Month: February 2021

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For Those Yet Unseeing — Worldwide Prayer

Scripture Focus: Mark 8.17-18
Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? 

From John: It is important for us to intervene when we see injustice, or become blind to it. It is important for us to respond when God prompts our hearts, or become immune to his influence. It is important for us to obey when he speaks to us, or become deaf to his still, small voice. May this repost from 2019 help keep open our eyes and ears and soften our hearts. 

Reflection: For Those Yet Unseeing — Worldwide Prayer
By John Tillman

Often people of faith express the wish to be able to stand among the disciples, seeing and touching, and experiencing Jesus first hand. There’s nothing wrong with such a fanciful wish as long as it is simply a wish to stand in his presence. (We know in faith that we will stand in his presence, and bow down.) 

Often, this wish comes with assumptions. 
We assume that faith comes easily when we witness miracles. 
We assume that the disciples were ancient simpletons and that our quick modern minds would easily decipher Christ’s pedagogy of parables. (We ignore that science tells us that our species’ intelligence has been identical for eons.)

We are wrong on both those counts.
Those who witnessed the miracles of the Bible still struggled to have faith.
Some modern scholarship has not brought us greater understanding of Christ, but has muddied the waters with doubt, conjecture, and fringe theology presented as “faith” accompli—as if it has always belonged to the mainstream.

Junk science is rejected by an overwhelming percentage of scientists. Junk theology is rejected by an overwhelming percentage of theologians. It is ironic that some who reject junk science are willing to accept junk theology and some who reject junk theology are quick to accept junk science. Both groups are blind, deaf, mute, and immobile.

When we pray this prayer of intercession for the blind, deaf, mute, and immobile in our culture, may we not forget to include ourselves.

A Prayer of Intercession from Great Britain
Thank you, God, for the Church,
Help us to share fully in the church family.

We pray for people who are blind:
Help them to see Jesus.

We pray for people who are deaf:
Help them to hear Jesus.

We pray for people who cannot use their legs:
Help them to walk with Jesus.

We pray for people who cannot speak clearly:
Help them to know that Jesus understands.

Please help us all to serve you.
Fill us with the fruit of the 
Spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

*Prayer from Hallowed be Your Name: A collection of prayers from around the world, Dr. Tony Cupit, Editor.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
When your word goes forth it gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. — Psalm 119.130

Today’s Readings
Genesis 38 (Listen – 4:24)
Mark 8 (Listen – 4:29)

This Weekend’s Readings
Genesis 39 (Listen – 3:08) Mark 9 (Listen – 6:16)
Genesis 40 (Listen – 2:59) Mark 10 (Listen – 6:42)

Read more about Forgiveness to Soften the Hardened
There is no level of spiritual achievement or growth at which one is not susceptible to hardening of the heart and the spirit. Christ’s call echoes again. Calling us deeper into every discipline we pursue.

Forgiveness to Soften the Hardened :: Worldwide Prayer

Read more about God of the Weak and Doubtful
When God shows us his doubtful children, he comes to where we are, puts his reassuring hand on our shoulder, and claims us as his children as well.

God of the Weak and Doubtful
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Vengeance, Arrogance, and Partiality

Scripture Focus: Genesis 37.34-35

34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said, “I will continue to mourn until I join my son in the grave.” So his father wept for him. 

Mark 7.20-23

20 He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

Reflection: Vengeance, Arrogance, and Partiality

By John Tillman

There are disagreements among biblical interpreters about Joseph and how he related to his brothers. 

Some see Joseph as innocent. They argue Joseph did nothing wrong. His brothers are simply vengeful and jealous. This view’s popularity comes partly from seeing Joseph as a “type” of Christ in the Old Testament. (Where Moses shows us the conquering Christ, Joseph shows us the suffering servant.) Joseph, however, is no more sinless than Moses or anyone else. This view seems unrealistically idealistic.

Some see Joseph as a spoiled, arrogant braggart. They argue that, although Joseph was a victim, he provoked his brothers to anger and jealousy. This view is more realistic but problematic for blaming the victim.

Some blame Israel’s parenting and favoritism. They argue that Israel’s partiality humiliated his older sons and spoiled his younger. This view only shifts the blame to prior generations, absolving the descendants.

Seeing any biblical character, other than Jesus, as blameless is a bad idea. Rather than one person or group, all involved in this dysfunctional drama are blameworthy in different ways. 

Malefactors are responsible for their actions, regardless of provocation or incitement. Joseph’s brothers have no excuse even if he had been the worst braggart and spoiled brat that ever existed. 

Joseph is also not innocent. The scripture gives us an important clue about this when even Israel rebukes Joseph after being disturbed when Joseph shared his dreams. Joseph’s words and manner of sharing his dreams must have been far out of line for his doting father to take him down a peg about it. 

Finally, Israel reaps the consequences of his partiality when he mourns Joseph. It is the fruit of the seeds of division that he planted and he must sip its sour wine for years.

Were the brothers vengeful and jealous? Yes, and so are we.

Was Joseph prideful and insensitive to the effect of his privileges? Yes, and so are we.

Was Israel blind to his partiality and the harm it was causing? Yes, and so are we.

The actions of everyone involved grew from their inner sinfulness. What comes out of a person is what defiles them, not what happens to them. What we do and say is an overflow of our hearts.

May our hearts find hope and be changed by our suffering servant Jesus.

May we find in Jesus forgiveness to replace our vengeance, humility to replace our arrogance, and justice to replace our partiality.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. — Matthew 5.6

Read more about Humbling Nebuchadnezzar
Humility will save you and your nation. Pride will destroy you and your nation.

Humbling Nebuchadnezzar

Read more about Abandon Human Vengeance
The tactics of human vengeance are escalatory. We always hit back harder than we were struck.

Abandon Human Vengeance
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From Pejorative to Promise

Scripture Focus: Genesis 35.9-10
9 After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. 10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.” So he named him Israel. 

Reflection: From Pejorative to Promise
By John Tillman

The number of people with name changes in the Bible is long and many of the changes are significant.

Abram and Sarai are renamed Abraham and Sarah.
Ben-Oni is renamed Benjamin.
Naomi renames herself Mara.
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah are renamed Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 
James and John are called Boanerges, the Sons of Thunder.
Simon is called Cephas or Peter, the rock.
Joseph is renamed Barnabas.
And, of course, Jacob’s name is changed by God to Israel. 

All of the examples above, a changed name meant a changed identity. They said something about how they thought about themselves, how the world saw them, and about their God.

The name, Israel, doesn’t seem to stick the first time, so God comes to Jacob again, repeating the name change and the promise that goes with it. Jacob was a pejorative, meaning “heel grasper.” Israel is a blessing, meaning “contends with God” or perhaps a promise, “overcomes with God.”

Names still have power. We name ourselves and others. Twitter and Instagram handles, gamertags, and many other names function as self-description. The names we give ourselves can be encoded with inside jokes or vague pop culture references.

We also engage in damaging name-calling. Instead of validating a part of one’s humanity, name-calling strips it. Name-calling has been used heavily in politics of late, but its roots go much further back. Name-calling is an attack on the image of God in others and Jesus compared it to murder. (Matthew 5:21-22)

Dealing with a few famous name-callers would be bad enough. Some of us, however, are our own name-calling bullies. We bully ourselves with names like, Stupid, Fat, Worthless. These hurt us more than any other person’s name for us could.

The Bible tells us that Jesus has a name for us. (Revelation 2.17; 3.12) It is not a pejorative but a promise. When Jesus names us, he doesn’t badmouth us, he blesses us. Jesus, rather than call us names like “loser” or “deplorable,” give us new and good names. 

He became a loser in our place when he died on the cross. He erased our deplorable sins, paying for them by his sacrificial death. He gives us new names of victory and holiness that only we may know. We can come to know his name for us by coming close, wrestling with him as Jacob did, holding on to him until he lovingly names us as his child.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Show us the light of your countenance, O God, and come to us. — Psalm 67.1

Today’s Readings
Genesis 35-36 (Listen – 9:33)
Mark 6 (Listen – 7:23)

Read more about Identity Lost, Identity Gained
In Jacob’s preparation to fool his father he put on qualities that his father loved, covering his own unloved qualities.

Identity Lost, Identity Gained

Read more about Suffering for Our True Identity
It is not all right to be a Christian. And if we ask why, the answer is a sad one; Christians have given Christianity a bad name. — Madeleine L’Engle

Suffering for Our True Identity
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Neither Aggression nor Assimilation

Scripture Focus: Genesis 34.20-23
20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city to speak to the men of their city. 21 “These men are friendly toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and trade in it; the land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours. 22 But the men will agree to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised, as they themselves are. 23 Won’t their livestock, their property and all their other animals become ours? So let us agree to their terms, and they will settle among us.”

Reflection: Neither Aggression nor Assimilation
By John Tillman

To their faces, Shechem and his son, Hamor, talk to Jacob’s family about unity and “love.” They want to be one people. However, Shechem and Hamor reveal to the leaders of their city a deceitful plan that is less unity than uniformity. It is less cooperation and more assimilation.

It is their intention to absorb Jacob and his family into their own land, their own traditions, their own people. What they want is for Israel’s family to lose their identity and uniqueness. They expect them to give up their God, their customs, their beliefs, and their property. All of this brought about by “rape.”

There is no Hebrew word for “rape.” The euphemism, lie down, is used for sexual contact of any kind, including consensual or marital sex. However, the word, took, carries the hint of violence. It is sometimes translated married but literally means carry away or take and carry. It is often used for inanimate objects or prisoners of war. This same word describes the “sons of God” taking the daughters of men. (Genesis 6.1-2) This same word describes Lamech, the first sinful polygamist of the Bible, taking two wives, Adah and Zillah. (Genesis 4.19-24)

The anger Jacob’s sons feel about what has happened to Dinah comes from their identity. They consider it something that is “outrageous in Israel” and “should not be done.” (Genesis 34.7) Even though they are, in reality, only a large family at this time, they already think of themselves as a distinct people—a nation set apart.

It is a mistake when viewing conflicts such as this one to assume that either Jacob is acting righteously or Levi and Simeon are. In truth, none are righteous. Both aggression and assimilation are a capitulation to culture.

We can’t be “one people” (Genesis 34.16) with everyone but we can live at peace with them. We don’t have to capitulate to culture like Jacob but we mustn’t resort to deception or violence like the brothers. Instead, we can live peacefully according to God’s standards, whether or not the surrounding rulers agree with us. We do not need to conquer the culture, slaying our enemies, but to save our enemies from the culture.

By peaceful loving actions, we can call others to join us as people who are distinct on the face of the earth. We can maintain our holiness and identity, holding up an example, allowing them to be drawn to us and to the gospel. 

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
I will bear witness that the Lord is righteous; I will praise the Name of the Lord Most High. — Psalm 7.18

Today’s Readings
Genesis 34 (Listen -4:18)
Mark5 (Listen – 5:21)

Read more about Commenting in Community
Many people don’t mind attaching their identities to noxious ideas, lies, exaggerations, hurtful and mean-spirited memes, name-calling, and desperate pandering to the powerful.

Commenting in Community

Read more about Resisting Culture’s Mold
Leah and Rachel are set against one another…They allow this cultural pressure to press them into a combative mold.

Resisting Culture’s Mold
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Running to Forgive

Scripture Focus: Genesis 33.3-4
3 He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother. 
4 But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.

Reflection: Running to Forgive
By John Tillman

A prodigal son, who betrayed his family’s trust approaches home. He is limping. He is fearful of rejection. His hopes are focused on survival. 

But the wronged party abandons dignity and pride and runs to the prodigal. He embraces him  and kisses him, welcoming him rather than harming him. Esau running to meet Jacob and the prodigal’s father running to meet his son, are extraordinarily similar scenes. (Genesis 33.4; Luke 15.20) Esau and Jacob must at least have been in the back of Jesus’ mind when he told of the prodigal.

Of course, the actual forgiveness and reconciliation between Esau and Jacob is limited. They are each still only human. Their trust is limited. Their faith in one another is justifiably small. In the future, violence will dominate the relationship. But in this moment, in a limited way, Esau demonstrates the welcome of the gospel. The wronged party shows undeserved mercy. 

Not only is Jacob and Esau’s situation different from Jesus’ parable, it is different from our own situation.

Our spiritual sins are worse than Jacob’s familial ones. We are scheming, rebellious thieves and liars, but worse than a dispute over inheritance, we have joined an insurrection against God our Father and King. We have chosen war instead of peace. We have chosen lies instead of the truth. We have chosen hate instead of love.

Our ability to bargain and appease God is non-existent. Jacob is no penniless prodigal repenting from the pig pen. He is wealthy and prosperous and he sends valuable resources ahead of himself to appease the justifiable anger of Esau. We have no such offerings to send that can appease or compensate for our rebellion and sin. When we come to Jesus we have nothing to offer him of value. We have only the filthy rags of our sins clinging to our backs.

Jesus is truly righteous and makes a sincere offer. Esau was wronged by Joseph but Esau was also sinful, violent, and had despised the birthright Jacob stole. Esau’s offer of protection and forgiveness is suspicious and he is untrustworthy. Jesus, however, is fully righteous. He makes us a fully genuine offer that we can have full faith and trust in. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive them.

May we also be willing to rush that forgiveness to those around us. Let us be faithful. Let us be just. Let us run to forgive.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading
Jesus taught us, saying: “If your brother does something wrong, rebuke him and, if he is sorry, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times a day and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I am sorry,’ you must forgive him.” — Luke 17.3-4

Today’s Readings
Genesis 33 (Listen – 2:59)
Mark 4 (Listen – 5:01)

Read more about Faith After the Storm
How many times do we go to Jesus in prayer, without faith but with bucket-fulls of complaints…”Don’t you care, Jesus?”

Faith After the Storm

Read more about Meals Together, Forgiveness to Go
What if all our meals were markers—altars of forgiveness and belonging? Come to the table. Lay down your burdens. Offer forgiveness.

Meals Together, Forgiveness to Go