Job Reversal

If you read the title and thought job reversal as in occupation reversal, you are not alone... but you are mistaken. This is not an entry on any kind of occupational reversal. However if you were instead interested in read a quick thought on the biblical book of Job... then you have come to a blog where you will find that. So we continue...

After God shows off his faithful servant Job to Satan, Satan responds...

Job 1:11 "...But stretch out you hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face."

In other words Satan says, "take away all that you have given Job and see if he will remain faithful. After all he is only 'blameless and upright' because you have protected him and given him all that he could ever have desired."

About a week ago I thought about this challenge from Satan in the scripture story and then i thought about the fact that in the United States we have in many ways experienced many of the same blessings that Job has and yet how many of us are even close to being considered 'blameless and upright'?

It seems to me that maybe Satan has given the Lord a different challenge when he looked at the modern world. "Give them everything they could ever desire! Make food and water easily accessible! Give them medicine so that their families would be healthy! Give them answers and knowledge about the workings of the world...

...See then if they will still depend on you and look to you as their God."

Unlike Job many of us (myself included) too often fail to remain faithful, fail to be dependent on the giver of all these good gifts. The challenge has been reversed and we have fallen into the trap of forgetting where our help comes from... forgetting we are in need of a Savior...

Thank the Lord for Accommodation...

Accommodation is a word that for some reason makes me think of komodo, as in komodo dragon... but of course that tells you more about the weird workings of my own mind and less about the actual word in question. Accommodation defined means: adjustment: making or becoming suitable; adjusting to circumstances. Now when we use this word in relation to God it begins to make some people nervous. How could God ever adjust the truth to make it more suitable?? I thought God could never lie???

OK... this is a misunderstanding of accomomodation. What God does and has done for centuries is put his infinite natural into words and images that the human mind could actually grasp. Not only that but he delivers his good news of salvation and redemption into systems of understanding that were already in place. Teachers do this all the time. A teacher will teach differently to a 1st grader than she would to a 10th grader. When teaching on lying to a group of kids, I might mention cheating on a test as an example. However, if I was teaching on lying to a group of businessmen, I might mention dishonest business deals as an example. When we teach knowing our audience is crucial. For God this same concept applies and has applied for all of Judeo-Christian History.

This is why understanding the system from which the original audience of the Bible was working under is so crucial for understanding to deeper meaning of the Biblical texts. People want to say the Bible is untrue because of mentions of the sun revolving around the earth... well everyone believed that was the case back then! It was the system the God was making himself known in. If the Bible said anything else it would be jibberish at the time. Not to mention the Bible was not trying to give deeper truths about astrology but about theology and life!

If we ask the wrong questions we will get the wrong answers. We will not get deep answers of biology, chemistry, physics or mathematics in the bible. Praise Jesus for this! And Praise God that God accommodates himself to us because otherwise we would be lost and have no grasp of who he is and what he has intended for his beloved creation. God doesn't give us all the answers but he gives us the answers we need.

That's a Quick Turn Around...

This morning I came back into the office, somewhat tired from a day of travel and somewhat overwhelmed by all the things I had to catch up on during this now shortened week. You know what it is like to come back from a week off of work... first you are a little bummed because vacation time is over and then you have to get working to catch up on all the lost time. Well this is not a good state of being for productivity not to mention life in general. So I took advice of some wise folks and decided to spend the morning with some 'self-care.' I prayed, walked the church and prayed some more, prayed for our Wednesday Night program tonight... then came back to the office to spend sometime in the Word.

Before I began... I prayed, "God give me what I need today as I read your word..." or some prayer similar... to be honest the prayer was so brief and not rehearsed but this paraphrase will suffice.

I start reading and God speaks to me about my own life even before I get to verse 2... I am convicted by how I manage my Time, thoughts, body, and finances. Not super encouraging but true... i watch too much tv... my mind often wanders... i eat tons of junk... i spend money on all kinds of junk i don't need... well the conviction continued. Then God kept speaking so i starting writing this stuff down. God was saying... these areas of your life need redemption! Wow... now i was getting encouraged. In other words God was not merely calling me to stop these behaviors or habits that are not edifying... he was saying redeem these habits with disciplines...

"Redeem unhelpful habits with edifying disciplines..."

Instead of just trying to stop watching tv --> do something positive like go on a walk with Evonne or sing together. Instead of buying another pair of pants that are on clearance (cause i love getting a deal) ---> give my clothes away. See it was more about redemption or resurrection... take what is dead and fruitless and see God bring about fruit.

Then i start reading from the lectionary...

Psalm 119: 9-11 "How can a young man keep his way pure? by guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart i seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that i might not sin against you."

So i am thinking oh wow... Instead of letting my mind go places i don't want it to be... "store up your word in my heart." God was reminding me of the power of memorizing his word! No, God was saying you need to spend time memorizing the word!

v. 14- "in the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches..." Do I delight in the testimonies from scripture and testimonies of friends as much as i delight in the Ipad 2 announcement today??? oh wow... convicting...

then i went to Deut. 4:25-31...

It talked about if the people go and worship idols then destruction will come ... i realized that much of these things i felt like needed redemption/resurrection...are IDOLS. Food can become an idol... STUFF --> idol...

side note: Ok then i am thinking all the gods of the ancient world revolved around what the people needed... (this is probably too simple of a conclusion based on no research)... but like Baal was the rain God... people in an arid desert need rain more than anything else pretty much... it is the life blood. In our culture we have just made other idols out of what we think we need most (money) and food and clothes ... not much different...

Then Matt 6: 24-34

Jesus' sermon on the mount... do not be anxious... don't worry about what you'll wear or what you'll eat (Yep) God knows you need these things. Seek first the Kingdom of God and righteousness...and all these things will be added unto you... Seek first after God's Kingdom and all this stuff you are worrying about (ministries, sermons, etc) will come together... And this is not just some spiritual seek after God do nothing... this is seek God's Kingdom... work toward that good future... bring a taste of that good future... experience a glimpse of that good future in worship and sacrament...in his word.... God knows the ministries and will take care of them. Don't worry because the parts you worry about regarding ministries are all teh parts you cannot control but God can... seek after God. Seek being faithful and God will take care of things.

Ok so the point is... never forget to ask God to teach you, shape you, convict you, comfort you... whatever you need when you read his word... God will answer that request ...

That's a quick turn around

Words from Eugene Peterson

"As God's word written the scriptures are a great, but mixed, blessing. They are a blessing because each new generation of Christians has access to the fact that God speaks, the manner of his speaking,, the results of his speaking. The scriptures are a mixed blessing because the moment the words are written they are in danger of losing the living resonance of the spoken word and reduced to something that is looked at, studied, interpreted, but no heard personally. For from the moment that a word is written, it is separated from the voice that spoke it and is therefore depersonalized. Yet the very essence of "word" is personal. It is the means by which what is within one person is shared with another person.

Eugene Peterson, "Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John and the Praying Imagination"

Here is a good description of why the church needs to regain its love for the arts and be able to fuse them with our worship experience. If worship is to be the place where God's people hear the Word of God, then it needs to be spoken through the arts in order for it to be experienced in a way that is personal. The performing arts are one way for God's people to experience the depth of God's word and to feel the personal nature of this living book.

One reason why I am grateful for my experience at Western Theological Seminary where the scriptures came alive again to me in my entering the stories as they were acted out in non realistic theatre. The scriptures again came alive in this experience because the 'word' was heard, seen, experienced and the word had breathe and emotion. The word was made flesh through Christ's body...