Zechariah
“Waiting for you is like waiting for rain in this drought, useless and disappointing.” - A Cinderella Story
Like Israel we are left asking: How and why we can continue to have faith?
What is faith?
Mental affirmation is only the beginning of Faith, It ends with obedient action, or “Enacted Loyalty” - Salvation by Allegiance by Matthew Bates
“Faith is the substance, or reality, of things hoped for, the EVIDENCE of things not seen.” - Heb 11:1
Allegiance communicates who & what we are loyal to and obey.
Zechariah directs the people of Israel toward a Spirit-empowered Faith
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” -James 4:7-8
God’s promise is consistent that when his people repent and turn toward Him, He is faithful to draw near to them.
Bible Project Resource: https://bibleproject.com/view-resource/246/
Zechariah 3 & 4 offer us a vision of (1) the why of our faith and (2) the how of our faith.
Zechariah 3: Vision about High Priest, Joshua
Role of High Priest:
Act as representative and mediator
Responsible for enforcing the covenant & directing the hearts of the people.
Jesus is our new High Priest; Jesus is WHY we can have faith
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” - 1 Peter 1:3
Doubt isn’t decreased faith, its matured faith
Studies have shown that for every 1 negative experience, you need 3 positive ones.
Give God the chance to give you 3 positive moments.
Faith begins with engaging your mind and ends with actions.
Zechariah 4: Vision about Governor, Zerubbabel
“Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit Says the Lord” - Zech 4:6
God is the source of Zerubbabel’s authority and power.
“Only if his Spirit governs every detail can service be glorifying to him.” -Scholar Joyce G. Baldwin
Spirit Empowerment is HOW we have faith.
“Obedience is about living in the present as if the future has already arrived. It’s not blind faith you’re doing it because you can point back to the resurrection of the risen Jesus.” - Theologian Tim Mackey
Faith is a leap but it’s not blind.
“...real biblical faith is not a general positive mindset or a blind optimism but is directed toward a defined object—and it is the trustworthiness of the object that sources and fixes faith’s genuineness. So if we want to grow in faith, we should study and contemplate God’s extraordinary reliability.” -Author Matthew Bates
SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
Encourage your soul with stories of FAITH
Posture yourself to receive
Love God & Love your Neighbor
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” - Mark 12:30
BE THE MOST INTERESTED PERSON IN THE ROOM!
Haggai
Timeline:
Haggai is one of the three minor prophets which prophesied post-exile, the other two are Zechariah and Malachi
The book was written in 520 B.C. which was 70 years after being exiled.
And because the Babylonian empire recently collapsed, the Persians were ruling and they allowed the return of a small group of Israelites to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the city, temple, and their lives.
The return back to Jerusalem was led by the High Priest Joshua the Son of Jozadak and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel the governor.
The returning people experienced extreme opposition and hardship building the temple which caused them to delay the rebuilding of God’s temple for nearly 20 years.
Haggai delivers a message of hope to the Israelite people and tells them their work will be blessed, God will rebuild a new Jerusalem, and His spirit will be in their midst.
4 Main Sections of the Book of Haggai:
Misplaced Priorities
Missed Expectations
A Call to Covenant Faithfulness
Future Kingdom
Together, we will journey through how God’s presence is revealed in each of these sections as well as in our own stories as God’s covenant people. In the book of Haggai, God is addressing two groups of people: the Distracted and the Discouraged.
1. Misplaced Priorities – Haggai 1:2-10
Haggai asks God’s people to consider what direction their lives were heading and if they really wanted it to continue that way. The Israelites were constructing their entire lives around the throne of Self instead of God’s Kingdom thus allowing their distractions to paralyze their obedience.
2. Missed Expectations – Haggai 2:1-9
The temple was destroyed nearly 70 years earlier and the Israelites knew this new temple was not going to compare in any shape or form to Solomon’s temple. This knowledge brought extreme sadness, comparison, and ultimately paralyzed them from obeying.
However, God pursues the discouraged and the distracted through Haggai reminding them God's presence will be in their midst to complete the work, to help them return their presence back to the neglected areas of their hearts, and to trust His plan.
3. A Call to Covenant Faithfulness – Haggai 2:10-19
God is giving an analogy of ritual holiness and uncleanness to force the priests to think about the spiritual status of the people. God is telling the people he not only cares about HOW they rebuild the temple but He also really cares about the priorities of their hearts.
4. A Future Kingdom – Haggai 2:20-22
God is preparing the people of God to live in His kingdom. As His people, we are asked to stop building our own castles, repent, and to be co-laborers in God’s kingdom reality. Our presence to God in our own realities plays a huge part as He works to restore the earth. God is too real to be met anywhere other than reality.
Spiritual Practices:
Take time this week and reflect on your priorities - have they brought you closer to God or farther away?
Take some space to honestly ask yourself if you trust God with your attention. Process this with a trusted friend or pastor.
Practice bringing your attention to God and seek what He is wanting to rebuild in your life.
Where do you need to be reminded of God’s presence?
Zephaniah
Zephaniah: Correction, Love, and Restoration
Timeline:
Zephaniah was the Great-Great Grandson of King Hezekiah
He would have the third most royal blood in his veins behind King David and Solomon.
Final decades of the southern kingdom (see 2 Kings 22-23)
Northern Kingdom is Samaria
Southern Kingdom is Judah
King Josiah wanted to bring real change to the land by removing idols and worshiping God alone.
Israel was too far gone and King Josiah’s pride led him to die a tragic death on the battlefield. (see 2 Chron. 35: 20-25)
Zephaniah saw all of this coming.
Three Main Parts of Zephaniah:
Judgment on Jerusalem (1-2:3)
Judgment on Other Nations and Jerusalem Again… (2:4-3:8)
Hope for the Nations and Jerusalem (3:9-20)
Judgment on Jerusalem
“I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
“I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, and the rubble with the wicked. I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord. Zephaniah 1:2-3
“And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” Genesis 1:3-4
“Gather together, yes, gather, O shameless nation, before the decree takes effect —before the day passes away like chaff—before there comes upon you the burning anger of the Lord, before there comes upon you the day of the anger of the Lord. Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord.” Zephaniah 2:1-3
Even if there is chaos, destruction, and death around, be faithful because God is faithful. He will never leave or abandon you.
Judgment on Other Nations and Jerusalem Again… (2:4-3:8)
For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ashkelon shall become a desolation; Ashdod's people shall be driven out at noon, and Ekron shall be uprooted. Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast, you nation of the Cherethites! The word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines; and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left. Zephaniah 2:4-5
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” James 1:27
‘“Therefore wait for me,” declares the Lord, “for the day when I rise up to seize the prey. For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms to pour out upon them my indignation, all my burning anger for in the fire of my jealousy all the earth shall be consumed.” Zephaniah 3:8
Let our love for God match our character and actions in our home, our neighborhood, and place of work.
Hope for the Nations and Jerusalem (3:9-20)
“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer reproach. Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. At that time I will bring you in, at the time when I gather you together; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” says the Lord.” Zephaniah 3:17-20
Zephaniah contains very intense images of God's correction and Love.
Correction: A passion to rescue his world from human evil and violence.
He brings this correction to restore. In order to create a world where everyone can flourish in safety and peace because of his love.
“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4-5
“While we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
Spiritual Practice:
Are you living separated from God?
Does God recognize you?
Accept his Correction, Love and restoration.
Make disciples.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20
Habakkuk
HABAKKUK & GOD
Habakkauk’s Complaint: Violence of Judah
“O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted.” - Habakkuk 1:2-4 ESV
God’s Response: Unbelievable Work
“Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.” - Habakkuk 1:5 ESV
Habakkuk’s Second Complaint: Violence of Babylon
“Are you not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One?“ - Habakkuk 1:12 ESV
“I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.” - Habakkuk 2:1 ESV
God’s Second Response: Unshakeable Faith
“And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.” - Habakkuk 2:2-4 ESV
Babylon’s 5 Woe’s
1 & 2: Unjust Economics
3: Slave Labor
4: Abuse of Alcohol by Irresponsible Leaders
5: Idolatry
Spiritual Practice:
One: Set Your Eyes on What God Has Done
“O Lord, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O Lord, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.” - Habakkuk 3:2 ESV
Two: Find Joy in What God is Going to Do
« Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.” - Habakkuk 3:17-18 ESV
Nahum
Nahum 1 :
The oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
The Lord is a jealous and avenging God;
the Lord takes vengeance
and is fierce in wrath.
The Lord takes vengeance against His foes;
He is furious with His enemies.
The Lord is slow to anger but great in power;
the Lord will never leave the guilty unpunished.
His path is in the whirlwind and storm,
and clouds are the dust beneath His feet.
He rebukes the sea so that it dries up,
and He makes all the rivers run dry.
Bashan and Carmel wither;
even the flower of Lebanon withers.
The mountains quake before Him,
and the hills melt;
the earth trembles at His presence –
the world and all who live in it.
Who can withstand His indignation?
Who can endure His burning anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire,
even rocks are shattered before Him.
The Lord is good,
a stronghold in a day of distress;
He cares for those who take refuge in Him.
But He will completely destroy Nineveh
with an overwhelming flood
and He will chase His enemies into darkness.
Whatever you plot against the Lord,
He will bring it to complete destruction;
oppression will not rise up a second time.
For they will be consumed
like entangled thorns
like the drink of a drunkard
and like straw that is fully dry.
One has gone out from you,
who plots evil against Yahweh,
and is a wicked counselor.
This is what the Lord says:
Though they are strong and numerous,
they will still be mowed down,
and he will pass away.
Though I have afflicted you,
I will afflict you no longer.
For I will now break off his yoke from you
and tear off your shackles.
The Lord has issued an order concerning you:
There will be no offspring
to carry on your name.
I will eliminate the carved idol and cast image
from the house of your gods;
I will prepare your grave,
for you are contemptible.
Look to the mountains –
the feet of one bringing good news
and proclaiming peace!
Celebrate your festivals, Judah;
fulfill your vows.
For the wicked one will never again
march through you;
he will be entirely wiped out.
Nahum’s 3 Chapters:
Nahum is comprised of three short chapters, and each chapter serves a purpose.
Chapter 1: A Message of Deliverance
Chapter 2: The Fall of Nineveh
Chapter 3: A Woe Oracle
When we look at the book of Nahum we realize that there isn’t just one audience, but two.
This is a message of hope and deliverance for the people of God.
Three reasons the people of God would struggle with believing a message of deliverance from the Ninevites:
Power
Extreme Brutality
History
God is bringing forth the promise that although his people have been afflicted, he is going to bring relief. He is going to show himself as the comforter to his people.
Nahum 3:1-7:
Woe to the city of blood
totally deceitful,
full of plunder,
never without prey.
The crack of the whip
and rumble of the wheel,
galloping horse
and jolting chariot!
Charging horseman,
flashing sword,
shining spear;
heaps of slain,
mounds of corpses,
dead bodies without end –
they stumble over their dead.
Because of the continual prostitution of the prostitute,
the attractive mistress of sorcery,
who betrays nations by her prostitution
and clans by her witchcraft
I am against you.
This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts
I will lift your skirts over your face
and display your nakedness to nations,
your shame to kingdoms.
I will throw filth on you
and treat you with contempt;
I will make a spectacle of you.
Then all who see you will recoil from you, saying,
“Nineveh is devastated;
who will show sympathy to her?”
Where can I find anyone to comfort you?
God is slow to anger, abounding in grace. But he will not let injustice and evil reign forever.
Nahum's prophetic message is that God is faithful in the midst of the brokenness.
God does not negate our experience just because he knows the ending, because he knows what it feels like to walk through the valley of death.
Psalm 34:15-22:
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and His ears are open to their cry for help.
The face of the Lord is set
against those who do what is evil
to erase all memory of them from the earth.
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears,
and delivers them from all their troubles.
The Lord is near the brokenhearted;
He saves those crushed in spirit.
Many adversities come to the one who is righteous,
but the Lord delivers him from them all.
He protects all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
Evil brings death to the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be punished.
The Lord redeems the life of His servants,
and all who take refuge in Him will not be punished.
SPIRITUAL PRACTICE:
Experiencing Brokenness
Instead of withdrawing and isolating ourselves, lean in.
Instead of being hardened by our pain, be vulnerable.
Instead of being skeptical, be reminded.
Instead of running away, make space.
Being People Who Walk with Others Through Brokenness
Be present.
Listen with love.
Weep with those who weep.
Carry each other’s burdens.
Micah
Three Things to Remember:
A prophet is a messenger sent by God to call the People of God back to covenantal or relational faithfulness.
The Old Testament Covenant was an agreement between God and Israel. When a covenant is broken, the relationship is broken, and there is fallout from the broken relationship.
God does not just leave the people in their brokenness. He works to restore his relationship with them, the covenant through the prophets.
Image bearers have power that is meant for the flourishing of others, to be shared in community through justice, mercy, and humility.
Micah 6:8 “ He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Idols of Judah:
Idol of Money
God cares about what we think about money, and how we steward it.
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” 1 Timothy 6:7
Idol of Power (Resource: Playing God by Andy Crouch)
Power can be bolstered by a multitude of things.
Privilege:
It’s the responsibility of the privileged one to determine how their power will be stewarded
“The exercise of true power always involves us in risk and requires creaturely dependence on God and other people.” - Andy Crouch
Authority
Hidden habits and hidden loves corrupt souls until they overpower us and lead to injustices
Idol of Pride
Pride can be summed as the idol of self.
Self-sufficiency is a lack of humble submission to God
Biblical Power
Biblical power is meant for creating space for thriving, collaboration, reconciliation, relationships, and multiplication of power.
God’s desire is for image bearers to practice their authority in a way that embodies the commitment to giving of yourself to God and giving of your power to and for others.
“Power is nothing without Love and Love without power is less than what it was meant to be.” - Andy Crouch
Acting justly is a lifestyle. When we love mercy, acts of justice will follow.
“True power that multiplies is on the other side of the choice to empty ourselves of power.” - Andy Crouch
Three Actions to Help Us Reclaim the Gift of Power:
1 Abide with the Lord
Resource: Invitation to a Journey by Robert Mulholland
2 Be Interruptible
Add one solitary discipline to your rhythm
3 Silence, Solitude, Fasting
*Disclaimer: if you’ve ever suffered from an eating disorder or live with a diagnosed medical condition, you should consult a doctor, therapist, or pastor prior to fasting.*
Jonah
Context:
No other book like this one in all of scripture. Jonah starts off similar to the other Minor Prophets but is actually about the prophet himself.
One of the few minor prophets of which we do not know who the author is, the other being Malachi.
A prophet is simply a messenger of the Lord to call the People of God back to covenant faith.
Theologians have two schools of thought when it comes to Jonah:
Historic Story
A Parable using real people. Jonah was mentioned in 2 Kings as a prophet that prophesied that Israel will expand its borders. Jesus also mentions Jonah displaying similarities of Jonah being in the belly of a fish for three days and himself being in the tomb for 3 days.
Jonah’s behavior is dramatic yet we can act like Jonah often. You will find that Jonah is really a story that is aimed at us, God’s believers.
Narrative:
Jonah 1:
Jonah means ‘Dove’. Amittai means ‘Faithfulness’. So Jonah begins with the line, “Now the word of the Lord came to Dove son of Faithfulness. This is ironic, as Jonah is the most faithless person in this story.
Jonah is tasked to go to Nineveh and to call out against their evil. Of which there is some historical context to understand here.
Nineveh was the capital city of the Assyrian empire.
They were brutal people with ruthless practices.
Assyrians were responsible for near genocide of the Hebrew people, killing 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel.
Jonah instead flees the presence of God to Tarshish, the farthest west city of the known world.
The Lord prepares a mighty tempest that nearly destroys the boat. As a result the sailors interrogate Jonah. Of which ends with him being thrown overboard and then swallowed by a great fish.
Jonah 2:
We see our son of Faithfulness in the belly of the fish. He ends his poem with this ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’
He then is vomited up onto dry land.
Jonah 3:
Jonah is commissioned once again to carry out the task that the Lord has for him.
He gets to Nineveh and preaches an eight word sermon. “Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown”
He doesn’t mention what evil they have done or what they need to do to not be overthrown.
He doesn’t lie with this sermon. God does indeed overthrow the Ninevites, just not not the way that you would expect. He overthrows their hearts
Word even reaches the king of Nineveh and he issues a bizarre decree. No man nor beast can taste anything and that they all be covered in sackcloth.
God relents from sending destruction.
Jonah 4:
If we were to not have Jonah 4, Jonah would have a happy ending. But, Jonah 4 has the big reveal of why Jonah didn’t want to come to Nineveh to begin with.
We assume that Jonah doesn’t want to come to Nineveh because he was afraid of the Ninevites, but it is actually because he hated them. This begs the question, what do we do when God loves our enemy?
Jonah then laments to God and quotes God’s own words to him from Exodus 34:6.
And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness…”
The Old Testament covenant was an agreement between God and Israel. Exodus 34:6 was God’s response to Israel after they made a golden calf and God still chooses to renew the covenant and to not leave his people in their brokenness. They ask God why would you do this? Exodus 34:6 is his response.
Jonah’s true worst enemy in this story is himself.
Beware of no man more than of yourself; we carry our worst enemies within us. - Charles Spurgeon
Our hatred can blind us from part of what God has for us.
God asks a simple question, “Do you do well to be angry?”
Jonah completely ignores this question. Then he goes outside of the city to watch what would become of it.
God then has a plant grow next to Jonah which gives him shade. This makes him exceedingly glad. Not too long after, God appoints a worm to attack the plant making it wither.
God is using this as a teaching moment for his prophet. God is still not finished with Jonah. He still has one more person to reach, Jonah.
Although Jonah messes up so many times, God is in fact gracious and compassionate. Slow to anger and abounding in love.
Jonah’s anger went from avoidance to anger to selfishness.
The Lord ends Jonah with this question, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”
The Ninvevites didn’t know any better.
God is inviting us to all meditate on these questions. Should he not pity those who we call enemies as well?
Spiritual Practice
Forgiveness of our enemies is key.
“The first step towards enemy love is recognizing the common humanity, the common brokenness that we all share.” - Tim Mackey
Sit down and meditate with a pen an paper of a time where someone displayed a characteristic that made you upset or hurt you. Now meditate and think of a time where you displayed that same attribute.
Humble yourself. There is pride in our hatred. It can cause us to completely miss what God has for us.
Take joy in the small mundane day to day interactions. God could be using these small conversations to impact this person in a huge way.
Obadiah
Welcome to a community pride check.
Call them pride checks, or embarrassing moments; we have all had moments when our pride does not allow us to move forward well, and love others in the process.
What we do know about Obadiah and the minor prophets.
The prophets are messengers sent by God to call the People of God back to covenantal or relational faithfulness.
The Old Testament Covenant was an agreement between God and Israel. When a covenant is broken, the relationship is broken, and there is fallout from the broken relationship.
God does not just leave the people in their brokenness. He works to restore his relationship with them, the covenant through the prophets. He helps them learn to live in his new kingdom.
There is space for a good sense of pride.
Good pride is acknowledging accomplishments you (and others) have worked hard for.
Bad pride is any internal deliberation, or outward attitude that diminishes others.
(We should not resist vulnerability. We should resist the urge to use our past hardships or accomplishments to attempt to gain power in relationships.)
Bad pride is the hard truth of when it gets in the way of revealing the Kingdom of Jesus in Kansas City. (God hates this.)
Problem: The more we allow ourselves to abide by pride, the more we do it subconsciously. Pride is the root cause of all sin.
Historical Context:
Jacob’s line = Israel (God’s chosen nation).
Esau’s line = Edom (Systematically self-focused).
When Israel was being destroyed by Babylon, Edom chose to watch their brother nation come to ruin. Then, they looted the ruins.
Edom took pride in their physical security. Edom’s capital city, Petra, literally means “rock.” It was an impenetrable fortress high up in mountain clefts. This was Edom’s pride and joy; the centerpiece of their security. Their primary attitude existed as “Who could ever reach us from up here?” Which applied both to their geographic location, as well as their spiritual relationship with the Lord.
But hedges mean nothing to God.
Obadiah 6 says “Every nook and cranny of Edom will be searched and looted. Every treasure will be found and taken.”
Edom took pride in their strong alliances. They participated in the destruction of Israel by siding with wicked Babylon. They wanted to maintain connections to success, even if that meant evildoing.
Edom took pride in their own sense of wisdom. They assumed that because they were smart, they were also independent from God.
“The first and worst cause of errors that abound in our day and age is spiritual pride. This is the main door by which the devil comes into the hearts of those who are zealous for the advancement of Christ. It is the chief inlet of smoke from the bottomless pit to darken the mind and misleads `judgment. Pride is the main handle by which he has hold of Christian persons and the chief source of all the mischief that he introduces to clog and hinder the work of God.” - Johnathan Edwards
May spiritual wisdom not be used to gain leverage or power over others, as so many have done. May it not morph into a mode of pridefulness, taking place of humility.
Edom was prideful of:
their own sense of security;
their strong alliances;
and their perception of wisdom.
They were blinded by their pride, and they disobeyed God by aiding in the destruction of their brother/neighbor. (FOR THIS, GOD WAS ANGRY.)
He pride-checked them. God called them out for (at least) three things:
Verse 11. Edom! You should have helped Israel when strangers plundered Jerusalem. But because you stood back, you are as guilty as those who invaded (11).
Verse 12. Edom, you gloated over their brothers in the days of their misfortune. You took pleasure in the harm that came to Israel (12).
Verses 13-14. Edom, you exploited Jerusalem by looting the city. When you stood at the crossroads while people fled. And when you captured Israelites to traffic (13-14).
Verse 15. Obadiah reminds Edom that the day of the Lord is coming. What they have done will be done to them.
“Those who are high and powerful today should not be so overconfident in themselves, whether they are a nation, a corporation, a church, or a family. Just as Edom was destroyed for its pride, so will anyone who lives in defiance of God” (What Ticks God Off, Jantz).
To start the pride-checking process we must acknowledge where it is occurring.
Where are the patterns of pride in your life?
Does it get in the way of having genuine relationships with people?
What are the messy closets you’re trying to hide away, making sure no one can see?
Is the pride of your home a hindrance to enjoying your family?
Is the pride of your friend group excluding people you know you need to support?
Is the pride of your education or your accolades coming into conversations more than your ability to listen to someone else’s ordinary life?
Are you paying more attention to protecting your pride or allowing the Holy Spirit to guide you?
Solution: Take the cue from the Son of God.
When Edom, a spiteful nation was destroyed, it was rubble. When Jesus, a holy man was destroyed, there was resurrection. Out of His destruction came life.
Luke 14:11 “All those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
God’s solution to pride based on our idea of independence and self-sufficiency is to humble ourselves. Humility is not weakness. It is not solving our problems alone. It is not holding superiority over others. It is a radical, subversive way of life that Jesus has taught us.
1 Chronicles 7:14 "My people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways.”
Defending against pride according to the Father:
Prayer
Seek His face
Turn from wicked ways
“Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.” Romans 12:9 (NLT)
Just as Edom was responsible for taking care of its brother nation, we are responsible for taking care of the brother/sisterhood of humanity. God has not called us to always be waiting to do the right thing. In our doing, may we not be so inwardly focused, overwhelmed by the big picture of everything, that we forget about our own neighborhoods and apartment complexes
The beginning of Obadiah is a somber declaration of God’s impending judgment upon a prideful nation. The ending contains a joyful noise of “the Lord himself will be King.”
Blessed by God, for we have realized our need for Him. For the Kingdom of Heaven has been given to us.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matt 5:3
Amos
Now Dylan has a song called “God On Our Side” where he traces some of the moments from America’s history and speaks about how he was taught that we won wars and had a right to manifest our destiny because God Was On Our Side. And one of the verses goes like this:
Through many a dark hour
I've been thinkin' about this
That Jesus Christ was
Betrayed by a kiss
But I can't think for you
You'll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot
Had God on his side.
Am I a part of the problem? Am I contributing to ecological disasters? Am I caught up in the extreme consumerist attitude of the culture? Am I doing anything to help my city and my neighbors suffering from injustice? Do I have implicit or explicit prejudice? Does the change I want to see in the world need to start with me?
Amos, like all prophets, is a messenger sent by God to call the people of God back to covenantal or relational faithfulness.
Amos is advocating on behalf of the covenant God established with the Israelite people. Which is consistently broken by their sin, rebellion, and unjust treatment of one another resulting in a broken relationship between the people and God..."
“Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye' while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye,” (Matthew 7:3-5).
Justice and Righteousness is THE key theme for the book of Amos.
God has called us to change our hearts, not just our clothes. To be people who go through both outward AND inward change. Israel, however, thought changing their clothes was enough.
Amos 5:21-24, I hate, I despise your feasts! I can’t stand the stench of your solemn assemblies. Even if you offer Me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will have no regard for your fellowship offerings of fattened cattle. Take away from Me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice flow like water, and righteousness, like an unfailing stream.
“What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? Absolutely not!” Romans 6:1
The prophets never separated themselves from the people of Israel.
They led through their EMBODIMENT, not through political or social power.
“Forgive US our debts,” Matthew 6:12
“Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.” Matthew 5:44
“Seek God and live.” Amos 5:4
Spiritual Practice:
Grieve/Lament
Personal inventory
Energization/Hope
Luke 19:41-44, “41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
Romans 8:26 “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”
“Faith without works is dead.” James 2:17
Joel
A 2022 report done by the Mental Health Million Project at Sapien labs found that people between the ages of 18-24 became fixated with one or more celebrities at 12 times the rate of their parents’ generation.
The first shall be last and the last first (Matthew 20:16)
Blessed are the meek and poor (Matthew 5)
Go and tell no one that I have healed you - Various scriptures
“Are you ready to rough it? We’re not staying in the best inns, you know.” -Luke 9:58 (MSG)
An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.” - Luke 9:46-48
God’s invitation is for everyday ordinary people to join him in the renewal of our world.
Prophet Defined: The prophets are messengers sent by God to call the People of God back to covenantal or relational faithfulness.
Covenant Defined: The Old Testament Covenant was an agreement between God and Israel. When a covenant is broken, the relationship is broken, and there is fallout from the broken relationship.
Good News: God does not just leave the people in their brokenness. He works to restore his relationship with them, the covenant through the prophets. He helps them learn to live in his new kingdom.
A few things about the book of Joel-
There is no explicit indication of when it was written. People believe it was written during the time period of Ezra-Nehemiah after Israel’s return from exile during and after Jerusalem's destruction.
Joel is also different because he refers to many of the other prophets.
Joel never accuses Israel of a particular sin.
Joel teaches us that as everyday ordinary people we join God in the renewal of our world by:
Changing our lives, not just our clothes
Coming back to our God
Receiving the Spirit
Change your life, not just your clothes
“Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Go in, pass the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God!” - Joel 1:13
“A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” - Galatians 6:7-9
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.” -Joel 2:12-13
“Come back to me and really mean it! Come fasting and weeping, sorry for your sins!” 13–14 Change your life, not just your clothes.” -Joel 2:12-13 MSG
Come back to God again and again
“It is the task of the prophet to stand up in such moments of catastrophe and clarify who God is and how he acts.” - Eugene Peterson
“Come back to me and really mean it! Come fasting and weeping, sorry for your sins!” 13–14 Change your life, not just your clothes. Come back to God, your God. And here’s why: God is kind and merciful. He takes a deep breath, puts up with a lot, This most patient God, extravagant in love, always ready to cancel catastrophe. Who knows? Maybe he’ll do it now, maybe he’ll turn around and show pity. Maybe, when all’s said and done, there’ll be blessings full and robust for your God!” -Joel 2:12-14 (MSG)
In Exodus 34, Moses encountered the God of Israel and wrote– “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” –Exodus 34:6.
In Psalm 108, David, Israel’s most famous king, declares– “I will give thanks to you, O LORD, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great above the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.” –Psalm 108:3–4.
The apostle John writes- “God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.” –1 John 4:8-9.
Receive the Spirit
“And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants” - Joel 2:28-29
Spiritual Practice
Suggestion 1: Some of us really need to work on changing our lives, not just our clothes.
Suggestion 2: Some of us need to work on really knowing who God is.
Suggestion 3: Some of us need to be open and receptive to the leading of the Spirit.
Hosea
The prophets are messengers sent by God to call the People of God back to covenantal faithfulness. God is consistently faithful to his people, even when we fall short.
The Old Testament Covenant was an agreement between God and Israel. When a covenant is broken, the relationship is broken, and there is fallout from the broken relationship.
The prophet's invitation is to reflect and restore a broken covenant, coming back in relationship with God and restoring the faithfulness of Israel to the covenantal relationship.
When the covenant is restored, the people live as God has called them to live. They understand their calling as Kingdom people and live in that kingdom reality.
When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” Hosea 1:2
And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a bussell of barley. And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” Hosea 3:1-3
A Marriage:
God has chosen us from the beginning of time. He has pursued us.
Adultery:
The world was very chaotic around Hosea. Israel was split into two kingdoms. They were referred to the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom. Hosea was from and lived in the Northern Kingdom. Kings of Israel kept getting assassinated. The Assiarians were pressuring the nation of Israel. So Israel had the choice to follow God or the gods of the nations around them.
Baal was the god of life and fertility. This is ironic because Baal was a false God. The people had the real God all along but chose to seek the other.
Illustration:
The cactus is a very hardy plant. It can survive extreme weather. Going from Cold to intense heat. All the cactus needs is a little water and Sun. It can not live without the Sun. What kills the Cacti is over watering. We are the same. All we need is God. But we tend to fill our lives with other things to take the place of God. We over water ourselves. We are committing Adultery to God when we try to replace him.
Restoration:
The story of Hosea does not dwell on the actions of Gomer. The story dwells on God's actions through Hosea. Buying his wife back. Cleaning her up. Restoring her.
Gomer is a picture of us.
Hosea is a picture of our God.
He will do whatever it takes to restore her to himself, even if she currently has no intention of changing her ways. - Eric J Tully
Each time you fall He’ll pick you up. He knows your own efforts are never going to bring you anywhere near perfection - CS Lewis
Other examples of restoration: David, Peter, Barnabas, Paul
Spiritual Practice:
We are not perfect, we have not arrived. One of the biggest lies today is we don't have to change. We do have to change EVERYDAY.
Abide in Christ
Accept the Forgiven Life
Prioritize a Jesus Community
Resurrection Ordinary Time
Ordinary time is what we call the months that are not included in the major seasons of feasting or fasting in the church calendar, such as Advent, Lent, and Easter.
“[an] intentional, deliberate decision to believe and participate in resurrection life, a life out of death, a life that trumps death, a life that is the last word, Jesus-life.” – Eugene Peterson
Most of our life with Jesus is lived in the ordinary time.
John 14-17 is known as the farewell discourse.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. –John 14:15-17
Jesus promises that if his followers seek to obey him, they will experience a Familiar Presence in every moment of life.
“God’s Empowering Presence.” – Gordon Fee
This passage emphasizes two major themes; (1) the guidance of the Spirit, and (2) the Presence of the Spirit.
The Spirit guides us.
V. 15 – “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
V.21 – Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me.
V. 23– If anyone loves me, he will keep my word,
The good news is that he sends the Spirit to help us.
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” –John 16:13–14
“the Spirit, above all else, carries on Jesus’ mission and mediates his presence… The personal functions of the Spirit are also the functions of Jesus in the rest of the book, and the sensitive reader cannot miss the connection.” – Craig Keener
Action aimed at the love of God and Neighbor is the unmistakable mark of the Spirit of Jesus.
18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. – John 14:18-21
The Spirit is not a substitute for our Lord but is the real thing.
The manifest presence of God is made available to all the people of God.
The scriptures time and time again reveal God’s desire to be with his people– to dwell in our midst.
Jesus’ invitation is to wake up to his presence in every moment of life.
“Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.” – John 14:22–23.
The God of the cosmos has decided to take up residence in each of his followers.
“The most effective way Brother Lawrence had for communicating with God was to simply do his ordinary work. He did this obediently, out of a pure love of God, purifying it as much as was humanly possible. He believed it was a serious mistake to think of our prayer time as being different from any other. Our actions should unite us with God when we are involved in our daily activities, just as our prayers unite us with him in our quiet devotions.” – Brother Lawrence
“Love turns work into rest.” ― Teresa of Avila
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” –Matthew 11:28–30 (The Message)
Spiritual Practice: Pay Attention.
“If you are home alone with small children whose needs give you little uninterrupted time, then you don’t need an hour of private prayer daily. Raising small children, if it is done with love and generosity, will do for you exactly what private prayer does.”– Ronald Rolheiser
A life lived in love and awareness to God is prayer.
“In order to know God, we must often think of Him; and when we come to love Him, we shall then also think of Him often, for our heart will be with our treasure.” ― Brother Lawrence
The simple takeaway is that to come to know his presence, we must think of him often.
Pray the simple and ancient prayer– “Come Holy Spirit”.
Resurrection Baptism
We are blessed enough to often be surrounded by easily accessible and drinkable water. Water, as we all know, is pretty essential not only for human life, but life in general on this planet. But water, as we read in our Scripture this morning, is also essential to the life of a believer. Jesus said that we are to be born of both water AND Spirit. But like Nicodemus on that night, it can be hard to wrap our heads around what this looks like and how we can live it out. So, let’s talk about baptism together this morning. We will do this by tracing the beautiful relationship God has with water throughout Scripture and how it is used.
1. Our God defeated death; The central message of our faith is that Jesus died, was buried, and came back to life in the flesh.
2. Easter is everything. More than a day or a celebration of Spring, Easter is the climax of the Christian story. It is God’s invitation to belong to a new world, his kingdom.
3. We practice resurrection.
Water and Baptism Throughout the Bible:
We're going to DIVE straight in at Genesis and trace baptism through the unified story of Scripture. When the Story of Scripture begins, we find God and water already being intertwined. Gen 1:2 tells us that,
“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”
The Spirit of Our God is near the water, ready to begin the work of bringing the world out of chaos and into Holy order through the act of creation. It shows a very special relationship between God and water, a relationship that we will continue to explore as we move through the Old Testament.
Now, we go to Exodus. We see Moses, the first priest and prophet of Israel bringing the People of God out of slavery and bondage in Egypt. As they are walking, they encounter the Red Sea. A massive body of water that stands between them and Pharaoh’s pursuing army. Yet, God instructs Moses to use his staff to part the waters. Moses wades out into the water and lifts the staff, and when it touches the water, WOOSH! The People of God walk through on dry land to the other side, safe from Pharaoh’s final threat and continuing to Mt. Siani where they would receive the Ten Commandments, the foundation to their lives as God’s covenantal community.
This covenant with Almighty God would bring them into a whole new identity, a covenantal identity. And this began with WATER. Though it is not the typical dunking we may think of, many theologians, including one of our favorites to quote here at Midtown, NT Wright, speak of how this significance cannot be ignored when speaking about God’s relationship with water and baptism throughout Scripture.
BUT it does not end there. We then move to the book of Joshua. Israel must again cross a body of water. This time it’s the Jordan River. And the Jordan is not just at a normal level, it is flooding. The water is roaring through the Holy Land. But God tells His people in Joshua 3 to take the Ark of the Covenant before them and the water will dry up so they may cross. And sure enough,
“The water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan…” Joshua 3:16
And then, hundreds of years later, a locust-eating, camel skin wearing fella called John the Baptist comes along. John is out in the wilderness, just like Israel was, calling the people of God to repentance, just like the prophets did. Luke 3 tells us that John is out here baptizing all sorts of people. And then, Jesus comes along. While John is baptizing, Jesus asks to be baptized as well. And Luke paints the picture here.
“And as he was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Luke 3:21-22
Jesus, the Son of God Himself, gets baptized. And once again, the Spirit of God is hovering over the waters. The Order of God is once again going to be established. And where is this happening? The JORDAN RIVER! The same place where the covenantal People of God entered the promised land is where the establisher of the New Covenant is now baptized WITH Israel in the Jordan. Scripture is like a beautiful poem that loves to rhyme.
The Great Commission:
“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19-20
The Book of Acts:
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” Acts 2:38-39
“Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” Acts 8:36
“At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.” Acts 16:33
Baptism Explored:
Baptism is first and foremost about the community that is formed by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Baptism is not only an isolated event for the individual to recognize the choice that they have made to belong to Jesus’s Kingdom. When we gather around a newly baptized individual, there is participation from the entire family of God.
Baptism is MORE than a private transaction. In our hyper-individualistic world, baptism is more counter cultural than ever because it is something WE do together as a family. It is not a simple act of piety by an individual but a welcoming of that individual into the much larger family of God. It is something that involves all of us TOGETHER.
Just like you are only born once, you only come into the house once. God is faithful even when we are not. Even when we lack a full understanding, when we stray away from the family house, God honors the covenant He has made. Our God is not one to abandon. He is a God of solidarity, who honors and stands with His people, even when they don’t stand with Him.
Even you who were baptized as infants, I believe our God honors that. NT Wright, along with several other of my favorite theologians were all baptized as children in Catholic, Anglican, and Episcopal traditions. I don’t have a problem with them or when they were baptized. I recognize their baptism, and I believe God does as well.
We recognize all baptism is believers’ baptism because belief is something we do TOGETHER as the family of God. When you were baptized as a baby, your blood relatives, and your church, committed themselves to raising you in the Christian faith. And as your church family now, we promise to honor that commitment and carry that responsibility together.
When we say the Creeds, we do it together. When we confess the mystery of our faith, we do it together. And when one of us is baptized, WE DO IT TOGETHER. Our community is one that invites the individual to make our shared faith their own. It always revolves around community.
The act of being baptized itself is an identification with our Lord Jesus. We go under the water, baptized into his death and rise with him in his glorious resurrection.
Whenever we doubt our place in the family of God, those physical acts, these beautiful practices that we engage in regularly are here to remind us that God never doubts our place in His house or in His family. When we feel the water, when we see the bread and cup, when we hear the splashing, or smell the body and blood, it is a holistic way of reminding our body, all of our senses, as well as our heart and mind that we belong to God and He welcomes us into His family. Baptism reminds us of our identity HOLISTICALLY so in those moments of doubt, it brings us back to the water to remind us of the faithfulness of God and our identity as His People.
Application:
Baptism:
We want to baptize you if you have not been baptized already! And we are going to be having a baptism class coming up that you can sign up for this year so we can walk you through the process of baptism.
Remembering Our Baptism:
I would invite you to take some intentional time to contemplate your own baptism. Remember where it was, who was with you, how it felt. Allow the Spirit to bring those memories and feelings to your mind so you can reflect upon them as we approach the table of the Lord together.
And I would encourage you to visit that place once again. That church, that pool, that river, wherever. Go again and sit in that space, dip your hand in the water, and be reminded of just how faithful our God has been to you as you have journeyed forward as a part of His house.
Even this week, when you see water, when you fill up that bottle or mug you brought this morning, or even when you’re cleaning up a puddle after your kids have spilled something, be reminded of the Scripture’s we read this morning. Invite the Holy Spirit to hover over the waters once again. Let us be reminded of the sacredness of water, of how God has used it, and how we now reside in our Faithful Father House as His baptized people.
Resurrection Friendships
“[Loneliness is] proven to be worse for health than smoking 15 cigarettes a day.” - Mark Robinson
The CDC states on their website that there is a strong correlation between loneliness and increased health risks for those over the age of 50:
Social isolation significantly increased a person’s risk of premature death from all causes, a risk that may rival those of smoking, obesity, and physical inactivity.
Social isolation was associated with about a 50% increased risk of dementia.
Poor social relationships (characterized by social isolation or loneliness) was associated with a 29% increased risk of heart disease and a 32% increased risk of stroke.
Loneliness was associated with higher rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide.
Gallup states, “Experiencing significant loneliness is entangled in a larger global issue of mental health and emotional wellbeing. Recent Gallup research estimates that over 300 million people globally don’t have a single friend, and one in five don’t have friends or family that they can count on when needed.”
According to a Gallup poll conducted in January of 2023, 17% or 44 million American adults experienced significant loneliness, reporting they felt lonely “a lot of the day yesterday.”
Young adults under the age of 30 account for 24% or around 10 million adults who experience severe loneliness in America.
David Brooks, opinion writer for the New Yorker, argues that we have shifted from identity politics that emphasize our common humanity to identity politics that emphasize a common enemy.
To follow Jesus is to be community, to have friends.
Practicing Resurrection:
Our God defeated death; The central message of our faith is that Jesus died, was buried, and came back to life in the flesh (Mark 16:9, John 20:18, Matthew 28:9, Luke 24:34, Luke 24:13-31, John 20:19 and 26, John 21:1, etc.).
Easter is everything. More than a day or a celebration of Spring, Easter is the climax of the Christian story. It is God’s invitation to belong to a new world, his kingdom.
We practice resurrection. In the words of Eugene Peterson, “The practice of resurrection is an intentional, deliberate decision to believe and participate in resurrection life, a life out of death, a life that trumps death, a life that is the last word, Jesus-life.”
“The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.” - Matthew 10:2-4
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” -John 13:34-35
“This is where we as Christians have such a beautiful story to tell. They will know you are Christians, how? By being friends.” - Professor Dan Hasse
12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants,[a] for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another. - John 15:12-27
“The named people remind us that the resurrection takes place among men and women like us—puzzled, bewildered, confused, questioning, and even stubbornly doubting friends. And yes, also singing and believing and praying and obeying friends.” - Eugene Peterson
To follow Jesus is to be in community, to have friends.
2 Barriers, 3 Suggestions:
Barrier 1: Hurt
Barrier 2: Hiding
Suggestion 1: Intentionality
Suggestion 2: Trust
Suggestion 3: Hospitality
Rosaria Butterfield: “In a post-Christian community, words can only be as strong as your relationships. Your best weapon is an open door, a set table, a fresh pot of coffee, and a box of Kleenex.”
Resurrection Meals
“The practice of resurrection is an intentional, deliberate decision to believe and participate in resurrection life, a life out of death, a life that trumps death, a life that is the last word, Jesus-life.” – Eugene Peterson
The moment we reside in is becoming increasingly post-Christian.
In his work Sickness unto Death, Phillip Reiff divided Western history into three phases or what he calls “worlds;” I think his summary is helpful in understanding the moment we find ourselves.
The First World is the Pre-Christian World.
This is a pagan culture with a pantheon of gods, and spiritual creatures hiding behind every bush. The culture pushes towards belief in an enchanted reality.
The Second World is the Christian World.
To be clear there has never been a Christian culture. What Rieff argues is that the cultural momentum of this Second World pushed one toward Christian institutions. In this world, it is economically, politically, and socially expedient to be “Christian”.
The Third World as Rieff imagined was Post-Christian.
This isn’t a world that has moved on from Christianity; in so much as it is reacting against Christianity.
To be post-Christian is to become increasingly unaware of those origins, and to react against Christianity.
“Let’s face it: we have become unwelcome guests in this post-Christian world. Our children ride their scooters in neighborhoods where conservative [orthodox] Christianity is dismissed or denounced as irrelevant, irrational, discriminatory, and dangerous. Many of us go to work in places where sensitivity training has become an Orwellian nightmare… Christian common sense is declared ‘hate speech’ by the new keepers of this culture. The old rules don’t apply anymore. Many Christians genuinely do not know what to say to their unbelieving neighbors. The language and the logic have changed almost overnight.” –Rosaria Butterfield
“He [Jesus] entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd, he could not, because he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for [Jesus] was about to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. 7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” –Luke 19:1–10.
Israel is an occupied territory, under the oppression of the Roman Empire. A Roman tax collector was one that collected exorbitantly-high Roman taxes, sometimes up to 50% from his friends, family, neighbors, and fellow Jews.
“To stay in such a person’s home was tantamount to sharing in his sin.”– I. Howard Marshall
But throughout the ministry of Jesus, he is consistently criticized for who he shares meals.
“…the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” 3 So he told them this parable…” Luke 15:2–3 (ESV)
Throughout his Gospel, Luke presents meals as one of Jesus’ basic strategies for mission. (Luke 5:27–32; 7:36-50; 9: 13-16; 22:7-23; 24:13-33)
Three types of meals that we, as apprentices of Jesus, are invited to;
A meal with God.
A meal with family.
A meal with the lost.
A Meal with God:
In the pattern of the early church, and in response to Jesus’ instructions to “do this in remembrance of me” we center our community gatherings around a table and partaking in the Meal that Jesus gave us.
Christ has invited us to share a meal with Him; a meal that is now infused with His story, His power, and His hospitality–it is first and foremost the meal that Jesus gave us.
A Meal with Family:
When we confess Jesus as Lord, we join the family of the redeemed. A divine household that transcends space and time, culture, nationality, and ethnicity.
When we come together as the family of God, in microchurches, we declare that we are a new family learning to live as God’s people.
A Meal with the Lost:
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” –Luke 19:10.
Jesus’ invitation is for any who find themselves wandering and lost to be adopted by God the Father and to find a home in the Family of God.
It is a beautiful invitation that often begins with a meal.
“In a post-Christian community, words can only be as strong as your relationships. Your best weapon is an open door, a set table, a fresh pot of coffee, and a box of Kleenex.” –Rosea Butterfield
Practicing the meal(s)
Resist idealizing meals.
Hospitality is a posture, not a resource.
We are nourished for our mission by partaking of meals with God and family.
Resurrection Sabbath
Practicing Resurrection:
Our God defeated death.
Easter changes everything.
We practice resurrection.
“The practice of resurrection is an intentional, deliberate decision to believe and participate in resurrection life, a life out of death, a life that trumps death, a life that is the last word, Jesus-life.” -Eugene Peterson
“26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth…”28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it… 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good… 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” - Genesis 1:26-2:3
Things we learn from the creation account:
Work is not bad.
God rested.
We were meant for rest- it is part of our identity.
Egyptian economy of work found in Exodus 5:
v. 4 Pharaoh says, “[W]hy are you taking the people away from their work? Get to your labors!”
v. 7-8 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves. But you shall require of them the same quantity of bricks as they have made previously; do not diminish it, for they are lazy.”
v. 9 “Let heavier work be laid on them; then they will labor at it and pay no attention to deceptive words.”
v. 10-11 “I will not give you straw. Go and get straw yourselves, wherever you can find it; but your work will not be lessened in the least.”
v. 14 “Why did you not finish the required quantity of bricks yesterday and today, as you did before?”
v. 17-19 “You are lazy, lazy; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ Go now, and work; for no straw will be given you but you shall still deliver the same number of bricks.”
God’s economy:
“8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” -Exodus 20:8-11
“There are limits to how much and how long slaves must produce bricks! There are limits to how much food Pharaoh can store and consume and administer. The limit is set by the weekly work pause that breaks the production cycle. And those who participate in it break the anxiety cycle. They are invited to awareness that life does not consist in frantic production and consumption that reduces everyone else to threat and competitor. And as the work stoppage permits a waning of anxiety, so energy is redeployed to the neighborhood. The odd insistence of the God of Sinai is to counter anxious productivity with committed neighborliness. The latter practice does not produce so much; but it creates an environment of security and respect and dignity that redefines the human project.” - Walter Brueggemann
“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath” - Mark 2:27-28
“The brilliance of sabbath is not so much in sabbath keeping but in sabbath keeping us.” -Rich Villodas
“Sabbath is not primarily about us or how it benefits us. It is about God and how God forms us. It is not, in the first place, about what we do or don’t do. It’s about God completing and resting and blessing and sanctifying. These are all things that we don’t know much about. They are beyond us, but they are not beyond our recognition and participation. Sabbath does, however, mean stopping and being quiet long enough to see, open-eyed with wonder—resurrection wonder.” - Eugene Peterson
Sabbath: a 24 hour period every week to stop, delight, and worship.
“Sabbath moves us from production to presence. Sabbath is not just a rest from making things; it is rest from making something of ourselves.” - Rich VIllodas
“People who keep Sabbath live all seven days differently.” - Walter Brueggemann
“So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. 11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest.” -Hebrews 4:9-11
Easter Sunday
“if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and…. we are of all people most to be pitied.” –1 Corinthians 15:17, 19
To be culturally disenchanted
In Taylor's work The Secular Age, Taylor suggests that in the past 200 years, we have told, and been told a disenchanted story.
Living out a disenchanted story is not just giving up on believing in the supernatural; it includes a sense that science and technology have an explanation for every question we may ever ask.
“You never understand everything. When one understands everything, one has gone crazy.” – Phillip Anderson
“You think that [humans]--can figure it all out? This to me seems so crazy! It cannot possibly be true! What they figured out is one particular response to their actions, and this response gives this universe, and the reality that is behind this is laughing! ‘Ha ha! They think they have found me out!”–Paul Feyerabend
Disenchanted stories leave us desperate for answers to all of our questions– and only leave us left with a sense of emptiness.
And is it possible that in telling this disenchanted story we’ve lost something essential?
Might it be that the story of Easter is an invitation to a life of wonder?
“The women who had come with [Jesus] from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. 56 Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath, they rested according to the commandment. – Luke 23:55-56
24 “But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.” – Luke 24:1-3
“4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” – Luke 24:4-5
To their shock, instead of the body of their King– they are greeted by two heavenly messengers with a question that will rock them to their core– “Why do you seek the living among the dead?
“6 He is not here but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” – Luke 24:6-7
“Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” –Luke 24:26–27.
The Bible is a library of ancient writings, of both divine and human origin, that tell a unified story that leads to Jesus.
“all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.” – Romans 3:23
The Resurrection is Jesus' victory over death, sin, and the Evil one.
“The good news is that the one true God has now taken charge of the world, in and through Jesus and his death and resurrection. The ancient hopes have indeed been fulfilled, but in a way nobody imagined. God’s plan to put the world right has finally been launched. The ancient sickness that had crippled the whole world, and humans with it, has been cured at last, so that new life can rise up in its place. Life has come to life and is pouring out like a mighty river into the world, in the form of a new power, the power of love. The good news was, and is, that all this has happened in and through Jesus; that one day it will happen, completely and utterly, to all creation; and that we humans, every single one of us, whoever we are, can be caught up in that transformation here and now. This is the Christian Gospel. Do not allow yourself to be fobbed off with anything else.” – NT Wright
“And they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.” –Luke 24:8-12
θαυμάζω | thaumazō
marvel
be atonished
wonder
Luke’s strange tale of Easter has wonder right at its center.
The women were perplexed by the empty tomb…
The women were frightened by the appearance of the angels
Peter went home marveling, [in wonder] at what had happened…
“The practice of resurrection is an intentional, deliberate decision to believe and participate in resurrection life, a life out of death, a life that trumps death, a life that is the last word, Jesus-life.” –Eugene Peterson
Cultivating a Sense of Wonder
Pay attention to Beauty.
Open yourself up to the gift of others.
Consider the Resurrected Christ.
Palm Sunday
Pastry Chef Jacquy Pfeiffer writes this, “I believe that it is possible to master a craft or a skill at home as long as you have two things: one will come from me, the other comes from you. I will give you the proper information and tools to allow you to understand how to execute a given recipe, but your contribution—the patience and persistence to work at it—is just as important. Many of you have learned to play an instrument, to knit a beautiful sweater, or to excel in a sport. You did not learn to play that Bach chorale well enough to play for an audience just by looking at the music on the page and playing it once. First you memorized the keys on the piano, then practiced scales, then played the piece and practiced it over and over and over again. When you learned to knit, you first mastered the different stitches and how to manipulate them, then you made a scarf before you tackled making a sweater. In pastry it’s the same: you must learn to make and pipe proper pâte à choux and pastry cream before you can make good éclairs.”
Elizabeth Dunn, freelance food writer, wrote this about “easy cooking” in the Atlantic, “The problem is that none of this is actually easy. Not the one-minute pie dough or the quick kale chips or the idiot-proof Massaman curry, every last ounce of which is made from scratch, from ingredients that are sourced and bought and lugged home and washed, peeled, chopped, mixed, and cooked…The decision to cook from scratch may have many virtues, but ease is not one of them.”
I forgot that French pastry is hard; it is not easy.
We have forgotten that anything worth mastering or worth having is often hard.
Life with Jesus is a journey to the cross. As we will see today, you cannot have resurrection life without death.
Holy week begins with Palm Sunday, today, which signifies Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
We then have Maundy Thursday, which is this Thursday, in which we reflect on Jesus’ service to the disciples as he washes their feet at the last supper.
Good Friday occurs, as you guess it, on Friday. On this day we observe the death of Christ.
Holy Saturday in which we observe Jesus’ time resting in the tomb.
AND finally, Easter Sunday in which we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.
Prior to the gospels, we have already read and witnessed the first three acts of the unified story of scripture
Creation- God creates a beautiful world and all that is in it, including us. He then designates us as his partners and collaborators in running that world.
Fall- Being that God built freedom into human nature and because humanity willingly made and continues to make poor choices, the world has gone horribly wrong.
Israel- Through the nation of Israel, God sought to save the world. However, Israel, much like all of humanity, continued to mess up. And thus through the prophets, God promises to send a Savior, a messiah, to save Israel from their self-destructive tendencies. These tendencies led Israel time and time again into enslavement. And this is where we find the Israelite people as we approach the gospels: oppressed by the Roman Empire and waiting for a king to rescue them.
We then learn of Jesus’ birth, the birth of a king that seems all wrong.
Instead of being carried by a queen, he is carried in the womb of an unwed teenager.
Instead of being born in a palace, he is born among animals.
Instead of being greeted by the most esteemed of society, he is visited by shepherds.
Yes, the party will be wonderful as detailed in vv. 19-29:
the gates of righteousness, the gate of the Lord, will open and let in the pilgrims;
the rejected stone becomes the cornerstone;
This is the day the Lord has made;
blessed in the name of the Lord is the one who comes;
give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!
Except, in the words of N. T. Wright, Jesus took Psalm 118 further and deeper. “His preparation for the ultimate festival meant that, having taken refuge in the Lord, he ended up crying out that God had forsaken him. He put his confidence in the Lord, but the princes strung him up anyway. He was pushed hard. and fell, and nothing happened except more beating. He was punished severely, and he was indeed given over to death.”
Dr. Joseph Nyguyen defines it as spiritual peace or wellbeing of the soul. It is freedom from having to have our lives turn out in a particular way. It is surrender. And this type of surrender says even if my life doesn't turn out the way I want it to, I will still trust. This doesn't mean we don't have desires or plans but rather we learn that our desires and plans do not run us.
Am I on this journey with Jesus in the hope that He will fulfill some of my hopes and desires?
Am I ready to sing a psalm of praise, but only as long as Jesus seems to be doing what I want?
Am I ready not only to spread my cloaks on the road in front of Him, to do the showy and flamboyant thing, but also now to follow Him into trouble, controversy, trial and death?
In the Wilderness(Scripture)
Three questions–
Why should we trust the Bible?
What is the Bible?
And how should we engage with the Bible?
Why should we trust the bible?
“Our trust in the Bible stems from our trust in Jesus Christ… I don’t trust in Jesus because I trust the Bible; I trust the Bible because I trust in Jesus. I love him, and I’ve decided to follow him, so if he talks and acts as if the Bible is trustworthy, authoritative, good, helpful and powerful, I will too… Even if some of my questions remain unanswered, or my answers remain unpopular.” – Andrew Wilson
We trust the bible because Jesus trusted the bible.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. – Matthew 5:17 ESV (emphasis added)
What is the Bible?
“[Christ’s] sayings were no repeal of the former [the Old Testament], but a drawing out and filling up of them.” – Chrysostom
The Bible is a library of ancient writings, of divine and human origin, that together tell a unified story that leads us to Jesus.
A Library of Ancient Writings
It is a collection of writings, with well over 60 authors spanning thousands of years, composed in several genres.
of Divine and Human Origins.
David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared…– Mark 12:36a.
The Bible’s origin is a divine and human collaboration– a perspective some have called the incarnational model of scripture.
A unified story
The bible can broadly condensed into three genres–
Narrative (44%)
Poetry (33%)
Discourse (23%)
A unified story of scripture in five parts–
Creation
Fall
Israel
Jesus
New Creation
That leads to Jesus.
“And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” – Luke 4:20-21 ESV
“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is they that bear witness about me.”– John 5:39 ESV
How should we engage the bible?
Studying the Bible
The Bible Project.
Biblia.com,
Biblical commentaries
Study Bibles.
Being formed by the Bible.
Jesus’ imagination and thought patterns are so thoroughly saturated in the scriptures that he puts his suffering in the context of a longer story.
“When we submit our lives to what we read in scripture, we find that we are not being led to see God in our stories but our stories in God's. God is the larger context and plot in which our stories find themselves.”― Eugene Peterson
There is no technique or strategy to shape by the Scripture, there is just a posture.
In the Wilderness (simplicity)
“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” – Luke 12:15
“Sell your possessions and give to the poor.” – Luke 12:33
“Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”– Matthew 19:24
American Gospel: the more we have the happier we will be, more stuff is what we need.
The French sociologist Jean Baudrillard argues that atheism hasn’t replaced Christianity, shopping has.
“When we lose our divine center- our source of security- we have an insane attachment to things.” –Soren Kierkegaard
The problem isn’t just stuff. It’s also the place that stuff occupies in our heart.
Problem 1: Inward Stuff
“No servant can serve two masters… You cannot love God and love money.” – Luke 16:13
“Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God…But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort” – Luke 6:20,24
“where your treasure is there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6:21
Problem 2: Outward Stuff
“Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” – Luke 12:15
“Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail.” – Luke 12:33
“Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Isn't life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. – Matthew 6:25-33
Soren Kierkegaard reflects on how we are to pursue the kingdom of God in light of this passage saying- Should a person get a suitable job in order to exert a virtuous influence? His answer: no, we must first seek God’s kingdom. Then should we give away all our money to feed the poor? Again the answer: no, we must first seek God’s kingdom. Well, then perhaps we are to go out and preach this truth to the world that people are to seek first God’s kingdom? Once again the answer is a resounding: no, we are first to seek the kingdom of God. “Then in a certain sense it is nothing I shall do. Yes, certainly, in a certain sense it is nothing, become nothing before God, learn to keep silent; in this silence is the beginning, which is, first to seek God’s Kingdom.” – Soren Kierkegaard
One Solution: Seek FIRST the kingdom of God.
“[Christian simplicity] is an inward reality that can be seen in an outward lifestyle or choosing to leverage time, money, talents and possessions toward what matters most.”– Richard Foster & Mark Scandrette
Further Resources:
Celebration of Disciplines by Richard Foster
Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer
4 Simplicity practices:
Think before you buy
Get into the habit of giving things away
Live by a budget
Cultivate a deep appreciation for the little things.
“In everything, love simplicity.” – Saint Francis de Sales