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Fathers of the Bible — Zechariah (Part 1)

16 Mar

When Herod was king of Judea, there was a Jewish priest named Zechariah. He was a member of the priestly order of Abijah, and his wife, Elizabeth, was also from the priestly line of Aaron. Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations. They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and they were both very old. One day Zechariah was serving God in the Temple, for his order was on duty that week. As was the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. While the incense was being burned, a great crowd stood outside, praying. While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John. You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God. He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.” Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I be sure this will happen? I’m an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years.” Then the angel said, “I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to bring you this good news! But now, since you didn’t believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time.” Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah to come out of the sanctuary, wondering why he was taking so long. When he finally did come out, he couldn’t speak to them. Then they realized from his gestures and his silence that he must have seen a vision in the sanctuary. When Zechariah’s week of service in the Temple was over, he returned home. Soon afterward his wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant and went into seclusion for five months. “How kind the Lord is!” she exclaimed. “He has taken away my disgrace of having no children.”
Luke 1:5-25

Dear God, I was going to do Zechariah all at once, but there’s too much good stuff here. I’ll do this visitation and pregnancy first. I’ll come back and do Elizabeth in a couple of days. Right now, I want to focus on Zechariah and this angel visit. I had two main thoughts when I read this part of the story:

  1. He and Elizabeth had seemingly done everything right their entire lives, but I’m sure they felt like you were not honoring who they were and what they did (as is evidenced by Elizabeth saying, “[The Lord] has taken away my disgrace of having no children.” Just living faithfully day to day. What a witness!
  2. Even when our faith isn’t enough, it won’t get in the way of your plan. You’ve got it covered. When he questions Gabriel, Gabriel didn’t take it back and say, “Never mind.” No, Zechariah didn’t have to have enough faith in that moment. He just had to be the kind of man that you needed to raise John the Baptist (JTB).

As I type all of this, I’m now starting to wonder what those 10 or 11 months until John was born were like for Zechariah. Did he try to write down everything Gabriel said so he wouldn’t forget? Did he think about what kind of person JTB would be? Was he intimidated by the thought of raising a prophet that would have the spirit and power of Elijah? Maybe you needed him to have those months alone with his thoughts. Maybe he spent most of that time in prayer, preparing for his new role as father to the prophet.

Father, you can do all of what you want to do with me or without me. I can be all yours or I can lose all my faith, and you will have it covered. I can do the right thing for the rest of my life and never see the fruit of it and that can be okay. There is a great peace in all of this. I am making a lot of decisions right now for the clinic where I work. I’m doing my best to listen to you. To hear your still small voice. Now, help me to talk less and listen to you more. Help me to put my head into a space that is still and can hear your voice. Do it all so that your glory might shine and that you might use my life to make this crisis count.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 16, 2020 in Fathers of the Bible, Luke

 

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“Your Love Stays with Me” — Gary Chapman

15 Mar

“Your Love Stays with Me” by Gary Chapman

It’s dark in here
I feel so alone
But there’s a light
That Somebody just turned on
It opened my eyes
And lets me see
And once again
it amazes me

How your love stays with me
When shadows fall
And everybody leaves
I’m not alone
I know I’ll never be
Your love stays with me

When cold rains fall against my skin
It chills my body
But not the soul within
‘Cause I’ve got a fire
And it burns so bright
It keeps me warm
Through the longest night

Oh, how your love stays with me
When shadows fall
And everybody leaves
I’m not alone
I know I’ll never be
Your love stays with me

Written by Mike Reid and Rory Bourke

Dear God, I find it fascinating that when I want to spend some time in deep prayer about something I usually have a song from the recesses of my mind come out of hiding. In this case, “Your Love Stays with Me” by Gary Chapman popped into my head. I love the sound of this song as much of the lyrics. The simple piano, the soulful sound, and the humble lyrics combine to great effect.

It’s a Sunday and all over the world churches are empty. I understand why, but something seems so wrong about that. Churches have always been a touch point for us during tragedies. Pearl Harbor. D-Day. VE-Day. Kennedy assassination. Apollo 13. 9/11. People go back to you through the local church. Now, most of those doors are closed. Will we miss you or will this be the beginning of us not going to you during those times of crisis?

For me, I’ve decided that I need to really have some focused prayer time. I want to pray for world political leaders, health leaders, spiritual leaders, etc. I also want to pray for local leaders. Everyone from a mayor to the director of the local community choir. I want to pray for my own work and how I lead our charitable medical clinic through this unknown wilderness. As a medical clinic, we can’t simply shut down. But there are certain things we can do that will be smart. Where do I draw that line? Then there’s my role in loving my wife and helping care for loved ones around us. And I have a role in this community where others look to me for my opinion. In fact, I had someone call me last night and ask that I speak to their group about what to do. I found another solution, but it’s a certain type of responsibility that I have.

So let me go back to this song and then pray about these things.

It’s dark in here
I feel so alone
But there’s a light
That Somebody just turned on
It opened my eyes
And lets me see
And once again
it amazes me

I think a lot of people are feeling the darkness right now. It is evidenced by the runs on the stores. I’m convinced that if so much of our commerce weren’t electronic and not cash-based there would be runs on the banks. Will anyone look for the light to turn on? Will anyone look for you? Will we look to you for our peace? Will we look to you for direction? Will pastors be able to shift their paradigm and figure out how to be the church in this new set of circumstances?

But when we open our eyes and see you there is peace. You love us. You don’t promise how any of this will work out for us on this earth, but you continuously encourage us to not be afraid. You amaze me.

When cold rains fall against my skin
It chills my body
But not the soul within
‘Cause I’ve got a fire
And it burns so bright
It keeps me warm
Through the longest night

I happened to be in a situation yesterday when cold rain fell against my skin while I was on a three-hour bike ride. Is there a metaphor in there that would go with this verse? I never got too cold because my movement kept me warm. Does my continuing to move in my relationship with you keep me warm? Well, the metaphor might be a stretch, but I suppose I can make it fit.

The big thing is that this is where my “peace” thing comes in. The fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) are love, joy, peace, patience… I’ve said for a long time that peace is my litmus test. I can fake the others, but I cannot fake the peace. When I’m good with you then peace tends to transcend my being. When I find myself not at peace, it’s usually driven by fear or insecurity. It’s driven by losing sight of serving you and instead focusing on serving others for my glory or benefit. To feed my own ego. But the Holy Spirit fire in my heart, when I let it burn, will keep me warm in the longest night.

Oh, how your love stays with me
When shadows fall
And everybody leaves
I’m not alone
I know I’ll never be
Your love stays with me

Yes, your love stays with me. Shadows are daunting. They are scary. Satan wants to mess with my mind right now and suggest that I will run out of food (or the ability to clean myself when I go to the bathroom). He wants me to believe that I should be scared and hide. The truth is, I can be at peace. I’m not alone. I’ve never been alone. I’ve seen you provide in miraculous ways before. You are a great God and you will provide for me one way or another. And should I contract this disease. Should I become one of the 2-3% who die from it, I’ll be okay. My wife will be okay. My children and relatives will be okay. Because your love stays with all of us.

Now, as I sit down and try to sort through some of this work stuff, please guide me and be with me. Help me to hear you. Make my path straight.

I pray for the pastors here in our community and across the world. Lead through them. Speak through them. Lead a revival in them and through them. Let your church be the church you always intended it to be.

Do not let this pain and grief return void. Make it count, Father. Comfort those who have already lost someone or who are concerned about their loved ones who are either sick or quarantined because of possible exposure. Comfort those afflicted with the disease and all other diseases.

Help guide our appointed health and human service officials. Guide our local primary care doctors all the way up to the highest health officials around the world. Give them humility. Give them wisdom and discernment. Fill them with your presence and your perspective.

And for our political leaders. May they be given a sense of your presence in their lives. Help them to stop blaming and posturing. Help them to stop trying to use this as any sort of advantage. I’ll be bold enough to ask that you use this to transform our leaders into the men and women you need and long for them to be. That we need them to be.

Father, this is unprecedented to me, but it isn’t unprecedented to you. This is overwhelming to me, but it isn’t overwhelming to you. I don’t know where all of this is going, how it all works out, or what I should do in the meantime, but you do. So help us. Help us to humble ourselves before you and seek you first and your righteousness.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 15, 2020 in Hymns and Songs

 

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Parents of the Bible — Herod & Herodias

15 Mar

When Herod heard about Jesus, he said, “John, the man I beheaded, has come back from the dead.” For Herod had sent soldiers to arrest and imprison John as a favor to Herodias. She had been his brother Philip’s wife, but Herod had married her. John had been telling Herod, “It is against God’s law for you to marry your brother’s wife.” So Herodias bore a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But without Herod’s approval she was powerless, for Herod respected John; and knowing that he was a good and holy man, he protected him. Herod was greatly disturbed whenever he talked with John, but even so, he liked to listen to him. Herodias’s chance finally came on Herod’s birthday. He gave a party for his high government officials, army officers, and the leading citizens of Galilee. Then his daughter, also named Herodias, came in and performed a dance that greatly pleased Herod and his guests. “Ask me for anything you like,” the king said to the girl, “and I will give it to you.” He even vowed, “I will give you whatever you ask, up to half my kingdom!” She went out and asked her mother, “What should I ask for?” Her mother told her, “Ask for the head of John the Baptist!” So the girl hurried back to the king and told him, “I want the head of John the Baptist, right now, on a tray!” Then the king deeply regretted what he had said; but because of the vows he had made in front of his guests, he couldn’t refuse her. So he immediately sent an executioner to the prison to cut off John’s head and bring it to him. The soldier beheaded John in the prison, brought his head on a tray, and gave it to the girl, who took it to her mother. When John’s disciples heard what had happened, they came to get his body and buried it in a tomb.
Mark 6:16-29

Dear God, for a short time I debated whether or not to include Herod and Herodias in my “Parents of the Bible” series, but I decided that we see them interacting with their daughter and making decisions with her as their parent so I guess they count. You put them and their story in here for us so let’s see what we can learn from them.

Herod

Here is a list of what we see Herod do in this story:

  • He takes his brother’s wife.
  • He didn’t necessarily want to arrest John the Baptist (JTB), but he did it at the behest of his wife.
  • JTB made him uncomfortable by presenting Herod’s sin to Heron any chance he got, but he “respected John; and knowing that he was a good and holy man, he protected him.”
  • This part is interesting. I saw a movie about Jesus one time that showed this story. It had an adult daughter dancing seductively for her father, him getting turned on, and then making a foolish, drunken vow to her. While that could be an interpretation, that’s not what the story says. It just says his daughter “came in and performed a dance that greatly pleased Herod and his guests.” That’s it. She could have been a 10-year-old that he was proud of. His vow was stupid, but it wasn’t necessarily made out of lust for his daughter. It could have been simple pride in her.
  • He makes a foolish vow, but “because of the vows he had made in front of his guests, he couldn’t refuse her.” We’ll come back to that.
  • He had JTB’s head given to the girl.

I guess my big thing for Herod is that he simply allowed his pride to impact his parenting. What will others think? That was a teachable moment for him with his daughter. We can’t ask for illegal and immoral things and expect to get them. But to say that to her in front of his guests would have been too much for him to swallow. In relating this to my own life, I can see where I might allow what others will say/think to influence my parenting decisions. Yes, this is part of Herod’s cautionary tale.

Herodias

Ah, Herodias. Her actions all come back to a very familiar motive: Shame. I won’t speculate as to what her role was in being Herod’s wife instead of Philip’s. But JTB’s rebukes obviously bothered her more than they did Herod so I’ll assume (and it’s a fairly big assumption) she felt some responsibility and guilt over it.

Then her daughter, perhaps unwittingly, gets involved. She does something that pleases her father, she is granted a huge favor and she doesn’t know how to respond. “Mom, what should I ask for?!? Servants? A city? Gold? Jewelry?” Then Herodias (the mother) sees an opportunity. She’s been trying to get Herod to get rid of JTB for a long time, but he’s refused. She didn’t have that much leverage over him. But now her daughter did so she used her daughter for her own gain. All to deal with her own shame.

I’d like to think I’m above ever doing anything like that, but am I? Have I ever used my children to get my way with my spouse? Just this week, I saw a divorced couple using their children to get back at each other. I’d love to judge Herodias ruthlessly for thinking of herself and her own wants/needs before her child’s, but I know I’ve done it and I’ve seen nearly every other parent do it as well.

Father, I’m glad I didn’t skip over these two parents I could seem myself in them as much as I have seen myself in any of these other biblical parents. I am sorry for the times when I put my own needs ahead of my child’s. Maybe it’s even as simple as a need to be liked by them instead of making a hard decision that will be for their best but cause them to be angry with me. Maybe it’s doing something mean out of revenge for a hurt they did to me. Guilty, guilty, guilty. I am guilty and I am sorry. Help me to be better.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 15, 2020 in Fathers of the Bible, Mark, Mothers of the Bible

 

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Parents of the Bible — The parents who asked Jesus to pray for and bless their children

13 Mar

One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could lay his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him. But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” And he placed his hands on their heads and blessed them before he left.
Matthew 19:13-15

Dear God, I could be wrong, but I don’t think I’ve ever looked at this story from the perspective of the parents before. In church, we’ve usually taken this as a story about the disciples and their short-sightedness. We’ve also looked at Jesus’s perspective on children. But what about these parents who didn’t really want anything specific from Jesus. No healings. No instruction even. I don’t know if the laying on of hands and blessing someone was common for rabbis to do in that time. Maybe it was.

I was just reading a commentary to see if I could get an answer to that last question when I saw this point made. Matthew chose to build this story in a way that shows Jesus’s attitude towards marriage and divorce as well as how he feels about the products of marriage–children. All is sacred. All is holy. All is worthy.

But going back to the parents, I wonder what drove them to do this. There were undoubtedly part of the crowds that were following Jesus around. Maybe some of them got the idea together. Maybe some of them just wanted their child to be touched by Jesus. Maybe it was an excuse for some of them to get that close to Jesus themselves. Whatever it was, I’m sure this was an impactful event in their lives and the lives of their children. I would love to know how this even resonated through their individual lives. I would also love to know what Jesus said as he placed his hands on their heads.

Father, parenting is about doing the best you can in any given moment. In this moment, these parents really didn’t have any idea what was going on. They had no idea that Jesus was the Messiah, and even if they did suspect it they certainly didn’t know how it would all work out. What they saw that day was a great man teaching great things. He was seemingly of you and from you, and they brought their children to him so that he could touch them and pray for them. Holy Spirit, pray for me now. Pray for my children. Pray for my and my wife’s siblings, nieces and nephews, and parents. I don’t have Jesus here in the flesh for that, but he sent you, Holy Spirit. So please give to us what Jesus gave to those children and their parents that day.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 13, 2020 in Fathers of the Bible, Matthew, Mothers of the Bible

 

Psalm 95:6-8

12 Mar

Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker, for he is our God. We are the people he watches over, the flock under his care. If only you would listen to his voice today! The Lord says, “Don’t harden your hearts as Israel did at Meribah, as they did at Massah in the wilderness.
Psalm 95:6-8

Dear God, it feels like the world is going crazy and we are just a couple of steps away from martial law. They are canceling public events. They are canceling travel. People are hoarding toilet paper (of all things). Fear is spreading at a rate I don’t think I’ve ever seen. If a terrorist group ever wanted to see what dropping a virus that starts a pandemic would do to our society, this is a great test case for them. They couldn’t have damaged our economy within two weeks more than this virus has damaged it.

It just feels like there is something I should be praying about here. It feels like this is something that we should be bringing to you in prayer. Not that we should necessarily be asking you to do something, but that we should be looking at ourselves. Are we too fearful? Are we not faithful enough? Have we lost our first love? Have we lost the love of our neighbors? I’m not even saying that we shouldn’t be canceling some of the things we’ve canceled and doing some of the things we are doing (although, again, toilet paper?!?), but I’m saying that we need to be coming to you in worship. We need to not be hardening our hearts. We need to be a source of your presence in the world.

Father, make this count, and make us part of your plan. Help us, your people, to not miss the opportunity before us. I don’t even know what that opportunity is, but I know that I don’t want to miss being used by you. I probably won’t know if I was or if we were until it is all over. This is an opportunity for us to grow closer to you through struggle. Please make this count. The deaths, economic hardships, etc. Make them count. Make them count for your glory and use us to be your light in the midst of this.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 12, 2020 in Psalms

 

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Fathers of the Bible — Father of a demon-possessed boy

11 Mar

One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, “Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk. And whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn’t do it.” Jesus said to them, “You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth. “How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father. He replied, “Since he was a little boy. The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.” “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evil spirit. “Listen, you spirit that makes this boy unable to hear and speak,” he said. “I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again!” Then the spirit screamed and threw the boy into another violent convulsion and left him. The boy appeared to be dead. A murmur ran through the crowd as people said, “He’s dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up. Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, “Why couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit?” Jesus replied, “This kind can be cast out only by prayer.”
Mark 9:17-29

Dear God, this particular story is one of my favorites, but my favorite part is in the middle and I’ll get to that in a second. First, I want to talk about the idea of “seizures” and how they could be interpreted to be demons “seizing” a person. In this case, you also had a child who was apparently nonverbal. Is this a medical issue? Is it a demon? When we see someone with seizures now, is it a demon manipulating a person’s body or simply a medical condition? I don’t know, and I don’t know that the answer to that question is as important as the rest of the story and how this particular situation plays out.

The next thing I notice about this story is Jesus’s exasperation with the disciples: “You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you?” That’s to the 12. How many times do you look at me and shake your head? How many times do you wish I would just turn to you and pray (spoiler alert for the rest of the story)?

The exchange with the father is my favorite part of the story. Here’s a dad who feels helpless and scared. “Have mercy on us, if you can.” Jesus: “If I can? Anything is possible if a person believes.” Father: “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” Boom. That’s it. That’s the line I love. I do believe, Father. Help me overcome my unbelief.

Then we have the casting out of the demon and a boy that appears dead. We’ve seen Jesus obfuscate death before. Did the demon kill him on the way out and Jesus bring him back to life, or was this simply a casting out and then regaining strength? I don’t know, but it’s an interesting thought.

Finally, we have the disciples, chastened and embarrassed, asking why. They couldn’t cast out that evil spirit. Jesus: “This kind can be cast out only by prayer.”

When my back has been up against the wall, I have taken a day to fast and pray. I don’t think you’ve ever let me down in those times. I was thinking last night about some of thing things I mentioned I am fearing in yesterday’s prayer journal to you. It came to me that I need to take a day to fast and pray about this Corona Virus thing. How it is impacting the world. How it will touch my community. How the economics of it will impact the most vulnerable. How people are losing their loved ones. How it will affect the nonprofit where I work, both in the practical terms of helping potential patients and protecting our staff and in our fundraising efforts. I need to take a day to pray about it often, but I definitely need to take a day to fast and pray about it. I might just do that this Sunday. I’ll pray between now and then, but I will really fast and put myself before you this Sunday.

Father, I love this dad. He is one of my top three or so in the Bible. I love his insight into himself. His words are what I have felt so many times. I do believe, but help my unbelief. Also, help me to turn loose of my expectations of how you will answer my prayers. In the words of the classic hymn, have thine own way, Lord.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 11, 2020 in Fathers of the Bible, Mark

 

“Arms of Love” by Amy Grant

10 Mar

“Arms of Love” by Amy Grant

Lord, I’m really glad you’re here.
I hope you feel the same when you see all my fear,
and how I fail.
I fall sometimes.

It’s hard to walk in sinking sand.
I miss the rock, and find I’ve nowhere else to stand.
I start to cry.
Lord, please help me.
Raise my hands, so you can lift me up.
Hold me close, hold me tighter.

I have found a place where I can hide;
it’s safe inside
your arms of love.
Like a child who’s held throughout a storm;
I’m safe and warm
in your arms of love.

Storms may come and storms may go.
I wonder just how many storms it takes
until I finally know
you’re here always.
Even when my skies are far from grey.
Let me stay, Lord, teach me to stay.

In the place I’ve found where I can hide;
it’s safe inside
your arms of love.
Like a child who’s held throughout a storm;
I’m safe and warm
in your arms of love.

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Gary W Chapman / Amy Grant Gill / Michael Whitaker Smith

 

Dear God, last night I had the glums. I just felt a little down. Depressed is too strong, but I was definitely feeling…well, a lack of peace. I was wondering why when it started to occur to me that they uncertainty about the Corona Virus and how it will impact the charitable clinic where I work, our fundraising, etc. might be getting to me. In the grand scheme of things, I’m embarrassed that something like this could derail me so easily.

Since I had lost some of my peace, it made me wonder what I had started doing in my relationship with you that might have distracted me. My conclusion was that I have been so focused on this Mothers of the Bible and Fathers of the Bible series that I haven’t been spending much, if any, time in personal worship.

Then, as I was going to bed, this song from my childhood came to mind. I think it came out around 1981. It wasn’t the most famous song on Amy Grant’s Age to Age album, but it’s a good one. So I thought I would spend some time with it today. It seemed to capture what I was experiencing.

Lord, I’m really glad you’re here.
I hope you feel the same when you see all my fear,
and how I fail.
I fall sometimes.

This just seems so honest and transparent. I’m glad I know I have you to pray to and talk to. I hope you’re glad you have me, even after knowing who I really am and what I’ve really done or failed to do. This beginning of the first verse is a nice set up.

It’s hard to walk in sinking sand.
I miss the rock, and find I’ve nowhere else to stand.
I start to cry.
Lord, please help me.
Raise my hands, so you can lift me up.
Hold me close, hold me tighter.

That’s what I felt like I had done yesterday. I tried to walk, but I had missed the rock. I missed your rock. I missed just spending time worshiping you. So help me to raise my hands so you can life me up (the most poetic line of the song). I’m not much of a hand raiser, but is that one of the things I’m missing out on by not raising my hands in worship? Do I miss the opportunity to have you life me up? Then there’s the last three words: “hold me tighter.” How tight can you hold me? What a great image.

Storms may come and storms may go.
I wonder just how many storms it takes
until I finally know
you’re here always.
Even when my skies are far from grey.
Let me stay, Lord, teach me to stay.

I often try to put myself in the position of the songwriters when I hear songs like this. I don’t know if it was Michael, Gary, or Amy that wrote these lyrics, of if they sat together and wrote them, but I can see exploring the idea of the ups and downs of life and how we are continuously learning to have the same relationship with you regardless of our circumstances. The same peace. The same joy. Yes, we might mourn, but there can be a peace and joy that under-girds it all.

I have found a place where I can hide;
it’s safe inside
your arms of love.
Like a child who’s held throughout a storm;
I’m safe and warm
in your arms of love.

It seems like there were several songs with this sentiment back in the 80s. Twila Paris’s “The Warrior is a Child” and such. I guess there have been a couple of times in my life where I just wanted to shut down and hide from the storm, but I’m not sure that’s what you are calling me to do. When I think of this, I think of Elijah running and hiding in the cave. You finally ask him, “What are you doing here.” (1 Kings 19:9-13) The thought of hiding in your arms is nice, but I think you are more interested in us walking through the storm with you by our side (or carrying us through the storm as in “Footprints in the Sand“). It’s a fine line to walk between hiding in your arms and riding in your arms.

Father, thank you for your arms of love. Thank you that they stretched out through Jesus to forgive me. Thank you that they reach out and lift me up. Thank you for holding me and comforting me. And thank you for using them to provide for me, even when I don’t feel like you are.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 10, 2020 in Hymns and Songs

 

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Mothers of the Bible — Gentile Woman Who Asked Jesus to Heal Her Daughter

09 Mar

Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Gentile woman who lived there came to him, pleading, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! For my daughter is possessed by a demon that torments her severely.” But Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word. Then his disciples urged him to send her away. “Tell her to go away,” they said. “She is bothering us with all her begging.” Then Jesus said to the woman, “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.” But she came and worshiped him, pleading again, “Lord, help me!” Jesus responded, “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.” She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their masters’ table.” “Dear woman,” Jesus said to her, “your faith is great. Your request is granted.” And her daughter was instantly healed.
Matthew 15:21-28

Dear God, this story has always been hard for me because Jesus comes off as a bit of a jerk. Is he racist? Is he elitist? Is he none of those things, but simply testing her? I’m sure it’s the latter, but it doesn’t seem that way at first.

I think I’m going to do what I did with Jairus yesterday and just make bullet points about another rich story that is told in a tight eight verses.

  • This Gentile woman already lived among the Jewish people in Tyre and Sidon. Had she already started to become acclimated to Jewish traditions, or was she overcoming a lot of racism she had experienced to go to Jesus in the first place?
  • She calls him “O Lord, Son of David!” Is this an admission on her part that he is the Messiah? He isn’t only a rabbi to her. Jairus’s friends called him a teacher. That’s not who she says he is. I could be wrong in how I’m reading this, but I think she’s willing to put the Messiah label on him. Now maybe this is just kissing up out of desperation. Maybe she doesn’t have a barrier to calling him that because the Messiah doesn’t mean as much to her as if she had been raised Jewish. But it’s still quite an admission.
  • The labels her daughter’s illness as a demon that torments her. I don’t know how this manifests itself, but that’s the language she uses with him.
  • “Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word.” That seems harsh? A test?
  • “Tell her to go away. She is bothering us with all her begging.” Did Jesus set a bad example for the disciples here. Was this incident reshaping his own attitudes towards his being there for Gentiles too. I think he had already healed the Centurion’s servant at this point, so it’s probably not that. But it’s interesting that his response to her seems to encourage racism and bigotry among the disciples.
  • “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep–the people of Israel.” Again, racism or a test?
  • “She came and she worshiped him.” She didn’t just plead. She acknowledged his God-ness over her as well. She asked to be considered one of his people. She worshiped him.
  • They have their exchange about food and scraps from the table. This is the part of the story everyone remembers. If you try to bring this story to someone’s mind, all you have to say is, “The one where the woman just wants scraps from the table like a dog.” I was thinking about my dogs the other day and how grateful I am they can’t talk back. We definitely have a master/slave relationship with them. We tell them when to go to sleep, where to sleep, when to go to the bathroom, when to eat, to be quiet, to go away, to come here, etc. Then there is the part of the relationship where we play with them and scratch them. We feed them. We walk them. We give them shelter. We even pay a sitter to come and care for them when we leave town so they won’t have to be boarded. I’ve always kind of just read over this story, but maybe there is something more to this being a representation of my relationship with you than I’ve given it credit for.
  • Jesus is impressed with her answer and heals her daughter.

Father, I don’t know that this woman would ever have been driven to worship Jesus without going through this terrible thing with her daughter. It humbled her. Her love for her daughter and desperation brought her to her knees. I’m sure she told her daughter from that time forward how this man named Jesus, a Jewish Messiah, healed her. I wonder how she felt when she heard about the crucifixion. Did she hear about the resurrection too? You made the pain she experienced count, and I’m grateful for that. I’m grateful for her, and, as a Gentile, I’m grateful for myself as well.

I pray all of this in the name of that same Jesus,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 9, 2020 in Matthew, Mothers of the Bible

 

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Fathers of the Bible — Jairus

08 Mar

Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet, pleading fervently with him. “My little daughter is dying,” he said. “Please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live.” Jesus went with him, and all the people followed, crowding around him. While he was still speaking to her, messengers arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. They told him, “Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.” But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.” Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn’t let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John (the brother of James). When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing. He went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.” The crowd laughed at him. But he made them all leave, and he took the girl’s father and mother and his three disciples into the room where the girl was lying. Holding her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means “Little girl, get up!” And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around! They were overwhelmed and totally amazed. Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone what had happened, and then he told them to give her something to eat.
Mark 5:22-24,35-43

Dear God, so much happens in this story. That’s the pretty incredible thing about the Bible overall. It has some of the tightest, best editing ever. In this case, it takes just 12 verses to say so much. It paints quite a picture.

Here are the key phrases that communicate so much:

  • “Leader of the local synagogue”– This wasn’t just anyone. This was someone with some community standing and pride. He should be able to handle something like this on his own. Why would he need to go to a traveling rabbi and get his help?
  • “My little girl is dying”– When one becomes a parent…well, there’s just a mystery there that you and I have discussed before. Imprinting. Bonding. Call it whatever you want, but there is something powerful about your child.
  • “Heal her so she can live”– It’s not like healing was common in those days. Jairus wasn’t making a common request. He was making a desperate request. He wanted his daughter to live. He wanted it for his own sake. I’m sure he wanted it for his wife as well.
  • “There’s no use troubling the Teacher now”–It’s one thing to heal. It’s another thing to resurrect. We were now beyond healing, and resurrection was too much to expect.
  • “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith”– Faith in what? That you’re going to raise her from the dead? Really? There’s no way.
  • “The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep”– What? Was Jesus being intentionally deceptive here in order to prevent a furor after the resurrection about to take place? Did he try to protect the little girl from being the one who was raised from the dead as opposed to simply being someone who was healed? Was he protecting Jairus and his wife from that kind of attention as well? I’ve always seen this as being…well, I’ll call it a misleading. I’ve always seen this as a misleading that would protect Jesus from unwanted acclaim, but maybe it was for Jairus’s family’s benefit as well.
  • “They were overwhelmed and totally amazed”– Yeah, I would imagine so. Despair to elation. Hope. I wonder where Jairus was the week of Jesus’s crucifixion. It’s too bad we don’t have any further information about him or his family. I’d like to know if he became like Nicodemus. It’d be nice if we had that follow up.
  • “Jesus game them strict orders not to tell anyone what had happened”– Back to the…misleading. Obfuscation? This is the part that must have struck Don Francisco in the song I liked to above: “I’ve Got to Tell Somebody“
  • “Give her something to eat”– She’s been sick a while. It’s probably been days since she has eaten, but she isn’t only alive. She isn’t sick anymore. Give that girl something to eat.

Father, I wish I knew more about Jairus. What I do know is pretty great. And I’m about to go through some stories about more fathers like him. I don’t have too many parents left really, but there are several who bring their children to Jesus for healing. I was going to bunch them together, but my wife encouraged me to break them out separately to see if there is anything unique about this. In this case, I would say that Jairus being the local synagogue leader is significant. The implications of what this would mean to his position in the community is significant. And that fact that he had to keep it quiet and participate in the obfuscation is unique as well. Thank you for his example of a father who really loved his daughter beyond what it would cost him personally and professionally.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 8, 2020 in Fathers of the Bible, Mark

 

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Mothers of the Bible — The Widow Who Helped Elijah

07 Mar

Then the Lord said to Elijah, “Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.” So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks, and he asked her, “Would you please bring me a little water in a cup?” As she was going to get it, he called to her, “Bring me a bite of bread, too.” But she said, “I swear by the Lord your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.” But Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!” So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days. There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah. Some time later the woman’s son became sick. He grew worse and worse, and finally he died. Then she said to Elijah, “O man of God, what have you done to me? Have you come here to point out my sins and kill my son?” But Elijah replied, “Give me your son.” And he took the child’s body from her arms, carried him up the stairs to the room where he was staying, and laid the body on his bed. Then Elijah cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, why have you brought tragedy to this widow who has opened her home to me, causing her son to die?” And he stretched himself out over the child three times and cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, please let this child’s life return to him.” The Lord heard Elijah’s prayer, and the life of the child returned, and he revived! Then Elijah brought him down from the upper room and gave him to his mother. “Look!” he said. “Your son is alive!” Then the woman told Elijah, “Now I know for sure that you are a man of God, and that the Lord truly speaks through you.”
1 Kings 17:8-24

Dear God, what made this woman so obedient to Elijah? Was it inherent kindness? Was it respect for men in that culture? Every time I read this story I’m always so surprised by how quickly she responds to his requests.

Hold it. Let me back up. You instructed a widow to support Elijah? My logic would have sent Elijah to a wealthy family that had enough resources to care for Elijah in addition to the rest of the household. I wouldn’t have sent him to a widow with a child. Widows had a hard enough time providing for themselves in that culture, much less adding another mouth to feed. I’ve never thought about this before, but maybe you already knew her son would die and she would need Elijah. You knew the son would need Elijah. It’s too bad we don’t know who this son became, but it’s obvious to me now that you weren’t as much providing for Elijah in this situation–you could have done that anywhere–but you were providing for the widow and her son.

I’m glad I saw this because I was going to join Elijah in his prayer when he said, “O Lord my God, why have you brought tragedy to this widow who has opened her home to me, causing her son to die?” Did Elijah still have that limited level of vision of you that he thought you sent good things to those who love you and bad things to those who don’t? I guess this process was part of his own education and refining too. Of course, he was also responding to the pressure of the moment and the fog of war that he was in. After all, he had a dead boy in front of him and a distraught woman saying, “O man of God, what have you (emphasis mine) done to me? Have you come here to point out my sins and kill my son?” Again, the link between you sending punishment for sin instead of a view that life is life and tragedy will sometimes come regardless of the level of holiness in someone’s heart.

One more thing on Elijah before I return to the widow. I love how excited he is to have raised the son. “Look (exclamation point) Your son is alive (exclamation point)” What a relief! What a time to celebrate! He had to be thinking, “Oh, thank you, God!”

Going back to the widow, she woke up one morning in the midst of a famine and she knew she was at the end of the line. One more day’s worth of food. Then she was done. No more food to buy. No more food to cook. It was time to face facts. Their lives were coming to an end. Then you sent this guy into her life and she had nothing left to lose so she listened to him. I wonder if she would have helped him out a week before. Did she need to be at the end of her rope as a widow and a mother before she would help him? Maybe not. Maybe she would have helped him. But you certainly exhibited your power to her. After Elijah left, I would think there would never be a reason for her to doubt you or your love for her again.

Father, thank you for the reminder that sometimes we are just doing the best we have with the circumstances in front of us. That’s what she was doing. In this case, you had a plan for her life and her son’s life. I don’t know what you did with the rest of their lives or how they have rippled through time to impact mine except for me sitting here learning from them thousands of years later. She certainly probably never knew she and her son would be part of your scripture. It’s a reminder that I have no idea what you’re doing or how my life will work out, but it’s not important that I know. It’s just important that I am faithful to you and rest in the peace that you are in control.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 7, 2020 in 1 Kings, Mothers of the Bible

 
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