed a desperate Hail Mary to God, “God, I’ll read the entire Bible if you stop my knee from bleeding.”  I picked up my Bible and began reading Genesis, the first book of the Bible.  About three chapters in, my mom came home, my knee had stopped bleeding, and I stopped reading the Bible.  I didn’t keep that promise then, but I have since read the Bible several times over.  in her prayer chair.  It still happens today!  She’s never upset that I’m interrupting her reading the Bible. She just looks up with a smile and waits for my question or comment.  Once she has satisfied me, she goes back to reading her Bible.  This makes me wonder how often my kids will walk in on me reading the Bible. How likely is that to happen in your home?  I share this just to let you know that I had a mother who modeled for me the importance of reading the Bible daily, but as a kid I didn’t follow her model.

In high school, I was very active in youth group.  We were reminded regularly that we should be reading our Bibles daily.  I don’t know that I read my Bible daily, but I did pick up the practice of reading a devotional every day, or most days.  I don’t know why I picked this particular devotional, but I began reading Our Daily Bread (http://odb.org).  Maybe I picked it because they would send it free to your house.  They still do that today!

I had grown up with a certain view of the Bible called “inerrancy.”  This view of the Bible claimed that the Bible was without error in any way, although it usually admitted that this was in the original “autographs” written by the authors themselves.  I wrestled with this view of the Bible considerably while in college.  I didn’t wrestle with it so much because I thought there were a lot of glaring errors in significant things, but I wrestled with it because of how this view had been used over the years to create “inerrant” interpretations (like a literal six days of creation) while ignoring that there was any interpretation going on at all.

When I graduated college, got married, moved to Petoskey, and began working at the Petoskey United Methodist Church, I got involved in leading a thirty-four week Bible study called Disciple Bible Study.  This study covered most of the Bible from cover to cover.  I believe this might have been the first time I made good on my third-grade bargain to God and read the Bible all the way through.  But in this reading of the Bible with a small group over a year, I encountered a power in the Bible that I had never encountered before.  It was a power to convict and to call.  It was during this Bible study that I began to sense my call to be a pastor and where Sarah and I were first convicted to begin to share our house with those who were in need in some way.

060407_ellen davis high res

During my time in Petoskey I eventually let the idea of inerrancy go.  I felt it had so many problems that it was no longer tenable.  In doing so I became uprooted.  If the Bible wasn’t “without error” then how could it be trusted?  When I was called to be a pastor and went off to seminary, I was afraid that seminary would completely destroy my view of the Bible and all I would be left with was some old crusty tradition-laden book.  Thankfully, that’s not what happened.  I went to Duke Divinity School which required all incoming students to take an entire year of Old Testament.  I had Ellen Davis as my Old Testament professor.  She saved the Bible for me.  She showed me another way to look at the Bible besides a book “with errors” a book “without errors.”   She showed me that  the Bible was a collection of writings where the community of faith had encountered God.  The Bible is a story that we can enter and find our place that becomes a faithful guide to life and faith.  There is an ongoing discussion among the community of faith about what these stories mean for us today.  The Bible is a book that convicts, challenges, and confronts our complacency with the holiness of God.  It is a book that comforts us in our brokenness with the compassion of God.  And perhaps most surprisingly, it does all of these things in an artful and creative way.

What I’d like to do with the rest of our time today is show you one example of how the Bible teaches us about itself in an artful and creative way.  I’d like to do that with the longest chapter in the Bible: Psalm 119.  Psalm 119 is 176 verses.  It is a love poem about the Bible.  But it is no ordinary love poem. It isn’t like someone sat down and just started writing lovey dovey stuff about the Bible and after 176 verses was exhausted.  No.  Psalm 119 has a unique hidden structure.  It’s hidden in the English but it’s obvious in its original language.  Psalm 119 is an acrostic with eight verses per letter of the Hebrew alphabet.  There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet.  So 22 x 8 = 176.  This means that the first eight verses all begin with A.  The next eight verses all begin with B, and so on.  Not only does it have that unique form of an acrostic, but every line has a synonym in it for the Bible.  Every line!  Now that’s artistic.

So today I’d like to look at the ABGs of the Bible.  ABGs?  Yes, in Hebrew, there is no C.  Hebrew goes Aleph, Beth, and Gimmel.  So let’s begin at the beginning.

ABGs of Bible Study – Aleph
The first eight verses of Psalm 119 begin with Aleph.  The first verse of Psalm 119 begins with the word “Asher” which means happy, fortunate, or blessed.  Here it is:

[Asher] Happy are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord.
~Psalm 119:1

From the first verse of Psalm 119 we learn that if you want to know the way of life that will lead to life, read, study, obey, and love the words of God.  Happiness comes in reading, knowing, and walking in the way of the Bible.  Those who do so are fortunate and blessed.  If you want to be happy, fortunate, and blessed, the Bible will be a significant part of your life. 

ABGs of Bible Study – Beth
The second set of eight verses in Psalm 119 all begin with Beth.  Verse eleven begins with the word, “Buleve” which means in my heart.  Here it is:

[Buleve] In my heart I treasure your word
so that I may not sin against you.
~Psalm 119:11

Reading the Bible isn’t just about rotely following commands and rules out of duty.  It’s about shaping and forming your heart, the seat of not only the emotions, but the governing center of the physical, intellectual, and psychological (EDB).  Ellen Davis liked to tell us that the best word in English to translate what usually gets translated as “heart” is really “imagination.”  So you could read this verse in this way: “In my imagination I treasure your word…”  How do you image each day?  How do you imagine each situation you find yourself in?  Does the word of God make its way into your heart and imagination for all of life?  There’s nothing rote about that, but it’s a vibrant thriving way of life that Psalm 119 is describing.

ABGs of Bible Study – Gimmel
The third set of eight verses in Psalm 119 all begin with Gimmel.  Verse 18 begins with the word, “Galayne” which means “open my eyes.”  Here it is:

[Galayne] Open my eyes, so that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law.
~Psalm 119:18

Notice that this is a request to God.  The psalmist is asking God to open his eyes as he reads.  It takes God’s Spirit illuminating the eyes of our heart, shedding light on dark places, so that we can see and understand.  We usually think that we must first understand in order to believe, but here we see something different.  We believe in order to understand.  When our eyes are open we see the wonder of God’s words.  Maybe this is why Jesus said let those with eyes to see and ears to hear, see and hear.

So we’ve looked at Aleph, Beth, and Gimmel.  When I wrote this sermon originally, I had nineteen more points to get through the whole alephbeth!  But it became clear fairly quickly that this was absurd.  But I would like to jump ahead to Mem and Nun and give you two more bonus insights into the Bible.

Bonus! – Mem
Quite a ways into Psalm 119 you will find eight verses that all begin with Mem.  Verse 103 begins with the word “MaNemlutzu” which means how sweet.  Here it is:

[MaNemlutzu] How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
~Psalm 119:103 

I find it interesting that the psalmist calls the Bible “sweet.”  The Bible is, admittedly, a bit of an acquired taste.  It’s like wine or beer.  Do you remember the first time you tried one of them?  You probably had to gag it down.  I still don’t like the taste of beer, but the beer aficionados around me always wax eloquently about this or that sweet taste of beer.  They offer me a sip, and I gag it down.  I had the same experience when I first tasted wine, but over time I’ve acquired a taste for wine.  It took time and perseverance, but now I can’t imagine not liking wine.  The more time we spend in the Bible the more that the words become sweet as honey.  The Bible grows on us.  How much could you be missing out on if you did not give yourself time to acquire a taste for it?

Bonus!  Bonus! – Nun
Following eight verses that all begin with Mem you’ll find eight verses that all begin with Nun.  Verse 105 begins with the word, “NerLuragne” which means lamp to my feet.  Here it is:

[NerLuragne] A lamp to my feet is your word
and a light to my path.
~Psalm 119:105 

What the psalmist is telling you is that when you feel like you are in the dark and you don’t know where to go or where to turn, the Bible provides practical guidance for your next step.  It may not always cast light on a mile down the road, but the more time you spend in the Bible the more you will know what to do right now.  This isn’t always because there’s a verse about what to do for every situation.  “Lord, should I buy a new car or a used one?”  No.  But rather it forms and shapes your character so that you begin to look at the world the way God looks at the world and you begin to see the path forward if just one step at a time.

Reading the Bible
All of this is good and dandy, but it really doesn’t mean much if you don’t actually get in the Bible and read it for yourself.  I’d like to spend the rest of our time giving you a couple of tips for reading the Bible daily in a modern world.

First, if you don’t know about the YouVersion app, get on your phone right now and download it.  Here’s a brief video that highlights what it does:

Millions of people have downloaded this app and find it helpful for reading, listening to, and watching the Bible.

Another great website I like is www.pray-as-you-go.org.  Here you’ll find a bit more contemplative reading plan.  Each day, you can download a twelve or thirteen minute MP3 that includes some music, scripture, and questions for reflection.  Just listen to it in the car or while you’re exercising.  You can even download an entire week at a time.  Turn your car into a prayer room.  Turn the gym into a temple of prayer.  Turn your run or walk into a prayer and Bible reading walk.  BINGO!  You can pray or read the Bible as you go.

So you don’t like any of those ideas.  What about getting daily emails sent to your inbox that include the Bible portions to read?  Can you turn your daily email reading into daily Bible reading too?  Check out www.biblegateway.com to sign up for an email Bible reading plan.

Want to go deeper?  Want to be a Hebrew or Greek scholar even though you don’t know Hebrew or Greek?  Then check out www.BlueLetterBible.org.  You can easily look up the original languages and go deeper without knowing Greek or Hebrew!

Personally, I still like the old fashioned bound book with a cover and back and pages in between.  I am currently using the NRSV Daily Bible to read through the Bible.  It splits the Bible into 365 readings and goes from front to back, which is not necessarily the best way to read the Bible, but it works for me.  I began in January of 2013, and I’m currently somewhere in the 200s.  Moral of the story: if you don’t get through the Bible in 365 consecutive days (aka “a year”) who cares?  Your pastor doesn’t either.  Just keep reading.

One last way of reading the Bible that I want to share with you is what’s sometimes called “The Classic Bible Reading Plan.”  If you divide the number of chapters in the Bible by 365 you’ll get four.  So if you read four chapters a day, you’ll get through the Bible in a year.  You don’t have to read all four chapters side by side.  So here’s the classic way of doing it: read two chapters from the Old Testament, read one chapter from the New Testament, read one Proverb (and when you get to the end of the Proverbs just begin again and repeat the book), and read one Psalm (repeat the Psalms in the same manner that you repeated the Proverbs).  Pretty simple.  Now all you have to do is do it!

You’ve heard my story about reading the Bible, I want you to hear one more story.  Justin Kring was baptized at our church a couple of summers ago and has been reading the Bible through for the first time.  Here’s his experience:

 

I don’t know what level your commitment has been, but I know what level my commitment has been.  Today we are all invited to take one step in a new commitment.

Are you ready to climb one or more steps in your Bible reading?  Check all that apply.

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Committed to Christ: No request is off-limits

March 15, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Logo 4-color BThis is the confidence that we have in our relationship with God: If we ask for anything in agreement with his will, he listens to us. If we know that he listens to whatever we ask, we know that we have received what we asked from him. (1 John 5:14-15)

There is no request that God deems off-limits in the life of prayer. But not every prayer is answered in the way we desire. This troubles us. Oftentimes, we even ask for good things, such as recovery from illness or the alleviation of suffering, and it does not come to pass. Why would this be so?

In every instance, we simply cannot know why our prayers were not answered in the way that we desire. It takes a great deal of humility to concede this. But we do know that when our prayers are answered, it is an occasion of God’s grace. It is a cause for celebration and thanks.

It is a sign to us that we have asked for something in accordance with God’s will.

Lord, help me to discern your will, so that I bring prayers to you that are good and right, that align with your purposes and hopes for this world. When my prayers are answers, help me to remember to give you thanks. Amen.

***

In preparation for Easter, our entire church family is in a season of decision and commitment toward the goal of becoming fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. We invite you to join us for Committed to Christ: Six Steps to a Generous Life.

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Committed to Christ: ‘Pray like this …’

March 14, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Logo 4-color B“Pray like this …” (Matthew 6:9a)

Our reading today is from Matthew 6. Open a Bible and find the passage. Jesus says, “Pray like this,” and then provides us with what we have come to know as the Lord’s Prayer. If you know it by heart, then you have obtained a very helpful guide for learning how to pray, not only in repeating Jesus’s words but in adopting the themes for other concerns.

Jesus tells his disciples to petition the Father, asking that the Kingdom be present among them, thus “hallowing,” or making holy, God’s name. Jesus instructs them to ask for daily provision of food and forgiveness, as well as a generous heart that extends forgiveness to others. The disciples ask God to watch over their path, leading them away from pitfalls and temptations, and lastly, to trust all things to God’s care.

If this prayer is new to you, work diligently to memorize it. If you have long known these words, break it up in to phrases. Write each phrase in your calendar, one phrase per day. Instead of saying the prayer as a whole, take it piece-by-piece, asking afresh, “What does this mean?”

Jesus has given you a pattern to follow in prayer. Learn from it.

Lord Jesus, teach me to pray, so that I may come before you with confidence. Amen.

***

In preparation for Easter, our entire church family is in a season of decision and commitment toward the goal of becoming fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. We invite you to join us for Committed to Christ: Six Steps to a Generous Life.

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Committed to Christ: Let your body and words guide your prayer

March 13, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Logo 4-color BLet my prayer stand before you like incense; let my uplifted hands be like the evening offering. (Psalm 141:2)

The Psalms contain a record of many powerful prayers. They range from lament to celebration and record the full range of human emotion. There is happiness and sadness; hope and despair. But in all instances, God hears the cry of his people, even when his people sense God to be very distant.

Take a moment to focus on a particular concern you need to bring before God. If you need to confess your sin and offer repentance, you may wish to lay face down on the floor in a posture of humility and contrition. If you need to offer thanks, you may wish to raise your hands high in celebration. If you need to receive grace, you may want to extend an open hand, asking God to fill your palm with grace overflowing.

You may wish to consider your body posture during prayer. Do you sit still in a comfortable chair? Do you kneel beside your bed or another place you have designated as an altar? You may have a kneeler for this purpose. How does your posture communicate to God in a way that transcends your words?

Like the psalmist, let your body and your words guide your prayer.

God Who Is Worthy of Glory and Praise, let me come before you, body, soul, and spirit, bringing to you my entire being as an offering. Amen.

***

In preparation for Easter, our entire church family is in a season of decision and commitment toward the goal of becoming fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. We invite you to join us for Committed to Christ: Six Steps to a Generous Life.

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Committed to Christ: Name your troubles

March 12, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Logo 4-color BDo not be anxious about anything; rather bring up all of your requests to God in prayers and petitions, along with giving thanks. (Philippians 4:6)

What are you most anxious about? Do you struggle to pay the bills? Is your marriage in crisis? Are you stuck in a dead-end job? Do you have friendships that are under strain? Life is not easy. We are burdened by the concerns of the commonplace, the small yet continuous concerns that come with being in relationship to other people, with having responsibilities in the workplace or school, with keeping our commitments. We are also burdened with causes that capture our hearts, stories of a developing movement, hotly debated issues in the political or ecclesial realm, and more.

We live in a stress-filled time, plagued by busyness and pressure and worry. But we are encouraged to take our anxieties to God in prayer.

Go to God today, naming your troubles. Ask for comfort. Ask for wisdom. Trust that you have been heard. Give thanks for what is going well. And lean in to the future, knowing that God goes with you.

Holy Spirit, may I turn over every stress, worry, and anxiety that falls heavy upon my heart to your loving and eternal care. Amen.

***

In preparation for Easter, our entire church family is in a season of decision and commitment toward the goal of becoming fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. We invite you to join us for Committed to Christ: Six Steps to a Generous Life.

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Committed to Christ: Bring your questions, great or small

March 11, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Logo 4-color B“The Lord proclaims, the Lord who made the earth, who formed and established it, whose name is the Lord; call to me and I will answer and reveal to you wondrous secrets you haven’t known.” (Jeremiah 33:2-3)

You have been claimed by God in Christ. You are a child of God. God, “the Lord who made the earth,” invites you to bring your questions and your thoughts, both great and small, and place them before the throne. God then says you will receive an answer. You will be taught. You will discover things you have not known.

Often, we think of God as the one who grants our requests: our divine waiter or cosmic vending machine. We forget that God is also the One who made all that is, and in whom is found all true knowledge and wisdom. God desires to teach us.

Whatever your pursuit, you may bring it before God in prayer. You may ask to receive knowledge, to be instructed. Jesus, as your teacher, will instruct you. He will “reveal to you wondrous secrets you haven’t known.” No question is too great for him; no matter is outside the purview of his glorious wisdom and knowledge.

After all, he is the Lord of all.

Eternal God, help me to trust you as the source of all wisdom, and to bring before you my questions, my concerns, my every thought. Amen. 

***

In preparation for Easter, our entire church family is in a season of decision and commitment toward the goal of becoming fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. We invite you to join us for Committed to Christ: Six Steps to a Generous Life.

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Committed to Christ: Ask for anything

March 10, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Logo 4-color BYou ask and don’t have because you ask with evil intentions, to waste it on your own cravings. (James 4:3)

Does God always give us what we ask for? Of course not. Good thing, too!

But why? God gives us permission to ask for anything. Yet we do not always receive what we ask for, sometimes to our great disappointment. This circumstance should lead to contemplation. The book of James gives us one reason why we may not receive that for which we ask—we do not ask with a right heart, and therefore God’s “no” is justified. Rather than sulking, we must learn.

Think of the relationship between a parent and child. If the parent grants every request the child makes, the child never matures or grows. Children ask for cotton candy until they are sick, but the loving parent will deny the request before that moment comes.

W. H. Auden wrote, “Evil is unspectacular and always human, and shares our bed and eats at our own table.” The evil that resides in our own hearts is not always easy to discern. This is all the more reason to pray. For it is in prayer that we open our hearts to God and create space for the Holy Spirit to bring to our consciousness our need for repentance and a renewed reliance on God’s grace.

Gracious God, teach me to accept humbly those moments when you say no to my request. Amen.

***

In preparation for Easter, our entire church family is in a season of decision and commitment toward the goal of becoming fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. We invite you to join us for Committed to Christ: Six Steps to a Generous Life.

 

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