Category Archives: Bible

Male Factor in Faithbuilding

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We just completed a great week of Vacation Bible Adventure, my first at Resurrection.  I continue to be impressed with the creative energy, commitment and passion of our volunteers.  Tonya Roberts and Laura Holtmeier provided masterful coordination by recruiting, training and leading the teams as we discovered God’s tremendous promises in Psalm 139.  Over a hundred children were touch by the contagious joy of God’s people.

Men of VBA

Among the many impressive volunteers was a strong male contingent.  Don’t get me wrong.  There were many impressive female crew guides, station leaders and organizers.  All played a part.  But in our suburban setting it would be easy for females to overwhelm this nurturing role for children.  So I was doubly pleased to see many of our young men participating in VBA.  They demonstrated that Christian education is not just a female role.  Our young guides provide role models for the younger boys to see how they can live out their faith in Jesus. I was delighted to serve among these talented, spirit-filled male leaders   

The Bible story for the last day was Peter’s denial of Jesus during the passion (Mark 14).  Whenever I tell that story, I remember my theology professor, Gerhard Forde, and his remark to those who claim to be self-confident in their faith in Jesus. Forde would respond, “cock-a-doodle-doo!” Forde saw Peter’s promise that he would remain steadfast as a reflection of the sinner’s trust in one-self.  He would caution us to never look at our faith as something we possess but to always look to Jesus as the one who rescues us.  Any promise I make to God is the faintest echo of God’s promise to us in Jesus Christ. 

As I reflect on this week of VBA, I continue to rejoice in God’s faithful promise to work through his people, male and female, young and old, sinners and saints.  As we sang all week, “God is wild about you.”

Do you have any special memories of Vacation Bible School from your childhood?

Lord Jesus, continue to raise up leaders for your church so that your good news can be heard.

 

The Contest at Vacation Bible Adventure

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Singing out "God is wild about us!"

This week my blogging is down but energy is up as Resurrection hosts Vacation Bible Adventure.  I am so excited with all the volunteers who add their passion, gifts and strengths to transform Resurrection into a Pandamania Jungle as together we learn about God’s creation, Elijah’s contest, Jonah’s trip, and Peter’s denial.  I am working with a talented seventh grader Adam Behnken and creative Micki Fredin to tell the Bible stories each day. 

This morning we retold Elijah’s contest with the 450 prophets of Baal (see I Kings 18). The people of Israel were waffling in their allegiance to the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Elijah.  So Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal to a contest. Each would prepare an altar with sacrifice, but neither would bring fire.  They would each call upon their god to light the sacrificial fire. 

First the prophets of Baal tried to coax their god to send fire upon their altar.  Like those ancient prophets, the children and I shouted, danced and called for the fire, but nothing happened. Then the children imitated Elijah and prepared an altar with stones, wood and a sacrifice of “chocolate.”  They even doused the altar three times with water, just like Elijah.  But just before they called down God’s fire, a firefighter (with the initials JVK) entered to stop any fire from happening.  We did not want to burn the church down with it.  Instead we retold  the ending of I Kings 18.

Elijah cried out, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known this day that your are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your bidding.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones and the dust, and even licked up the water that was in the trench.  When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The LORD indeed is God; the LORD indeed is God.” (I Kings 18:36,38,39)

Where or when have you experienced God’s power?

Almighty God, send the power and fire of your Holy Spirit into our lives.

Name that Commandment Part II

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The ninth and tenth commandments*, “You shall not covet,” are the two most challenging commandments in our culture today.  Our consumer society is built on the idea that an individual does not have enough. It is the economic law of supply and demand.  We must create a “want” for more stuff, so that we have a demand to produce more stuff.   If there is no demand for something, there is no reason to produce it.    

Yet our mass market culture is good at producing wants.  We are constantly seeing/hearing/experiencing messages that tell us to want something, anything and everything. We are caught in the game of “wanting” the newest whatever because everyone else has it and we “need” it.  Our culture constantly stokes the fire of desire.   So when we hear the commandment, “you shall not covet,” it seems so bizarre and difficult.  Confirmation students are not the only people wrestling with this.  

Several years ago I took a group of seniors on a tour boat ride around Lake Minnetonka.  The tour guide started telling us about the large homes that surround the lake. “This property was purchased for $5 million dollars, and the new owner remodeled with another $5 million.” Or “That property was purchased for $7 million, the old house torn down, and a new house built for $10 million.”  After the boat ride, I told the group of seniors, “We just spent the afternoon breaking the tenth commandment.”  Now we may not  want a house on Lake Minnetonka, but looking and pricing such homes rarely feeds our contentment center.  

So how do we obey this commandment?  By shifting our focus away from this constant barrage for “bigger, better and more” to the Gospel message that I am loved and accepted by God just the way I am.   My real identity is not a consumer who needs more, but a steward who hold everything as a trust from God. I truly need to hear God’s message of gracious acceptance on a consistent basis.  Otherwise the culture’s message that “You are not good enough, unless you buy this or pursue that’ will win our souls. 

 How do you define “coveting?”  How do you deal with it?

 Lord Jesus, help me to seek you with all my heart and soul.

 *Martin Luther in his catechism followed the Roman Catholic tradition from St. Augustine in numbering the commandments. Presbyterians, Episcopalians and others use a slightly different system that combines the ninth and tenth commandments.

Name That Commandment

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Our confirmation students had a written test in which they wrote about the commandment that was most challenging to them.  Two commandments were frequently cited:  the second and tenth commandments.  Both are worthy of further reflection.   I will start with the second commandment and post on the tenth tomorrow.

The second commandment, “you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain,” reflects the power of words.  What we say matters.   God has given us a tremendous gift in being able to call out to him in prayer, praise and thanksgiving at anytime and in any situation.  God is like a mother who walks through a crowded noisy mall, hears a child’s cry and knows the child is her daughter or son.  God knows and responds to the cry of our hearts when we sing with joy or shout in terror.  What a privilege to be able to call upon the creator of the universe!

With this privilege in mind, we see how disrespectful it is to use God’s name to curse others, to inflict harm upon others.  Yes, we are creatures with powerful emotions like anger and rage.  Yes, we can be provoked by the actions of others to say things we wish we hadn’t. Yes, cursing has become more pervasive, even acceptable in our culture. Still we are not ruled by our emotions nor by cultural norms, but have the capacity to choose how to respond to our emotional stirrings.  Jesus calls us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44).  We need to pray for God’s help to keep his name holy.

One confirmation student did have a valid observation.  He observed people being very cavalier, or bored, in worship as they mumbled God’s praise.  Can our worship become so casual that we begin to take God’s name in vain?  Can we be disrespecting God because we are daydreaming instead of truly praising his Holy name?  I appreciate how confirmation student can sometimes help me see the God’s truth in a new light.

Lord Jesus, thank you for the gift of your name.  Help me to cherish it always.

Jonah, Nineveh and Nahum

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Tomorrow night (Tuesday, June 14), Resurrection will host its first Summer Lite Worship at 7:00 pm.  A central component is the study of neglected, yet vital Bible stories.  Our first four weeks will be the book of Jonah.

"Jonah Prophet 1" by artist Reza Badrossama

Many Christians see the book of Jonah simply as a children’s story that has no relevance to today’s world.  The only part they know is that Jonah was swallowed by a whale (or great fish).  Yet the book has a great message that is told with humor, style and grace that speaks to us today. 

Jonah is listed among the prophetic books of the Bible, yet it is so different.  While the other prophetic books are composed of primarily prophetic poems, Jonah has one prophetic speech that is less than ten words.  Whereas most prophetic books have some description of how God called the prophet to speak, Jonah goes into great detail in how he runs away from God’s call to go to Nineveh.  The contrasts all have a purpose that drives Jonah’s message for us.  I am looking forward to our study.

One key feature in the story that is challenging to understand is the city of Nineveh.  Nineveh was not a city in ancient Israel, but of an arch-enemy.  Nineveh was the capital of the great Assyrian empire.   The Assyrians captured the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BCE and destroyed it as an independent nation.  The Assyrians nearly captured the southern kingdom of Judah as well.  The brutality and cruelty of the Assyrian empire was legendary. Nineveh became a symbol of all that was evil and hated.  The book of Nahum is a long Hebrew poem celebrating Nineveh’s destruction by the Babylonians in 612 BCE.

O King of Assyria, your people are scattered on the mountain with no one to gather them.  There is no assuaging your hurt, your wound is mortal. All who hear the news about you clap their hands over you. For who has ever escaped your endless cruelty? Nahum 3:19

 As Americans, we have trouble identifying with such hatred, because we have not been dominated by other nations. Yet Israel had a deep hatred of Nineveh as symbol of raw power and brutality.

In what ways is hatred appropriate ever appropriate for Christians?  

Lord Jesus, help me to follow your call no matter what.      

Organizational Care

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Seth Godin, wrote an intriguing post recently about caring and organizations:

No organization cares about you. Organizations aren’t capable of this.

Your bank, certainly, doesn’t care. Neither does your HMO or even your car dealer. It’s amazing to me that people are surprised to discover this fact.

People, on the other hand, are perfectly capable of caring. It’s part of being a human. It’s only when organizational demands and regulations get in the way that the caring fades.

If you want to build a caring organization, you need to fill it with caring people and then get out of their way. When your organization punishes people for caring, don’t be surprised when people stop caring.

I began to wonder if that is true of a congregation.  Certainly one of the confessed values of a Christian congregation is to care, to love, to be like Jesus. But what does care look like?  Here leadership is essential. Leadership within the congregation can promote a culture of care, can model what caring looks like, and how collectively and individually we care.

Pentecost by artist Jean Sader

This Sunday is Pentecost, the church holiday in which we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit to ignite the birth of the church. Fifty days after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the first disciples remained huddled in a room in Jerusalem.  As described in Acts 2, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was dramatic: a mighty rush of wind, tongues of fire on people’s heads, and multiple languages suddenly heard.  A huge crowd gathered outside the room, amazed, perplexed, confused.  What was this?

Here is where caring leadership stepped up.

 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd. Act 2:14

Peter took the leadership role and modeled how this new community would express itself.  He cared for the assembled crowd by telling them the story of Jesus Christ and how his life, death and resurrection had changed the world.  His words were tough at time, reminding the people of their participation in Jesus’ crucifixion.  Yet Peter, with the support of the eleven, did the most loving thing possible: he called people to trust in Jesus.  At Resurrection, we would say Peter “called all people to a vibrant life of faith in Christ.”

How does the church promote or restrict caring?

Lord Jesus, teach me to care as you cared for others.

Prayer Challenge

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Looking to Heaven in Prayer

Last Sunday I challenged the worshipping community at Resurrection to a prayer commitment.  Following Jesus’ example of prayer in John 17 where he looked to heaven, I asked people to pray for three things and to commit at least five minutes daily to this task.  Consistent prayer is vital to a congregation’s mission.  Are you open to a prayer challenge? 

The first part of my challenge is to pray for those who are close to you: your spouse, children, siblings, parents, or significant others.  Jesus prayed for his disciples.  They had shared years of ministry together and had become a family.  He asked his Father in heaven to protect his disciples.   Our prayers for loved one can be that simple: for God to bless, protect and encourage them. 

Second, I encourage you to pray for your congregation’s mission.  In our secular age, it is easy to forget that congregations have a God-given mission to accomplish.  Jesus gave his mission to his disciples: to proclaim “eternal life, that they may know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3).   At Resurrection we have that same mission, only we call it the Vibrant Life of Faith in Christ. 

Third, I invite you to pray for your adversary, for the person with whom you struggle daily or weekly.   It might be someone at work, at home or in your neighborhood.   In Matthew 5:44, Jesus told the disciples, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” 

A friend told me about his struggle to love his adversary.  Every day as he went to work he saw a picture of the person and felt this internal anger rise up.  It got to the point where he would take a different route to work so as to avoid the picture. He was discussing this with his wife when she suggested that instead of avoiding it, he simply pray for God’s blessing and joy to be with his adversary, to envision the person covered in God’s light.  He listened to his wife and started praying.  At first there was no change in his emotions, but he persevered.  Gradually he felt his animosity dissipate.  He grew to see his adversary as a fellow child of God. 

What are your prayer challenges?

Lord Jesus, bless my family, church and enemies.

Two Portraits of Jesus

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In John 17, Jesus prayed with confidence and clarity.  After finishing the Last Supper  Jesus looked to heaven and prayed, 

Jesus looked to heaven

So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed. (John 17:5)

This confidence is such a strong contrast with the prayer he prayed in Matthew, Mark and Luke when he went to the Garden of Gethsemane a short time later.  As the disciples slept, Jesus prayed for strength to face the cross:

Jesus praying in Gethsemane by artist He Qi

Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.  (Mark 14:36)

In John’s Gospel there is no prayer in the Garden.  In Matthew, Mark and Luke there is no extended prayer at the Passover meal.

Such contrasts can be disturbing for some.  I believe that the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are more like portrait paintings than historical biographies.  Whereas John’s Gospel  paints a portrait in which Jesus had a laser-like focus on his “hour” to be glorified on the cross (John 2:4, 7:30, 8:20, 12:23, 12:27, 13:1, 17:1), Mark’s Gospel shows Jesus wrestling with this cosmic decision as he approached the cross (Mark 14:32-41).  Both portraits are true, yet they reveal different insights.

Mark reveals that Jesus was truly human; his emotions were raw and deep.  On the cross he would cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  (Mark 15:34).  Jesus understood our own human dilemma, our trials, our brokenness.  Mark’s portrait is so brutally human.

John reveals the divine purpose of Jesus and his constant trust in God’s purpose.  Jesus accomplished God’s purpose of reconciling the world.  As he breathed his last breath, Jesus said, “It is finished, (accomplished, completed).” John’s portrait is so beautifully divine.

In my own life, at times I find support and comfort in Mark’s raw intimacy.  At other times, I am inspired and uplifted by John’s cosmic vision.   Together with Matthew and Luke, I have a deeper understanding of the mystery of Jesus Christ, my Lord and my God.

What stories of Jesus do you turn to most often?  What stories do you try to ignore?

Lord Jesus, be my light in the midst of whatever confusion or darkness I experience this day. 

Jesus’ Prayer as Gift

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This Sunday the Gospel reading is from John 17, Jesus’ great prayer for his followers.  After finishing his last meal with his disciple, Jeus looks up to heaven and talks to his Father about keeping his disciples safe.

I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave to me, because they are yours.  All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. (John 17:9-10)

We belong to God and to Jesus, we are woven into the fabric of the Trinity.  Jesus not only prays for us, he models how we can enter into deeper relationship with God through prayer.  Our prayer relationship is a gift from God that we sometimes try to push or pull our way.

Henri Nouwen has written many things on prayer that I find helpful.  The following quote is from his Genesee Diary when he spent six months living at a monastary in 1975.

I wonder if depression in the spiritual life does not mean that we have forgotten that prayer is grace.  The deep realization that all the fruits of the spiritual life are gifts of God should make us smile and liberate us from any deadly seriousness. We can close our eyes as tightly as we can and clasp our hands as tightly as firmly as possible, but God speaks only when he wants to speak. When we realize this our pressing, pushing and pulling become quite amusing.  Sometimes we act like a child that closes his eyes and thinks  that he can make the world go away.

After having done everything t0 make some space for God, it is still God who comes on his own initiative.  But we have a promise upon which to base our hope: The promise of his love.  So our life can rightly be waiting in expectation, but waiting patiently and with a smile.  Then indeed, we shall be really surprised and full of joy and gratitude when he comes.  (The Genesee Diary, p. 129)

Who has been a model of prayer for you and what have you learned from them?

Lord Jesus, like your disciples, teach us to pray.

Storms and Trust

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Compassion in Joplin

The deadly tornados that struck Joplin, Oklahoma City, and Minneapolis this week evoke spiritual questions. “Why would a loving, compassionate God allow such suffering to happen among His people?” “Was this God’s plan?” I did post a partial answer to these questions after the Japanese earthquake in March. Today I will respond to the question, “Was this an act of God?”

It is our human tendency to seek blame for such tragedies. Since tornados are such chaotic forces that we struggle to understand or predict, we tend to see God as the instigator of such storms. After all, God is the sovereign Lord of the universe, naming every star and directing their path (Psalm 147:4). Certainly God controls the path of every tornado?

Christians have argued this question for generations. My perspective is that in creating the universe, God released this world from strict determinism and gave us and the creation some freedom and control. God gave dominion over creation to humanity (Genesis 1:28). God loves the world, interacts with the world, redeems the world, but has chosen not to “control” the world like some gigantic computer game.

In Mark 4:35-41, Jesus and the disciples climbed into a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee. Jesus fell asleep while a great windstorm arose and the boat nearly swamped. The disciples panicked in the storm. Some Christians believe that God should steer us around the storms, should protect us from such violent destruction. In a sense, we believe God should wrap us in a kind of spiritual “bubble-wrap” that will protect us from all harm.

The disciples awaken Jesus with a question, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Jesus then rebuked the wind, “Peace! Be still!” Jesus has the power to still the storm, but more often he stills the storm of doubt and confusion in our hearts. God’s deepest and truest plan is for us to trust Jesus, in the midst of storms and doubts.

Tornados will continue to disrupt creation. Like the tsunami in Japan, the best response of Christians is to love our neighbor in need, to bring tangible compassion to the people. One way to respond is the ELCA disaster relief. Such love is certainly part of God’s plan for creation.

How do you see God in the midst of such suffering?

Lord Jesus, bring healing and hope to those devastated by this week’s tornados.