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Luke 13:10-21

29 Oct

10 One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, 11 he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” 13 Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God!

14 But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There are six days of the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.”

15 But the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Each of you works on the Sabbath day! Don’t you untie your ox or your donkey from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for water? 16 This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years. Isn’t it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?”

17 This shamed his enemies, but all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things he did.

18 Then Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like? How can I illustrate it? 19 It is like a tiny mustard seed that a man planted in a garden; it grows and becomes a tree, and the birds make nests in its branches.”

20 He also asked, “What else is the Kingdom of God like? 21 It is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”

Luke 13:10-21

Dear God, the daily Gospel reading for today was just verse 18-21, but that would be taking them out of context. They are actually linked to this story about the healing of someone on the Sabbath. So the part about how the “Kingdom of God,” your Kingdom, grows like a tiny seed into a tree or yeast working through flower is tied to the shame of those who were leading your church at the time. So Jesus wasn’t only talking about your growing within and influencing the world, but he was also talking about Kingdom growing within and influencing the established church. In Jesus’s context, that would ultimately mean Christianity transforming Judaism. It didn’t abolish it, obviously. But it grew. It also grew into the world, but it started with transforming the established church itself.

Of course, your seeds and yeast also grow in our individual hearts. The roots of the seeds break through the clay of my heart to find some soil. And then they grow. The yeast breaks through the dense dough of my heart and helps it so spread out and be free to grow. But I have to let it. I have to put myself in a position to receive the seeds and the nourishment. I have to try to weed my soil and clear out the rocks. I have to tend my heart so that your Kingdom might grow within it.

Father, Laity Lodge had a philosophy of the world being influence by the church and the church being influenced by the individual, and the individual being influenced by you. It starts with this basic relationship. Our individual relationships with you. How do we put ourselves close to you? How do we make sure our hearts are fertile soil for you? Show me if there is anything I need to be doing today that will prepare the way of the Lord in my own heart. And then show me how to share that with others.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 29, 2024 in Luke

 

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“What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong

28 Oct

Dear God, it was hard to find the lyrics to post for this song this morning, so I’ll just have to mention what touched me about it this morning. What touched me is that it was released for the first time in 1967. We complain right now about how chaotic our current times feel, but it feels small compared with 1967. I think our current times only feel chaotic because the politicians create a chaotic atmosphere and narrative so we will vote for them. But in 1967 we had riots in the streets, we were coming off the assassination of Kennedy and we were coming up on the assassinations of King and Kennedy’s brother. There was the Vietnam War that was brutal for everyone. And yet, somehow in the midst of this, Bob Thiele and George David Weiss were able to come up with a song that saw the beauty in the things around them. The sky. The flowers. The love between people.

So what do I see that reminds me this is a wonderful world? I see people reach out to help each other when they are struggling. I see the rich donate their resources and volunteer. I see the poor sacrifice to help their friends. I see cashiers smile at people who are downtrodden as they check out at the store. I see husbands love their wives and wives love their husbands. On nights like the one coming up at Morgan’s Wonderland in San Antonio this Halloween when Rotarians will hand out candy to children and their families, I see parents loving their children, including their children with special needs. Watching the love those parents have for their children is a definite reminder that it is not only a wonderful world, but also that you love us so much more than even that. I see pastors preach your Word and introduce people to you. I see lay people go into prisons to let those who are broken and damaged that you are what they are looking for.

Father, what you created is good. Genesis 1 says as much. Your world is good. We are good. We just let this selfishness creep in that disguises itself as nobility. But it’s selfishness. I have it. People around me have it. Help me to be part of your wonderful world by considering my life worth nothing to me. Help me to bring you into the world by finishing the race and completing the task you called me to. The task of testifying to your grace.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 28, 2024 in Hymns and Songs

 

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“The Now and the Not Yet” by Amy Grant

27 Oct

“The Now and the Not Yet” by Amy Grant

No longer what we were before,
But not all that we will be.
Tomorrow, when we lock the door,
On all our compromising,
When He appears,
He’ll draw us near,
And we’ll be changed by His glory,
Wrapped up in His glory….

We will be like Him,
For we shall see Him,
As He is.

No longer what we saw before,
But not all that we will see.
Tomorrow, when we lock the door,
On all our disbelieving,
When He appears (holy, holy),
Our view will clear,
And we’ll be changed by His glory,
Wrapped up in His glory….

But I’m caught in between
The now and the not yet;
Sometimes it seems like
Forever and ever,
That I’ve been reaching to be
All that I am,
But I’m only a few steps nearer,
Yet I’m nearer….

No longer what we were before,
But not all that we will be.
Tomorrow, when we lock the door,
On all our disbelieving,
And He appears (holy, holy),
He’ll draw us near,
And we’ll be changed by His glory,
Wrapped up in His glory….

When He appears (holy, holy),
He’ll draw us near,
And we’ll be changed by His glory,
Wrapped up in His glory….

Written by Pam Mark Hall

Dear God, so I woke up with another song going in my head this morning. I suppose I’m grateful these are sweet Christian songs that are coming to mind. It’s nice to know that’s where my head is when I wake up. An interesting coincidence between this song and the song I prayed about yesterday, “Finally” by Gary Chapman. Amy Grant is Gary’s ex-wife. So there’s a connection there.

I suspect (I don’t know because I don’t think I will know for sure until I am on the other side of death), that I was taught some errant things about heaven back in the 80s when I first heard this song. I don’t believe some of the rapture/tribulation theology I believed back then. So when I sat down to hear this song this morning in full, I wondered if I would be disappointed in what it said. I was relieved to know it fits into more my current thoughts on New Earth and “the not yet.”

So back to the song that apparently Pam Mark Hall wrote. With songs like this, I like to think about the writer sitting somewhere and expressing these feelings. In this case, feeling the growth of her spiritual life and development in the fruits of the Spirit, but also feeling the distance that still exists between her and the woman she wishes she could be under you. I’ve felt that a lot. I know I’m not the man I was 30, 15, 5, or even one year ago. I am slowly being formed. But if there is a spectrum of 1 to 100 on human holiness, with Jesus being 100, I have maybe moved from an 8 to a 15 (even that feels too generous). There is a long way to go between me and the “not yet.” I think the bridge to the song is my favorite part:

But I’m caught in between
The now and the not yet;
Sometimes it seems like
Forever and ever,
That I’ve been reaching to be
All that I am,
But I’m only a few steps nearer,
Yet I’m nearer….

Father, today is another day. And if I am at a 15, I have choices. I could go back to 8, or I could try to reach for 15.000001. I might only get a step nearer, yet I would be nearer. So love through me. Live through me. Speak through me. I give you glory for everything, oh, my God. Thank you for guiding me in this life. I celebrate this journey with you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 27, 2024 in Hymns and Songs

 

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“Finally” by Gary Chapman

26 Oct

“Finally” by Gary Chapman

I wish my mind wouldn’t argue with my heart
It splits the day apart
Into time well spent and time just thrown away
I wish my heart would please make up my mind
I’m wasting so much time
Gotta catch a glimpse of how it’s gonna be

When finally I look inside Your eyes and see
Reflections of Yourself in me
The way You always said it would be
When finally, I’m loving You like You love me
It happened oh, so easily
I looked at You and it came to me finally

The day to day just keeps on spinning round
But this one thing I have found
I can close my eyes and be there in Your arms
You take me to a place that’s safe and warm
You’re my harbor in the storm
Wanna lose myself in being there with You

When finally I look inside Your eyes and see
Reflections of Yourself in me
The way You always said it would be
When finally, I’m loving You like You love me
It happened oh, so easily
I looked at You and it came to me finally

Oh, when finally I look inside Your eyes and see
Reflections of Yourself in me
The way You always said it would be
When finally, I’m loving You like You love me
It happened oh, so easily
I looked at You and the love in Your heart cut right through to me
And my eyes can see finally

Source: LyricFind

Dear God, sometimes I wake up with a song in my head and I have no idea where it came from. This one from this morning, “Finally” by Gary Chapman, is a deep cut. Of course, I heard it when I was a kid sung by T.G. Sheppard. Years later, however, I worked for a Christian music publisher called Word that distributed the song’s writer, Gary Chapman, and found this song on his first album, Everyday Man. It was then I realized it was one of those could be a song about love/could be a song about God songs that were pretty prevalent in Christian music in the 80s and 90s. So I heard it in a different way.

With that said, since I woke up with it in my head this morning, and even though I am sure I’ve probably prayed through this song before, I thought I would spend some time with again this morning.

I wish my mind wouldn’t argue with my heart
It splits the day apart
Into time well spent and time just thrown away
I wish my heart would please make up my mind
I’m wasting so much time
Gotta catch a glimpse of how it’s gonna be

Wasting time. Oh, how much time do I waste a day? Each day? Every day?!? It’s a lot. It can be so much easier to settle into watching something on a screen that it is to do something constructive that requires brain power, physical power, and conscious effort. It’s easier to just “veg.” I listened to the Russell Moore Podcast this week. It was an interview with Carlos Whittaker about his technology detoxing experience. He said his phone told him he was spending 7 hours per day on the phone. 49 hours per week. 2,500 hours per year. A full-time 40-hour per week job is 2,080 hours, so it was a lot. Therefore, he decided to try something different. He went to a monastery and spent either 21 or 23 hours per day in silence for 9 weeks. Then he went and hung out with the Amish. To some extent he rediscovered himself. Going back to the 1950s, I would say the introduction of screens into our lives has definitely shaped who we are as humans. I spent so much time watching TV as a kid. And while I don’t watch my actual living room television much anymore except for live sports, the little screen that fits in my hand has successfully replaced it effectively.

I say all of that because, even though Chapman wrote this in 1982 (I think I heard him say that in an interview), before there were cell phones and even very many personal computers, he was still finding plenty of things that would take him away from you. People always have throughout the centuries. We don’t need cell phones and the Internet to lure us away. As the hymnist wrote in “Come Thou Fount,” “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.” It’s who we are.

Back at Lent I purposed in my heart that I was going to make this time praying to you a priority in my life. I would spend some time every day journaling my a prayer to you. Now, I’ve decided it is part of what I must do to function. I need you. Because when I show up here I am able to see you and a reflection of you in me. I hear from your Holy Spirit. I am convicted of sin. I am inspired and instructed by the Holy Scripture you left for me to use to help me find you. And the reason I know you are a loving God is because the closer I get to you the more loving I become. The reason I know you are forgiving is because the closer I get to you the more forgiving I become.

Father, well, I’m not even sure how to pray about this. According to Whittaker, even the Amish are seeing technology like computer and flip phones enter their world because they have to use them to conduct business with the outside world. And if I think about getting a flip phone I start to wonder about texting and the apps I use to even conduct business during the day. So help me find my way in all of this. Help me glorify you in my life. Help me to not miss the opportunities you have for me to love and serve you and love and serve others.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 26, 2024 in Hymns and Songs

 

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Ephesians 5:15-20

25 Oct

Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 5:15-20

Dear God, I don’t want to be thoughtless in what I do. I’m even about to go and try to vote. I don’t want to be thoughtless in that process either. I know in the grand scheme of things that my one vote will probably not move the needle between who wins and who loses, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t take it seriously. Prayerfully. Thoughtfully.

Then there is the part about putting myself in a position to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I want to be filled with you. But what do I need to do to put myself in that position? It won’t just happen. I need to go back to those things I said a few weeks ago about the floor. What is the minimum I need to be doing each day? I need to spend this time with you. I need to keep myself pure. I need to regulate what I take into my eyes and ears. I need to give. I need to love.

Father, if I can just put myself in a position and set myself up in a good situation where I can be filled with your Holy Spirit then that will go a long way towards me bearing out the fruits of your Spirit. So I start with this time of worship. I worship you, Father. And I trust you. Regardless of the outcomes of the election as they compare with the candidates for whom I will vote, I am going to put my trust in you. You are my God. I worship you and you alone. Help me to spread that peace to other Christians around me who are concerned about the outcome of this election. And help me to spread your peace to non-Christians around me as well.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 25, 2024 in Ephesians

 

Luke 12:35-40, 49-53

24 Oct

49 “I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning! 50 I have a terrible baptism of suffering ahead of me, and I am under a heavy burden until it is accomplished. 51 Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other! 52 From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against—or two in favor and three against.

53 ‘Father will be divided against son
    and son against father;
mother against daughter
    and daughter against mother;
and mother-in-law against daughter-in-law
    and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’”

Dear God, we can’t read these verses without reading the context of what came before it. All of this started with Jesus warning the people to be ready like a servant who awaits his masters return and must always be ready:

35 “Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. 37 The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat! 38 He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn. But whenever he comes, he will reward the servants who are ready.

39 “Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would not permit his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.”

Once again, our subject headings make some things convenient, but they can remove passages from their context if we let them.

This has always been a hard passage. Why does Jesus come across as so angry and vindictive in verse 49? Well, it’s partly related to the people not being ready when the master (Jesus) came and also knowing the truth of what was about to happen to him. And what was about to happen was incredibly destructive and then re-creational. But it would divide. It did divide. It still does.

I was listening to a recent Andy Stanley sermon this morning about Jesus being who he said he was. And I’ve seen my faith in that message divide members of my own family. I’ve literally seen children be hostile with parents over their faith. And it’s hard to watch. And when I read these words of Jesus they both aggravate me and comfort me. They aggravate me because I think, Why does it have to be this way? Then they comfort me because I see that it will simply sometimes be this way.

This passage also reminds me of the pressure and even anxiety Jesus felt about his earthly future. He certainly didn’t want it to happen. He didn’t want to be beaten and crucified. He wished the atonement cold have happened another way. But let’s for a moment say it could have happened another way and his death and resurrection wasn’t necessary for that, then what would have differentiated him in history? Had he just lived taught, and then been assumed into heaven, how would he have ever been remembered. It’s the crucifixion and resurrection, and how they inspired the people who witnessed this miracle to then go to the world and proclaim it that made the difference. It was Their witness to this story that made the Gentiles take notice. It is the reason I am sitting here this morning.

Father, there are times I look around and it seems like the world is on fire. And maybe it is. Maybe you’re breaking us down to our bare essentials so you can build us back up, once again, in your image. Maybe you want to love and inspire us through some setbacks. Through some suffering. Maybe it doesn’t matter who wins the presidential election because either way the world is spinning away from you, and we need just a little more leash before we are ready to come to the end of ourselves, repent, and come back to you. Show me the role you have for me in all of this. Show me how to love and inspire my wife. Show her how to love and inspire me. Show me how to love my children and my family. My coworkers. My friends. Everyone within my sphere, show me what to do.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 24, 2024 in Luke

 

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Ephesians 3:6-7

23 Oct

6 And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus. 7 By God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News.

Ephesians 3:6-7

Dear God, I sit here this morning as the recipient and beneficiary of this Good News. I could have been a Greek who worshipped the Unknown God (Acts 17:23). I could have been godless and not allowed the teachings of Jesus and your Holy Spirit growing within me to drive me into loving others, forgiveness, being a peacemaker, etc. As I sit here now, it’s hard for me to imagine what I would be like or who I would be without you. I have friends who are without you, and almost none of them are at peace. Some are constantly angry and cynical. I share you with them, and they seem to not want to leave what they already know so well. I suppose I wouldn’t want to either. I’m fortunate my father found you when his life was in a rocky stretch when I was 8 years old, and he started taking us to church.

So is there anything I need to be doing to let others know that they are heirs into your family? How else do I need to invite others in. What do I need to be doing to share you with those within my sphere of influence? What are the words you want me to say?

Father, I know I don’t do enough in this area. And I know that if I were to do a lot more then very few would accept the invitation. When I come across people today, give me eyes to see them with your eyes. Give me ears to hear them and know them with your ears and knowledge. Live through me. Love through me. Let your kingdom come on earth and your will be done on earth through me and your body, the Church. And thank you. Thank you, Father, for everything you are.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 23, 2024 in Ephesians

 

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Ephesians 2:11-22

22 Oct

11 Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 12 In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.

14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

17 He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

19 So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. 20 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21 We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. 22 Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

Ephesians 2:11-22

Dear God, I am one of those Gentiles that benefits from all of this. I am someone who was lost but now I’m found. And here I am now. Sitting here before work, praying to you. Loving you. Worshipping you. Looking to you for guidance. Asking you for your love and presence to be in my life and the lives of others. Asking you to guide your church in the midst of election fervor. Asking you to reveal my sin to me so that I might repent and then take up my cross and follow you. That is what I get to do this morning because of what Jesus did 2,000 years ago. Because of what you did in sending a piece of you to us. Because the Holy Spirit, your Holy Spirit, a piece of your nature, is now sitting in this room with me–in me–loving me and guiding me. Talking to me. Comforting me. Correcting me.

Father, I need your inspiration today. I need your love. I need to be able to inspire your love in others. I want people to hunger for you after being with me. I want others to find you on a deep and personal level so that they might experience the life you have for them here on this earth. Having finished Ecclesiastes yesterday, I don’t know that Solomon (if that was Solomon) ever really found what he was looking for, but I have. I wouldn’t trade you for anything. Not anything. Forget afterlife. For the here and now, you are everything I need. I worship you, and I praise you. My Lord and my God.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 22, 2024 in Ephesians

 

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Ecclesiastes 12

21 Oct

12 Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.” 2 Remember him before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is dim to your old eyes, and rain clouds continually darken your sky. 3 Remember him before your legs—the guards of your house—start to tremble; and before your shoulders—the strong men—stoop. Remember him before your teeth—your few remaining servants—stop grinding; and before your eyes—the women looking through the windows—see dimly.

4 Remember him before the door to life’s opportunities is closed and the sound of work fades. Now you rise at the first chirping of the birds, but then all their sounds will grow faint.

5 Remember him before you become fearful of falling and worry about danger in the streets; before your hair turns white like an almond tree in bloom, and you drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper, and the caperberry no longer inspires sexual desire. Remember him before you near the grave, your everlasting home, when the mourners will weep at your funeral.

6 Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don’t wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well. 7 For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

8 “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless.”

9 Keep this in mind: The Teacher was considered wise, and he taught the people everything he knew. He listened carefully to many proverbs, studying and classifying them. 10 The Teacher sought to find just the right words to express truths clearly.

11 The words of the wise are like cattle prods—painful but helpful. Their collected sayings are like a nail-studded stick with which a shepherd drives the sheep.

12 But, my child, let me give you some further advice: Be careful, for writing books is endless, and much study wears you out.

13 That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. 14 God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.

Ecclesiastes 12

Dear God, I have to say that this is an odd ending for this book. And I would say that verses 13 and 14 seem incongruous with the message Solomon has been teaching up until now. It seems like the previous 11 chapters have been about enjoying life as much as you can because that’s all you get, but this last chapter is about you. It’s almost like he read over everything else he wrote and looked for that deeper purpose. The other activities of eating joyfully and sucking every morsal out of life seem to fade away in this last chapter. Now, he realizes that it is about remembering you not in my old age, but when I am young.

I would certainly say that my knowledge of Solomon and how his life turned out helps to inform how I read this book. Knowing that he marries 700 women and has another 300 on the side. Knowing that a lot of these wives will lead him away from you with the idols of their home lands. Knowing that he makes treaties with people in the name of peace instead of fearing the attraction of their riches and their idols. Knowing that he ends up being harsh to his people. All of that makes me take his advice here with a grain of salt. I wonder how early in his reign he wrote this book. Of course, we aren’t even sure he wrote it.

I just read the summary of the book from my NIV Study Bible and it’s interesting to see how the biblical scholars position this book because it’s not at all how I read it. Perhaps I was wrong. Hear is what the author of the summary says about what the book teaches:

Life not centered on God is purposeless and meaningless. Without him, nothing else can satisfy (2:25). With him, all of life and his other good gifts are to be gratefully received (see James 1:17) and used and enjoyed to the full (2:26; 11:8). The book contains the philosophical and theological reflections of an old man, most of whose life was meaningless because he had not himself relied on God.

Father, the experience of spending the last two weeks with Ecclesiastes has been interesting. What have I gotten out of it? I’m not sure except to just really have my guard up against the pursuit of myself because chasing my own “happiness” is a fruitless path. It will not lead to anything but ultimate emptiness. But if I wake up wanting to love you and then love others I will have a chance at living a life that will be in touch with you and grow the fruits of your Spirit within me. It’s the fruit of your Spirit that I want for my time here. I want to have a life full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Thank you for offering me that life through the relationship you want to have with me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 21, 2024 in Ecclesiastes

 

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Ecclesiastes 11

20 Oct

11 Send your grain across the seas,
    and in time, profits will flow back to you.
2 But divide your investments among many places,
    for you do not know what risks might lie ahead.

3 When clouds are heavy, the rains come down.
    Whether a tree falls north or south, it stays where it falls.

4 Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant.
    If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.

5 Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.

6 Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.

7 Light is sweet; how pleasant to see a new day dawning.

8 When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life. But let them also remember there will be many dark days. Everything still to come is meaningless.

9 Young people, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do. 10 So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless.

Dear God, I don’t normally spend too much time on the footnotes in the different translations, but the footnote for verse 1 seems important: 11:1 Or Give generously, / for your gifts will return to you later. Hebrew reads Throw your bread on the waters, / for after many days you will find it again. It’s interesting because it’s almost like this is putting a selfish twist on Jesus’s command to love others. It’s saying there is a side benefit to loving others that makes it worth it. That sounds like Solomon. That sounds on-brand.

I think the other part I’m going to focus on this morning is the truth of verse 5: 5 Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things. I don’t understand you, and I am okay with that. I don’t know why you’re doing thing the way you’re doing them. I think the person who holds on to the selfish motivation for doing what they do gets angry at this. And I’ve been angry with you before because I can be very selfish. I’ve been disappointed in you before because I thought I had made some sort of deal with you that you didn’t live up to. But you had never made that deal with me. Your deal with me is that you will forgive me of my sin, love me as I love you, and then let your Spirit and the fruits of your Spirit grow in me as I love you. Everything else is a hazy mystery.

It makes me think of the Gospel reading for the Catholic church this morning out of Mark 10:35-45, when James and John go to Jesus and ask to sit at his right and left when he comes into his glory. I don’t know why, but I never thought too much about what they meant by Jesus coming into his glory. They had no idea what this would look like. Even though he had just told them about his death, they weren’t getting it. I don’t know exactly what they were envisioning, but it seems to me they were wanting to make a deal with Jesus in order to attain greatness. I don’t think they were thinking about heavenly greatness and new earth greatness like we think of it now. I think they were thinking of earthly power greatness. Judging. Intimidation. Punishment. Casting favor. Little did they know they would literally share in Jesus’s path. James would be the first of the 12 to be martyred while John would live in miserable exile. I don’t know what role they play in the new earth, and I’ll find out one day, but I’m sure they are embarrassed to look back and know they did this. Just like I am embarrassed by so many selfish things I’ve done.

Father, there is so much for Solomon to learn, and so much for me to learn from both his good and bad examples. Help me to learn every lesson you have for me. I know some of them will be harder for me to learn than others. Open my eyes so I can see. Open my ears so I can hear. Dispatch of the bad teaching I’ve observed over the years. Help me to link everything to the teachings I know of from Jesus through the Gospel writers and the other authors of the New Testament. They say on a football team, each player on the field just has to do their 1/11th. Well, if there are 2 billion Christians on the earth, help me to be the best 1/2 billionth I can possibly be. For your glory, and your glory alone.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 20, 2024 in Ecclesiastes

 

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