Indiana, United States - 2014 Goshen College Lenten Devotion by students, faculty, and staff Go and tell for Monday, 14 April 2014 by David Zehr, a sophomore history and interdisciplinary major from Elkhart, Ind.
THIS WEEK’S THEME: Go and tell
THIS WEEK’S SCRIPTURES: Acts 10:34 Peter opened his mouth and said, “Truly I perceive that God doesn’t show favoritism; 35 but in every nation he who fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him. 36 The word which he sent to the children of Israel, preaching good news of peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all— 37 you yourselves know what happened, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; 38 even Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 We are witnesses of everything he did both in the country of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they also[a] killed, hanging him on a tree. 40 God raised him up the third day, and gave him to be revealed, 41 not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen before by God, to us, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that this is he who is appointed by God as the Judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him, that through his name everyone who believes in him will receive remission of sins.”
Footnotes:
a. Acts 10:39 TR omits “also”
Jeremiah 31:1 At that time, says Yahweh, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. 2 Yahweh says, The people who were left of the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. 3 Yahweh appeared of old to me, saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you. 4 Again will I build you, and you shall be built, O virgin of Israel: again you shall be adorned with your tambourines, and shall go out in the dances of those who make merry. 5 Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy its fruit. 6 For there shall be a day, that the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim shall cry, Arise, and let us go up to Zion to Yahweh our God.
Psalm 118:1 Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good,
for his loving kindness endures forever.
2 Let Israel now say
that his loving kindness endures forever.
14 Yah is my strength and song.
He has become my salvation.
15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous.
“The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly.
16 The right hand of Yahweh is exalted!
The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly!”
17 I will not die, but live,
and declare Yah’s works.
18 Yah has punished me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness.
I will enter into them.
I will give thanks to Yah.
20 This is the gate of Yahweh;
the righteous will enter into it.
21 I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me,
and have become my salvation.
22 The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner.
23 This is Yahweh’s doing.
It is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day that Yahweh has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it!
Colossians 3:1 If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.
Matthew 28:1 Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. 2 Behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from the sky, and came and rolled away the stone from the door, and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 For fear of him, the guards shook, and became like dead men. 5 The angel answered the women, “Don’t be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who has been crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, just like he said. Come, see the place where the Lord was lying. 7 Go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead, and behold, he goes before you into Galilee; there you will see him.’ Behold, I have told you.”
8 They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word. 9 As they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!”
They came and took hold of his feet, and worshiped him.
10 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Go tell my brothers[a] that they should go into Galilee, and there they will see me.”
Footnotes:
a. Matthew 28:10 The word for “brothers” here may be also correctly translated “brothers and sisters” or “siblings.”
John 20:1 Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went early, while it was still dark, to the tomb, and saw the stone taken away from the tomb. 2 Therefore she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have laid him!”
3 Therefore Peter and the other disciple went out, and they went toward the tomb. 4 They both ran together. The other disciple outran Peter, and came to the tomb first. 5 Stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths lying, yet he didn’t enter in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and entered into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying, 7 and the cloth that had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 So then the other disciple who came first to the tomb also entered in, and he saw and believed. 9 For as yet they didn’t know the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 So the disciples went away again to their own homes.
11 But Mary was standing outside at the tomb weeping. So, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb, 12 and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 They told her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have laid him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, and didn’t know that it was Jesus.
15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?”
She, supposing him to be the gardener, said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned and said to him, “Rabboni!”[a] which is to say, “Teacher!”[b]
17 Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold me, for I haven’t yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers, and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her.
Footnotes:
a. John 20:16 Rabboni is a transliteration of the Hebrew word for “great teacher.”
b. John 20:16 or, Master
DEVOTIONAL:
I rewrote this devotion twice because I just couldn’t seem to get to the heart of what I thought about it. I have a lot of issues with the ethic, which I see around me concerning how to “tell” people what we think. Opinions are rampant, avenues for message dissemination are plentiful, and the emphasis on the value of face-to-face conversation seems to be as invisible as sunshine has been this past winter. Why meet over a meal when signing a letter takes so much less time?
When I look deeper at this theme of “Go and tell,” it becomes apparent to me that it is more than simply a call to speak. It is an invitation to community and relationship. Around me I hear the cacophonous chorus of the entire world all talking at once and no one stopping to listen. This Lenten theme is not meant for us to add to the senseless drivel. Rather, to “Go and tell” is a call to intentionally orient our lives around that which truly matters.
One way to do this is to analyze how we act. I’ve appreciated the faith community I’ve grown up in for “stepping to their own beat,” instead of just taking cues from the outside world. As many around us seem to be more concerned with what they themselves are saying than what those around them are saying, I’m left with this observation: When we learn to listen to those we care for, we tell far more to them than if we are simply speaking. Perhaps faithfully stepping to our own collective beat in this day and age will require less focus on what we are saying or not saying, and more focus on whether we are listening or not listening.
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