John Tillman - The Park Forum

September 3, 2024August 19, 2024

After Advent? — Readers’ Choice

Scripture Focus: 2 Chronicles 30.18-19
18 Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone 19 who sets their heart on seeking God—the Lord, the God of their ancestors—even if they are not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.” 20 And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people.

2 Chronicles 31.1
1 When all this had ended, the Israelites who were there went out to the towns of Judah, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. They destroyed the high places and the altars throughout Judah and Benjamin and in Ephraim and Manasseh. After they had destroyed all of them, the Israelites returned to their own towns and to their own property.

Mark 1.14b-15
14b Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Matthew 21.31b-32
31b Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

Originally published on December 26, 2023, based on readings from 2 Chronicles 30-31, Mark 1, and Matthew 21.

Readers’ Choice is here: This month means so much to us because we focus on you, the readers, and the devotionals that have been meaningful to you. Each year we send approximately 253 devotional emails. (260 minus a few holidays, like yesterday.) Over 50 percent of our emails get emailed responses from readers like you. It’s over 70 percent when we average the total number of respondents. Hearing that what we have written is meaningful to you is meaningful to us. That’s why we love sharing some of your most meaningful comments and messages. Thank you, readers. We do what we do to serve you. There’s still time to tell us about your favorite, most meaningful posts of the year. If you shared it with someone, or it helped you, let us know via email, direct message, or filling out the linked form.

Advent in September: Several of the choices from readers were from last year, during Advent. We will put those posts together in this first week of Readers’ Choice. We pray as Summer winds down that the spirit of Christmas has continued in your heart and that these posts will help you look forward to and anticipate the coming seasons.

Readers’ Choice posts are selected by our readers:
Barbara, TN — Wow! Poignant exhortation! Thank you!
MT, TX

Reflection: After Advent? — Readers’ Choice
By John Tillman

2 Chronicles 30 describes a Passover celebration like none since the days of Solomon and David. But not everyone was ready for Hezekiah’s revival.

Whether by ignorance or haste, some failed to come to the feast consecrated, violating the commandments Hezekiah was reinstating. Yet, there was mercy.

Hezekiah prayed that God would not look at their outward adherence to ceremonial rules of cleanness but at the determination of their hearts to seek after God. When God had mercy, the celebration was so joyous that Hezekiah extended the Passover festival for a week.

Many popular songs wish for a continuation of the Christmas season and the “spirit” of Christmas. Can you imagine a Christmas so peaceful or joyous you’d want it to keep going?

Truthfully, Christmas does keep going. Christmastide continues on the church calendar, ending with Epiphany on January 6th. Additionally, Advent’s message of the gospel never expires. We can and should share it all year round. But what comes after Advent? What should follow in our lives after experiencing hope, love, joy, and peace in Christ?

2 Chronicles 30 is followed by 31. Mercy, worship, adoration, and joy bring change. After the festival, the people smashed sacred stones and cut down Asherah poles. They dismantled the infrastructure of false worship, tearing down altars and destroying high places. They acted in faith to turn away from idols they had been devoted to.

Thank God that we can seek him as we are. When we come to him, God will judge us not by our outward adherence to rules but by the determination of our hearts to seek after him. We do not need to perfect ourselves, cover our wounds, or shine ourselves up. Like the unwashed shepherds or the pagan Magi, we can rejoice, knowing we are accepted.

Seeking God’s mercy, however, doesn’t mean continuing in sins. Jesus ate with sinners and preached repentance. Prostitutes didn’t stay prostitutes. Crooked tax collectors became honest. The demonically influenced were set free. Violence-prone fishermen became disciples of love.

Jesus’ advent will not leave us the same. Mercy does not maintain the status quo. Pardon is not perpetual permission. Healing is not the enablement of re-harming ourselves or others.

Continue Christmas by seeking what change Jesus initiates in you. May we act in faith, turning away from what we have been devoted to, smashing our sacred stones and tearing down our altars.

From John: The Divine Hours prayers will return in October. This month we will pray one scripture passage or verse each week.

Prayer:
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. — John 1.14

Today’s Readings
Jeremiah 28 (Listen 3:05)
1 Corinthians 5 (Listen 3:15)

Readers’ Choice is here!
This month, we are thankful to share your favorite posts from the past year. There’s still time to tell us your faves via email, direct message, or the linked form, so we can repost them.

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Supporting our Work

August 30, 2024August 18, 2024

Good and Bad Baskets

Scripture Focus: Jeremiah 24.1b-7
1b …the Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the Lord. 2 One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early; the other basket had very bad figs, so bad they could not be eaten. 3 Then the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” “Figs,” I answered. “The good ones are very good, but the bad ones are so bad they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 5 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians. 6 My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. 7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

Reflection: Good and Bad Baskets
By John Tillman

When bananas go bad, you can make banana bread out of them. But neglect them long enough and they are so bad that there is no saving them. You just throw them out.

Like Pharoah’s visions of good and bad grain, cows, and bread, Jeremiah sees a vision of baskets of good and bad food—figs.

Both visions overturn our expectations. Pharoah’s vision seems like a vision of destruction but is really a vision of provision. Jeremiah’s vision seems like a vision of judgment but is actually a vision of promise.

By this point in Jeremiah’s ministry, many in Judah and Jerusalem have already been taken captive to Babylon. At first glance, we might interpret the bad basket of figs as representing these exiles.

After all, exile was punishment, right? Judah had become so bad that these people were “thrown out” of Jerusalem into exile…right? The “good figs” must be the people remaining, the people still fighting to save their country…right?

Wrong.

Jeremiah told the last king of Judah, Zedekiah, that God was setting before the city life and death, salvation and destruction. (Jeremiah 21.8-10) This echoes the language of the covenant ceremony Moses planned and Joshua enacted when the people entered Canaan. (Deuteronomy 30.11-20)At that time, the path to blessings and victory was obeying God’s laws and cleansing the land of injustice and unrighteousness. But now, the people of God had become more unrighteous than those they displaced. Those sworn to establish justice abused the poor, the foreigners, and the widows. The figs had gone bad. Too bad to be redeemed. Now they were the unrighteous who needed to be cleansed from the land.

The good figs were in exile. Exile was punishment, but it was also a path of salvation. The unexpected method of salvation was surrender, not conquest. The unexpected place of salvation was Babylon, not Jerusalem. In Babylon, God promised to bless the people, give them a new heart to worship him, and bring them home renewed.

Which basket are we in? Exile, not conquest, is our reality. We are more like Jeremiah and Joseph than we are like Joshua or David.

May we learn the exiles’ lessons. May we live among the ungodly, yet maintain godliness. May we accommodate culture without affirming culture. May we remember that the only Temple we need is Jesus, whom we worship in Spirit and Truth. (John 4.21-24)

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness, … make your way straight before me. — Psalm 5.8

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Jeremiah 24 (Listen 1:54)
1 Corinthians 1 (Listen 4:03)

This Weekend’s Readings
Jeremiah 25 (Listen 6:12), 1 Corinthians 2 (Listen 2:26)
Jeremiah 26 (Listen 4:04), 1 Corinthians 3 (Listen 3:05)
Jeremiah 27 (Listen 3:52), 1 Corinthians 4 (Listen 3:15)

Read more about Be Good Figs
In Jeremiah, we find both good and bad figs…The good figs are the Jewish exiles…God had a plan to protect them

Be Good Figs

Read more about Readers’ Choice
Readers’ Choice starts Monday and continues throughout September. Tell us your favorite posts via email, direct message, or the linked form, so we can repost them.

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August 29, 2024August 18, 2024

Bad Shepherds

Scripture Focus: Jeremiah 23.1-4
1 “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. 2 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,” declares the Lord. 3 “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. 4 I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.

Reflection: Bad Shepherds
By John Tillman

Sheep are scattering.

Is there a wolf? Is there a fire, a storm, or some other danger?

No. The flock is scattered by those who are supposed to gather and keep them. It is attacked by those who are supposed to protect them. It is panicked by those who are supposed to provide peaceful shelter. Wicked, foolish, and false shepherds are scattering and destroying the flock.

Most of the priests and prophets we know the names of, such as Jeremiah, Isaiah, and others were faithful shepherds of the people. They instructed the people with wisdom and spoke the words of God truthfully to the people, whether it was good news or bad. A few of the “bad” shepherds are named such as Amaziah, Pashhur, and a few others. But reading between the lines of the Old Testament, there were far more false shepherds than true ones.

When we meet false shepherds in the Old Testament, they are usually pointing accusing fingers at the prophets we know to be true. Imagine standing there. If we weren’t reading the book with Jeremiah’s name on it, how would we tell who was right? There’s no easy answer.

Jeremiah gives some indicators of bad and good shepherds. Many of these line up with Jesus’ descriptions of good and bad shepherds. Bad shepherds cause terror. Good shepherds provide safety. Bad shepherds scatter. Good shepherds gather. Bad shepherds wound. Good shepherds heal. Bad shepherds destroy (or kill). Good shepherds grow. Bad shepherds neglect. Good shepherds tend.

People are leaving the church—many because of “bad shepherds.”

Pointing a finger and blaming “false shepherds” is common in American Christianity. How do we know who is telling the truth? What are sheep like us supposed to do?

Know that God is against the false shepherds. As upset as we may be about harmful or false shepherds, God’s anger is beyond ours and his punishment on them will be beyond what we can imagine.

Know that the good shepherd is still good, even if under-shepherds fail to be so. Don’t allow the flawed and fallen shepherds to obscure the image of the true and loving Jesus. He is still good.

Don’t allow bad shepherds to disciple you. Bad shepherds are desperate for more sheep. They disciple their sheep to be like them: harsh, angry, fearful, boasting, abusive, divisive, paranoid, and power-hungry.

Follow the good shepherd. Only his way leads home.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Save me, O God, for the waters have risen up to my neck. — Psalm 69.1

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Jeremiah 23 (Listen 7:13)
2 Thessalonians 3 (Listen 2:16)

Read more about Urban Legends and Good Shepherds
You may have been wounded by a foolish or wicked shepherd. But you can still be healed by Jesus, the good shepherd.

Read more about Readers’ Choice
Readers’ Choice starts in September, so it’s time to share your favorite posts of the year. Tell us your faves via email, direct message, or the linked form.

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August 27, 2024August 18, 2024

Mock, Mock. Who’s There?

Scripture Focus: Jeremiah 21.1-4, 8-9
1 The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah. They said: 2 “Inquire now of the Lord for us because Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is attacking us. Perhaps the Lord will perform wonders for us as in times past so that he will withdraw from us.” 3 But Jeremiah answered them, “Tell Zedekiah, 4 ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am about to turn against you the weapons of war that are in your hands, which you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Babylonians who are outside the wall besieging you.

8 “Furthermore, tell the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; they will escape with their lives.

Galatians 6.7-8
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

Reflection: Mock, Mock. Who’s There?
By John Tillman

Recently many Christians have been concerned about things they believe are “mocking God.” What is “mocking” God and who should be worried about it? We find an example in today’s reading.

Other nations or non-believers sometimes mock God or his people. However, in many cases of “mocking” in the Bible, the targets are God’s prophets, including Jesus and the mockers are God’s people.

During Hezekiah’s reign, an enemy army mocked God. The repentant and faithful king spread the mocking words before God and God destroyed the army. (2 Kings 19.14-19) But in Jeremiah’s day, the kings and leaders were neither repentant nor faithful. Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, seemed sympathetic to Jeremiah, but refused to follow Jeremiah’s advice. Instead, he sent men to Jeremiah asking for miraculous national salvation.

Judah’s kings and religious leaders made Jeremiah and his prophecies objects of mockery. The previous king, Jehoiakim, burned a scroll from Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 36.22-26) They branded Jeremiah a traitor, bound him as a prisoner, physically assaulted him, and threw him in a pit. In the midst of all this, they ask a favor from God. One of those sent to Jeremiah, Pashhur, previously had Jeremiah beaten and bound. (Jeremiah 20.1-6)

These leaders wanted the good old days God back without obeying God’s scripture or his prophets. They didn’t want Babylon to defeat them or humiliate them, but they didn’t have a problem beating or humiliating the prophets who called them to repent. They were the ones mocking God, his prophets, and the scriptures.

When Paul wrote, “God cannot be mocked,” (Galatians 6.7-10) he was not talking about unbelievers mocking God. Paul warned the Galatian believers that investment in fleshly, worldly things, would not yield spiritual, eternal things. To expect so, is to mock God. This is the kind of mocking Christians should be most concerned about.

When outside forces mock God, whether those forces are cultural, governmental, or individual, we can lay those words before God, mourn, and respond like Jesus. Jesus was explicitly turned over to forces like these to be “mocked, and flogged, and crucified” (Matthew 20.19) and we can expect similar treatment.If we are mocked by the world or other believers, let us respond as our mocked savior did. “Father forgive them…” (Luke 23.34)

Do not mock by expecting miraculous, national salvation without personal repentance.
Do not mock by investing in worldly things, expecting spiritual fruit.
Do not mock God’s prophets or God’s mercy.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down; touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. — Psalm 144.5

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Jeremiah 21 (Listen 2:35)
2 Thessalonians 1 (Listen 1:52)

Read more about Tortured Prophets Department
Why do we torture the poets, prophets, preachers, and protestors? We don’t have to be Taylor fans, but can we please avoid becoming Amaziah?

Tortured Prophets Department

Read more about Readers’ Choice
Readers’ Choice starts in September. Tell us your favorite posts from this past year via email, direct message, or the linked form, and we will repost them.

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August 26, 2024August 15, 2024

Be Awake Be Light

Scripture Focus: 1 Thessalonians 5.2 (49-51 AD)
5 You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.

Romans 13.11-14 (57-58 AD)
11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.

Ephesians 5.8-17 (60-62 AD)
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. 14 This is why it is said:

“Wake up, sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”

15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

Reflection: Be Awake Be Light
By John Tillman

In college, I was not a heavy partier. I never drank. I was unlikely to be at rowdy, noisy, crowded bars or parties. However, I was often up all night playing spades, talking, watching films, playing computer games, or role-playing games, etc. Oh, yeah…and doing all-nighters to finish class assignments at the last minute.

We had shutters on our dorm room window that provided a cave-like darkness to sleep in, regardless of the time of day. One early morning as I was cranking the shutters closed on our dorm window to sleep because the sun was coming up, I realized I’d been doing this several days in a row. I mentioned to my roommate that we had gradually become nocturnal. We were awake when we should be asleep and asleep when we should be awake. We lived in the darkness.

When Paul wrote about darkness and light and being awake and asleep, he wasn’t talking about all-nighters. He repeatedly wrote about these metaphors and must have spoken about them frequently. This passage in 1 Thessalonians is echoed and further developed in Romans 13, and Ephesians 5.

Being awake and being in the light is good. Being asleep or drowsy and being in the darkness or behaving like we are in the darkness is bad.

In Christ, we are “of the light” but live in a world dominated by darkness. Darkness and light are different worlds, different realities, that overlap. How then should we live?

Be aware. When awake, we are wary of the dangers and temptations of darkness. Evil, sin, corruption, and wickedness surround us. We must stay vigilant to resist them.

Be active. Light is a weapon against the darkness, a sword that cuts through shadows. Systems that enable or conceal sin and corruption must be actively opposed and revealed using the light of truth.

Be bright. We must shine bright to wake others. When we bring light to those lost in darkness they can join the kingdom of light. When we shine, what we illuminate becomes part of the light. (Ephesians 5.13-14)

Be joyful. We await the coming of dawn not with dread but with joy. Those in the dark fear the exposure of their deeds. We rejoice that our sins are swallowed up and burned away by Christ’s light.

Don’t live in the darkness any longer. Be aware. Be active. Be bright. Be joyfully in the light.

Music: “In The Light” by Charlie Peacock with Sara Groves

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
How great is your goodness, O Lord! Which you have laid up for those who fear you; which you have done in the sight of all. — Psalm 31.19

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Jeremiah 20 (Listen 3:07)
1 Thessalonian 5 (Listen 2:37)

Read more about Inner Light of the Heart
The Holy Spirit is an inner light for surviving the darkness and helping others lost within it.

Inner Light of the Heart

Read more about Readers’ Choice
Readers’ Choice starts soon. Tell us your favorite posts of the year via email, direct message, or the linked form and we will reshare them in September.

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