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Righteousness On Credit

Links for today’s readings:

Read:   Genesis 15 Listen: (2:53), Read: John 14 Listen: (4:13)

Scripture Focus: Genesis 15.6

6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Reflection: Righteousness On Credit

By John Tillman

Abram did things we’d call righteous.

Abram won a daring military victory that rescued kidnapped people who would have been enslaved. But bravery and fighting for a good cause didn’t make him righteous. Abram refused a financial reward from a corrupt leader. But refusing corruption didn’t make him righteous. Abram had a vibrant spiritual life and talked to God. But spiritual connection didn’t make Abram righteous. Abram obeyed God by abandoning his country and becoming a wandering migrant. But obedience and sacrifice didn’t make Abram righteous.

Abram also fell short of righteousness.

God told Abram to leave home with only his immediate family. Abram invited Lot, a source of conflict, foolishness, and sin. When entering Egypt as a migrant, Abram lied about Sarai being his sister and allowed Pharoah to take her as his wife. This deception enriched Abram while harming Sarai, Pharoah, and his family. Abram later repeated this behavior with Abimelech. Though Abram rescued Lot and others from slavery as war captives, Abram kept slaves himself. Although he was promised a son through Sarai, Abram had a child with Hagar, Sarai’s slave girl.

Abram’s righteous deeds did not outweigh his wicked ones to make him righteous and neither will ours. Adding “righteousness” to “wickedness” yields wickedness. You can mix milk into a gallon of poison, but if you eat cereal with the mixture, you’ll still be dead.

Righteousness is both a perfect thing accomplished for us by Jesus and an imperfect thing we strive for on Earth. There is righteousness that is a gift and righteousness that is a goal. There is righteousness that comes to us and righteousness we must pursue.

We access perfect righteousness by belief in God’s promise. We do not “deserve” this righteousness but it is “credited” to us as it was to Abram. The imperfect righteousness we strive for by obeying God’s calling to “establish righteousness.”

We have Christ’s righteousness on “credit.” Let’s put it to work and yield a harvest. (Romans 4.3-5, Galatians 3.6-9)

In a broken world, we are unworthy servants if we rest and ignore our tasks until Jesus returns. (Mark 13.33-37) We are unworthy servants if we bury our imputed righteousness in the ground without putting it to work in our master’s world. (Matthew 25.24-30)

Let us both accept and pursue righteousness. Let us show our faith by our deeds.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading

Jesus taught us, saying: “Whoever holds my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me; and whoever loves me will be loved by my Father and I shall love him and reveal myself to him.” — John 14.21

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading

Jesus taught us, saying: “Whoever holds my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me; and whoever loves me will be loved by my Father and I shall love him and reveal myself to him.” — John 14.21

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: The First Spirit-Filled Work

Whether with hammer and chisel or keyboard and screen, God’s Spirit longs to use your work to build sacred space depicting redemption.

The First Spirit-Filled Work

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Walk-on Roles

Links for today’s readings:

Read:  Genesis 14 Listen: (4:04), Read: John 13 Listen: (5:06)

Scripture Focus: Genesis 14.18-20

18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
20 And praise be to God Most High,
who delivered your enemies into your hand.”
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Psalm 110.4

4 The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind:
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”

Hebrews 7.1-3

1 This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, 2 and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” 3 Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.

“I am telling you your story, not hers. No one is told any story but their own.” — Aslan in The Horse and His Boy, by C.S. Lewis

Reflection: Walk-on Roles

By John Tillman

The camera of scripture “zooms in” on Abram, cropping out the rest of the world, but occasionally others who know of God or follow God walk into the frame. One of the most notable and intriguing “walk-on” God-followers in the Old Testament is Melchizedek.

What is the rest of Melchizedek’s story? How did he come to know “God Most High”? How did he become king and priest? There’s no definitive answer within scripture.

In The Horse and His Boy, Aravis asks Aslan what will happen to her family’s servant, whom she drugged to make her escape. Aslan says that he will not tell her someone else’s story.

When Jesus tells Peter about his own death, Peter asks Jesus “What about him?” referring to John. “What is that to you?”, Jesus responded. (John 21.18-22) Jesus refused to tell Peter about the rest of John’s story.

No matter how much we ask God, scripture, or each other, “What about him?” regarding Melchizedek, we will come up empty. The Melchizedek mystery is intriguing and intractable. However, there is something we can learn from the story.

God is working even when you don’t see it. Much of what God does is outside of our limited knowledge. Therefore, when it seems like God is doing nothing, it just means he is doing something we can’t see.

God is working through people outside your group. Whether outside your church, city, denomination, or country, God is working among and using people you don’t know and probably using some you wouldn’t approve of. When we encounter God’s work, we can bless it even if the workers are “not part of our group.” (Luke 9.49-50)

God is working through you where you are. Melchizedek didn’t join Abram’s daring rescue but he was still part of God’s work. Meanwhile, Melchizedek was king of a city while Abram was a migrant, living in tents. Both stood for and established righteousness in God’s name. Your position or role doesn’t make your part of God’s work less valuable. God wants to work through you to stand for and establish righteousness where you are in the role you have.

Melchizedek means “King of Righteousness” and, as priests under Jesus, we are priests in Melchizedek’s line. We are all walk-ons in God’s work. Serve your role, whether as priest, ruler, servant, or “walk-on.”

When it seems like “the action” is somewhere else, you are still part of God’s story.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

Then shall all the trees of the wood shout for joy before the Lord when he comes, when he comes to judge the earth. — Psalm 96.12

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Last Priest Standing

Jesus’ high priestly ministry on our behalf is perpetual, never-ending. If we could grasp the full ramifications of this reality, it would radically impact our daily lives.

Last Priest Standing

Read more: Inaugurating The Era of the Servant

Jesus is the fulfillment of every era and every need. Today, his body, the church, is called to live out the era of love and service.

Inaugurating The Era of the Servant

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Fast-Forward

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Genesis 11 Listen: (3:47), Read: John 10 Listen: (4:44)

Links for this weekend’s readings:

Read:  Genesis 12 Listen: (2:51), Read: John 11 Listen: (6:37)
Read:  Genesis 13 Listen: (2:16), Read: John 12 Listen: (6:26)

Scripture Focus: Genesis 11.10, 26, 31-32

10 This is the account of Shem’s family line.
Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad. 11 And after he became the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

26 After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.

31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Harran, they settled there.
32 Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Harran.

Reflection: Fast-Forward

By John Tillman

Genealogies in scripture are nicknamed “begats” because of the following format, although not every genealogy section follows it precisely: “So and so, begat so and so, who begat so and so…”

Many who attempt to read the Bible through, falter and fail amidst the “begats.” Some find them confusing, with unpronounceable names. Some find them boring.

Our boredom is ironic because, from a certain perspective, the story goes fastest in the begats. They are the biblical authors’ “fast-forward” button. Generations are compressed into a few lines. As they flash by, sometimes the images are dark or violent. Sometimes we see great progress.

Have you seen videos online in which an artist shows a painting or drawing from each year over many years? Beginning with childish crayon scratches, their work develops. They change tools. They abandon crayons for colored pencils, then drop color for high-contrast, black and white. They go through a charcoal phase, a pastel phase, and settle on paints. But they don’t just change tools. They change styles and inspirations. They go from cartoons to anime, film stars, religious icons, copies of famous paintings, and self portraits. Sometimes the art gets dark and broody. Sometimes it’s cute pets and loved ones. Sometimes it turns violent or extreme. These videos show patience and dedication.

The “begats” sections teach me that God is patient on a scale I can’t easily understand. He gives generation after generation the chance to walk humbly, to love mercy, and to do justice. Over and over, each generation fails. Some repeat old mistakes. Some overreact to the errors of the past. Some invent new ways to “go wrong.” God is more merciful than I am.

God is working on a generational time-scale but he’s also working in you and me. If he is patient over generations, he will be patient with us.

What do your faith and spiritual practices look like now? What works do your faith produce in keeping with righteousness? Childish crayon drawings or copies of the old masters? Cartoons? Caricatures? Portraits? Are you repeating old mistakes? Stuck in a sinful rut?

Don’t give up. Keep drawing. God is patient to develop your eyes to see, ears to hear, feet to walk, and hands to do good works. He is dedicated to bringing his work to completion in you, in this generation, and all the ones to follow.

God sees our progress in fast-forward.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

O God, you know my foolishness, and my faults are not hidden from you. — Psalm 69.6

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Listen to: 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.

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Zoom Out, Zoom In

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Genesis 9-10 Listen: (7:19), Read: John 9 Listen: (4:56)

Scripture Focus: Genesis 10.32

32 These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.

Acts 2.7-12

7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, d 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

Reflection: Zoom Out, Zoom In

By John Tillman

One of the Bible’s consistent patterns is alternating broad and narrow views.

First, we see a broad cosmic view of creation. Then we see an earthy, up-close, face-to-face depiction of God, Adam, and Eve. Then, from a panoramic scene of the world’s wickedness, we zoom in on one man, Noah, being saved from the judgment of the flood along with his family. Next, we see a wide-angle picture of human pride and rejection of God at the tower of Babel, followed by a macro lens zooming in to follow one family, eventually stopping on an intimate image of Abram’s interactions with God.

The “Table of Nations” is one of the “wide-angle” moments. When I was younger, I envisioned the “Table of Nations” like a United Nations meeting table. However, the “Table of Nations” is not a meeting table where nations gather, it is a spreadsheet table recording where nations scattered. It is not uniting but dividing.

God wanted humans to spread out, flourish, and cultivate growth. But as nations grew, so did suspicion and hatred. They spread over the Earth to isolate and protect themselves, hoarded what they produced, and either envied or feared their brothers and sisters.

When the world fills with chaos and disorder, God zooms in to start changing the world through one life, one family, one nation. But his intention is never to raise one people above all others. God has always wanted to gather all the nations as one people, his people. One family, his family. One flock, his flock. Acts 2 shows that beginning to happen but the rest of Acts and the New Testament shows that it wasn’t easy going.

Uniting people has always been more difficult than dividing them. We see that today. When we look at our world with a wide view, division and hatred are rampant. Anti-Semitic and other racially motivated attacks are growing. Politics is more bitterly fought than ever.

The pattern we see in scripture can comfort and challenge us. It comforts us to remember that most of the time when we look at the wide angle, the situation looks bad.

It challenges us to remember that God zooms in close to get involved on a personal level—our level. Under God’s lens, we are agents of change, inviting everyone to the banquet table of the gospel. He will magnify our efforts.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading

The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah—that is, Christ—is coming; and when he comes he will explain everything.” Jesus said, “That is who I am, I who speak to you” — John 4.25-26

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Life in the Blood

May we not carelessly “eat” blood by profiting from violence, supporting bloodshed, or indifferently shrugging off bloodshed that doesn’t affect us.

Life in the Blood

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Winters as a Sign of Mercy

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Genesis 8 Listen: (3:06), Read: John 8 Listen: ((7:33)

Scripture Focus: Genesis 8:22

22 “As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease.”

Reflection: Winters as a Sign of Mercy

By Erin Newton

As we brace for the blistering cold and possible inches of snow, we are reminded that we are in the middle of winter—not really a new year. This turn from one year to the next has been less than enthusiastic. I can’t seem to muster the energy to set goals or think of what I will achieve over the next few months. I’m not alone. I’ve seen posts and articles lamenting the awkwardness of New Year being in the middle of the cold and dreary winter weeks. But it won’t last forever.

It is the cyclical nature of seasons that brings hope. It reminds us of the promise ages ago that God would “never again” bring massive destruction to the earth in an effort to wipe out humanity. As long as the earth endures, there will be seasons. And that means there will be winter.

The “never again” promise from God should be a relief to humanity. Before the Flood, the narrative suggests that humanity’s wickedness could reach a point of no return or that there was a limit to God’s mercy. God saved a few in that boat, but God’s judgment was thorough. The surviving animals and humans were crammed into tight living quarters. Leisurely strolls to pass the time were probably mixed with the smell of manure or the squawks of cooped-up birds. I doubt it was much of a cruise ship.

But the waters receded, never again to cover the mountains. The steadiness of seasons was promised in return.

Winter is a promise of God’s providential care. No matter what we do, the cycles will keep on turning. There is no evil that will invoke “Flood: Round Two.” The beauty of God’s promise is not that it will be Edenic again. It’s not a heavenly promise of blue skies and sunny warmth. There will still be winters—periods of fallow and hibernation and dormant fields.

We experience this realistically as the axis of the Earth tilts away from the sun. But there is a spiritual and emotional component. Our ambition may lie dormant for a while. Our spiritual lives may chill every now and then. But the cycle of winter is nothing to fear. Winters are a sign of God’s mercy. Winter is God’s “never again” promise.

As we bundle up this week, we reflect on God’s providence—he cares for us beyond our mistakes and beyond our failings.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. — Psalm 86.4

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

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