There's something profoundly moving about seeing all ages worship side by side.

On September 29, 2024, we witnessed this as eight of our incredible students helped lead worship. Among them, four were stepping out in faith for the very first time. This wasn’t just another service—it was a powerful display of intergenerational worship, where students and adults united to lift their voices in praise.

The students' courage to step up and lead was inspiring. It wasn’t about perfection; it was about growth and serving together. They showed us that leadership is a journey, and it starts by simply being willing to say “yes.”

Whenever a month has five Sundays, we make a point of celebrating Family Sunday. On these special occasions, we invite our elementary kids to join the adult worship service. We believe that worshiping together as a family strengthens our community and models active participation in faith.  

We strive to create an environment where kids can connect with the worship experience in their own way. To engage our younger ones on Family Sundays, we provide

• Busy bags with coloring pages, snacks, and fidgets
• Fun elements like games or videos to keep children engaged
• An opportunity to witness students leading worship

This intentional approach allows families to experience corporate worship together, learning and growing in faith with purpose.

At The Orchard Church, we are deeply committed to raising up the next generation of leaders who will continue to share Christ's mission with the world.

Just as Paul reminded Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:12, "Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young,” we are committed to empowering even the youngest to step into leadership and faith.

We don’t just believe in the future of the church—we actively invest in it by giving our youth opportunities to lead worship and serve in various ministries. These moments empower students to grow in their gifts and build confidence.

When young people step out in faith, supported by a community that believes in them, magic happens. They grow. They flourish. They start to see their place in God's big picture.

Our students aren't just learning to lead—they're leading now. They're not the church of tomorrow; they're the church of today. As they mature, we eagerly anticipate how God will use their gifts to impact the world around them.

We invite you to witness firsthand the power of empowering the next generation. Come celebrate and support our amazing students as they continue their journey of faith and leadership.

This is what true community looks like—people of all ages coming together in worship. Stay tuned for more opportunities to see how we're raising up future leaders and creating an environment where families and generations worship side by side.

Keep shining, Orchard family! We can't wait to see what God has in store next.

Are you looking for a fun, safe, and family-friendly way to celebrate Halloween this year? The Orchard Church is thrilled to announce our 11th Annual Trunk-or-Treat, happening on Saturday, October 26, 2024, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at The Orchard Church! This is one of our favorite community events of the year, and we’re expecting over 1,000 children to join us for an evening filled with costumes, candy, and creativity.

At The Orchard Church, we believe in sharing the love and joy of Christ with our community, and this year’s Trunk-or-Treat is no different. Inspired by Psalm 126:3 (“The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy”), we’re excited to create a space where families can come together, have fun, and make lasting memories.

Here’s what you can look forward to at this year’s event:

• Creative Trunk Displays: Our amazing volunteers are going all out with their trunk decorations! From your favorite characters to classic themes, there’s something for everyone. Don’t forget to vote for your favorite trunk—the winning display will be announced during our Sunday service on October 27.
• Music & Games: It wouldn’t be a Trunk-or-Treat without some festive fun! There will be fun music, engaging games, and plenty of activities to keep the whole family entertained. Whether you’re a kid or just a kid at heart, there’s fun to be had.
• Plenty of Candy: What’s Halloween without candy? Bring your bags because we’ve got lots of sweet treats ready for the kids. Each trunk will be handing out goodies, ensuring everyone goes home with a smile (and a sugar rush!).

At The Orchard Church, we love creating opportunities to connect with our community. Whether you’ve been attending for years or you’re joining us for the first time, we want you to feel welcome. This event is about more than just costumes and candy—it’s a chance to shine a light in our community and show families that they have a place where they belong.

“Our goal is to provide a fun, safe environment for the kids in our community, while also sharing God’s love through fun, costumes, candy, smiles, and lots of FUN!” — Pastor Alex Smith

This year, we want you to through the NEW ENTRANCE on Center Hill Church Rd at Blue Springs Soccer Fields and follow the driveway to the church.

• Date: Saturday, October 26, 2024
• Time: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
• Location: The Orchard Church (Enter off Center Hill Church Rd)
• Who’s Invited: Everyone! Bring your family, friends, and neighbors.

Make sure to mark your calendars now so you don’t miss this incredible event! We can't wait to see you there!

[DAVID SAID],“TODAY I AM POWERLESS, EVEN THOUGH ANOINTED KING; THESE MEN, THE SONS OF ZERUIAH, ARE TOO VIOLENT FOR ME. THE LORD PAY BACK THE WHO DOES WICKEDLY ACCORDING TO HIS WICKEDNESS!”
2 Samuel 3:39

Joab’s Role
If you’ve read 2 Samuel, you know that it’s mostly the story of David. In fact, this might be all you remember about it. Therefore, I want to bring out a character that’s hiding in the shadows in almost every story. I say hiding in the shadows because this man is the epitome of shady. His name is Joab.

When David first becomes king, he only becomes king over Judah after he wars with Saul’s son, Ishbaal (or Ishbosheth). Right from the beginning, his general is Joab. Joab and his brothers, Abishai and Asahel, are the sons of Zeruiah, David’s sister, so they are his nephews, and David brings them into military leadership. This is important because David’s blindness to family member’s flaws is his second biggest weakness in leadership (other than stealing his soldier’s wife).

Almost every time Joab is mentioned in a passage, he is doing something sketchy—mostly manipulating David and killing people in cold blood. He is the dark side of the great king. Let’s follow the trail of blood.

Abner
As I mentioned, at first David is only the king of Judah and fights wars with Ishbaal. Ishbaal’s general is a man named Abner, who also was Saul’s head general. When it becomes clear that David is going to win, Abner defects to David. Joab tries to tell David that Abner is untrustworthy, but really he’s mad that Abner killed his brother, Asahel, in battle. In Abner’s defense, Abner pleaded with Asahel not to make Abner kill him, but Asahel left him no choice. So after the defection, Joab pulled Abner aside to have a private conversation, and stabbed him in the stomach. Joab kills him for revenge, but not only that, Abner also stands as a threat to Joab’s high position in David’s army. For David, Abner would have made it easier to bring the Benjaminites and those loyal to Saul onto his side, but Joab ruined that.
David, who was known to have people killed for violating his abnormally high sense of idealism and ethics, did not even demote Joab. Why? I can only speculate nepotism.

Bathsheba
Obviously, this one is David’s fault. David sleeps with one of his soldier’s wives, gets her pregnant, and then has the husband killed in battle. But….who’s there to do the dirty work? Joab. He’s the one who puts Uriah on the frontlines and orders everyone else to abandon him to die. To top it off, Joab uses this to manipulate David. When a messenger sends a report of a battle gone badly, Joab has the messenger also report the death of Uriah to keep David from being mad at him.

Joab is loyal to David, does his dirty work, but he also manipulates David and has zero conscience.

Absalom, part 1
Absalom, David’s son, kills his brother Amnon (for good reason), and then runs away. Joab uses a “wise woman” from Tekoa to manipulate David to bring Absalom back. Joke’s on him though, Absalom comes back, is mad that his dad won’t see him, so he petulantly sets Joab’s field on fire to give him an audience with the king. (I deal with this story at length in a Shuffle Text about Psalm 3, if you want to check it out)

Absalom, part 2
Absalom then takes over the throne, runs his dad out of town, and hires a man named Amasa to be his general instead of Joab. Long story short, Absalom’s guys fight David’s guys and get slaughtered. Why? David had a group of mercenary bodyguards called the Cherethites and the Pelethites, led by Benaiah who could handle just about anybody. (Amasa and Benaiah will come up later). Absalom flees, gets his hair stuck in a tree, and despite David’s expressed request that no one harm Absalom, Joab shoves three spears through him. Why three? No idea. Then, Joab has his men finish Absalom off like a piñata.
There’s a telling scene here where an unnamed soldier stands up to Joab. The soldier tells Joab that Absalom is stuck in the tree (still darkly funny, sorry). Joab asks why the soldier didn’t kill him. The soldier reminds him of David’s request. Joab tells the man that he would have given him 10 pieces of silver. The soldier calls him out and says even if you gave me a thousand pieces of silver I wouldn’t have done it, because you would sell me out to David. This dude is my hero. That’s a bold thing to say to your sketchy but scary general.

Amasa
Remember Amasa? Well, after Absalom is defeated, David brings him back into the army. During another rebellion, David checks Amasa’s loyalty and finds it possibly in question (actually, David didn’t seem to think so). Joab uses this opportunity to take Amasa aside (just like Abner) and stab him, too. Wait, there’s more to the story.  Amasa, is Joab’s cousin, also David’s nephew (well, great-nephew). And when David returned to power he put Amasa in power instead of Joab in order to consolidate all the people that left him for Absalom. This was another power play, and he killed his own flesh and blood to make it.
It gets weirder. He left Amasa dying in the road, and all the soldiers were confused by the sight. So, Joab dragged him into a field and covered him up, nothing to see here. After that, everyone shrugged their shoulders and followed Joab.

Application
Joab was a selfish jerk who justified himself by claiming he was doing what was best for David even when it violated David’s code of ethics and messed up his ability to lead. David, ever the idealist, nevertheless had a weak spot when it came to family (Joab, Amnon, Absalom, Adonijah), so he never fully dealt with Joab.

We are all tempted, like Joab, to sacrifice morals for practicality, especially if it benefits us. We are all tempted, like David, to overlook the flaws of the people we are sentimental towards and let them abuse others around us. And….

There’s always justice. On his deathbed, David tells his son and successor, Solomon, to deal with Joab because of all his sin and probably because he backed Adonijah against Solomon (David’s son and another usurper like Absalom). Solomon sends in Benaiah to deal with Joab, who kills him in the tabernacle because Joab won’t leave. I told you Benaiah would come back up. He’s the one general that Joab never killed. Probably, because Benaiah was known for killing a lion in hand-to-hand combat on a snowy day (see 2 Samuel 23:20, not sure why the weather was important). He was a real warrior instead of schemer.

1 Corinthians 15:3-8
I PASSED ON TO YOU AS MOST IMPORTANT WHAT I ALSO RECEIVED: CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS IN LINE WITH THE SCRIPTURES, 4 HE WAS BURIED, AND HE ROSE ON THE THIRD DAY IN LINE WITH THE SCRIPTURES. 5 HE APPEARED TO CEPHAS, THEN TO THE TWELVE, 6 AND THEN HE APPEARED TO MORE THAN FIVE HUNDRED BROTHERS AND SISTERS AT ONCE—MOST OF THEM ARE STILL ALIVE TO THIS DAY, THOUGH SOME HAVE DIED. 7 THEN HE APPEARED TO JAMES, THEN TO ALL THE APOSTLES, 8 AND LAST OF ALL HE APPEARED TO ME, AS IF I WERE BORN AT THE WRONG TIME.

Hidden Gem

This passage is formational for the church, but you may not be familiar with it because it’s hiding deep in the book of first Corinthians. First Corinthians is a long letter from Paul to the church in Corinth that covers everything from proper communion to when to speak in tongues to how bad they are and the all-importance of love. In fact, the enormous popularity of chapter 13 (the love chapter) I believe obscures today’s passage. After covering a myriad of topics, Paul is now letting us know what is most important (besides love, which is also most important. They’re both most important. Live in the paradox.).

What You Need to Know

What is the foundation of the Christian faith? It’s that Jesus died for our sins. It’s that he rose from the dead. It’s that both of those things were according to the Scriptures, AND it’s that he appeared to a bunch of people after he rose from the dead. This is it. This is Christianity distilled. Let’s talk about why it matters.

The Cross and Resurrection

It’s probably no surprise that these two make it into the discussion on importance. The cross is important because Jesus died for our sins. However, this means more than we usually give it credit for. Yes, we are guilty of sin, and Christ is the sacrifice for us that forgives us in the eyes of God and lets us have a relationship with God. Also, since it’s according to the Scripture, we need to point out that the Israelites were waiting for a forgiveness of sin because sin put them exile.

They lost the presence of God, their land, their autonomy, and their community. Therefore, forgiveness of sin means not only that we are forgiven, but also that we have a restored experience of the presence of God and sense of community. It’s not just about eternal life or personal experience (though it is that), it’s also about a people connected to each other by the presence of God, just like the Israelites in the Exodus.

The Resurrection is also vastly important. In fact, Paul wrote this whole chapter in order to discuss its importance. It means that Jesus defeated the powers that hold us captive. It means that he defeated death. It means that he is reigning and bringing everything under his power. In short, it is the power of God to put this world back together, and it is our hope of a glorious future that we share in some part now. Amen.

Modern Implications

However, there are two other implications in this passage that need to be addressed so that we can fully understand the faith. I think have been obscured sometimes in our current dialogue.

First, all of this happens “according to the Scriptures.” By Scriptures, Paul means what we call the Old Testament. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. He is the fulfillment of all the sought after promises of the law and the prophets. We cannot understand Jesus if we pull him out of his Jewish context. We cannot unhitch from the Old Testament. Doing so will often leave us with an un-Jewish, individualistic gospel that focuses mostly on the afterlife and our individual spheres of influence, rather the bigger vision of the kingdom putting the whole world back together and calling us into community.

Second, Paul makes a point of telling us about the eyewitnesses to Jesus’ resurrection. This is important because we usually think of religions and other ideologies competing on the merits of their philosophy and morality. However, Christianity is first and foremost a religion around a historical event. We are reckoning with an actual event in history not just a competing set of good ideas. In a world where competing ideologies are creating their own truth, Christianity hangs on the idea that the resurrection either happened or it didn’t…..and if it did, it changed everything.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6

This is one of the most famous verses in Scripture, and people have relied on it for different reasons throughout history. Without diminishing other valid understandings of the passage, I want to draw attention to an important understanding that sometimes gets forgotten (not least by me).

Background
First, a little background. In the book of John, Jesus is notorious for giving amazing spiritual insight out of frustration with the person he’s talking to. Thomas is trying to figure out how to literally walk to where God is, and Jesus changes the use of the word to explain that believing in Jesus and walking with Jesus (spiritually) gets you to the Father.

The Truth
A lot of people use this verse to point to Jesus as the absolute truth. This is the Christocentric (Christ at the center) view of our faith that believes that wherever there’s confusion or disagreement with the rest of Scripture, let Jesus clear that up.
We like Jesus as truth. It helps us to understand the world. We may not like his ideas (forgiving enemies and such), but we can mentally assent that his ideas are the best.

The Life
Typically, when people refer to Jesus as the life from this verse, they mean that he offers eternal life after death. This is the great hope beyond suffering and loss that Jesus offers to the world. It could also point to the idea of “abundant life” that Jesus offers—a life in the present without guilt, shame, or purposelessness. Either way, it’s pretty exciting.

The Way
Now we come to the reason I’m writing this (and John Mark Comer brought this to my attention in a recent podcast). Typically, when someone refers to Jesus as the way, they mean the way to heaven after you die. This is understandable given that Jesus is talking about the final kingdom to Thomas and saying that he’s leaving to prepare a place there.
But there’s more nuance here than that. I believe that Jesus is using a play on words to talk about what the disciples should do now. In fact, even eternal life starts now by knowing God (see John 17:3).

Therefore, when Jesus says he is the way, he means that he is the example for how we should live our lives—in love, forgiveness, sacrifice, purity, etc. In fact, the word “way” probably refers to halakhah, which is a rabbinic word for teaching laws—literally, “the way of walking.”

Therefore, when we speak of Jesus as the way, we should speak of him as the ultimate example for how we should live our lives. This is by far the hardest part of Christian discipleship.

Conclusion
We look to Jesus for hope for eternity and truth through the confusion, but once we find it, we commit to living the life he lived. This is the way.

Colossians 1:27- God wanted to make the glorious riches of this secret plan known among the Gentiles, which is Christ living in you, the hope of glory.

Colossians 2:6- So live in Christ Jesus the Lord in the same way you received him.

Intro
These are some of the most important verses in the Bible. A lot of ink (or data) can and has been spilled to understand these verses. I’m not going to try to explain exactly what each means and how it relates to the gospel and systematic theology. At least not today.
Instead, I want to use these two verses to give an idea of how we should think about our lives throughout each day.

Our Power
First, Christ in us. Paul calls it a “mystery” which is translated here as “secret plan.” That’s because a mystery in Greek is not a problem to be solved like Sherlock, it’s a truth that has to be revealed. You can’t learn it without God telling you—in this case, through Scripture.

Jews were waiting for the presence of God to return to the temple. The secret plan revealed here is that the presence returned in Jesus and now lives in us.

Sorry, I couldn’t resist the background details.

What I want you to take away from this today is that you can be transformed into the person God called you to be because God lives in you and is doing the work.

So spend a few moments today and every day recognizing the power living in you and calling on Jesus to guide you through the day—loving your neighbor and focusing on what’s important.

Future Glory
This verse also means that the presence of the Spirit in you is the down payment that you have a place in heaven, in the final kingdom, when God’s realm takes over Earth’s realm. You have the assurance of your salvation.

It’s Not About You
But I also included this second verse because it presents a paradox, a seeming contradiction. The second verse says that rather than focusing on Christ in us, we should live in Christ.
I like this because if we focus only one what God is doing in us, we might think the story is just about us. However, we are called into God’s story. We play a small role in a drama that began before we were born and will continue after we die.

Keep this focus so that you’re more worried about what God wants to do in the world instead of your smaller concerns. It also means that if you don’t finish something, God can raise up others to do finish it. You’re not alone. Everything doesn’t depend on you, and we’re not the focus of the universe.

Conclusion
So let the Spirit of God transform you in your day to day life to carry out the mission that’s a part of a story much bigger than us.

We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. 4 We’ve done this since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all God’s people. 5 You have this faith and love because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You previously heard about this hope through the true message, the good news,
Colossians 1:3-5 CEB

Paul is Excited
Paul’s friend Epaphras told him about these awesome Colossians. Epaphras (how come nobody is using Epaphras as a baby name?) preached the gospel to them, and they responded with faith and love.

They believed that the cross and the resurrection marked Jesus as the Jewish messiah and King of the World, come to set everything right. And now they trust Jesus with their lives. That is their faith.

And they demonstrate love by letting the Spirit of God change them into the people he calls them to be, who love God and neighbor. That’s the Christian life—lives of faith and love.

Hope of Heaven
But he says that this faith and love come from the hope reserved for them in heaven. Popular Christianity has taught me that the hope of heaven is that I go to heaven when I die. Looney Tunes taught me that heaven is located in cumulus clouds, and I’ll get wings and a harp. It’s true that we will be with God in eternal bliss when we die, but it’s more than that.

It’s not just a ticket out of this terrible place. It’s a hope of something that allows us to live a bizarre life of enemy-love, generosity, self-sacrifice, and kindness, no matter what we face in the world.

The hope of heaven is a hope that one Jesus will return and put this world back together. “Set the world to rights,” as N.T. Wright often says. And we live in a strange time between Jesus’ resurrection that fills us with power to bring healing into this world, and the second resurrection that completes the job.

Our hope is that the work that God is doing in us will carry us through this life that can sometimes be confusing, cruel, disappointing, and painful. Our hope is that even though we may see people succeeding by stepping on others, our faithfulness and love will matter. Our hope is that whatever goes wrong, God will heal it, carry us through it, and transform it—in this life or the next.

Live in that hope. Meditate on that hope. Let it transform you, bearing fruit of faith and love. “And these three remain: faith, hope, and love” (1 Corinthians 13:13. It’s clear Paul likes these three things.)

8 1When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand.

Prayers of the Saints
I’ve been in a lot of prayer meetings at different churches and in different traditions. A common theme is this reference to Revelation where the prayers of the people are referred to as incense. In this passage, it says incense is the with the prayers, but in Revelation 5 it says that the incense is the prayers.

When these passages are mentioned at prayer meetings, it usually goes like this. Keep praying. Your prayers are incense. When you pray, God likes the way your prayers smell. He’ll smell your beautiful, aromatic prayers and go do something awesome.

What Does Incense Do?
That’s pretty motivating to keep praying, but I recently heard an episode of the Holy Post podcast where Kaitlyn Schiess gave an alternate explanation that’s more in line with the full context of the passages. I did some digging and found others that agree with her, including famed Chinese pastor Watchman Nee. Here goes.

The incense needed to be burned in order to offer the good smell. Burning incense in the temple was a purification ritual. Between Revelation 5 and Revelation 8, the incense catches fire. Also, between Revelation 5 and Revelation 8, Jesus shows up to change the spiritual realm. In other words, Jesus set our prayers on fire with his death and resurrection, purifying them and making them effective.

Purifying Our Prayers
This is the most revolutionary part of the interpretation. By Jesus’ blood and the power of his resurrection, our prayers are purified. That’s amazing because I’ve prayed some dumb prayers. I prayed for a lot of girlfriends in middle school. I’ve prayed for the outcome of many football games. I’ve prayed for money and cars and for my kid to just go to sleep. I’m sure I’ve prayed against my enemies like David does in the Psalms.

So the idea that God will take my less than noble prayers and use them for his kingdom is a big comfort and really lowers the stakes for wanting to pray. I can approach God, with good motives or not so good motives and the God will use my prayers to change me and change the world. No more pressure to be perfect before I start praying.

This lines up well with some the ideas in Romans 8:26-27 if you’re still not convinced.

Conclusion
So to be clear, I now interpret the prayers of the saints as burning incense to be the effect of Jesus on our spiritual life. When we pray, regardless of how well, God will change us. And if he doesn’t like our prayers, he’ll do something better than what we asked for in the world.

So yes, we should keep praying because our prayers smell good (relax, it’s a metaphor), but also, we should keep praying to change our hearts and world.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” -Phil. 4:13

The Football Verse
Many people are familiar with this verse because it has served as inspiration to millions of athletes and entrepreneurs who are trying hard things. Whatever you want to do, you can do it because Christ will give you strength. But what if what you want to do is stupid, physically impossible, unethical, or just not what God wants? Will you still have Christ’s superpower? This verse never seemed to help me play “the floor is lava” in college. Sometimes you just can’t make it from the couch to the kitchen counter.

This is not to knock Tim Tebow and others who have promoted this verse. In fact, when he wore it on his eye black during one of his many championships (championships, as a UGA fan, that hurt me to recall), Philippians 4:13 briefly became the most searched term on Google. Whatever makes people read the Bible.

While I think this use is at best a little too narrow and at worst a complete misunderstanding, I still think it needs to be one of the most memorized verses in the Bible—for a completely different reason.

Paul’s Imprisonment
When Paul writes these words, he writes them to the church at Philippi while he’s in prison. In the letter, he shares how the life of Christ leads us to self-sacrifice, to pressing on to perfection, to focusing on the good in life and letting God deal with our anxieties. Then, he comes to this verse.

Recession Proof
He’s thanking the Philippians for their generosity, but also making sure they don’t feel guilted by his comment. In fact, he doesn’t need anything. He’s learned to be content with having a lot. He’s learned to be content with being poor. He’s learned to be content with hardship. Implicit in this paragraph is that he’s even learned to be content with being in prison.

What’s his secret? He can do all things through Christ who strengthens him. A more direct translation from the Greek might be this: I have strength in all things through him who strengthens me. This sounds even more like a football verse, so let me show you the CEB version that I think really gets at the heart of it.

“I can endure all these things through the power of the one who gives me strength.” -Phil. 4:13, CEB

Dealing with Anxiety, Hardship, and Grief
In other words, whatever he faces in this life, Christ will see him through. Whether it’s fear of the future (c.f., 4:6), pain of loss, or trouble in the present, Christ will give a peace that transcends understanding. There’s no promise that you’ll win the football game. There’s no promise that your business venture will work out. There’s no promise that you’ll be saved from the trials and heartache of this life. But there is a promise that God will carry you and strengthen you in the midst of it.

Romans 5:6-11
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

It's for Everyone
I recently read a secular history of Christianity (Dominion by Tom Holland, not that Tom Holland, if you’re interested) that pinned the growth of Christianity in the Roman world on its universal appeal. You didn’t have to be rich. You didn’t have to be Roman. You didn’t have to be male. You didn’t have to be educated or claim some secret knowledge. Everyone could be part of the group. This, of course, made those that wielded religion as a political weapon really nervous. How could they keep the populace in line with Paul saying things like, “there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male or female. You are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 5:28)? In other words, Christians were claiming there was no natural hierarchy.

Moral Hierarchy?
This passage tells us that there’s no distinction on moral grounds either. Christianity isn’t just for the upstanding citizens. In fact, Jesus preferred the most broken people. Earlier in Romans, Paul tells us that nobody is righteous. Now, he tells us that we don’t even have to clean ourselves up before coming to Jesus. He didn’t die for the few sins you haven’t yet gotten rid of. The gift of salvation is available while you still have blood on your hands, before anyone notices a difference, or even before anyone believes you can change.

It's God’s Problem
Jesus died for you whether you think you’re capable of following him or not. When Paul says we are saved through his life, the word “save” doesn’t just mean not going to hell. It also means a rescue from a life of sin. It’s God’s power that will change you. You just have to seek it. If you’re too weak to seek, you just have to ask for the strength to ask for the strength.
 
God wants to transform you into a person that shares his love with the world, and he’s willing to do all the heavy lifting. In fact, Jesus has already done the heavy lifting, paid the bill, and empowered you. Now we can just walk in it. We’ll keep stumbling along, but he returns again and again to pick us up.
 
Live in the Spirit
Now Paul is clear in Romans 6 and 8 that those in Christ don’t stay in their sin, but God doesn’t just sit around watching to see if we’ll be different. He leads us every step of the way—through prayer, through his word, through community, and through the Spirit changing us in ways we didn’t even know to ask for.

It’s for Everyone
If you’re wondering if this is a life you can have, it is. The fact that it’s for literally everyone is what has been drawing people for the last 2000 years. You are no exception. Jesus died for you at your worst, and he can turn you into his best- even if you think you should have figured it out by now.

6 SO WHAT ARE WE GOING TO SAY? SHOULD WE CONTINUE SINNING SO GRACE WILL MULTIPLY? 2 ABSOLUTELY NOT! ALL OF US DIED TO SIN. HOW CAN WE STILL LIVE IN IT? 3 OR DON’T YOU KNOW THAT ALL WHO WERE BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST JESUS WERE BAPTIZED INTO HIS DEATH? 4 THEREFORE, WE WERE BURIED TOGETHER WITH HIM THROUGH BAPTISM INTO HIS DEATH, SO THAT JUST AS CHRIST WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD THROUGH THE GLORY OF THE FATHER, WE TOO CAN WALK IN NEWNESS OF LIFE. 5 IF WE WERE UNITED TOGETHER IN A DEATH LIKE HIS, WE WILL ALSO BE UNITED TOGETHER IN A RESURRECTION LIKE HIS. 6 THIS IS WHAT WE KNOW: THE PERSON THAT WE USED TO BE WAS CRUCIFIED WITH HIM IN ORDER TO GET RID OF THE CORPSE THAT HAD BEEN CONTROLLED BY SIN. THAT WAY WE WOULDN’T BE SLAVES TO SIN ANYMORE, 7 BECAUSE A PERSON WHO HAS DIED HAS BEEN FREED FROM SIN’S POWER. 8 BUT IF WE DIED WITH CHRIST, WE HAVE FAITH THAT WE WILL ALSO LIVE WITH HIM. 9 WE KNOW THAT CHRIST HAS BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD AND HE WILL NEVER DIE AGAIN. DEATH NO LONGER HAS POWER OVER HIM. 10 HE DIED TO SIN ONCE AND FOR ALL WITH HIS DEATH, BUT HE LIVES FOR GOD WITH HIS LIFE. 11 IN THE SAME WAY, YOU ALSO SHOULD CONSIDER YOURSELVES DEAD TO SIN BUT ALIVE FOR GOD IN CHRIST JESUS.

SWIMMING LESSONS
Have you ever taught a toddler to swim? Me neither. I don’t really know how, so I have tried to get experts to do this. I mean, I know how to swim, just not how to teach it. Anyways, when my daughters were toddlers, we signed them up for swim lessons. They figured it out and could make there way across the pool correctly and buoyantly. Then, the next time we went to a pool, they would undo all of their learning, begin a frantic but stationary doggy paddle, gasp for air, and get great exercise. Then we would spend the rest of the pool time with a life jacket or them holding on to my arm for dear life. So back to lessons again the next summer.
They knew how to swim. They know what it feels like to swim. They know it’s better, but it’s not comfortable. It’s not what they’re used to, so they went back to the old way. That’s the way we are sometimes about our bad habits, relationship skills, and toxic thoughts. (Now they swim great, even did swim team this year, but stick with the metaphor)

FLAWLESS LOGIC
In our passage today, Paul has finished explaining the grace offered us in Christ for forgiveness of sins and renewed relationship with God. Now in this passage, he attacks a bizarre but interesting logic that has cropped up around Christianity (and that Paul has apparently been accused of). Here’s the logic:

If God saved me from my sins by grace (free gift), and if this grace gives God glory….Then, the more sin that God forgives, the more glory he gets, right? Therefore, the more I sin, the more I’m forgiven, and the more glorified God is. So my goal in life should be to sin AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE so that God’s mercy can be celebrated. Foolproof, right?

To say it another way, if I celebrate God because he forgave 100 sins, then I can REALLY celebrate God if he forgives 10000 sins. So I should sin more so that I have more to celebrate. I’ll be a better worshiper. So go nuts.

NEW IDENTITY
But Paul says that to accept salvation doesn’t just wipe the slate clean. It’s not just forgiveness for past and future sins (it is that, but not just that). It also does something to you. To accept Jesus’ death for your life is to accept your own death to sin. You are dead to the things Jesus died for. That is the meaning of your baptism. When Christ died on the cross, evil and sin did their worst to kill Jesus, so when Jesus rose from the dead, he broke any power that sin and death can have on you. We were not just “sinners,” we were slaves to sin. And now that Jesus has broken that power, or to stick the slave metaphor, when he bought us out of slavery, sin no longer has power over us. That is of course, unless you let it have power over you.

So just as we died to sin in the cross, we are raised to new life in the resurrection. We are now new creations, new people living by new power, able to live the life God called us into. Therefore, we don’t walk back to the old life to get more forgiveness, we walk into the new life to see how much better it is than our former sin.

We don’t celebrate swim coaches because they keep us from drowning every lesson. We celebrate them because they taught us to swim. You can swim now. Start swimming.

Dangerous and Loving
3 WHEN ALL THE ISRAELITES SAW THE FIRE COMING DOWN AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD ABOVE THE TEMPLE, THEY KNELT ON THE PAVEMENT WITH THEIR FACES TO THE GROUND, AND THEY WORSHIPED AND GAVE THANKS TO THE LORD, SAYING,
“HE IS GOOD;
    HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER.”

-2 Chronicles 7:3

Big Fires Everywhere
Have you ever been around a fire so huge that you couldn’t really get near it? I was at a camp one time where the s’more fire was made with timber stacked around seven feet tall and 7 feet wide. The fire was so hot that the best we could do get about 5 feet away, extend our arm and the stick with the marshmallow, and the marshmallow would cook without coming within 2 feet of the fire. I think the camp staff was a little overzealous in their love of fire. The fire was good but also dangerous.

Solomon’s Temple
Our passage this morning comes after King Solomon built the temple. As they celebrated and consecrated its completion with worship, a fire from heaven came down and dwelled above the temple. It was so bright and hot that the priests couldn’t enter (v.2), and the people fell down in awe.

Dangerous but Loving
The people’s response is instructive to us. They feared God, but they worshiped, gave thanks, and declared that God’s love endures forever. They recognized what we often forget. We either forget that God loves us, and we constantly fear (or preach fear at others) present day or eternal punishment, or we forget that God is dangerous, and we treat him like our personal genie, bringing him out of the lamp when we need him to fix something for us.
This passage reminds us that God is both. It reminds us that God is perfectly comfortable creating worlds, shaping mountains, and orchestrating the rise and fall of empires, while God is also with us in our pain, our joys, and our small lives. It reminds us that we are a part of something bigger, something God is initiating and completing, something far beyond the scope of our lives. But it also reminds us that we have a role to play, and that role involves the careful love of a Father, who loves us regardless of our flaws, and offers to heal and transform us. All we do is humble ourselves and accept his offer of guidance, love, and healing, and we can find ourselves walking in step with this world-shaping God.

If My People…
This chapter goes on to a much more famous passage (7:14) that people have used for national calls to repentance and political prayer breakfasts for much of the last century. God tells the people that if they will:
-humbly pray, recognizing their need for God
-seek God’s face, recognizing that he alone of all gods is worth seeking
-turn from sin, not just feel guilty, but actually change their lives

Then God will hear, forgive their sin, and heal their land.

We need this in the church. We need this in our country and every country. But often this passage is used to criticize the world “out there.” We can call people to repentance, but the only repentance we can actually make happen is in our own lives.

To the extent that we will see revival in the church and in this land begins with each of us walking through this exercise of prayer, worship, and repentance. And then, rather than condemning the world, we demonstrate this humble life and invite others to walk with a God that is both transcendently dangerous and intimately loving.

6 They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7 who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10 “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”
Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

The Story
Paul and Barnabas were leaders in the church in Antioch when the Holy Spirit told the community to send them on mission. They head to Cyprus with John Mark, where Barnabas has roots and begin preaching directly to the centers of power. They speak first to the Jewish leaders and then to the Roman governor of the area.

They encounter a vizier of sorts named Bar-Jesus (son of Joshua) or Elymas the sorcerer. I guess he gets two names, just like John Mark (sometimes called John or Mark separately), Saul/Paul, and Barnabas/Joseph (Acts 4)—lots of people with two names in Luke, like reading Russian literature.

Oddly enough, Elymas is Jewish. Jewish magicians were considered powerful and highly sought after in the Roman political world, which is also odd because practicing magic was forbidden by Scripture. So, what we have here is a Diaspora Jew (not living in Israel) who’s apparently using his understanding of his religion to manipulate the local government, with possible, actual magic thrown into the mix.

Paul tries to share the gospel with the government and is opposed by this man, either because he doesn’t believe Paul’s message, or because he perceives a threat to his power, or maybe, the demonic powers inside of him perceive a threat. It’s also worth noting that one of the most inviting truths of the new message is access to God for all, which would be a threat to an adviser with mystical power.

Paul, much like Moses before him, defeats the false vizier in show of power, making him blind. Sergio Paulus, to his credit, responds more favorably than Moses did and becomes a believer. It’s a common theme in Scripture for true faith to defeat manipulative faith. May it be so in our time.

Opposition
I highlight this story for a few reasons. First is that Barnabas and Paul begin their journey with intense opposition. They are undeterred. They expect it. For me though, when I sense resistance to what I think God wants, it makes me consider giving up. Sometimes resistance can mean we’re doing the wrong thing, especially if the resistance comes from godly people. However, sometimes resistance can mean we’re pushing against powers that need to be brought down. Keep going. Don’t compromise.

Fearlessness
Paul and Barnabas’ mission lead them directly into seats of power and conflict. They’re in a place where they can face death at a whim. God doesn’t care about the geopolitical situation or power imbalance when he wants to move. Let’s follow him wherever he leads.

The life in Christ is not a safe, sit-in-the-stands journey. We’re called to follow wherever he leads. It might mean missions, reaching out to the poor, helping relationships, families, and communities overcome conflict, preaching to your boss, adopting children, or talking to governors while you battle magicians. Who knows? But seek him and find out.

Saul/Paul
I mentioned this in my sermon last week, but this is the first time Luke calls Saul, Paul. This isn’t because God changed his name like Abraham, Jacob, or Peter (though the Father and Son like giving people nicknames like everyone else in the Bible). It’s because Paul is a Greek name, and Paul doesn’t want his name to be barrier to those he shares the gospel with (also, Saulos apparently is a Greek word with a negative connotation). He’s all out. Let’s be all out.

Genesis 3:14-19 Stepping on Snakes

"The LORD God said to the serpent,
'Because you have done this,
    cursed are you among all animals
    and among all wild creatures;
upon your belly you shall go,
    and dust you shall eat
    all the days of your life.'"
-Genesis 3:14

The Curse
“Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the snake, and the snake didn’t have a leg to stand on.” Lots of people, mostly old men, have Bible jokes. When you are pastor, people think these are the only jokes you want to hear. Most are terrible. This one is my favorite. My other favorite is, “Did you they have cars in the Bible? The disciples were all in one Accord.”

The Scripture passage above tells of the aftermath of Adam and Eve’s sin. They were sinless in the garden, given only one thing to avoid, eating from the tree of good and evil. However, a crafty snake showed up and convinced them that God was holding out on the good life from them. They stopped trusting God, and this poetic declaration by God declares the result.
I want to look at the punishment bit by bit, to see how it plays out in each of our lives, and I want to find the hope hiding in the devastation.

The Snake
First up is the snake. Most people are irrationally afraid of snakes. Perhaps it’s the way they seem to swim across land at astonishing speed. Perhaps it’s their unblinking elliptical eye, and perpetual, predatory smile. Or it’s the way I found one under my trash can once when I rolled it off the street. Whatever the case, in almost all cultures of recorded history, the snake has been a creature of mystery, chaos, and cunning. Sometimes worshipped, almost always feared. 
The ancient Israelites were no different. The snake in this story represents evil incarnate. His curse is that he loses his ability to speak, loses his legs, and must eat dust. This last part is important. Dust is what we eat in death. The snake has been relegated to the place of the dead. One can see how subsequent revelation of the nature of Satan could begin with a tempter who now only dwells among the dead.

The Woman
In the creation story of chapter 2, the woman and man are called to be fruitful and multiply. The woman is also called to create community with the man and be his partner. The fall results in difficulty for both roles. First, we learn that “in pain you shall bring forth children” (v. 16), and then that her husband “shall rule over [her]” (v. 16). What should have been purely a joy—living in partnership with the man and bringing life into the world—is now marred by pain and inequality. We often forget that prior to modern medicine, childbirth was perhaps the most dangerous thing a woman could do. And history is littered with stories of the atrocities towards women because of their vulnerability in almost every society.

The Man
The result of sin for all people (though it’s directed at the man) is ecological disaster, difficulty in securing food, and a loss of immortality.

“cursed is the ground because of you;
    in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
    and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face
    you shall eat bread
until you return to the ground,
    for out of it you were taken;
you are dust,
    and to dust you shall return.” (vv. 17b-19)

This gives us a possible glimpse into how the evils of natural disasters and even the brokenness of pollution can be tied to our sinful nature. It all started in the garden, when we didn’t trust God.

The Hope
But through all of this, there is hope. This is not the way things are supposed to be, and God will, throughout the rest of the Bible, seek to return humanity to peace, community, harmony with nature, and eternal life. Jesus comes to reverse the curse, destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).

This undermining of Satan is what we hope for, partially in this life and fully in the world to come. Furthermore, this is what we work for as subjects of King Jesus.

Women for most of history have suffered in childbirth and been oppressed by the powers that be. People for all of history have been at the whims of nature, and hunger has been a scourge on humanity for as long as we can remember. Enmity between men and women, and between all types of people, have destroyed relationships, communities, and countries for all of civilized history (beginning with Cain). People have chosen the way of their desire rather than the way of God in every area of life, and it has continued to destroy. As the people of King Jesus, as we await his return, these are among the things we work against.

Whatever the final kingdom is going to be like, that’s what we work for now. And in the second resurrection, death itself will be destroyed. We will no longer return to dust.

Tread on Him
We see a clear glimpse of this hope in the one passage I have yet to mention. It details the perpetual strife between the snake and the children of the woman.

I will put enmity between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
he will strike your head,
    and you will strike his heel.” (v. 15)

We learn that the son of Eve will crush the head of the snake while receiving a mortal blow to himself. This is exactly what happened on the cross. I think it's beautiful that climax of the story is foretold in the very beginning of the Bible. The powers of evil conspired to kill Jesus, the ultimate son of Eve, but in his death he crushed death and evil, once and for all. Now we wait and work until all things are brought under the power of his nail-scarred hands and fang-scarred heel.

Gideon, The Most Reluctant Warlord

Judges 6:11-12
11 NOW THE ANGEL OF THE LORD CAME AND SAT UNDER THE OAK AT OPHRAH, WHICH BELONGED TO JOASH THE ABIEZRITE, AS HIS SON GIDEON WAS BEATING OUT WHEAT IN THE WINE PRESS, TO HIDE IT FROM THE MIDIANITES. 12 THE ANGEL OF THE LORD APPEARED TO HIM AND SAID TO HIM, “THE LORD IS WITH YOU, YOU MIGHTY WARRIOR.”

Gideon the Dusty
The book of Judges chronicles the tale of Israel just after they settle in Canaan. They are a disunified band of tribes that constantly forgets God, and due to their disunity and lack of faith, they are constantly under threat from outside forces (and themselves). During this part of the story, the Midianites have been terrorizing Israel and destroying their crops. As always, I recommend you read all of Judges 6-8 for context.

Gideon the Warrior
Here we find Gideon, hiding in a winepress (a confined space) threshing his wheat. I don’t know much about wheat threshing, but from what I gather (pun intended), you have to remove the unwanted parts of the wheat to get to the good stuff. This creates a ton of waste and probably dust. So that would mean that Gideon is suffocating in dust and buried in chaff because he’s hiding in fear. Then, the angel shows up and calls him a mighty warrior. God has a higher calling on our lives and a glorious identity for us, even if we don’t know it or show it yet.

Gideon’s Questions
How does Gideon respond? He first questions whether God is good. Why has God let this happen? Why hasn’t He delivered Israel? The angel could have said, “well, because y’all stopped following God, just like He said would happen.” The angel could have pointed out that Gideon’s father was the owner of town’s idolatry pole. Instead, he answers like he answers us sometimes. “Because God is going to use you to deliver Israel.” Sometimes, when we see injustice in the world and ask why, God’s answer is because he wants to use us to stop it. Whatever is burdening your heart may be your calling rather than a reason to doubt God.

Then he questions whether he has the status to lead the Israelites into battle. How can a timid man from an unimportant sub-tribe (who are the Abiezrites, anyway?) get all of Israel to follow him? God answers like He answers us. He’ll be with Gideon. Whatever we’re facing, God’s presence with us, Emmanuel, can give the leadership skills, courage, or whatever we may need to accomplish God’s purposes.

Finally, he questions whether God is really calling him, and the angel indulges him by spontaneously setting an offering ablaze. Gideon realizes he’s seeing God (or at least his messenger) and realizes he should die in God’s presence. The angel assures him of his safety. God is really patient with Gideon. God is really patient with us.

Timidity to Triumph to Timidity to Triumph
Now that Gideon is on board, God asks him to cut down the Asherah pole and other pagan items that his father owns and apparently are used by his town. Gideon obeys, but out of fear, does it at night. When the town finds out, his dad comes to his aid, and all of the sudden the timid, suffocating wheat thresher is catapulted into the spotlight as one who contends with foreign gods. The Spirit is on him, giving him the ability to gather an army out of several tribes. It’s time to fight the Midianites.

But Gideon gets scared again. He asks God to give him a sign by placing a fleece on the threshing floor and wants God to make the fleece wet with dew in the morning but not the floor. God does it. But Gideon probably realizes that the absorbent fleece was going to be wetter than the hard floor naturally anyways. Recognizing his mistake, he asks God to contradict the natural laws of absorbency and make the floor wet and not the fleece. Again, God is patient.

Gideon finally trusts God so much that he cuts his large army down to 300 people (at God’s request). But then Gideon gets timid again and doesn’t want to fight until he overhears that one of the Midianites has had a dream that Gideon will be victorious. Now Gideon has courage, attacks, and is victorious.

Gideon’s Rise and Fall
The story should have ended there, but now Gideon is drunk on his own power (or rather God’s power). Even though he has liberated Israel, he feels compelled to chase what’s left of the Midianites. In doing so, he runs across some Israelites that refuse to help him. Now he threatens to kill them, too. Long story short, he catches and kills the Midianites and then kills a bunch of Israelites. Now, he is no longer serving God’s purpose of delivering Israel.

Then, the Israelites want to make Gideon king. He says something that seems pious. He says, “God’s the hero, not me.” But then his actions betray him. He gathers up everyone’s gold and makes a golden priestly garment that the text says causes the Israelites to commit idolatry. Perhaps this means he starts acting as a priest, or that he is letting Israel worship him. Then he gets tons of wives (something a king would do and a forbidden action for kings in Deuteronomy). Then he names one of his sons Abimelech, which means “the king is my father.” So much for not wanting to be a king. Gideon dies, and then things get really messy for his family.

Takeaway
We can be as scared as we want, but if we’ll trust God will use us. God also lets us voice our timidity and insecurity to Him. God is patient with us. But Gideon’s reluctance was better than his pride and overconfidence in the end. A leader who uses his God-given gifts to gain glory for himself and forget where his gifts come from is far more destructive than a reluctant follower of God. Trust God, but when God shows up, we can’t start thinking that we deserve any of the credit.

“As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. 31 So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.”
Mark 1:29-31

Sick with House Guests
Imagine you are Simon’s (this is the apostle Peter) mother-in-law. Your son-in-law just showed up with at least 12 of his friends, but you are in bed sick. Maybe Peter should have asked if it was a good time to bring Jesus and his entourage to their house—seems a little unself-aware, but this is Peter we’re talking about. That’s kind of his thing. Luckily for the mother-in-law, Jesus heals her of her fever. We’re left wondering how she felt between having her son-in-law’s famous new boss burst into her bedroom and the actual healing. Whatever the case, she immediately gets up and begins to serve them.

Takeaway
So what can we learn from this story? First, Peter was married. That’s fascinating because most rabbis picked young, promising disciples, not disciples who had already finished their education, moved into the family business (fishing), and gotten married. Jesus chooses everyone, even unlikely people. Especially unlikely people. It also makes me feel good about my choice to be married and a pastor.

But most importantly, we need to look at her response. Her response to being healed was to immediately get up and serve Jesus. Many of us feel like we have been healed by Jesus is some sense: sins forgiven, peace given in hard times, physical healing, problems solved, community found. Our response should be the same. Walk away from our brokenness and serve Jesus. We are saved from something and saved For something.

“What do you think? Which one of these three was a neighbor to the man who encountered thieves?”

 Then the legal expert said, “The one who demonstrated mercy towards him.”
Jesus said, “go and do likewise.” LUKE 10:36-37

Mash Up
Typically, my Shuffle Texts deal with somewhat unfamiliar passages (and how they are still relevant). This one is about two extremely familiar passages—the Good Samaritan and comparing Mary and Martha. They follow one right after another, but I’ve never thought about why that might be. There is a lot of important things about both stories that I will skip over (so don’t get mad) to show you an important point I’ve been missing for years.

In the Good Samaritan, Jesus is talking to a Bible expert who knows everything about the law. He even knows that one of the most important commandments is to love one’s neighbor. However, he has a narrow view of what a neighbor is, so Jesus tells him the parable of a guy robbed and beaten. The man is ignored by the religious people (like the man Jesus is talking to) and helped by a heretical Samaritan. Jesus uses the story to point out, among other things, that LEARNING the right things is not enough. We have to actually DO them.

In the second story, Martha is DOING lots of things. She’s mad that her sister, Mary, isn’t helping. Instead, Mary is sitting at Jesus’ feet, LEARNING from Him like a disciple. Jesus tells Mary that she is distracted by her DOING and should instead be LEARNING.

Do you see the seeming contradiction here? I hope so. I capitalized it. Sorry, if that was condescending. In one story Jesus tells a guy to focus less on learning and more on doing. In other story, Jesus tells a woman to spend less time doing and more time learning. What’s the point? The point is. Each one of us may need to hear different things from Jesus. There is no cookie cutter path a follower of Jesus might take. Each one us needs to decide if God is trying to talk to us like the Bible expert or like Martha.

That involves and actual relationship with God—not just reading the manual, but letting His presence walk us through it. It’s kinda like how Mary is sitting in the presence of Jesus while she learns, so that she can go and do correctly.

“Mary has chosen the better part. It won’t be taken away from her.” -LUKE 10:42

Genesis 15 Part 2: The Smoking Pot

9 So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”
10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi[e] of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

Pots and Torches
I referenced this story in a sermon recently as an anecdote about how God’s love means that God is faithful and keeps his promises. Nobody in my congregation understood what I was trying to say because they all thought that I said Abraham and Go were smoking pot together. I did not say that. Once I explain this story, you might, however, be tempted to believe that hallucinogens were involved.

Carcasses
Just before this passage, God reaffirms his promise that he will give Abraham the promised land (he is still called Abram for a few more chapters). Abraham wants proof, so this bizarre scene unfolds.

God tells Abraham to gather some animals. Abraham cuts them in half and arranges them neatly, as one does, except of course the birds. We don’t cut birds in half. That would be ridiculous.

Most likely, this was a covenant/treaty ritual that was common at Abraham’s time. The two participants, Abraham and God, are to pass through the carcasses as a solemn promise that they will fulfill their promises, or else end up like the carcasses. In other words, it’s just like a business contract, or a treaty between nations, just with more animals cut in half.

Night Terrors
But instead of just a normal, run-of-the-mill, bisected carcass treaty, God puts Abraham to sleep with terrifying darkness. Then he begins to tell him things. Fun. Oh, and I forgot to mention. This was already a vision (verse 1). So now, Abraham is hearing from God during a dream, that occurred during a nap inside a vision.

God tells Abraham that his descendants will get the Promised Land, but only after 400 years of slavery. Then a smoking pot (you see the confusion here) and a flaming torch pass through the animal halves.

So why is this important?
As much as fun as it is to talk about visions and carcasses, this story is actually really important to our theology of the promises of God. In a regular treaty, both people would walk through the ritual. However, only God passes through, making the claim to us that God will be faithful regardless of what we do. We need only trust. Second, when God makes a promise. It is not always easy (slavery), and it is not always instant (400 years). But God is faithful, and God will do what he says he will do. That is one of the fundamental aspects of our Father and Creator. It's a wild scene but with wilder implications about who our God is.

And no, God and Abraham did not smoke pot together.

“[Abraham] has now permitted God to be not a hypothesis about the future, but the voice around which his life is organized.” -Walter Brueggeman

Genesis 15 Part 1: Faith and Doubt
15 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:
“Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield,
your very great reward.”
2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit[c] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring[d] be.”
6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
7 He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”
8 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”

Abraham’s doubt and faith
Back in Genesis 12, God asks Abraham to pick up everything and move. If he does, God will give him land and descendants. So Abraham does. And he’s called Abram for awhile before God changes his name, in case you’re confused. My seven-year-old keeps asking me why God changes people’s names and never likes my answer, so I won’t give it to you.
After some family strife, war, and a mysterious priest, Abraham still doesn’t have an heir (or land) and begins to doubt God. God promises to him again that he will give him an heir. Then, he shows him the stars as proof, and Abraham believes about the heir, but doubts about the land. (My next post will cover what happens next)

Messy Faith
What can we learn from this strange vision? (It will get a lot stranger in the next post)
First, God is inviting Abraham (and us) to a faith that goes beyond our current circumstances—a faith that trusts God in any barrenness we might be experiencing in this life. As Walter Brueggemann points out, Jesus calls the disciples men “of little faith” several times in the gospels whenever they get anxious about present circumstances (sickness, storms, tough demons, lack of food, etc.). Will we trust when the evidence doesn’t line up with the promises? Or will we continue to try (and fail) to control our present circumstances?
Second, why does God show him stars? Did Abraham just need a visual aid to reinforce the promise? Possibly. But implicit in this is that God created the stars. What is Abraham’s situation compared to the power of the one who lit up the night sky. To connect it to the point above, we can trust God for our future because the whole cosmos is in his hands.
Third, Abraham believes, and God credits it to him as righteousness. Our only response is to trust and follow. Yet in verses 2 and 3, and again in verse 8, and then the whole Hagar thing, Abraham continues to show signs of doubt. That’s good news for us. We can doubt. We can mess up, but faith is reorienting ourselves on the promises of God and taking one more step forward.

Counting Stars
Let’s commit to recognizing how much bigger God is than our circumstances. Then trust him with our future despite the chaos of our present. And when we start to doubt, despair, sink, or go hungry, return again and again to the God who numbered the stars.

The Goal of Instruction
 “The goal of instruction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.” -1 Timothy 1:5

Timothy the Instructor
Paul left Timothy to deal with the church at Ephesus. Apparently, the teaching in the church had devolved into discussions about myths, genealogies, speculative theology, and meaningless talk.

I’ve been a part of those conversations before. Just this morning my seven-year-old was very intrigued by the genealogies in Genesis 11 and about how people and places could have the same name (e.g. Cush, Havilah, Tarshish—she’s trying the read the Bible straight through, and can do it on her own, thank you, even if her Dad is a pastor and might have some pointers). This was not a conversation I wanted to have at 6:30 in the morning, but I did my best. I feel vindicated after reading that Paul didn’t like these discussions either.

As far as myths and speculations are concerned, we can get wrapped up in hypotheticals and made-up stories for hours without accomplishing any discipleship. My personal favorite rabbit hole is discussing theology around the possible existence of the multiverse or aliens. You can get me sidetracked, but I don’t think focusing on that is going to help me much in the present.

Love
Instead, teaching should lead to love, to agape in Greek: a self-sacrificing commitment to God that surrenders all things to him and a committed love to others that seeks their good, forgives them, and serves them.

And he gives Timothy three places that love should come from. Aliens and genealogies don’t make the list. They are a pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith. I’ll reinterpret these (feel free to argue, my daughter will) to be Motives, Action, and Direction.

Pure Heart-Good Motives
“The last temptation is the greatest treason / To do the right deed for the wrong reason” -T.S. Eliot, Murder in the Cathedral

If you’ve been around spiritual people enough, you’ll know that we can find spiritual reasons to justify anything, especially if feels good, has the veneer of godliness, or is really cool.

I’ve seen parts of the church fall into this temptation when it’s focused solely on production value, reach, relevance, and ability. None of these things are bad in themselves, but it’s easy to see that if we don’t search our hearts in community with other believers, the Word, and the Spirit, we can make a cool Jesus show with little underneath.

Good Conscience-Right Action
We are saved by grace through faith. We don’t earn our salvation (paraphrasing Eph 2:8-9). But Ephesians 2:10 tells us that we are brought into new life to do good things. In other words, there is a new way for us to live—things that we should do, and things that we shouldn’t do. Paul gives us a list in 1 Timothy 1:9-10 that cuts through the middle of all of our contemporary debates: take care of your parents, don’t be violent, have restrictive sexual ethics (even in consensual situations), don’t oppress people, don’t lie. All of these things keep us from being able to love God and others, and of course Paul has plenty to say about what we should do as well in order to show love.

Different voices in the world and the church try to pick and choose from these lists to emphasize particular agendas. That’s why, again, we seek instruction from the Word, the Spirit, and a community of believers that will point out our blind spots.

Sincere Faith-Right Direction
Finally, having good motives and good actions are not enough to live the full life in Christ if we don’t why we’re doing any of it. We must have faith—faith that Jesus saves us, faith that Jesus is king and is restoring the world, faith that he’s calling us to participate in this kingdom work. It’s from a knowledge and belief of what God is doing so that we can jump on board, avoiding sin and showing love with pure motives. Therefore, we need instruction to teach us who this Jesus is, what he’s done, and what he calls us to.

Change the Worlds
So our preaching, our bible study, our conversations, the books we read for spiritual guidance should have this goal in mind: to show love by what we say and don’t say, do and don’t do, always checking that our motives are coming from a pure heart, and allowing the foundation of what Jesus has done to be the force behind that.

Then we’ll be ready to minister to aliens, other dimensions, and precocious seven-year-olds.

Colossians 1:15-20
15The Son is the image of the invisible God,
the one who is first over all creation,
16 Because all things were created by him:
both in the heavens and on the earth,
the things that are visible and the things that are invisible.
Whether they are thrones or powers,
or rulers or authorities,
all things were created through him and for him.
17 He existed before all things,
and all things are held together in him.
18 He is the head of the body, the church,
who is the beginning,
the one who is firstborn from among the dead
so that he might occupy the first place in everything.
19 Because all the fullness of God was pleased to live in him,
20  and he reconciled all things to himself through him—
whether things on earth or in the heavens.
He brought peace through the blood of his cross.

The Real World
I just dropped off my son at daycare, and I sit in traffic on the way to work. The light for the turn lane turns green and nobody moves. Most likely, the driver of the front car is looking at his phone. The car behind me feels that a 10 second horn blast is sufficient to alert the front driver of his failure. The front driver finally jerks into motion, but he spares a withering glance at me in the rearview mirror because he assumes I am the honker. Of course, since he took so long to move, I miss the light.

So there I sit, annoyed with the distracted driver in front of me, annoyed with the rude driver behind me, and feeling helpless as I’m blamed for something I didn’t do while still being stuck at the same light. Life can be tedious. Life can be mundane. But then I come across a passage like this (audio bible, of course).

Who do you say that I am?
Many scholars assume this passage is an early church hymn. It celebrates what they really thought about who Jesus was—Son of God, died for our sins, but so much more. It takes a peek behind the supernatural curtain and recognizes Jesus as the 2nd person of the eternal Godhead, involved in making the universe, involved in keeping the universe in motion, involved in remaking the world. It also reveals the truth of the visible world, explaining how Jesus revealed God to us, how he brought the fullness of God to us.

And it celebrates how his cross and resurrection use all the cosmic power and planning to return healing and beauty to our broken, frustrating, boring, and mundane world.
Jesus asked Peter who he thought Jesus was. Peter answered that he was the Messiah (Israel’s savior king) and the son of the living God. But Peter, before the resurrection, probably had no idea how far the mystery went.

The Fullness Of God
To reiterate, Jesus is involved in the Big Bang; he’s the strings holding the universe together, and he’s the power that will rein in the chaos and entropy of the universe and right every wrong. And we’re called to participate in that. We’re called to be filled with the fullness of God and let him use us to put this world back together.

I can sit through another turn light if only to meditate on this high calling and the even higher being that calls us.