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September 4, 2024August 19, 2024

Rahab’s Story — Readers’ Choice

Scripture Focus: Matthew 1.1, 5a
1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:

5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab…

Joshua 6.25
25 But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day.

Originally published on December 12, 2023, based on readings from Matthew 1 and Joshua 6.

Readers’ Choice is here: 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 are putting these 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 anticipate the coming seasons.

Readers’ Choice posts are selected by our readers:
Barbara, TN — Hallelujah!
Michele, CO — I imagine she [Rahab] must have declared, like Ruth, your God will be my God. And Salmon must have decided that her past was behind her. Imagine that!

Reflection: Rahab’s Story — Readers’ Choice
By Erin Newton

These are the matriarchs of Jesus: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary. This is Rahab’s story.

Who was this Rahab, the great-great-great-(and so on) grandmother of Jesus? Her identity is somewhat muddled. (Have no fear, she is not the mythic dragon from Job, Psalms, or Isaiah.)

She is likely the woman you remember from Joshua, whose name is rarely said without her epithet, “the prostitute.” How shameful that we demote her to one identity, because she is, in fact, a matriarch of Jesus.

Rahab the ~~prostitute~~ matriarch, like Tamar, was not a member of the Abrahamic family. She did not escape slavery from Egypt nor cross the Red Sea with the multitudes. She was a Canaanite.

Her business was one of pleasure, not love as we dream of it. She used her body in a culture that was more than willing to pay for it. Her job was scandalous and disgraceful to the covenant people encroaching on the borders of Canaan. She is an unlikely character in God’s story of redemption.

The stories of God saving his people reached her ears in Jericho. Stories of wonder and power, stories that herald the supremacy of God. I imagine how she compared the stories to the pathetic notion of her Ba’al killed and trapped by the god of death. Rahab heard and believed in this true God.

By faith, she hid the spies who swore an oath to spare her family. She risked her life to save people who would condemn her land, her friends, her culture, and her job. All because she knew God was coming to her.

The sign of mercy would be the scarlet cord draped from her window. The grandchildren of the people who spread the lamb’s blood across their doorposts would recognize this same sign of faith letting judgment pass safely over her house.

And so she lived among the Israelites. Her old ways would be reformed. Her past would become a testimony. Her future would bear the One whose blood would wash away all sin.

Yes, she was a prostitute.

But she is a matriarch of Jesus. Rahab, the disgraceful member of the enemy nation, is chosen and honored as one of five women named in Jesus’s family. She is not defined by her occupation or nationality.

In the love of Jesus belong the foreigners and the shamed. In the love of Jesus, we are renamed.

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 29 (Listen 5:44)
1 Corinthians 6 (Listen 3:03)

Read more about Becoming Part of the Promise
Rahab asks to be accepted by this powerful God who is not only in the heavens but active upon the Earth.

Becoming Part of the Promise

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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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)

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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 28, 2024August 19, 2024

What Makes a King?

Scripture Focus: Jeremiah 22:15-17
15 “Does it make you a king
to have more and more cedar?
Did not your father have food and drink?
He did what was right and just,
so all went well with him.
16 He defended the cause of the poor and needy,
and so all went well.
Is that not what it means to know me?”
declares the Lord.
17 “But your eyes and your heart
are set only on dishonest gain,
on shedding innocent blood
and on oppression and extortion.”

Reflection: What Makes a King?
By Erin Newton

Money can get things done. Wealth is usually indicative of power. But does having more really make someone a king?

God criticizes Jehoahaz (Shallum) king of Judah for his blatant pursuit of wealth while ignoring the poor and needy. He did not build this wealth in ways that were honorable or right; God calls it “dishonest gain” and “extortion.” This leader used the oppression and dismissal of others to enrich himself.

Jehoahaz is compared to his father Josiah, who is recorded as the king who initiated reforms and religious purification. Josiah defended the cause of the poor and needy.

Both men were made king in the same way—through bloodline. Judah operated under a monarchist government. They didn’t just use wealth to gain their place of authority. There was no bribing of officials or the community to “gain their votes.” So why does God ask if “having more cedar” made Jehoahaz a king?

There are leaders and there are Leaders, the trick is knowing the difference.

Jehoahaz and the dozen or more men before him inherited the leadership of Judah. While there are stories of kingship being granted to younger sons due to death, deception, or divine appointment, Judah followed the general rule that the eldest son became king. But not all kings were the same.

The two books of Kings reveal the ebb and flow of morality in the royal lineage. They were all kings in the same sense, but God does not view them equally.

What makes a king a king? God says kings are those who defend the cause of the poor and the needy. Is that not what it means to know me? True kings are those who know God. Their lives, their efforts, their causes, where they put their money, all these things reveal who is truly a king after God’s heart.

Most of us do not live under monarchies, but all of us are subject to some form of authority, whether it is civil government or church leadership. Some of us are the leaders in organizations, churches, institutions, or departments.

What makes a leader a leader? Knowing God. Knowing that is put into action.

Let us beware of those who pursue personal gains and assume that tenacity is the mark of leadership. Let us beware of our own proclivities to ignore the needs of others when our greed tempts us otherwise.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
With my whole heart I seek you; let me not stray from your commandments. — Psalm 119.10

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

Today’s Readings
Jeremiah 22 (Listen 5:07)
2 Thessalonians 2 (Listen 2:32)

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

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Read more about Wealth is a Dangerous Tool
Take James’s words to heart…Let them inspire humility and respectful fear. If wealth is a tool, it is a dangerous one

Wealth is a Dangerous Tool