Nail it to the Doorpost

Deuteronomy 6:1-9  The Message

^1-2 This is the commandment, the rules and regulations, that God, your God, commanded me to teach you to live out in the land you're about to cross into to possess. This is so that you'll live in deep reverence before God lifelong, observing all his rules and regulations that I'm commanding you, you and your children and your grandchildren, living good long lives.

 ³ Listen obediently, Israel. Do what you're told so that you'll have a good life, a life of abundance and bounty, just as God promised, in a land abounding in milk and honey.

 ⁴ Attention, Israel!

   God, our God! God the one and only!

 ⁵ Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that's in you, love him with all you've got!

 ^6-9 Write these commandments that I've given you today on your hearts. 

Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. 

Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. 

Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.

Tefillin.  Mezuzah.  

These are not words that we American protestant folks are too familiar with.  

Both come directly from this passage of Deuteronomy 6.  I got to see both in action during my trip to Israel, a few years back.  

"Tying tefillin" is a practice of devout, Orthodox Jews the world over, and I witnessed Jews with scripture tied to their wrists and heads as they prayed at the Wailing Wall.  

Every hotel room I stayed in had a mezuzah on the doorpost.  I even brought a Christian hybrid mezuzah home.  It has the icthus symbol for Jesus, and it's on the doorpost of my office at SOTH.  

By Jesus time, some had begun this practice, primarily as a display of outward holiness.  They took pride in who could outwardly observe the law with the most piety.  This is always a human temptation for the religious.  

Jesus did not remove the intent of Deuteronomy 6.  Instead, he reminded us that letting the word of God live in our hearts is always of critical importance.  

Yesterday, on facebook, our discussion led to a question:  How do you hug God?  

Maybe scripture is a primary way.  Maybe it's the main way that we can hear and communicate with the Almighty.  

Maybe...certainly...let's try it, together.  

Grace & Peace,

Adam 

Like a Tree Planted by the Water

^{Psalm 1}       

¹ Blessed is the one 

   who does not walk in step with the wicked 

or stand in the way that sinners take 

   or sit in the company of mockers, 

² but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, 

   and who meditates on his law day and night. 

³ That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, 

   which yields its fruit in season 

and whose leaf does not wither— 

   whatever they do prospers.

 

⁴ Not so the wicked! 

   They are like chaff 

   that the wind blows away. 

⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, 

   nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

 ⁶ For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, 

   but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Water is pretty vital.  It can give life, or it can destroy.  Just ask my friends in Memphis about that right now.  

Yesterday morning, I started the day by watering the plants that are newly in the ground at our house.   I knew that one day of 90+ degree heat had the potential to damage their baby roots.  

Psalm 1 gives us a wonderful image.  We can be "a person who is like a tree planted by streams of water...yielding fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither..."  

What is that life-giving water?  

"The Message" version says that it's "chewing on God's word day and night."  The NIV quoted above says that it's a matter of continually "meditating" on the word.  

Try it out.  Go to http://www.pray-as-you-go.org/   and spend the next 15 minutes chewing on the word.  

It's one of the best ways to "Love God," the first part of the Royal Commandment.  

It's refreshing, just like a cool drink of water on a hot summer day.  It keeps us from drying up and blowing away like chaff.

Grace & Peace,

Adam 

Let Your Love Flow

^{Matthew 22:34-40}

^34-36When the Pharisees heard how he had bested the Sadducees, they gathered their forces for an assault. 

One of their religion scholars spoke for them, posing a question they hoped would show him up: "Teacher, which command in God's Law is the most important?"

 ^37-40Jesus said, "'Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.' This is the most important, the first on any list. 

But there is a second to set alongside it: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' 

These two commands are pegs; everything in God's Law and the Prophets hangs from them."

They were going to get him.  That was their goal. 

Isn't that the goal we all have sometimes, if we're brutally honest?  

Let's trap Jesus.  Let's put him in the corner, in a box, in a jar up on the shelf, and just take out the parts and pieces we want.  

Surely it's not hard to ask him questions that he can't answer, right?  So the Pharisees thought.  But his answer was devastatingly simple, and beautiful, and hard.  

What's most important?  

Love God, love everyone else.  That's how it all hangs together.  

Simple.  Yes.

Easy?  No.  

How can love flow that completely when I am such a sinner...and so are the people I'm called to love?  

It takes a miracle...to let the love flow.  But with God, nothing is impossible.

Grace & Peace,

Adam 

The Kingdom: What do you make of this?

From Matthew 13  The Message

He told another story. "God's kingdom is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. That night, while his hired men were asleep, his enemy sowed thistles all through the wheat and slipped away before dawn. When the first green shoots appeared and the grain began to form, the thistles showed up, too.

 ²⁷"The farmhands came to the farmer and said, 'Master, that was clean seed you planted, wasn't it? Where did these thistles come from?'

 ²⁸"He answered, 'Some enemy did this.'

   

"The farmhands asked, 'Should we weed out the thistles?'

^29-30"He said, 'No, if you weed the thistles, you'll pull up the wheat, too. Let them grow together until harvest time. Then I'll instruct the harvesters to pull up the thistles and tie them in bundles for the fire, then gather the wheat and put it in the barn.'"

 ^31-32Another story. "God's kingdom is like a pine nut that a farmer plants. It is quite small as seeds go, but in the course of years it grows into a huge pine tree, and eagles build nests in it."

 ³³Another story. "God's kingdom is like yeast that a woman works into the dough for dozens of loaves of barley bread—and waits while the dough rises."

His disciples came in and said, "Explain to us that story of the thistles in the field."

^37-39So he explained. "The farmer who sows the pure seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the pure seeds are subjects of the kingdom, the thistles are subjects of the Devil, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, the curtain of history. The harvest hands are angels.

^40-43"The picture of thistles pulled up and burned is a scene from the final act. The Son of Man will send his angels, weed out the thistles from his kingdom, pitch them in the trash, and be done with them. They are going to complain to high heaven, but nobody is going to listen. At the same time, ripe, holy lives will mature and adorn the kingdom of their Father.

   "Are you listening to this? Really listening?

 ⁴⁴"God's kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidentally found by a trespasser. The finder is ecstatic—what a find!—and proceeds to sell everything he owns to raise money and buy that field.

^45-46"Or, God's kingdom is like a jewel merchant on the hunt for excellent pearls. Finding one that is flawless, he immediately sells everything and buys it.

 ^47-50"Or, God's kingdom is like a fishnet cast into the sea, catching all kinds of fish. When it is full, it is hauled onto the beach. The good fish are picked out and put in a tub; those unfit to eat are thrown away. That's how it will be when the curtain comes down on history. The angels will come and cull the bad fish and throw them in the garbage. There will be a lot of desperate complaining, but it won't do any good."

 ⁵¹Jesus asked, "Are you starting to get a handle on all this?"

   They answered, "Yes."

 ⁵²He said, "Then you see how every student well-trained in God's kingdom is like the owner of a general store who can put his hands on anything you need, old or new, exactly when you need it."

The kingdom is like...

• thistles in a field, sewn by an enemy, growing right beside the good wheat
• a tiny seed that grows into a loblolly pine
• invisible yeast cells that cause many loaves of bread to rise
• like a treasure accidentally found buried in a field, and secretly bought
• a faultless pearl, for which the jeweler sells it all
• a net crammed full of prize fish and trash fish, fit only for the garbage

"Are you starting to get a handle on all this?"  Jesus asked.  

"Yes," they said.  

I think they might have been lying.  

The kingdom is a mystery.  It is a gift.  It is the goodness, and reign and presence of God himself.    It is high stakes.  When glimpsed, it should be pursued.  It is not worth ever losing.  Garbage of any kind can't live within it.   If we don't look closely, we won't miss it.  It's tiny, and it's huge.  

What do you make of this?  

Grace & Peace

Adam 

What do you make of this?

Matthew 13:3-9

"What do you make of this? 

A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. 

Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn't put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. 

Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. 

Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.

"Are you listening to this? Really listening?"

It's seed planting season.  

Confession:  I wish I was more optimistic when I put seeds in the ground.  The truth is, I'm never really convinced that I'll see a harvest.  

I've got good reason.  Lots can happen along the way to maturity.  The seed has to germinate.  The plant has to grow.  It has to fend off diseases and predators.  It could be killed by too much rain, or heat and drought.  

Planting a seed is really an absolute act of faith.  

What if no one had faith enough to plant?  

We would starve.  God has so ordered this world, that seed-planting is essential to the human condition, and to our continued survival.  

Faith.  Seeds.  Kingdom.  

What do you make of this?  

Grace and Peace,

Adam 

Palm Sunday: The Setup

Matthew 21:1-11  The Message

 ^1-3When they neared Jerusalem, having arrived at Bethphage on Mount Olives, Jesus sent two disciples with these instructions: "Go over to the village across from you.


You'll find a donkey tethered there, her colt with her. Untie her and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you're doing, say, 'The Master needs them!' He will send them with you."

 ^4-5This is the full story of what was sketched earlier by the prophet:

   Tell Zion's daughter,
   "Look, your king's on his way,
      poised and ready, mounted
   On a donkey, on a colt,
      foal of a pack animal."

 ^6-9The disciples went and did exactly what Jesus told them to do. They led the donkey and colt out, laid some of their clothes on them, and Jesus mounted. 

Nearly all the people in the crowd threw their garments down on the road, giving him a royal welcome. Others cut branches from the trees and threw them down as a welcome mat. Crowds went ahead and crowds followed, all of them calling out, "Hosanna to David's son!" "Blessed is he who comes in God's name!" "Hosanna in highest heaven!"

 ¹⁰As he made his entrance into Jerusalem, the whole city was shaken. Unnerved, people were asking, "What's going on here? Who is this?"

 ¹¹The parade crowd answered, "This is the prophet Jesus, the one from Nazareth in Galilee."

This coming Sunday, we will let the children of our church wave palm fronds, and drop them around the sanctuary.  

It's a moment full of symbolism, of the bittersweet variety.  

This isn't like placing the sweet baby doll in the Christmas manger, or lighting the candles on Christmas Eve.  

That moment is a celebration, perfect in its innocence and beauty.  God's sweet love on display.  

Palm Sunday celebrates that same love, but this time our ugliness lies beneath it.  

Those of us who welcome him on Palm Sunday will reject him by Good Friday.  Such is the way of us human beings.  

The irony?  That rejection and humiliation is the vehicle by which God can heal those very same painful places within us.  

Easter is coming, but first, we prepare for the road of false welcome and celebration, so that the plot can twist, and true celebration can come our way.

Grace and Peace,

Adam  

If You Would Only Get to Know and Trust Me...Signed, God

From Psalm 91  The Message

"If you'll hold on to me for dear life," says God, 

      "I'll get you out of any trouble. 

   I'll give you the best of care 

      if you'll only get to know and trust me. 

   Call me and I'll answer, be at your side in bad times; 

      I'll rescue you, then throw you a party. 

   I'll give you a long life, 

      give you a long drink of salvation!"

If you'll only get to know and trust me...


That sounds like me, and every other parent I've ever known.  We really want to know our kids...to have them know us...and to have them trust us.  


That trust gets in short supply, of course, as they go through the trials of their adolescent years.  


How long will we be spiritual adolescents?  Sometimes, for all of us, it seems like the answer is, "forever."  


But the consistent witness of scriptures gives us hope that it doesn't have to be that way.  


There is real, spiritual food, there is a long drink of salvation, offered by the God who loves us.  


If you'll only get to know and love me.  


God is here.  Scripture, Worship, Relationships, Prayer, Giving and Serving.  These are the ways to know Him.  


Grace & Peace,
Adam 

God is Good, Humans are Greedy, and God is Still Good

From Exodus 16  The Message

Check out another great story of God, Moses and the Complainers:

The whole company of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron there in the wilderness. The Israelites said, "Why didn't God let us die in comfort in Egypt where we had lamb stew and all the bread we could eat? You've brought us out into this wilderness to starve us to death, the whole company of Israel!"

 God said to Moses, "I'm going to rain bread down from the skies for you.

Moses and Aaron told the People of Israel, "This evening you will know that it is God who brought you out of Egypt; and in the morning you will see the Glory of God. Yes, he's listened to your complaints against him. You haven't been complaining against us, you know, but against God."

Moses said, "Since it will be God who gives you meat for your meal in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, it's God who will have listened to your complaints against him. Who are we in all this? You haven't been complaining to us—you've been complaining to God!"

That evening quail flew in and covered the camp and in the morning there was a layer of dew all over the camp. When the layer of dew had lifted, there on the wilderness ground was a fine flaky something, fine as frost on the ground. 

The Israelites took one look and said to one another, man-hu (What is it?). 

They had no idea what it was.

 ^15-16 So Moses told them, "It's the bread God has given you to eat. And these are God's instructions: 'Gather enough for each person, about two quarts per person; gather enough for everyone in your tent.'"

The People of Israel went to work and started gathering, some more, some less, but when they measured out what they had gathered, those who gathered more had no extra and those who gathered less weren't short—each person had gathered as much as was needed.

Moses said to them, "Don't leave any of it until morning."

But they didn't listen to Moses. 

A few of the men kept back some of it until morning. It got wormy and smelled bad. 

And Moses lost his temper with them.

Where are you in this story?  

Are you Moses?  Responsible, leader, long-suffering, eventually angry?  

Are you the unappreicated provider, like God?  Do you hear the grumbling, but continue to give?  

Or are you the Israelites?  Most of us are just like them.  We complain.  We receive anyway.   We hoard.  God still loves us.  

But he does try to teach us.  Let's let Exodus work on us to teach one of the lessons...sooner than later.  God provides food for soul and body.  And we don't have to snatch His gifts from His hands.  

Grace & Peace,

Adam 

It Takes More Than Bread to Stay Alive

Matthew 4:1-11  The Message

^1-3 Next Jesus was taken into the wild by the Spirit for the Test. The Devil was ready to give it. Jesus prepared for the Test by fasting forty days and forty nights. 

That left him, of course, in a state of extreme hunger, which the Devil took advantage of in the first test: "Since you are God's Son, speak the word that will turn these stones into loaves of bread."

 ⁴Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: "It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God's mouth."

^5-6For the second test the Devil took him to the Holy City. He sat him on top of the Temple and said, "Since you are God's Son, jump." The Devil goaded him by quoting Psalm 91: "He has placed you in the care of angels. They will catch you so that you won't so much as stub your toe on a stone."

 ⁷Jesus countered with another citation from Deuteronomy: "Don't you dare test the Lord your God."

  

^8-9For the third test, the Devil took him to the peak of a huge mountain. He gestured expansively, pointing out all the earth's kingdoms, how glorious they all were. Then he said, "They're yours—lock, stock, and barrel. Just go down on your knees and worship me, and they're yours."

¹⁰Jesus' refusal was curt: "Beat it, Satan!" He backed his rebuke with a third quotation from Deuteronomy: "Worship the Lord your God, and only him. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness."

¹¹The Test was over. The Devil left. And in his place, angels! Angels came and took care of Jesus' needs.

This week, we'll be thinking about Jesus as "Food for the Soul."  

And we already find him tempted to make food for the body. 

"If you really are who you say you are...you don't need to be hungry...turn these stones to delicious loaves of home made bread."  

The devil always knows just how to tempt.  He doesn't just work on our physical needs, but much more often on our spiritual weaknesses.

He tries this mind game with Jesus:  "who are you, really?"  Jesus knows that his identity is not to be displayed through acts of miraculous power (though those will also come along, in their time).  

His real power is spiritual.  The lesson he teaches us is the opposite of the Garden fall of Genesis.  

Rely on God for the real bread, the bread that lasts.  It sticks to the spiritual ribs.  

What are the spirit-weakness temptations we face this day? 

Grace & Peace,

Adam

Simple, Childlike Believers (or, "Stop It, You Arrogant...)

Matthew 18:10-14  The Message 

"Watch that you don't treat a single one of these childlike believers arrogantly.

 You realize, don't you, that their personal angels are constantly in touch with my Father in heaven?

"Look at it this way. If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, doesn't he leave the ninety-nine and go after the one? 

And if he finds it, doesn't he make far more over it than over the ninety-nine who stay put? Your Father in heaven feels the same way. 

He doesn't want to lose even one of these simple believers.

"Arrogance:  an attitude of superiority, manifested in an overbearing manner, or in presumptuous claims or assumptions."  

Jesus warns us against treating others, especially new believers, with arrogance.  

I'd love to say that Christians are never guilty of "an attitude of superiority," but of course I'd be lying.  

It's hard when you believe so strongly that you know the truth.  It's hard when you're convinced of what Jesus Christ has meant in your own life, and what his life can mean for others.  

But I never fail to be amazed at how people (including me sometimes) can have an attitude of "I got mine, good luck getting yours."  

That is arrogant.  There is no humility in that.  That is not Jesus.  

He says that we care about everybody.  We do it because we have a shared identity as children of God.  

Don't gloss over that.  

The person, or the group of people, or (you fill in the blank of your personal prejudice, whatever it may be), are as equally loved by God as you are.  

Let that settle.  

God loves everybody.   That's a period.  Period.  

We're all lucky to be found.  Lucky to receive his great love.  Lucky to love one another.  

All really is gift.  

That's the nature of our shepherd, and he promises that with practice it can be our nature too.  

Grace & Peace,

Adam 

Hurry up and relax!

Luke 12:22-32  The Message

 "What I'm trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God's giving. 

People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. 

Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. 

Don't be afraid of missing out. You're my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself.

What does the fear of "missing out" do to us spiritually? 

It does great violence, I'm afraid.  

We're not just talking about worries over money or possessions here.  

I think Jesus is trying to help us see when we worry about missing out in all kinds of ways.  

What if I don't marry the right person?   What if I don't take the right job opportunity?  What if I do something that somehow lets God down?  What if I miss out on the right moment, or don't go to the right place, or (insert your personal paranoia here).  

What if, what if, what if????

Oh my.  We are a mess, people.  

Jesus says calm down.  

He says more than that.  He says, "relax."  He says, if you really trust me, there is NO WAY you can miss out.  

Think about that.  No way we can miss out.  

What would our lives be like if we believed that?  

What if we didn't have to wrangle with and try to manipulate each other to get what we want?  

What if we just lived...relaxed...and made the main focus of our lives absolute and complete connection to the heart and soul of Jesus Christ?  

Grace & Peace,

Adam 

The Lord, Our Shepherd

 ¹The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

 ²He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

 ³He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

 ⁴Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; 

thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

 ⁵Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; 

my cup runneth over.

 ⁶Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:

and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. (Psalm 23, King James Version)

Psalm 23 must be considered one of the great, iconic passages in all of scripture.

It endures. 

It has been recited on battlefields and at funerals.  It comforts in homes and hospitals, seats of power and homeless shelters. 

We are drawn to the comfort it offers, like moth to flame. 

And why not?  We humans need a shepherd.  We need the Lord.  We are not ourselves the creators of green pasture.  We are its recipients. 

That's the formula of Eden, and Douglasville, and all points in between. 

The Lord is our Shepherd, and the Lord is good.  Live in that peace today. 

Grace & Peace,
Adam

40 Days

^{Deuteronomy 9}

¹³ And the LORD said to me, “I have seen this people, and they are a stiff-necked people indeed! ¹⁴ Let me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they.”

 ¹⁵ So I turned and went down from the mountain while it was ablaze with fire.

And the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands. ¹⁶ When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the LORD your God; you had made for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the LORD had commanded you. 

¹⁷ So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them to pieces before your eyes.

¹⁸ Then once again I fell prostrate before the LORD for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all the sin you had committed, doing what was evil in the LORD’s sight and so arousing his anger. 

I feared the anger and wrath of the LORD, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you. But again the LORD listened to me.

 

²⁰ And the LORD was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too.

 

²¹ Also I took that sinful thing of yours, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain.

Truly sit with the images in this scripture, and let them sink in for a bit.  

Moses is saving his people from the wrath of a just God.  

For 40 days he fasts, face down before God.  

Moses, crushing the people's idol. Grinding it to powder, throwing it in the river.  

This is an important piece of our relationship with the Father, and one that we could strenghten during our own 40 days of focus.  

During this Lenten season, we can choose to stop being so stiff-necked, and we can earnestly turn toward a new direction and path. 

Grace & Peace, and see you Sunday!

Adam

The Father's Heart

Luke 15, The Story of the Compassionate Father (or, the Prodigal Son)

When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. 

The son started his speech: 'Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son ever again.'

 "But the father wasn't listening. He was calling to the servants, 'Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. 

Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We're going to feast! We're going to have a wonderful time! 

My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!'

What's the worst trouble you've ever been in?  

That ranges a lot from person to person.  Maybe you've seen the wrong side of a jail cell, had a scary visit from the IRS, or found your name at the top of some threatening legal documents.  

Or, maybe you've led a gentler life, and things have never quite been that bad.  

Still, I bet we can all think of some moments when we had that deep-in-the-gut feeling of sickness and heartache.  We all know what it means to know that we have messed up, big time.  

What happened next?  

Have you ever had the slate wiped clean?  Have you ever known the feeling of being truly forgiven?  

Or, have you ever loved someone so much, that no matter what they've done or where they've been, you would simply hug and cry and love them if they returned?

Jesus gives us a window to the heart of the Father that helps us remember those feelings.  

This is life with God.  We can return.  We can be loved.  

All is gift.  

Grace & Peace,

Adam