Thoughts on Patriotism and Faith

With our national holiday here in USA - Independence Day - falling on a Sunday this year, I've found myself this week spending a bit of time thinking about the intersection between faith and patriotism, between one's devotion to God and one's devotion to one's country. There is no doubt that they do intersect, they must. The question, then, becomes what that intersection looks like and what it should look like.

I've been helped along in my thinking by Eric Metaxas' mesmerizing biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (aptly titled, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy). The life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, for me at least, epitomizes the proper relationship between patriotism and faith. Briefly, I'll summarize his life:

Bonhoeffer was born in pre World War I Germany to a wealthy family of what can only be called the social "upper crust." Throughout his childhood, his parents emphasized the importance of learning and the importance of conviction - of sticking to what one believes. In his late teens, Bonhoeffer decided to study theology and did so in several places. Following his studies, during the buildup to World War II, Bonhoeffer became deeply embroiled in the kirchenkampf, or church struggle in Hitler's Germany. Eventually, Bonhoeffer's convictions led him to participate in an attempt to assassinate Hitler, for which Bonhoeffer would be executed days before the war's end.

I bring up Bonhoeffer because of that thing called the kirchenkampf. The church struggle was between a group that was known as the "Reich Church" or the "German Christians" and a group that would come to be identified as "The Confessing Church," of which Bonhoeffer was a key part. The German Christians were ones who believed that to be a good Christian necessarily meant being a good German. In other words, they looked the other way as Hitler and his cronies defiled the true faith with their anti-semitism and their worship of Hitler as a god. Bonhoeffer saw that this was happening and fought with everything he had against it, but in the end was unable to stop Hitler's destruction of the church and so he became instrumental in the formation of the Confessing Church.

The author of the biography - Eric Metaxas - identifies one of , if not the chief problem that led the "German Christians" - who were, prior to Hitler, orthodox in their beliefs - down the primrose path of heresy. In short, they were incapable of separating their "German-ness" from their Christianity. They were so caught up in the idea that to be a good Christian meant to be a good German that when being a good German meant going along with Hitler's schemes, they did theological backflips to try and justify the most insane of ideas. Jesus became an Aryan, the New Testament a unified attack on Judaism, and on and on it went. For these "German Christians," faith and patriotism had become so intertwined, so comingled, that they could no longer separate them, even when it was obvious that something was dreadfully wrong.

I don't know about anyone else, but I read things like that and I begin to fear for our country. I fear that we are approaching a similar point or, even worse, that we may have arrived there. I fear that there are many, many Christians in America who have wound their "American-ness" and their Christianity so tightly together that they can no longer tell where one ends and the other begins.

To be sure, we do not have a psychotic dictator attempting to destroy the church breathing down our necks as did the church in Bonhoeffer's time. Yet, if anything, that makes our situation as a church even more precarious, even more critical. Bonhoeffer and the Confessing Church was responding to an obvious and visible crisis and so were able to clearly demonstrate the dangers and could point to the extreme result of such an irrevocable mixing of faith and patriotism. We, on the other hand, are "safe." There is little obvious danger out there to indicate that we have a serious problem, and there are few extreme examples to which we can point.

Let me be clear, though - the absence of obvious evidence does not mean that there is not a problem. The fact that we don't have a Hitler on our heels does not change the fact that there are many Christians for whom faith in God and belief in the American Dream are nearly synonymous. There are groups that will portray our nations wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as holy wars, thus making supporting those wars the only "Christian" thing to do. There are others who will tell you that being a good American and a good Christian come together in the hatred of Muslims, who all want to kill you. I could give more examples, but I think you get the idea.

I'll say it again - this scares me. Don't get me wrong, I love my country. I consider myself privileged to have been born in America and I don't want to live anywhere else. I recognize that I have been blessed. But I cannot combine my faith in God with my love for my country. They simply do not mix. For one thing, my country routinely acts in ways that fail to live up to the truth of faith in Christ. For another, selling out my faith to patriotism demands that I forfeit my ability to speak out against the evils done by my country and, should a situation similar to that faced by the "German Christians" arise, I would have no credibility with which to speak against the heresies.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was not a "German Christian" - he was a Christian who happened to be German. In other words, his faith took absolute and complete priority over his patriotic identity. By his life and through his death, he modeled for the church today what the proper intersection, the right relationship between faith and patriotism should be. This Independence Day, I challenge followers of Christ to follow in his footsteps and to declare that their faith is independent of their patriotism, that the two are not synonymous and that their faith takes absolute priority. I am not an "American Christian." Rather, I am a Christian who was fortunate to be born in America.

Asking the Right Question

Recently, the district on which I pastor held a "Pastor's Forum" meeting with one of the General Superintendents who help lead the entire Wesleyan Church. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the denomination - explore our dreams for its future, the barriers we face and the ways in which it might need to be reshaped and/or reorganized. We spent several hours discussing these things and, for the most part, they were beneficial hours.

There was one comment, though, that threw me for a loop. When the discussion reached the topic of ordination requirements, one of the pastors suggested that there should be a conversion litmus test for ordination - that if a candidate has not personally led at least 10 people to Christ in the last year, he or she cannot be ordained. That way we can prevent the denomination from ordaining "ineffective" leaders.

On the surface, this might seem like a decent idea. After all, isn't the whole point of ministry to convert non-Christians into Christians? That being the case, doesn't it make sense not to ordain people who do not have a track record of success in that area?

At the time the suggestion was made, I was uncomfortable with it. Since I wasn't entirely sure why, though, I kept my mouth shut. I know that I have always had an issue with using statistics as the only measure of a minister's success, as statistics only measure part (and a very small part, at that) of a pastor's vocation. As my second and final ordination interview approaches rapidly, I find myself growing more and more uncomfortable with the idea of an ordination litmus test.

I think that I discovered the reason it makes me so uncomfortable this morning. As I was perusing through my collection of Henri Nouwen books in search of a comment for this week's sermon, I ran across the following statement in Nouwen's book on Christian leadership, In the Name of Jesus:

"The question is not: How many people take you seriously? How much are you going to accomplish? Can you show some results? But: Are you in love with Jesus?"

Are you in love with Jesus? That - in my mind - is a much more important issue for ordination than whether or not a candidate has led "x" number of people to say the Sinner's Prayer. You don't have to love Jesus to use the Evange-cube or to walk someone down the Roman's Road or to give someone a tract. You don't have to love Jesus to call someone a sinner and demand that they repent. You don't have to love Jesus to be a good public speaker. You don't have to love Jesus to grow a "church." All of those things can - and have - been done by people who are not really in love with Jesus.

Being in love with Jesus encompasses all of that and so much more. If you're in love with Jesus, you care for his people. Rather than just giving them a tract, you offer them food, water, a hug, your friendship. Rather than just calling them a sinner and demanding repentance, you show them grace and help them see God's love. Rather than settling for being a good public speaker, you become someone for whom sermons take second place to actions. Rather than worrying only about whether your congregation is larger this year than last, you worry about whether or not your congregation is more in love with Jesus this year than last.

This is why, "Are you in love with Jesus?" is a better question, a better test for Christians than how many people they led to Christ or invited to church or whatever other statistical tool you want to use. I know you can't put a number to "Are you in love with Jesus?" But perhaps that, too, is a strength. Perhaps the time has come for the church to remember that this Jesus thing is not a system which can be measured and analyzed, but a movement that is fluid and constantly changing.

The Bible in 40 Days: Some Final Observations

NOTE: Long post alert. You have been warned.

After spending the last 40 days reading through the entire Bible, I figured I should "debrief" a little bit...take a little time to explore the key things I learned from the exercise.

The "Preferential Option for the Poor" is Real

More than any other, the idea that kept popping up - at least once every day in one form or another - was that God has a special concern for the poor. From the first book to the last, the call of God is for those who seek to follow Him to intentionally act in favor of the poor, the oppressed, the widow, the immigrant, etc. In other words, we have a responsibility to take care of the outcasts and the people that society might ignore.

While this isn't "big" news in and of itself, what was big news for me was the emphasis placed on this care for the outcasts. Much of the Law spoke of it. When the prophets pronounced judgment on the people of Israel, it was often because of their systematic oppression of the poor more even than their other offenses. When you get to the New Testament, Jesus identifies this kind of care as the fruits by which His followers will be known. The sheep are distinguished from the goats based on their actions in favor of the poor.

The way I see it as I read it is that God places more emphasis on our actions in favor of the outcasts than he does on our acts of worship. Feeding the hungry is more important than singing hymns. Standing up for the immigrant is more important than taking communion. Visiting prisoners takes precedence over Bible studies. Do you see where I'm going with this?

I mean, I always knew that taking care of the outcasts was important. But I never realized that their importance is greater even than the ritualized acts of worship that we do every week. It may sound "wrong" to say that God places a higher priority on standing up for the weak and poor than he does on singing, preaching or even taking communion; and certainly there will be those that think I'm wrong or that I'm misreading. I challenge you, if you feel that way to read through the Bible from cover to cover and then tell me I'm wrong.

As for me, I've come to the conclusion that the Catholic theologians were right - God has a preferential option for the poor.

God is a Merciful God

Even in the worst case scenarios presented by the prophets - scenarios of doom and destruction and death - there always seems to be talk of a remnant, of a group of the people of Israel who would be saved. God never seems to completely give up on people. There always seems to be room for one who shows repentance - even to the end of Revelation there will be opportunities for repentance.

What does this mean for the way I live my life as a follower of Christ?

There was a famous theologian (I've always heard Karl Barth, but am not sure if he's the one) who once said that anyone who has not flirted with the idea of universalism (everyone goes to heaven) has never really tried to come to grips with the immensity of God's grace. Now, I am not a universalist. Nor do I believe that the Bible teaches universalism. However, the Bible does clearly teach that God's mercy and grace extends far, far beyond anything our human minds can comprehend.

So I have to live my life looking at other people through the eyes of grace. I cannot look at someone and say, "you are damned." God's grace is greater than my mind can comprehend. I must learn to live under the aegis of a God who is more merciful than judgmental. This is not to say that God will not judge, only that I am unable to determine when or how or the extent of that judgment.

Uncomfortable Atonement

There seems to be a trend among scholars and theologians to distance themselves and Christian thought from the "penal substitution" theory of atonement (that is, that the death of Jesus on the cross was a necessary substitute for the death required for our sins). It makes us uncomfortable to think that way and we don't like to picture God in that way...so we come up with different theories.

Yet when I read through the Bible - especially the book of Hebrews - I cannot escape the idea that Jesus' death was a necessary sacrifice to atone for my sins. There may be more to the atonement than substitution, but I don't see how we can be faithful to Scripture and say that no part of the cross was a blood sacrifice to cover the debt of guilt for our sins.

'Tis a Mystery

The final thing that I learned is that there is a lot of Scripture that I do not understand. And perhaps I am not meant to. One of the primary downsides of "modernity" was the assumption that humans are intended to understand anything and everything about the world. If we didn't understand it now, progress would inevitably lead us to the place where we would grasp it. It was the mantra of modernity - progress, progress, progress.

The joy of postmodernity - to me - is that there has been a recapturing of mystery. The Bible is not a science book or a history book. It is a story of God and his relationship with humans - and as there is in any story, it is full of mystery. Which is a good thing.

Day 22: Isaiah 1-39

I wanted to post today so as to not miss a post. However, that being said, I feel like crap today thanks to my allergies. As a result, even though I most certainly did read Isaiah 1-39, my mind wasn't sharp enough to come up with something witty, profound or even worth commenting on.

Those of you who are following this thing will hopefully forgive me one day without a "substantive" post.

See you Monday.

Day 21: Ecclesiastes & Song of Songs

Two of the stranger books of the Old Testament...on the same day! Yippee!

The Straw Man

The book of Ecclesiastes has long been a source of confusion and even conflict in the church. When you read the book, much of what you hear seems to contradict what you know to be true from other places in the Bible. It is difficult to reconcile "eat, drink and be merry" with the narrow gate Jesus talks about, for example.

What is happening in Ecclesiastes, though, is a satirical "spoof" of the worldly view of things. The writer of Ecclesiastes caricatures the perspective of the god-less and writes as if he shares that perspective. The whole book, then, can be seen as sort of a straw man argument. The key verse in the whole book is Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 -

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

The point of knowledge is to point us to God. When we let knowledge draw us away from God, we lose our way and everything becomes "utterly meaningless."

Love is Good

Song of Songs is enough to make you blush. It is the ultimate song in praise of love. It tells the story of two lovers and all the stuff that goes along with their love. Over the course of history, people have attempted to explain away the erotic nature of the Song by saying that it is really not the story of two human lovers but the story of God's love for humans or the story of salvation history.

Such attempts diminish the significance of the Song. The Song is a beautiful poem that reminds us that love is good. Love is created by God and given as a gift to us. In our world in which sex is casual and "I love you" is thrown around without a thought, the words of the Song are a welcome reminder that love is more than all of that.

Day 20: Proverbs

There is so much going on in the book of Proverbs that it is impossible to even begin trying to distill it all into one thing. The book is so full of pithy and profound sayings that it can quickly become overwhelming. That said, I did find several threads that seemed to run throughout the book.

Wisdom

Throughout the entire book, time and time again there are proverbs that refer to wisdom. Wisdom is praised over wealth, over possessions, over land, over nearly everything else. Wisdom is the ultimate gift of God. It is what true followers of God are meant to seek, to go after with all of our heart.

The question that must be answered, then, is "What is wisdom?" That's a question with a thousand answers - wisdom is defined as knowledge, sanity, good sense, judgment, and a plethora of other things. The challenge is to determine which of these fits what Proverbs says we should seek. I won't pretend to have all the answers, but I will say that it seems to me that the kind of wisdom Proverbs talks about includes all of the above.

Discipline

Aside from wisdom, the topic of discipline seems to be the most mentioned theme in Proverbs. Multiple times the writer says something like "a wise man enjoys discipline but a fool spurns it." It seems as if the writer of Proverbs wants us to be sure to embrace constructive criticism. It's not our first reaction to accept it when people criticize us...but wisdom would tell us that we should be more open to rebuke and correction.

That's all for today - I could write more, but my Dad's in town for a visit, so I think I'll sign off for now. More tomorrow on Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon.

Day 19: Psalms 101-150

Three days in the Psalms - longer than it will take me to read any other book of the Bible - draw to a close today.

You Wrote a Love Song for What?

Imagine if, on around April 15, while you were scrambling to finish your tax return, you ran across a friend who looked right at you and said, "I love the IRS." You'd think they were crazy. Then imagine if that same friend brought out a copy of a poem s/he had written titled "Ode to the Tax Code" - and insisted on reading all five pages of it to you. At that point, you would probably start becoming seriously concerned for your friend's mental well-being, right?

As absurd as that circumstance might be, it is rather close to what happens when one starts reading Psalm 119. It is a Psalm dedicated completely to the Law of God. For 172 verses (far and away the longest single chapter in the entire Bible), the psalm goes on and on about how wonderful God's laws are and how fun it is to meditate on them and so forth. It's almost enough to make you question the sanity of the author.

Yet there is something about the psalms unwavering dedication to obedience that is quite moving. Something about a no holds barred approach to God's commands seems attractive. Perhaps it is not the author of Psalm 119 who is crazy or who is going a little overboard or who is taking things too seriously. Perhaps I am not taking things seriously enough.

Pilgrimage Songs

In the latter part of the book, there is a whole group of psalms that fall under the heading, "Song(s) of Ascent." These were songs that the people would sing while they were on their annual trip to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices and celebrate feasts. I can only imagine how awesome it must have been to be a witness to the singing of these songs - thousands of Jews traveling toward Jerusalem, each family singing one of these songs, their voices mingling together in a joyous cacophany of praise and worship to the God who had rescued them from all kinds of disasters.

Maybe that's what Heaven is going to be like - millions of people singing "songs of ascent" in praise to Jesus.

A Fixed Law

I am generally loathe to enter into the evolution v. creation debate. It's not because I do not have an opinion (anyone who knows me knows that I have an opinion on everything, even if I know absolutely nothing about it). Neither is it because I am afraid to engage in debate. Mostly, I stay out of it because I think it is a largely unimportant issue that has become too divisive.

However, there are times when I find myself drawn into thought about the early days of the world. Whenever I read Psalm 148, I experience one of those times. Verses 5-6 say this:

"Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created.

He set them in place forever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away."

I see those words and the former physics student in me smiles. I see in those words a confirmation that the natural order of things was ordained by God - that all the laws of physics and chemistry are a part of God's creation. As strange as it may sound, I see in Psalm 148 a song in praise of the laws of nature and the God who established them. It was not Newton that caused gravity to be, it was God. We can debate until we are blue in the face about how exactly God did it, but we can no longer throw out the sciences and discard the input of physics and chemistry and geology and so forth. God set things in place and gave a natural law that will never pass away, and we have to incorporate that natural law into our way of understanding both God and the world.

Day 18: Psalms 51-100

I am nearing the halfway point - both of the Bible and of Lent itself. In fact, I will reach the halfway point of the Bible a couple of days before the halfway point of Lent. Can I just say up front that that makes me happy...very happy...because it means the readings will be a little shorter in the latter part of Lent. I have no idea why I elected to share that, but I did. Moving on now...

Not Just Pretty Words

When you read the Psalms, it is important to keep in mind something that I mentioned in yesterday's post - that Psalms is the hymn book of the Bible. Each Psalm functions in much the same way as a hymn does for us today. It is a tool for worship and for teaching.

I find that important because it helps me make sense of some of the words and phrasing in the Psalms. Like hymns, Psalms refer to important events and ideas in the life of God's people.

For example, just reading the words, "See from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down," doesn't immediately make a whole lot of sense...until you remember that those are lyrics to When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, a classic hymn of the church that (obviously) refers to the death of Jesus the Christ. Knowing something of the events that precipitate the writing of a hymn greatly helps our ability to understand it (another good example would be the hymn Amazing Grace and its connection to William Wilberforce).

Similarly, If you read: "I will wipe my feet on Edom" in Psalm 60, it is tempting to wonder what exactly is going on. Then you realize that Psalm 60 refers to a time when David fought against and conquered the people of Edom. Suddenly the reference to using Edom in a hymn of praise to God makes a whole lot more sense. Many of the psalms refer back to events in the life of Israel and a good study Bible will help a reader make those links.

Not All David's

My favorite misconception about the Psalms is that all 150 psalms were written by David during the time he was king over Israel. Unless David frequently changed his name or wrote under a pseudonym, that simply isn't the case. Many of the psalms are indeed written by David, but if you pay attention to the notes at the beginning of each psalm (I know - I usually don't either, but I've been really trying to read every word for this Lent thing), you'll find psalms written by a guy named Asaph, psalms attributed to the descendants of Korah, a psalm attributed to Moses and even some anonymous/unlabeled psalms.

There's no profound deep meaning (that I am aware of) to that, but it is still interesting and good to know as we read our Bibles...

Day 17: Psalms 1-50

This is the first day of three days in the Psalms...the hymn book of the Bible.

Extreme Emotion

There are some who call themselves Christians who seem to believe that being Christian is synonymous with being stoic. No matter what happens in your life, you must not show it. You must always keep an even keel. You must always keep your emotions pent up inside or, at the very lease, vent them where no one else can see it. After all, the argument goes, non-Christians might see you get emotional and be turned away from following Jesus. I know these people are out there because I have met some of them (and been scolded by them, too).

As I read through the first 50 psalms, I realized that these kinds of Christians must hate reading the psalms. It must just drive them crazy when they open to the psalms and see little except for raw emotion. Fury, hurt, worry, doubt, pain, etc. are omnipresent throughout these first 50 psalms.

Christianity is not a stoic religion. Christians are not immune to the events and happenstance of life...and the writer(s) of the Psalms make it clear that followers of God are not expected to hide their emotional reactions to the happenings of life. In fact, Christians do a disservice to non-Christians when we hide our emotions. One of the things about being a Christian is taking advantage of the opportunity to model healthy ways of dealing with emotions.

And the Psalms are a good place to start looking for healthy expressions of even the most raw of emotions.

Return of the Preferential Option for the Poor

In the first chunk of Psalms, one theme comes up over and over again - that God cares deeply and specially for the poor, the oppressed, the orphan. One verse stood out in particular - Psalm 9:18 - "But the needy will not be ignored forever; the hopes of the poor will not always be crushed." Can it get any clearer? Is there any way to interpret those words other than as a factual statement that God will look out for the interests of the lowest in society?

I find two lessons in the constant appearance of this theme. First, there is a lesson of comfort for the person is poor and needy. They can take comfort in the words and in the knowledge that no matter what their current situation, God will one day vindicate them.

The second lesson, though, is more apropos to my own situation. There is a word of caution in these verses for the wealthy and privileged. Our time will not last forever. We will not be permitted to forever crush the spirit of the lower classes. No matter what laws we pass or how hard we try, there will come a reckoning where the poor are raised up. Perhaps we should allow that realization to affect the decisions we make today - and spend time working on lifting up the poor while we still have a chance.

Day 16: Job

Job is one of the more interesting books in the Old Testament. As early as the late 6th/early 7th century, commentaries were being written by great thinkers of the faith (one example would be the Magna Moralia of Gregory the Great).

There have always been questions about Job - such as "What exactly is the 'Leviathan' referred to in the text?" & "Is Job a retelling of real events or some sort of Old Testament 'play' meant to illustrate a spiritual point much the way the parables do in the New Testament?"

Add to that the deeply personal nature of Job and the emotions conveyed in its words and you have a recipe for a good book.

Worst. Friends. Ever.

Much of the book centers around speeches made by Job and three of his so-called "friends." Prior to the speeches, Job undergoes a litany of terrible events: he loses all of his property (and he had been very wealthy), his children are killed and he is afflicted with a bad disease. It is while Job is mourning for all that he has lost that his "friends" show up, ostensibly to bring comfort to their wounded friend.

I put quotes around "friends" because whatever these three men are, they are not real friends to Job. Each of them spends the majority of their speeches trying to convince Job that he has somehow sinned and brought all the calamity on himself. Meanwhile, Job protests his innocence. Over and over the cycle repeats itself - Job proclaims innocence while his "friends" pronounced him damned. It's enough to make you wonder why Job even puts up with these guys.

It also brings to mind an experience I had some years back. I was working at a church when I first recognized that I was having issues with depression. When I went to my boss to seek counsel, though, he simply asked me if I had prayed about it...as if whatever was going on in my head was being caused by a lack of prayer or some other spiritual misdeed. I distinctly remember what I felt when he said that - ignored, diminished and unheard. My boss - from whom I sought comfort - became an agitator instead, condemning me instead of comforting me.

Perhaps the moral here is that it is better to be silent than to say something stupid. As difficult as it is for me, I have learned that when I am in the presence of deep grief, sadness or other emotion, I am much more helpful if I simply keep my mouth shut. To be sure, Job's "friends" could have been better friends if they would have foregone their strange need to condemn.

Defending God? (Job 13.2-7)

The following verses stood out to me on the page as if they were in bold font:

"Are you defending God with lies?

Do you make your dishonest arguments for his sake?

Will you slant your testimony in his favor?

Will you argue God's case for him?

What will happen when he finds out what you are doing?

Can you fool him as easily as you fool people?

No, you will be in trouble with him if you secretly slant your testimony in his favor.

Doesn't his majesty terrify you?

Doesn't your fear of him overwhelm you?

Your platitudes are as valuable as ashes.

Your defense is as fragile as a clay pot.

In a time when we are quick to come to God's defense with proofs and arguments in favor of his existence and logical PowerPoint presentations that prove Jesus is the son of God, these words should provide a much needed caution. We have to be careful in our apologetics that we do not get off-track, that we do not cross the line in our zeal. It is not okay to do anything to win souls - we have to work within the boundaries of Scripture and of good morals. Should we fail to stay within those boundaries, we will find ourselves in the place of defending ourselves to God for our out of bounds efforts.

Day 15: Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther

Today is a triple book day. Three different books with lots of good stuff. In order to keep it short enough, though, I'm going to go with one observation from each.

Ezra: Mixed Emotions

In the first couple of chapters of Ezra, the goal of the people is stated fairly clearly - they are seeking to rebuild the temple of God that had been originally built by Solomon and then later destroyed when the Jews were hauled off into exile. The task was given to Ezra to oversee.

One of the first things that has to happen in any kind of construction project is the laying of the foundation, and the new temple was no exception. The people located the ruins of the old temple and began the process of laying a foundation for the new one. What is interesting to me is the reaction of the people to the laying of a new foundation. It's found in Ezra 3:12-13:

"But many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders who had seen the first Temple wept aloud when they saw the new Temple's foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy. The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud noise that could be heard far in the distance."

There were people there for the laying of the new foundation who had seen the old Temple - and they wept at the sight of the new. We don't know if they were tears of sadness for what had been lost or tears of gladness for what was being regained. What we DO know is that in the whole crowd of people there was joy mixed with tears. And that together, the sounds of joy and sadness mingled in a loud racket that could be heard far away.

Sometimes when we break new ground in life - relocating for a job, having a child, watching a child grow up, etc. - we experience the kind of conflicted emotions that were present as the Jews laid the new foundation. My sister once told me about raising kids: "You never want them to get any bigger/older, but you always love the next stage as much as the last." What she said is true not just of raising children but of life in general. What the people in Ezra 3 teach us is that it is okay to feel both joy and sadness...for both are part of life.

Nehemiah: Stubborn as a Donkey

Nehemiah was a stubborn, stubborn man. He gets sent by the king to re-build the city of Jerusalem - starting with the walls - and nothing is going to get in his way or stop him from accomplishing his task. Over and over again throughout the book you find people trying to stop him, to no avail.

They try to threaten military attack, so Nehemiah tells the people to bring their weapons to work. They try to convince Nehemiah to come to a secret meeting, but Nehemiah simply tells them he doesn't have the time for meetings. They try to discredit Nehemiah with the people by getting him to hide in the Temple, but Nehemiah isn't afraid and doesn't fall for it. The even try to discredit Nehemiah with the King, but that, too, fails.

It didn't seem to matter what his enemies tried, nothing was able to sway Nehemiah from the task given to him by God. I don't know about you, but reading stories like Nehemiah's inspires me to be more single-minded in my obedience and dedication to the task, the calling given me by God. Every one of us has a calling from God, something God has asked us to do. And I firmly believe that every one of us, if we approach our task as passionately as did Nehemiah, will be able to rely on the same God who protected Nehemiah from his enemies to protect us from ours.

Esther: The Great Unmentioned

Esther is the one book of the Bible in which God is not mentioned by name. Not even once. Throughout Esther's screenplay like plot twists and turns, you never hear a character pray or thank God or anything like that. In fact, on the surface, this seeming "absence" of God can make one wonder why exactly Esther's story is included in our Bibles.

Well, God's name might not appear in Esther's story, but God's fingerprints are all over it. The events themselves take turns that can only be attributed to favor from God. Though the reader cannot "see" God in the text, it is nonetheless obvious that God is indeed present. To me, this is the great moral of Esther's story - that God does not have to be mentioned or be seen in order to play a part in our stories. God's role is not always obvious, but God is always there. I may not be able to name or describe in detail how God played a part in a specific turn of events, but I know - it is obvious to me - that God is there.

In some respects, Esther reminds me of that old poem Footprints, about someone who looks back on life, sees only one set of footprints in the sand and assumes that God had abandoned them during those moments when instead, it was during those moments that God carried them. God certainly carried Esther and Mordecai through their lives...even if He's not mentioned in their story.

Days 13 & 14: 1 & 2 Chronicles

I confess that I am kind of at a loss when it comes to 1 & 2 Chronicles. Much of what is in these two books is a repeat of the same events that were narrated in 1 & 2 Kings...but here goes anyway:

Why "The Prayer of Jabez" is Flawed...

At the beginning of 1 Chronicles, in the midst of an exceedingly tedious listing of name after name, lies the now-famous "prayer of Jabez" - about which Bruce Wilkinson wrote a little book that became a phenomenon. It became the poster-child for the "name it, claim it" way of thinking.

The logic went like this - Jabez prayed that God would bless him and expand his territory, and God did. Ergo, if we pray for those things, God will do them for us. Makes sense, right?

There is, however, one major problem with this way of thinking that occurred to me as I slogged through those genealogies last night - Wilkinson and other Jabez prayer aficionados have made a big jump from "occasional" to "universal." In other words, they look at the story of Jabez, which merely says that God answered Jabez' prayer, and they assume that what God did on that particular occasion is universally applicable.

What, then, are we to do with those times when people pray for God to bless them and expand their territory and it did not happen?

I think it is important for anyone who reads the Bible to take care not to jump too quickly from an occasion of God's power to a universal "law" of God's power.

Interlude...

For those of you who are following this, I want to let you know that I have not forgotten to read today. It's been a crazy busy day, so I am a little behind...I will read 1 Chronicles today and include any observations tomorrow...

My bad.

Day 12: 2 Kings

I don't have anything witty or wise to say as a prelude, so I'll go right to the observations:

Patience is a Virtue

God is extraordinarily patient. That much is obvious from even a surface reading of 1 & 2 Kings. God puts up with king after king after king - in both Israel and Judah - who do the wrong things, who worship idols. He puts up with it for generation after generation without dramatically punishing the people.

According to the terms of the covenant - the relationship between God and the Jewish people - God would have been well within His "rights," so to speak, to completely destroy the people after just one instance of idolatry. Yet He doesn't. He gives them chance after chance. Occasionally in the process of the story, there is a king who recognizes God's great power and patience (Hezekiah & Josiah being the two most influential, but there were others, too), and the presence of these "good" kings seems to justify God's patience. Yet within a few years, the people and their kings are back to idolatry.

Even in the end, God does not completely destroy the people - He shows mercy even in this judgment, sending them to exile instead of to death. Many people read the Old Testament and see a God who is harsh and judgmental of His people. Yet as I read it, I see a God who is patient with His people, wanting to give them every opportunity to do what is right. And to be honest, I find great comfort in knowing that God is a patient God.

Because He certainly has needed that patience with me...

Revival in the Land

One of the most prominent characters in 2 Kings is King Josiah. Josiah was one of the "good" kings who did what God desired and who did not worship idols. Josiah, though, led a revival of worship of the True God that was unparalleled. During his reign, the priests discovered a copy of the Torah - the early books of Jewish law - hidden in the temple.

When he read the words, Josiah immediately realized that the people were in trouble, that they were in violation of the covenant and subject to God's judgment. So he took action. He demolished all the idols and shrines to foreign gods - not just some of them, every last one of them. He reinstated the celebration of Passover, which had not happened since the days of the judges - a period of many, many years. What Josiah did, though, that caught my eye and stood out to me the most, was to organize a public reading of the law and a public covenant renewal ceremony.

Sometimes it happens that, as years pass in our relationship with Christ, we begin to forget the "terms" of the covenant. It's not intentional necessarily, but the longer we serve Christ, the easier it is to assume that we know what's important to God and that we know exactly what it means to be in a covenant relationship with Jesus. I wonder, though, how we would react if we "rediscovered" the original terms - if we went back and examined again God's word and Jesus' life and all the promises made and judgments promised.

I can't say for sure how everyone would react, but I can confess that this Lenten Bible project is becoming, for me, a Josiah-moment. I am remembering and recapturing things that I had lost over the years. And I am hopeful that this rediscovery will lead to a renewal of commitment to the ultimate covenant of love I have with God.

Day 11: 1 Kings

Quick story from yesterday. Before church, I sat in the sanctuary and prayed that God would open the doors for our church to become more ingrained in our community, that God would give us opportunities to grow.

Fast forward to church. I get up to do the announcements and I look out over the sanctuary and see a young couple from the neighborhood sitting in the back; and by the time I finished the announcements we had a gal from the neighborhood who was, to put it nicely, a little tipsy, come in as well. Apparently God heard my prayer for opportunities...

On to 1 Kings:

Apparently, Stupid is Contagious (or Genetic)

As I read through 1 Kings, I kept running across one particular phrase: "he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord." Over and over again, that phrase came up as a descriptor of the kings of Israel and of Judah. In fact, if I recall right, there was only one king - Asa - that escaped that phrase (don't hold me to that, as I didn't go back and actually count - but I'm pretty sure).

What makes it all the more amazing is the way that God continually made himself clear to the kings about what they should do. Take just one example - Jeroboam. Jeroboam became king after Solomon began to worship some foreign idols. Before he became king, though, God tells Jeroboam exactly why He was making Jeroboam king - because Solomon worshipped idols. Then God promises Jeroboam that, if he - Jeroboam - is faithful to God, God will make his family royalty for generations.

It doesn't get much clearer than that - follow God, don't worship idols and you will prosper. Simple, right? Apparently not, because a few verses later, Jeroboam is getting deposed as king...for worshipping idols.

It just goes to show how tempting (and dangerous) it is to worship idols.

A Quick Response

One of the things I have enjoyed the most about this Lenten reading project is the chance to re-read stories that have become familiar to me and find within those stories insights that may have eluded me before.

This happened to me as I read the account of Elijah versus the prophets of Ba-al in 1 Kings 18. The Cliff's Notes for the story are as follows: the people, led by King Ahab, are worshipping idols (see above). Elijah is a prophet of God and God tells him to challenge the prophets of Ba-al, one of the idols, to a duel of sorts. Both the prophets of Ba-al and Elijah will set up altars and place a sacrifice on them. Then each will pray to their God and the God who sends fire wins.

I have read this story and heard it preached many times. It is one of my favorite Old Testament stories...especially the part when Elijah starts mocking and making fun of the prophets of Ba-al. But what I have never noticed before is that difference between the prayers of the two "contestants." The prophets of Ba-al prayed for hours and hours - they wailed, they cried, they moaned, they cut themselves. From morning through evening they cried out to Ba-al, to no avail.

When it was Elijah's turn, he prays a short prayer (reading the words of the prayer as its recorded takes less than a minute) and immediately God sends fire to consume the sacrifice. God didn't make Elijah go into histrionics or play emotional games to get an answer to his prayer. Elijah prayed a straightforward prayer and God answered it. Perhaps there is a lesson for us somewhere in there.

Food for Thought

1 Kings 20:11:

"The king of Israel sent back this answer: 'A warrior putting on his sword for battle should not boast like a warrior who has already won.'"

Day 10: 2 Samuel

Today marks 1/4 of Lent. That means that I am A) only one month from Easter and B) 25% of the way through the Bible. It's taking a fair amount of time, but I am enjoying it immensely.

Today brings one observation from 2 Samuel:

The Best Kind of Leader

The hero of 2 Samuel is David. The same David who defeated Goliath with a sling and a stone. The same David who was tempted by Bathsheba and ended up killing her husband. Neither of those stories, though, are what caught my eye about David while I was reading 2 Samuel.

What caught my attention was David's leadership style - David wasn't a domineering authoritarian. He was the kind of leader that listened to his advisors and, most importantly, listened to God. Early in the book, David was often fighting wars. Multiple times in the narrative, you see David stopping to ask God, "Lord, what should I do? Should I go out to battle or wait?" He then based his decisions on God's response.

It wasn't just God that David consulted for advice, though. As I hinted above, he also allowed his trusted subordinates and advisors to give him good advice. Later in the narrative, David is forced into hiding by Absalom, who wants to kill him. When the time comes for the battle between David's troops and Absalom's troops, David is prepared to go out and fight alongside his men. But before he goes out, one of his generals comes to him and says, "No, you need to stay here. If we lose, so be it - but if Absalom should get lucky and kill you out there, Israel is done for." Once again, David listens to the wise counsel.

Could it be that this is the key to great leadership? Could it be that the best leaders are not the kind of leaders that dictate what will be and who will countenance no disagreement or even discussion, but rather the kind of leaders that recognize their shortcomings and allow others to help advise and guide them? Perhaps. History certainly seems to indicate so...as does the story of David in 2 Samuel.

Day 9: 1 Samuel

I had forgotten how much there is in 1 Samuel. It is certainly one of the easier books to read in the Old Testament - lots of narrative and not a lot of tedious genealogy or whatnot. I am certainly going to have to do a series of sermons on 1 Samuel in the not-too-distant future.

Observations:

Talk About Making an Impact (1 Samuel 6)

In an early part of the book, the Philistine army conquers the Israelites and captures the Ark of the Covenant - the holiest of relics for the Jewish people. Over time, the Philistines begin to suffer from a series of maladies and misfortunes that were quickly attributed to the ill-gotten Ark in their presence.

Deciding what to do, the rulers of the Philistines asked their seers. The response of the seers? Send it back, you don't want to make the God of Israel mad. Then they say, in 6:6:

"Do not be stubborn and rebellious as Pharaoh and the Egyptians were. By the time God was finished with them, they were eager to let Israel go."

Talk about a long-lasting impact! The mighty things God had done in Egypt were influencing the decisions of people many, many years later. This is why it is important to remember and keep track (perhaps through journalling or blogging) of the things God has done in your life - so that when you face a tough decision, you can look back on those things and allow them to influence you to a wise choice.

Holy Anger

The story of David and Goliath is familiar to almost everyone who has ever set foot in a church. There is part of it, though, that never ceases to speak to me - the reason why David was so eager to go to battle with the Philistine giant. David overheard Goliath taunting not just the Israelite army, but God himself...and David got angry. He began asking questions like, "Who is this Philistine that he gets away with taunting God and his army." Eventually, God used David's holy anger to kill Goliath and remove the taunts and the threats.

We live in a time when holy anger is seen as a bad idea. It is "offensive" and we don't want to "offend" people. But we also live in a time when people are taunting God and God's people mercilessly. There has to be a balance between mercy and the kind of holy anger that David experienced.

Doing What You're Told

Saul - the first king of Israel - went out to war against an army of Amalekites. The word from God was to completely annihilate the Amalekites - all the way down to their sheep, goats, and cattle. When the battle was won, though, they didn't listen. They took the best of the livestock for themselves.

Of course, they got caught. When Samuel - God's prophet - confronted Saul with the misdeed, Saul tried a clever excuse: We only kept the best to offer them as a burnt offering to God. Samuel wasn't impressed, and responded with a pointed reply (1 Samuel 15:22)

"What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams."

Obedience is better than sacrifice. Perhaps another way to say it might be: "Obedience is better than going to church." Or, "Obedience is better than giving 10%." Or, "Obedience is better than any of the other ways we 'sacrifice' for God today."

Day 8: Judges and Ruth

This is the first day that I've had to read more than one book of the Bible. It's harder to keep straight some of the observations and which book they come from without taking notes (which I am not doing, as I want to be careful not to make this into an academic exercise). If I struggle with 2, I wonder how I'll do with 5 or 6 later. Regardless, time to trudge on, with only one major observation for today:

Be Careful Little Mouth What You Say

Judges tells the story of a guy by the name of Jephthah. Jephthah's story is the stuff of a soap opera. He was the son of Gilead...but his mother was a prostitute. Jephthah's half-brothers wanted to be sure that Jephthah didn't receive any inheritance, so they forced Jephthah to leave home and to head out to the wilderness. This is where the story gets interesting.

While in the wilderness, Jephthah develops into an excellent military leader, leading a group of "rebels" in the wilderness. At some later point in the story, his brothers come under attack and they beg Jephthah to lead them in battle. Understandably, Jephthah isn't fond of his brothers and is reluctant to help them. After they promise to make him "king," though, he goes to battle and wins.

All of that, though, is a prelude to the real observation from Jephthah's life. He gets a little too confident prior to a battle and lets his mouth run away with him. If victorious, he promises to offer as a burnt offering the first thing (person/animal) to come out of his house to greet him on his return. Of course, he won...and the first person to greet him was his only daughter, Milpah. Unable to escape the promise he had made to God, the text tells us that Jephthah carried out the sacrifice. Disturbing, I know.

Aside from the overall disturbing nature of this story, I find myself seeing it as a cautionary tale for the times I want to run my mouth and make promises or guarantees. If Jephthah had been satisfied to win and kept his mouth shut, the tragedy would not have befallen him. Instead, he boasted in front of many people about what he would do...and ended up in a no-win situation. The words we say can be very dangerous, and Jephthah reminds me that I need to try harder and seek God's help in controlling my tendency to over-speak.

Day 7: Joshua

Back on track today with the book of Joshua. Aside from a somewhat tedious listing of which tribe got what lands, there is good stuff here.

No Need to Be Greedy

In the latter half of the book, Joshua is involved in doling out to each tribe the portion of the Promised Land that would be theirs. He gives land - including towns to each tribe, making sure that there is enough there to support the people. At the end of this time, Joshua was given the chance to choose what his allotment would be.

Because of the role he had played as leader of the people, God permitted Joshua to select whatever town he wanted to be his personal domain and the domain of his family for generations to come. Any town at all - Joshua could choose Jericho, Jerusalem, Hebron or any other major city in the Promised Land.

Who could have blamed him if he had chosen Jerusalem or Jericho - a large, well-known town as his inheritance? After all, he had earned it. Joshua chooses not to select any of the "famous" towns, though, opting instead for a town called Timnath-serah. He opted for an out of the way town - leaving the best of the conquered lands for others. There's a leadership lesson in there somewhere.

Fight for Your Brothers (and Sisters)

There were three tribes that, before the Israelites conquered the promised land, asked for permission to have the conquered lands East of the Jordan river as their inheritance. The tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh were large groups with large flocks and they coveted the pastures East of the Jordan. So they asked if they could have the land East as their inheritance.

The leaders - Moses and Joshua - were concerned about the request, fearing that granting the three tribes land East of the river would prevent those three tribes from crossing the Jordan and fighting with their brothers to conquer the actual "Promised Land." Yet Moses and Joshua responded favorably, if conditionally. They told the leaders of Gad, Reuben and Manasseh that they could have the land East of the river, as long as they agreed to help the other tribes acquire their land. Already having plenty of land was not an excuse for not helping their fellow Israelites who did not have any land.

When I read that, I can't help but think about the church. How many churches have settled onto their "promised land" and stopped worrying about their fellow men and women who do not have land on which to settle? How often do we look at the struggles of other churches or denominations and say, "I'm glad it's not us" rather than getting up and helping in the fight. The Israelites were ultimately successful because God was on their side, but they also displayed a remarkable sense of unity that I think today's church would do well to adopt.

Getting Back on Schedule

A good friend - who happens to be an Episcopalian priest - reminded me yesterday that Sundays are not included in the 40 days of Lent. So in order to get back on schedule, I'm going to skip a day and pick up with Joshua tomorrow.

The posts will be back on track tomorrow!

Day 6: Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy is another one of my favorite books. There is just so much in its 34 chapters that speaks to the world in which we live. A couple of the highlights:

Not Because of Us (Deuteronomy 9:6)

Much of Deuteronomy consists of Moses listing the great things that God had either already done or would do for the people of Israel. The escape from Egypt, the years in the wilderness, the conquering of the Promised Land...and on and on and on. When hearing Moses list all of the great things God had done and was going to do for them, the temptation must have been fairly strong for them to think, "God must love us because we are so good." It must have been easy to start thinking that somehow they deserved all of God's goodness.

This is where Deuteronomy 9:6 comes into play: "You must recognize that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land because you are good, for you are not--you are a stubborn people."

Just in case the Israelites were tempted to think more of themselves than they should, God - through Moses - puts them in their place. All that had happened or will happen was because of God's grace, not because of any inherent goodness within the people of Israel. Moses even goes so far to point out that they are not inherently good, but inherently stubborn.

How often do we fall into the trap of thinking that we "deserve" God's blessing? Think about it for a minute. When was the last time God didn't answer one of your prayers the way you wanted? How did you react? Did you think - even for a moment - "But God, I've done all these good things, I deserved that blessing?" Be honest. I know that I have acted and thought that way, and still do on occasion.

Those kinds of thoughts are a trap. The fact remains that, no matter how "good" we are, we will never deserve the grace and kindness of God. We will never reach the point where we have earned God's mighty work on our behalf. The truth of the matter is that, as Moses says, "We are not good--we are a stubborn people."

Avoid at ALL Costs

One of the hardest things for many people to get past in Deuteronomy is the lack of mercy towards the inhabitants of the land(s) the Israelites were going to conquer. Indeed, the fact that God repeatedly tells the Israelites to annihilate entire peoples - men, women, children, livestock - is so unpalatable to some that they just ignore those verses and/or pretend that God "didn't really mean" it.

In context, though, those commands had a purpose. Reading through Deuteronomy, one can easily see a concern that the Israelites would be tempted and convinced to worship the gods of the peoples they were conquering (and history will show that this concern was well-founded). Multiple times in his speeches, Moses warns the people not to worship the gods of the natives. So great was the concern that the people were to take a no-holds-barred approach to the battles. If the peoples were totally wiped out, there would be no one left to tempt the Israelites to go astray into idolatry.

I do not mean to diminish the awful nature of those commands or to dismiss lightly the challenges they present to the (post)modern reader. However, if there is a lesson to be learned here, it is that idolatry is so dangerous that we should avoid it at all costs. Even today, we would be well advised to take a no-holds-barred approach to idolatry in our lives. For example, if one knows that television or internet has become an "idol" in one's life, one would be better off getting rid of the television and/or canceling the internet connection, rather than merely attempting to limit one's exposure.

Idolatry is a pervasive and insidious temptation. It must be avoided at all costs, and we must be aggressive in our efforts to stamp it out and prevent it in our lives with God.

Day 5: Numbers

As much as I love Leviticus, I may dislike Numbers that much. It just doesn't do it for me. There is one part where the author lists the leader of each of the tribes and then provides an itemized list of the offerings that leader brought to the tabernacle. In and of itself, that's not too bad - but each and every one of them brought the exact same offering. Why couldn't the author have listed the leaders' names and then said, "each of them brought the same offering(s), which were:" and then listed it once? Seriously, the author of Numbers needs an editor.

/end rant

Moving on to the observation of the day from Numbers

An Open-Theists Paradise

Several incidents occur in Numbers that make it a big asset for open theists. Briefly (and if you want more information, google or wiki it), open theism is a position held by some theologians in which God self-limits His knowledge of the future. According to the position of most open theists, God knows only what can be known and - this is the important part - the outcome of a future free will decision cannot be known until the decision is made. Put more simply, if you ask me whether or not I want to go get a pizza, God does not know whether I will say yes or no until I make the decision. (NOTE: the preceding was a very inadequate and all too brief summary of open theism. If you would like a more detailed explanation, drop me a comment w/your e-mail or facebook me)

Anyway, open theism is a position in the debate about predestination and God's knowledge of the future. It attempts to faithfully deal with the Scriptures that indicate God knows everything about the future and those scriptures that indicate God might not. The bellwether question for most open theists is, "Can God change His mind?"

In Numbers, then - yes, all of this relates back to Numbers - we find multiple occurrences of God seeming to do just that. The pattern is always the same: the Israelites do something stupid, God says He is going to destroy them altogether, Moses and/or Aaron intercede for the people and God relents from total destruction. It happens at least twice in Numbers (as well as in other places in the Old Testament).

Here's the thing - I don't know where I stand vis a vis open theism. Part of me thinks it is a legitimate way of understanding how God could know the future and still allow humans to exercise free will. Another part of me, though, wonders if we are meant to understand how God's knowledge of the future works and is afraid that open theism represents too much "anthropomorphizing" of God by humans (i.e. "making God in our own image").

What it boils down to for me is this: reading Numbers, it is clear that God changes His mind on a couple of occasions. How exactly that works is a mystery to me. How it plays into our understanding of God, predestination and free-will, I don't know. I just know that God is love and that I am not meant to completely understand God.

Day 4: Leviticus

This is going to make me seem quite strange to the average reader, but I thoroughly enjoy the book of Leviticus. If I were to make a list of my five favorite books of the Bible, Leviticus would definitely be on it (just for fun, in no particular order: Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Habakkuk, Luke, Psalms). I love Leviticus because I can see love within the somewhat tedious listing of sacrifices and rituals. I love Leviticus because I can see what can only be called parental concern behind many of the laws at which we often raise our eyebrows. But mostly, I love Leviticus because it makes it clear that God has always been interested in having a relationship with humans - He's not a God who hides or who makes the way to him a mystery. He lays out exactly what we have to do...and I love that.

On to the observations:

A Harsh Punishment

If you have any question that God is interested in relationship and in community, just take a read through Leviticus and focus on the punishment for violating many of the laws. The New Living Translation uses the phrase "they will be cut off from the community." This was the punishment ordained for violating the majority of the laws recorded in Leviticus. Cut off from the community - ostracized, forced to leave one's family, forced to leave the camp, forced to strike out on one's own.

In our (post)modern world, where we value individuality above all else and prize things such as "alone time" and "striking out to find our way in the world," this idea of being cut off from the community might not resonate as strongly. In the world of the Old Testament, though, the community was the defining force in life. Individual identity as we understand it didn't really exist - one's identity came from one's family and one's community. Thus, when Leviticus demands that violators be cut off from the community, it is saying that violators of the law will be stripped of their identity as God's people.

Jack-of-All-Trades

I never noticed before how involved the role of priest was in Old Testament Jewish culture. Reading Leviticus, I noticed that priests were tasked with everything from offering sacrifices to basic medical care (evaluating skin diseases) to property assessment (checking for mold). The priests were pastors, doctors, inspectors - essential to every part of community life.

Quite the difference from today, when pastors (and church in general) are often reduced to a "wherever I have time and space to spare" role, isn't it?

Day 3: Exodus

Allow me to begin by saying that I can understand why people have a hard time reading through the entire Old Testament. The last half or so of Exodus is really, really difficult to read. It consists of the Biblical equivalent of a technical manual - specifying techniques and dimensions of each and every piece of the Tabernacle. Let me tell you, it's a real snoozer. Nevertheless, I made it through and have two observations:

I Want To Remember

After the Israelites, through God's intervention, escape from Egypt, they are given very specific instructions. They are commanded to celebrate and commemorate God's rescue every single year on a specific day with specific meals and specific rituals. The Passover, as it is known in Jewish culture, is still celebrated in Jewish households around the world today.

I got to thinking about the importance of remembrance. Our modern culture seems somewhat obsessed with it. We build memorials all over the place. There is the Vietnam Wall. There is the memorial here in Oklahoma City to those who were killed in the Murrah building bombing. There is the forthcoming memorial to the dead from the terror of 9/11.

Each of those memorials - along with many of our memorials - share one common characteristic...they memorialize and foster remembrance of bad things, of wars and other horrific events. We don't often create memorials for the good and, when we do, these good memorials tend to not be as well-known.

In the whole scheme of things, I think we should be much better off if we were more like the Israelites after the escape from Egypt. It is important to remember not just the bad things that have happened in our history, but to also remember the great things that God has done on our behalf.

A Different View on Immigration

It seems as though God has a slightly different view on immigration and immigrants is somewhat different from the position held by many Americans. You see, God reminds his people in Exodus that they were once immigrants in a foreign land and, thus, that they should always be careful to treat immigrants well. More than that, they should give preference to those immigrants.

I was somewhat aware of this position but had forgotten how strongly emphatic God is about fair and judicious treatment of immigrants. I won't belabor the point with excessive political comment. Just let it be food for thought.

Day 2: Genesis 31-50

It took less than 24 hours for my body to start rebelling against the lack of caffeine. My head is a little fuzzy with a dull ache this morning. Someone please explain to me why I insist on going caffeine-free every year for Lent.

Anyway, on to the big observation from Genesis 31-50

A God Who Warns (Genesis 31:24)

Today's reading continues the story of Jacob and Laban. Laban was the father-in-law who deceitfully "stuck" Jacob with Leah as a wife when Jacob wanted to marry Rachel instead. Laban was also the father-in-law who, when Jacob worked for him as a shepherd, tried to cheat Jacob out of his fair wages. Laban was, in other words, a real winner of a guy.

In Genesis 31, Jacob decides to take his two wives (Laban's daughters) and all his family and possessions and return to the land of Canaan, where his father Isaac and grandfather Abraham had lived. They sneak off in the middle of the night, worried that Laban might try to force them to stay. Once Laban realizes that they are gone, he gets angry and decides to go after them with force.

This is where the story gets interesting. As Laban and his army near Jacob's encampment with their bad intentions, God intervenes. In 31:24 - God tells Laban, "I'm warning you - leave Jacob alone" (NLT). No threats of destruction or anything like that, just "leave him alone."

God didn't have to warn Laban. In fact, given Laban's history of deceitfulness, it would have been at least somewhat justified to let Laban attack Jacob and get soundly defeated. But God doesn't do that - in warning Laban, God shows yet again that He is a God of mercy. God would rather avoid unnecessary bloodshed and violence, and so he warns Laban to back off - and Laban does.

I am only two days into this project and already my assumptions about the Bible are being rattled. As I mentioned yesterday, the militant God of the Old Testament doesn't seem quite as militant as I read through it this time. Perhaps I was just looking in the wrong places before, but it seems more and more clear to me that God is love - Old Testament and New Testament.

Day 1: Genesis 1-30

My first observation in beginning this quest to read the whole Bible in 40 days is that it is going to be somewhat more challenging than I thought to keep up with the amount of reading each day. Because I'm reading so much - and reading relatively quickly - I won't be able to take notes or comment on every little thing that strikes me. Instead, I will have to focus on the "big" things - the things that stick in my mind after I'm done reading 30 chapters.

Today's thoughts:

Like Father, Like Son

A couple different times in the first 30 chapters of Genesis, Abraham gets himself in trouble by trying to pass his wife off as his sister. In each case, his wife ends up being taken into the royal palace. Both times, it is discovered that Sarah is really not Abraham's sister and the people involved are pretty incensed at Abraham. You would think that these stories would represent lessons passed down to Abraham's son, Isaac, right?

Apparently not, because shortly after marrying Rebekah, we find Isaac trying to pass her off as his sister - in one of the same places and to one of the same kings that Abraham had done with Sarah. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't work...Isaac gets caught kissing on Rebekah and the king is mad once again. Thankfully, though, the stupidity didn't seem to carry past the second generation...

Hagar gets it right (Genesis 16:11-16)

The whole story of Hagar is somewhat distressing to me - Abraham's wife gets frustrated at being unable to have kids, so she "makes" (If Abraham was anything like a typical man, I'm guessing there wasn't much persuasion needed...) Abraham sleep with her servant in order to have a son, Ishmael. After Ishmael is born, though, Abraham's wife begins to treat both Hagar and Ishmael like crap. So Hagar runs away. And in Chapter 16, God encounters Hagar and encourages her to return to Abraham. Following this encounter, Hagar uses a new name - el-Roi - to refer to God. The New Living Translation translates this name as "The God who sees me." What an awesome name - Hagar knew that God had not just seen her run away, but that he had seen her distress. God was - and is - "the God who sees me." Of all the names of God - YHWH, elohim, el-shaddai, adonai, etc. - I think el-Roi is the one I like best.

God cares for the unloved (Genesis 29:31)

The assumption is sometimes made that the Old Testament represents and reveals the militant God - the God who fights and who commands his people to go to war and utterly annihilate their enemies - while the New Testament represents and reveals the God of love. Read the first 30 chapters of Genesis, though, and you'll find yourself encountering a God who shows great concern for the unloved. I have already mentioned Hagar, who was abused and mistreated by Sarah and Abraham, but comforted, encouraged and blessed by God - who promises to provide for her needs and to bless her son Ishmael.

Then, in Jacob's story, we meet Leah. Leah, whose father tricks Jacob into marrying her even though Jacob neither loves Leah nor wants her as his wife. Leah, who is second to her younger sister Rachel in nearly every department. Leah, who is described in 29:31 as "unloved." God sees that Leah is unloved and does something about it - he makes Leah fertile and Rachel barren. Leah will bear Jacob children (eventually, so will Rachel, but Leah would bear sooner and also bear more) and that ability to bear children will be a reason for Jacob to love Leah.

It doesn't say how well it worked - in fact, if you read on, it doesn't seem to accomplish anything other than to spark one of the strangest and most absurd examples of sibling rivalry I've ever seen. Regardless of the outcome, though - in the stories of Hagar & Leah - we discover a God who passionately cares about the outcast and the unloved.

More tomorrow...

A Lenten Project

For the last several years, I have been an active participant in the season of Lent (the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday). Briefly, since this post isn't about the theological underpinnings of Lent, the traditional practice during Lent is to fast - to give up something one values in order to devote the resources (time, money, etc.) you spend on the thing given up to a spiritual purpose.

My own personal Lenten fast has, over the last several years, involved a 40 day fast from caffeine and a 40 day fast from purchasing books. I confess, though, that last year I realized that what I was doing for Lent was all about me - there wasn't so much a spiritual dimension to the fasts as there was a "prove to myself that I can do it" dimension...and that is not what Lent is all about.

This year, then, I am trying something different. Rather than merely subtracting caffeine and book purchases from my day-to-day life (which I still plan on doing, by the way), I feel like I need to add something of spiritual value and import to my day-to-day life. So starting tomorrow, I am embarking on a 40-day schedule to read through the entire Bible - Genesis - Revelation. Between now and Easter, I will get a birds eye view of the whole of God's work on behalf of His people. I am rather excited.

In an effort to maintain my excitement and to further the impact of this 40-day addition to my life, I have further decided to take this Lenten Project into my own blogosphere. At some point each day - after I finish the reading - I will be posting some brief thoughts on what I have read. No promises that I will be extremely profound or that my musings will be life-changing. But I can promise that they will be honest and open reflections from my heart and soul as I take on God's Word.

I suppose you could say that this will be a 40 day unfast. And it begins tomorrow - with Genesis 1-30.

My Biggest Fear...

I downloaded a song by Matthew West today - just a few minutes ago actually. It's a song that's been around for a while, but it's just now reaching me. The lyric that is causing a swirling torrent of emotion and angst in me is this:

"I don't want to go through the motions. I don't want to go one more day without your all-consuming passion inside of me. I don't want to spend my whole life asking, 'What if I had given everything instead of going through the motions?'"

Every time I hear those words from the chorus of West's appropriately titled The Motions, I am filled with fear. Because West courageously puts into lyrical form my single greatest fear. I am afraid - terrified - that I will reach the end of my life and realize that I was just "playing" at this thing called faith, that I was just "going through the motions" with Jesus, that I wasn't really following Him. The worry that I am doing just that sometimes keeps me up at night.

And it's not that I am afraid that God will judge me more harshly that way or that I feel like I'm being insincere or not trying. I'm not afraid of "going through the motions" because I'm afraid of Hell. It goes deeper than that, because I have no doubt that God's grace will be sufficient even in that circumstance. I am afraid because I don't want to end up in a place where I recognize that I could have done more, that I could have helped someone else or ministered to another need or grown deeper or been more passionate. I don't want to have regrets about the life I live with God - and it makes me anxious to realize that I will always be able to do more or be more passionate and devoted to Christ.

On my computer I have a sermon preached by Louie Giglio at a Passion conference some years ago. In it, he talks about the deep sadness that will affect those who meet God face to face and haven't been in the right places, saying, "Oh, that's what YOU were doing, God? Well, I was over here doing this. That's what moved YOU? Well, this is what moved me..."

It makes me want to keep praying, "God show me more. Take me through whatever I have to go through to make me more like Christ. If it hurts, if it is uncomfortable, if it breaks me, if it kills me - teach me how to deal with it. Never let me be satisfied with who I am in You. Don't let me settle in - don't let me rest. Keep pushing me, God. I'll go through hell itself if it will bring me closer to You."

On being "OK"

In exactly three weeks from this morning, I will be ushered into a room full of pastors and lay men and women - collectively known by the somewhat ominous name "District Board of Ministerial Development" (DBMD). Their job, in the time we are together, will be to interview me and ascertain whether or not I am qualified for ordination in the Wesleyan Church, ordination being a fancy word that means that the church - as represented by the men and women of the DBMD - sees in my the necessary knowledge, skills and (most importantly) the call of God necessary to be a minister.

Now, I should confess that I have spent the last ten years - more than 1/3 - of my life preparing for and looking forward to the moment of my ordination. It is supposed to be the crowning moment of my ministerial career - a cairn stone that marks the official launching of my ministry. I am excited about it, as I consider it to be deeply significant - far more so than the completion of either of my degrees.

That said, my ordination is not here yet. It is not a certainty. The aforementioned interview represents the last bridge to cross, the final step in a long, long process. So it is appropriate to say that the interview is a big deal. And for the last ten years, since I accepted God's call and began traveling down this long path of preparation, I have dreaded this upcoming interview. The questions abound: What if I say the wrong thing? What if they don't like me? What if I missed something somewhere along the way? Will the last ten years of my life have been for naught? If I fail to get ordained, does that mean I was wrong in thinking God had called me to ministry? On and on they go, running nonstop through my mind every time the thought of ordination occurred to me.

Until recently. As I spent several hours in the last couple of weeks completing the "Ordination and Commissioning Questionnaire," answering question about my family, about the Bible, about theology and about social issues like poverty and homosexuality, it occurred to me that the path on which I have been traveling has been incredibly important to me. The path itself has changed me in ways I could never have imagined.

I've met people that gave me perspective on life and altered forever the way I see God and the church - people named Craig and Tim and Mike and Dr. Thompson and Heather and a whole host of others whom I can't mention without extending this post to many, many pages. I have attended and ministered in a variety of forms at churches that have helped to form my ideas about ministry - churches like Faith Journey Church of the Nazarene, South Lake Church of the Nazarene and Lafayette First Church of the Nazarene. Along the way I've been forced to confront my own biases and prejudices, to search out on my own answers to the hardest theological questions. I've faced some of my weaknesses and come away stronger. In short, the man I am today has been shaped irrevocably by the experiences of the last ten years. And to tell the truth, I wouldn't trade the friends, churches, challenges and growth of the last ten years for anything.

Which means that, no matter what happens three weeks from today, I'll be okay. If the interview goes well and the DBMD chooses to ordain me, it will be awesome and the fulfillment of a ten year dream. If, on the other hand, the DBMD chooses - for whatever reason - to NOT ordain me, it will be disappointing, but not the end of the world. I will be okay no matter what happens at that meeting - and no matter what happens, it will not and cannot invalidate the transformation wrought by ten years on this path. Sure, they could say no, but that doesn't mean that I'm not called...it may mean that ministry looks different for me than I ever thought, but that may be a good thing.

In short - after ten years of nervously anticipating the big interview and being terrified of some verbal misstep, I am choosing to let that go. My future - including my ordination - is God's to shape, not mine. All I can do is show up at the interview and answer the questions honestly and without pretense.

That much I can do.