Community

I was skimming through an older book of mine on how people grow and change as Christians, simply named How People Change. In the chapter, “change is a community project,” the author quoted a lady who summarized her community group experience very well. So I’ll quote from some of that here. It’s a long quote, so if you’re in a hurry you might want to check this out later:

“My husband and I have been a part of the same small group for the past five years.... Like many small groups, we regularly share a meal together, love one another practically, and serve together to meet needs outside our small group. We worship, study God’s Word, and pray. It has been a rich time to grow in our understanding of God, what Jesus has accomplished for us, God’s purposes for us as a part of his kingdom, his power and desire to change us, and many other precious truths. We have grown in our love for God and others, and have been challenged to repent of our sin and trust God in every area of our lives. It was a new and refreshing experience for us to be in a group where people were willing to share their struggles with temptation and sin and ask for prayer....We have been welcomed by others, challenged to become more vulnerable, held up in prayer, encouraged in specific ongoing struggles, and have developed sweet friendships.  ... Because years have now passed in close community, God’s work can be seen more clearly than on a week-by-week basis. One man who had some deep struggles and a lot of anger has grown through repenting of sin and being vulnerable one-on-one and in the group. He has been willing to hear the encouragement and challenges of others, and to stay in community throughout his struggle...He has become an example in serving others, a better listener, and more gentle with his wife. As a group, we have confronted anxiety, interpersonal strife, the need to forgive, lust, family troubles, unbelief, the fear of man, hypocrisy, unemployment, sickness, lack of love, idolatry, and marital strife. We have been helped, held accountable, and lifted up by one another. We have also grieved together, celebrated together, laughed together, offended one another, reconciled with one another, put up with one another,...and sought to love God and one another.  ...with all the benefits of being in a small group, it is still just a group of sinners. It is Jesus who makes it worth getting together. Apart from our relationship with him..., we have nothing to offer. But because our focus is on Jesus, the group has the potential to make a significant and life-changing differences in all our lives.”

There were a lot of good points she made. But I’ll focus on just a few. The group shared their struggles with each other. Some of the quote (which I left out for space purposes) touched on some of the specifics. The main thing that stands out to me is how she says, “Apart from our relationship with [Jesus]..., we have nothing to offer.” As a Christian community group, our focus must be on him. He must be the hub of our focus. 

Kelly and I have tried to stay connected to a community of Christians in some way since early on in our marriage. I wanted to share this to help inspire and show the benefits of what happens when Christians work together as a family.

New roles

The project I was hired for is wrapping up this week with just a handful of things left to do. But thankfully the Lord had another opportunity in store for me at the same company. I'll be switching over from the project team to the analytics and reporting team in the project off-season. I've already met my new coworkers and they've given me an overview of the type of work I can expect to be doing. I'm looking forward to my new role on the team.

But I have an even better new role to look forward to soon: fatherhood. Our little baby girl is "due" on Tuesday 10/21/2014. As I write this, that is tomorrow. Wow. Now whether or not she is on time or not, well, we will just have to wait and see. Kelly and I are both super excited about actually getting to meet her. At this point, there isn't much left to do. The nursery is ready, diapers are ready, and the car seat installed. We've been reading the books (Kelly more than me) and baby classes have been taken. I know we are not ready, but we are as "not ready" as I know how to be.

I've been blessed to have been raised by good parents and also recently to have seen good parenting up close. I'm ready to join the fray. I've been thoroughly warned about the impending lack of sleep. About the challenges of a temperamental toddler. I have heard the stories about watching your child go through huge mood swings as they reach their teenage years.

One thing that has surprised me most recently is how many of my male coworkers have been excited to share their joy with me about their becoming fathers. I can think of at least four different men that I work with that have recounted with fondness on the time when they became a father. It is these stories that these men have shared that have helped me most in the last few weeks. They've helped me not only to stay excited about becoming a dad, but to look forward to it even more. Their passion and love for their children and their joy in being fathers has rubbed off on me.

A full Saturday

This last Saturday may have been our last one together before our little girl is born, so it was really nice that Kelly and I had such a full day together. We started off with a 30-45 minute walk around the neighborhood. Now, we don't do this all the time, but it is a really great way to start off the day with conversation and getting our bodies awake.

We got ready and went to Walmart and got the oil changed on my old car and came back home and ate lunch. We had a nice talk with my parents over Facetime. Somehow Kelly snuck a nap in and then we headed out for a drive. We ended up going to Prairie Grove and then headed back towards Fayetteville to go to a craft show at the Fair Grounds.We bought some rhubarb jam, which I couldn't pass up. It was something I had occasionally growing up, so it was nice to get a taste of my childhood again. (I had it on my GF waffles on Sunday morning and can confirm it was delicious.) We then made a trip to the Fayetteville Funky Yard Sale before heading over to McAlister's Deli for dinner.

To finish out the night, we went and got a decaf coffee to share at the coffee shop in Barnes & Noble. I got to read some of my book while Kelly browsed around.

All in all it was a great date day. We both realize once our baby girl is here our whole world and schedule will change. So we are trying to capture and enjoy the moments we have together as a couple before we expand into a trio.

Claim them

I was recently reading an off-the-beaten-trail translation of the book of Revelation. It was apparently willing to paraphrase and amplify the text as it translated. (Similar to the the New Living Translation.) In the beginning of Revelation, Jesus is giving both warnings and promises to seven different churches. When he comes to the church of Sardis in chapter three, he offers a powerful word of encouragement for his people. In verse three he says, “Those who conquer will be clothed in robes of light. I will not blot out their names from the Book of Life... Rather, I will confess their names and claim them in the presence of My Father and His Angels.”

What really struck me was the phrasing “claim them.” The original Greek only has the phrase for “confess their names.” But I do see why the translators added the phrase “claim them.” It helps to fill in and flesh out what it means for Jesus to confess our names. By announcing our names, by confessing us and our names, Jesus is identifying himself with us. 

Perhaps an illustration from Everybody Loves Raymond will help illustrate the value of Jesus' statement. In this episode, Raymond does his usual “I am a moron husband who really embarrasses my wife Debra” thing. This time Debra is so fed up that when someone asks “who is that guy?” while pointing at her husband Raymond, she claims not to know him. She then accidentally reveals to Raymond that she claimed not to know him. This hurt Raymond’s feelings because she wouldn't even claim to be his wife, no matter how embarrassing he was.

So here is how this story helps us to see how amazing Jesus words to us are. When Jesus says he will “confess” the names of his Christians, he is saying he is happy to be identified with us. He won’t slink away in embarrassment and avoid eye contact. Isn't it amazing that Jesus will stand in front of His Father and say, “John is mine, Kelly is mine, Matt belongs to me, Josh is one of my people” and on and on. He will list off our names as his family with the most amazing audience of all: God and his Angels.

You be may be wondering if you could ever hear those words from Jesus about you, “this one is mine.” You may think you've done too much wrong for Jesus to ever want you as one of his people. But I’d like us to look at how Jesus deals with people who mess up, but are willing to repent. 

At one point. Peter was unwilling to claim that he even knew Jesus (see John 18:15-27) Jesus was on his way to die and Peter was likely afraid that if he admitted he knew Jesus, that Peter would be joining Jesus on a cross. Peter ended up denying even knowing Jesus three times. 

Ouch. 

So it’s significant that after his resurrection, Jesus goes to the effort of restoring Peter with a recommissioning statement about tending and feeding Jesus’ sheep, three times. Jesus doesn't deny that Peter is one of his people. Instead, he comes back to Peter and helps set him back on his feet again as one of his disciples (see John 21:15-19). 

Jesus is compassionate and understands our weaknesses and is willing to help us through them. We just have to ask for his help and trust him by faith and he will guide us. 

The intro to my sermon on 1 Peter 1:3-13

I'm beginning work on my sermon on 1 Peter 1:3-13. I've put together what I think will be a good introduction to the sermon. So it's a teaser of sorts, since I haven't written the rest of it.

The Intro

"Something has been lost in our day, family calling. Son's who take on their father's job and work. In the old testament, you inherited your families land and your families job if you were a priest or Levite. Even a few hundred years ago, children learned most of their skills from their parents. The “Coopers” were barrels coopers, they made barrels and buckets. The “Smiths” were the blacksmiths, working with metal. The “Millers” ground up flour at the mill. I'll let you guess what the “Bakers” did. In our individualistic society, however, we have been encouraged to find our own way. To seek out our own career and pathway in life. Being the descendant of Peter doesn't mean I do the same task that my ancestors did. My Dad works at a hospital. But I pass out when I'm around things like needles, the things that hospitals are filled with. Children no longer necessarily follow in their parents footsteps.

In 1 Peter 1, we're told that as Christians we have a new Father. So what does this mean for our calling as Christians? What is our new family calling supposed to be? What is our family identity? And how does that shape how we are supposed to live? These are some of the questions that Peter addresses in this book."

P.S. This sermon is for my preaching seminar class at seminary. 

Why did Jesus come from the tribe of Judah?

Paul Miller's book on prayer, A Praying Life, brought up the question, why was Jesus a descendant of the tribe of Judah? Why did God choose to use this tribe to fulfill his purpose?

For some background we can look at when Jacob blessed his 12 sons near the end of Genesis he pronounced this blessing over Judah,

 

"The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;
    and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples." Genesis 49:10.

So we have a prophetic statement that Judah's tribe will the ruling tribe as the "the scepter will not depart from Judah."

I've wondered if there is any character trait in Judah that foreshadows who Jesus is. The reason I believe this is a possibility is because of at least two verses. One of them is John 5:39 where Jesus is talking about how the Old Testament scriptures offer eternal life because they testify about him, "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me." Jesus makes the same point again after his resurrection, "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself." Luke 24:27 So with these two verses we have a starting place to go back and visit the Old Testament to see what matters deal with Jesus.

After reading Paul Miller's book, I went back to Genesis 44 as I considered his question of "why did the Messiah come from the tribe of Judah?" The setting of Genesis 44 is that Joseph is in power ruling as second in command of Egypt. His brother's have come to buy food there and they haven't yet recognized him as their long lost brother. So Joseph takes this as an opportunity to test them. 

Joseph sets it up so it appears that his brother's have stolen from him, thus earning his punishment. Joseph offers to make only the individual brother "responsible" for stealing to become his personal servant by saying, "...Only the man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my servant. But as for you, go up in peace to your father.” Gen 44:17. 

But Judah does something remarkable. Judah offers to become a servant in place of his younger brother who has had the evidence planted on him. Judah said, "Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers" Genesis 44:33 (emphasis mine.) Judah has offered to take on a punishment of servant-hood so that his brother can go free and his father wouldn't weep over losing his remaining favorite son.

We see that it is Judah interceding for his younger brother that most foreshadows and teaches us something about Jesus. Jesus takes our place on the cross. We deserve punishment. The criminal charges against us aren't faked. We reject God and his ways. We fail to love our fellow brothers and sisters. We are guilty. But Jesus goes to the cross instead of us. 

So that's one insight I've gained from my reading. Intercession is one motivating factors for why Judah and his tribe would be the particular family that would one day give birth to the Messiah. Intercession is about intervening, and stepping in on behalf of another.

If anyone knows of clearer verses that more directly explain the motivations of God for using the tribe of Judah in this way, I'd love to hear about it. 

Parallel thoughts in 1 Peter 2:10

"Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." 1 Peter 2:10

I've been reading 1 Peter in preparation for a preaching class on the book this spring. One literary feature the Bible sometimes uses is to explain the same concept in two different ways, back to back, one right after another. As a classmate reminded me, the fancy lingo that is used to describe this is epexegesis, "the addition of a word or words to explain a preceding word or sentence."

I wonder if that is what is happening in this verse. I'd argue that Peter is emphasizing that God is showing us mercy by making us his people. These aren't unrelated. Once we have become God's people, he watches over and cares for us, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:6-7. That's an astonishing statement, that God himself cares for you.

Consider that today: God has made Christians his people which means our anxieties are on his radar screen. He is working out a plan better than we can imagine as we trust Christ.