Choices and Hard Hearts—Readers’ Choice

  • September 21, 2022
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  • John Tillman

Readers’ Choice Month:
This September, The Park Forum is looking back on readers’ selections of our most meaningful and helpful devotionals from the past 12 months. Thank you for your readership. This month is all about hearing from you. Submit a Readers’ Choice post today.

Today’s post was originally published, on February 24, 2021, based on Exodus 7.1-5 and Luke 10.10-12, 16
It was selected by reader, Wade, from Texas. 

Scripture Focus: Exodus 7.1-5
1I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. 2 You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, 4 he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. 5 And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”

Luke 10.10-12, 16
10 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

Reflection: Choices and Hard Hearts—Readers’ Choice
By John Tillman

Pharaoh’s heart is the prototypical story about hardened hearts in the Bible. His story affects how we see the topic and the process of how a heart is hardened. Nearly half of the occurrences of the word “harden” in the NIV text are in reference to Pharaoh or the Egyptians.

We also see hardened hearts and the response of Christ’s messengers to them in our reading from Luke. God used Moses as a stand-in and had Moses use Aaron as a prophet. Jesus sends his 72 followers out as prophets of his message as well. 

“Whoever rejects you rejects me and the one who sent me,” Jesus said. Whoever rejected the apostles or other disciples, rejected Jesus, and rejected God the Father. When Pharoah rejected Aarron, he rejected Moses, and he rejected Yahweh.

In both stories, God’s messengers carried his peace. They performed miracles, healings, and signs. Yet there were those who missed (or denied) the miracles. Jesus knew some would reject his messengers. God knew Pharaoh would reject his messengers. In doing so, these hearers were rejecting God himself and bringing judgment on themselves.

Before we think of ourselves as messengers of God, we first need to consider ourselves with sober judgment.

Are we people of peace (Luke 10.5-6) or Pharaohs relying on violence? (Exodus 5.14-15, 20-21) Are we rejecting God by rejecting his messengers because they don’t look the way or sound the way we think they should? (“In Amaziah’s Shoes: Amos 7.10-17)

The scriptures contrast moments of Pharaoh hardening his own heart and God hardening it. (Exodus 4.21; 7.3; 8.15, 32; 9.12-34; 10.20, 27; 11.10) Even Pharaoh gets multiple chances to do the right thing. When he fails to see the miracles for what they are and refuses to heed God’s messengers, God gives him over to the path of rebellion he chose. 

Hardened hearts happen in stages. Our choices matter. Our hearts are hardened or softened day after day. Do we hear and obey? Our hearts will grow softer, more sensitive, and better able to obey in the future. Do we hear and turn away? Our hearts will grow harder, colder, less able to respond to the loving call of God.

Softening your heart is something that occurs not in one single moment, but rather through a lifelong process. Untended, our hearts harden and lean away from God. Only by continual cultivation will the soil of our hearts remain soft, fertile soil for fruitful expressions of the gospel.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
Love the Lord, all you who worship him; the Lord protects the faithful, but repays to the full those who act haughtily. — Psalm 31.23

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

Today’s Readings
Jeremiah 48 (Listen 7:31)
2 Corinthians 7 (Listen 2:58)

Readers’ Choice is Here!
There’s still room for your recommended posts from the last 12 months. Which one helped you heal?

Readers’ Choice 2022

Read more about For Those Yet Unseeing — Worldwide Prayer
We assume that faith comes easily when we witness miracles. We are wrong.

For Those Yet Unseeing — Worldwide Prayer

Unveiled — Readers’ Choice

  • August 25, 2021
  • /
  • John Tillman

Readers’ Choice Month:
In August, The Park Forum looks back on our readers’ selections of our most meaningful and helpful devotionals from the past 12 months. Thank you for your readership. This month is all about hearing from you. Submit a Readers’ Choice post today.

Today’s post was originally published, March 23, 2021, based on readings from Exodus 34 and John 13.
It was selected by reader, MT from Texas
Beautiful.

Scripture Focus: Exodus 34.29-30, 33-35
29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him.
33 When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.

John 13.3-5
3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 

Reflection: Unveiled — Readers’ Choice
By John Tillman

On Mount Sinai, God revealed more to Moses than he had revealed to any human since Adam and Eve. 

God walked before Moses, declaring the aspects of his identity. Compassionate. Gracious. Slow to anger. Filled with love. Faithful. Forgiving. Just.

This revelation changed Moses in ways he did not immediately realize. Moses had been to the mountain before for long conversations with God. He took down detailed plans for the tabernacle with instructions right down to the fasteners of clothing. Something, however, about this visit was different. 

The intimacy of the revelation of God’s character, of glimpsing God’s glory from the cleft of the rock, gave Moses a glow. The people, and even Aaron, were afraid of this radiant sign of God’s presence. So Moses veiled his face. This seems to have been merely for the comfort of others. 

Seeing the glory of God can be discomforting. But Moses and Israel hadn’t seen anything yet…
The revelation of God’s character when Jesus stripped to his undergarments to wash his disciples’ feet, was like no other revelation before. When John described this moment he prefaced it by telling us that Jesus “showed them the full extent of his love.” (John 13.1) 

No revelation of God and his love, not the original creative acts that formed the universe, not the choosing of Abram, or the salvation from Egypt, is complete without this image.

The one who deserves honor, choosing dishonor. 
The one who deserves glory, choosing obscurity.
The one who deserves tribute, choosing servitude.
This is who God is.

Discomforted by the foot washing, Peter tries to stop Jesus from humiliating himself. Jesus is not about to let Peter draw a covering over the love he intends to show. He is mere hours away from the tearing of his flesh and the tearing of the curtain of the Temple. Peter hadn’t seen anything yet…

Paul describes New Testament believers as those with “unveiled faces.” He encourages us that if Moses’ ministry was glorious, our ministry should be more so. (2 Corinthians 3.7-17) If Moses’ face glowed, ours should be incandescent.

Seek regular and deep intimacy with God through prayer and the scriptures. Let the shocking images of his identity—from Sinai, from foot washing, from the cross—soak into us. Then, let us walk through our world alight with his love. For when it comes to what God will reveal to us, and the love we will show the world, we haven’t seen anything yet. (Ephesians 3.14-21)

Music: “Unveiled Faces” — Sarah Masen

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. — John 10.17-18

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertimeby Phyllis Tickle

Today’s Readings
1 Samuel 17 (Listen – 8:59)
Romans 15 (Listen – 4:32)

Read More about Readers’ Choice 2021
Have we heard from you yet? Tell us about posts from the past year (September 2020 – July 2021) that have helped you in your faith.

https://forms.gle/ozM13qvW9ouSWhJS7

Read more about Apocalypse, How?
We have apocalypses all wrong…Jesus told his disciples that he would “apocalypse” the father to them, meaning that he would reveal to them God the Father.

Apocalypse, How? — Editor’s Choice

Garments of Peace — Readers’ Choice

  • August 6, 2021
  • /
  • John Tillman

Readers’ Choice Month:
In August, The Park Forum looks back on our readers’ selections of our most meaningful and helpful devotionals from the past 12 months. Thank you for your readership. This month is all about hearing from you. Submit a Readers’ Choice post today.

Today’s post was originally published, March 17. 2021, based on readings from Exodus 28.
It was selected by reader, MT
Thank you for this prayer.

Scripture Focus: Exodus 28.2-4
2 Make sacred garments for your brother Aaron to give him dignity and honor. 3 Tell all the skilled workers to whom I have given wisdom in such matters that they are to make garments for Aaron, for his consecration, so he may serve me as priest. 4 These are the garments they are to make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban and a sash.

Reflection: Garments of Peace — Readers’ Choice
By John Tillman

In Ephesians, Paul gives a metaphor of spiritual armor for spiritual battles but in the Old Testament we get a literal God-ordained “anti-armor” which priests will wear. These are not garments for a spiritual war. Instead, they are garments for the spiritual work of making peace with God.

Pray this prayer over the garments described for the priests and ask God to make you a peacemaking priest of God.

Garments of Peace
Dress us, Lord, that we may serve.
Fit us for your work.

For our breastpiece, Lord, keep the burden of your mission close to our heart
Aaron’s heart felt the weight of the names of Jacob’s children
May our hearts be weighted with loving concern for our communities.
May our hearts beat with love for our brothers and sisters in the faith.
May our hearts break with compassion for the suffering and oppressed.
May our hearts love through actions aiding those around us.

For our ephod, Lord, mark us as yours, called and set apart for your work.
May it carry our breastplate of burden.
May it show the beauty of your grace.
May it glint with colors showing your love for all people.

For our robe, Lord, give us righteousness.
Remove our filthy rags. Wash and dress us in your robes.
Let the sound of your righteousness go before us, 
The tinkling echoes of your mercy, as bells on Aaron’s hem.

For our woven tunic, Lord, make us one with you.
Weave your Spirit into our lives.
Seamlessly cover us with your dignity and honor.
Let us walk before you, with the golden threads of your life gilding the material of our lives.

For our turban, Lord, guard our minds.
May we have affixed on our foreheads and in our thoughts
The immutable truths that we are loved by you, holy to you, and will be used by you.
Let no thought or desire cause us to forget we carry your name and your love

For our sash, Lord, bind our vestments as one.
Let us hold firmly to all your gifts:
The burden of our mission
The beauty of your calling
The joyful sound of your righteousness
The seamless covering of your Spirit
The firm security of your love for us.

Make us a holy priesthood, in garments of peace, not holding ourselves above others, but lifting them up and carrying them to you.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Look well whether there be any wickedness in me and lead me in the way that is everlasting. — Psalm 139:23

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle

Today’s Readings
Judges 20 (Listen – 7:13)
Acts 24 (Listen – 4:11)

This Weekend’s Readings
Judges 21 (Listen – 3:47), Acts 25 (Listen – 4:40)
Ruth 1 (Listen – 3:33), Acts 26 (Listen – 5:17)

Read More about Readers’ Choice 2021
It is time to hear from you about the posts from the past eleven months (September 2020 – July 2021) that have challenged, comforted, and helped you find new meaning in the scriptures.

https://forms.gle/ozM13qvW9ouSWhJS7

Read more about Praying as Priests
Just as the family of Aaron were priests under Aaron, we are priests under Jesus, our high priest.

Praying as Priests

Called and Gifted

  • March 26, 2021
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  • John Tillman

Scripture Focus: Exodus 37.1
1 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.

Exodus 36.1-2
1 So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the Lord has commanded.” 
2 Then Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord had given ability and who was willing to come and do the work.

Reflection: Called and Gifted
By John Tillman

The descriptions of building the items for the tabernacle should seem familiar. They are nearly quotes of the descriptions of the instructions from Exodus 25 and following. This repetition shows the faithfulness and attention to detail with which the tasks were carried out.

Bezalel took the holiest object in God’s instructions as a personal project. The building of most other objects is attributed to “they.” When building the ark, “Bezalel” or “he” is used.

Bezalel, according to traditional Jewish sources, was Moses’ grand-nephew and was only 13 years old when the project began. 

In ancient cultures, boys were considered adults at around 13. This spares us from imagining trusting the entire architectural construction of a new church building and the crafting and design of the most precious object in our church to a 13-year-old. But even with some cultural adjustments, could we imagine trusting a 17-year-old with the project?

Moses and Bezalel make a great pair for us to consider when thinking about the persons whom God may call to his service.

When Moses was called he was washed up. At the burning bush, stood an 80-year-old refugee sheepherder. He was a failed revolutionary and a wanted murderer. He was rejected by his adoptive royal family and his race. The only thing in his favor was the calling and gifting of God.

Bezalel was a youth. He was untested, unproven, untried.  The only thing in his favor was the calling and gifting of God.

But God called and gifted each of these men into work that would define their lives. Moses would go on to become one of the most revered leaders in history. Bezalel would design and build history’s holiest of objects. Eventually, the ark would disappear into history. Bezalel would likewise disappear without further biblical mention.

Whether old or young or in between, we may be called to something great, or holy, or life-defining that we can’t now understand. Whether infamous or unknown, we may be called to lead in God’s kingdom. Whether we have a criminal past or no past at all, we may be called to a holy task. The only thing we need in our favor is the calling and gifting of God.

Whatever we may be called to, may we be as humble as Moses in taking up our calling, and may we be as faithful as Bezalel in obeying God’s instructions word for word.

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

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle

Today’s Readings
Exodus 37 (Listen – 3:14) 
John 16 (Listen – 4:14)

This Weekend’s Readings
Exodus 38 (Listen – 4:23) John 17 (Listen – 3:40)
Exodus 39 (Listen – 5:24) John 18 (Listen – 5:16)

Read more about The First Spirit-Filled Work
The first Spirit-filled individuals, Bezalel and Oholiab, were artisans, builders, makers.

The First Spirit-Filled Work

Read more about Unveiled
When it comes to what God will reveal to us, and the love we will show the world, we haven’t seen anything yet.

Unveiled

The First Spirit-Filled Work

  • March 24, 2021
  • /
  • John Tillman

Scripture Focus: Exodus 35.30-34
30 Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 31 and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills—32 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 33 to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts. 34 And he has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others.

John 14.15-17, 26
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.


Reflection: The First Spirit-Filled Work
By John Tillman

Jesus described the filling of the Holy Spirit as being for the good of not only the disciples, but the world. The works the Spirit did through them built a new space, a new Temple, a new people of God to shine the light of God’s love to the world.

We often think of the Holy Spirit helping pastors when they preach and musicians when they lead worship. We know the Holy Spirit helps us study the Bible. We pray in faith that the Holy Spirit will bring the miraculous help of God for healings, interventions, or protections. 

However, The first Spirit-filled individuals, Bezalel and Oholiab, were not orators, political leaders, musicians, writers, prophets, warriors, or healers. They were artisans, builders, makers. They worked with their hands.

They also did these things in community. Part of the Spirit’s gifting was to teach. They were not to do what God called them to alone but to teach others who would join the work.

The first Spirit-filled workers in the Bible used hammers and tongs, needles and thread, chisels, saws, and perfume…not pulpits. They spoke not with words but images. They taught understanding through symbolism and space. They brought spiritual healing through the redemptive instruments of atonement they would craft. 

Their skilled minds, hearts, and hands wrought from the gifts of God’s people a place to meet with God. Artistry using symbols, spaces, textures, patterns, and images replanted a representation of an Edenic garden in which humans would once again walk in fellowship with God.

What type of sacred space are we creating? Not just in our churches but in our lives? Not just in spiritual ways but physical ways? Are we telling the redemptive story and ushering people into the presence of God?

Whether you work with hammer and chisel or with keyboard and screen, God’s Spirit longs to use your work to build sacred space depicting redemption. This space goes beyond the walls of your church building to encompass all those who will hear the call of Christ. Worship in this space and invite others in to learn of God.

May we be filled with the Spirit to the tips of our fingers as they work acts of redemption.
May not only the words of our mouths and meditations of our heart, but also the works of our hands be pleasing in the sight of the Redeemer.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
I will give great thanks to the Lord with my mouth; in the midst of the multitude will I praise him;
Because he stands at the right hand of the needy to save his life from these who would condemn him. — Psalm 109.29-30

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle

Today’s Readings
Exodus 35 (Listen – 4:31) 
John 14 (Listen – 4:13)

Read more about Prayer in our Vocation
To some, it might be a surprise that one of the primary definitions of the word “vocation” is a divine calling.

Prayer in our Vocation

Read more about Extra Ordinary Prayer
We carry prayer with us into every moment of our lives. As we do, may our actions be blessings not curses, carrying the good news of the gospel.

Extra Ordinary Prayer