The Daily Guide-The Daily Devotiional grow. pray. study. from The Resurrection United Methodist Church in Leawood, Kansas, United States for Friday, 9 October 2015 - "God’s humbling criteria for choosing"
Daily Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:22 Precisely because Jews ask for signs and Greeks try to find wisdom, 23 we go on proclaiming a Messiah executed on a stake as a criminal! To Jews this is an obstacle, and to Greeks it is nonsense; 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, this same Messiah is God’s power and God’s wisdom! 25 For God’s “nonsense” is wiser than humanity’s “wisdom.”
And God’s “weakness” is stronger than humanity’s “strength.” 26 Just look at yourselves, brothers — look at those whom God has called! Not many of you are wise by the world’s standards, not many wield power or boast noble birth. 27 But God chose what the world considers nonsense in order to shame the wise; God chose what the world considers weak in order to shame the strong; 28 and God chose what the world looks down on as common or regards as nothing in order to bring to nothing what the world considers important;
Reflection Questions:Paul, a brilliant man, knew many Greeks and Romans found his message absurd. It didn’t bother or deter him at all. In Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller told of a friend who said, “Part of me wants to believe….I feel as though I need to believe….But it is all so completely stupid.” As the Greeks, Romans and other societies show, human wisdom wouldn’t invent a God like the God of Scripture. We have to choose, like the people of Corinth when Paul preached Christ crucified, to open our minds and hearts to God’s offer of “righteousness, holiness and redemption.”
- Paul’s training as a rabbi (cf. Acts 22:3) must have made him aware of Deuteronomy 7:7-9. There God told Israel that he chose them out of divine love, not in recognition of any human excellence they possessed. How did Paul’s humbling words to the Corinthians echo the Deuteronomy passage? In what way(s) is it a compliment, not a putdown, that God calls ordinary people like us, not just people who are “stars”?
- At The Church of the Resurrection, it’s okay to ask tough questions. We honor the reality that faith runs deeper than a few pious clichés. On your spiritual journey, what are some of the toughest questions you’ve had to deal with? In what ways have you seen the “foolishness” that Paul preached (and that this church preaches) change your world and you for the better?
Darren Lippe helps facilitate Journey 101 “Loving God” classes, guides a 7th-grade Sunday school class, is a member of a small group & a men’s group, and serves on the Curriculum team.
To break the ice for Bible studies, one introductory question I like to use is, “What is your favorite hymn?” Often folks will share a hymn from childhood or their wedding or an Easter service; for a Dentist, it might be “Crown Him with Many Crowns, for a tailor, perhaps it would be “Holy, Holy, Holy,” for a golfer, it could be “The Green Hill, Far, Far Away,” or for the artist it might be, “How Great Thou Art.” (How about, “Now the Silence?” – Editor. Okay, we’ll “Go Forth (for God)” – DL.)
At times when I am struggling to fully comprehend God & His Word, like our friends referenced in today’s passage, I’ll retreat back to the basics of the faith by singing or listening to a treasured hymn, like, say, The Doxology, which we used to sing each week in my church growing up. (Doxology just means a formula to praise God during worship.)
Praise God from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, & Holy Ghost.
The Doxology is actually the closing stanza to 3 hymns written in the 1670’s by an English pastor named Thomas Ken while he was on staff at Winchester College – a historic boy’s school.
Thomas’ career is rather Forrest-Gump-like, considering he was amongst the “Who’s Who” of English history. A quick summary:
The Morning Hymn encourages us to rise joyfully & to shake off the temptation of sloth & to capture each precious moment of this amazing day. We are to remind ourselves that we are forgiven children of God & we are to seek ways to let our light shine for others.
The Evening Hymn thanks God for the blessing of the light. Asks God for His forgiveness & welcomes the peace that comes with the confidence of knowing His love. We look to our time asleep as a time to strengthen us for God’s great plans the next day.
Finally, one can imagine the Midnight Hymn being a blessing to the boys at school as they perhaps wrestled with homesickness or worry about homework & tests. Thomas’ lyrics seek to comfort them during that time when doubts & darkness can seem so near at hand.
So, what might your favorite hymn be? Today might be a good day to briefly set aside the deep questions of our faith & just rest easy in the warm embrace of God’s love as we listen to some Godly tunes. (I’ll just be listening to a father’s favorite hymn, “Let all Mortal Flesh Keep Silent.”)
To break the ice for Bible studies, one introductory question I like to use is, “What is your favorite hymn?” Often folks will share a hymn from childhood or their wedding or an Easter service; for a Dentist, it might be “Crown Him with Many Crowns, for a tailor, perhaps it would be “Holy, Holy, Holy,” for a golfer, it could be “The Green Hill, Far, Far Away,” or for the artist it might be, “How Great Thou Art.” (How about, “Now the Silence?” – Editor. Okay, we’ll “Go Forth (for God)” – DL.)
At times when I am struggling to fully comprehend God & His Word, like our friends referenced in today’s passage, I’ll retreat back to the basics of the faith by singing or listening to a treasured hymn, like, say, The Doxology, which we used to sing each week in my church growing up. (Doxology just means a formula to praise God during worship.)
Praise God from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, & Holy Ghost.
The Doxology is actually the closing stanza to 3 hymns written in the 1670’s by an English pastor named Thomas Ken while he was on staff at Winchester College – a historic boy’s school.
Thomas’ career is rather Forrest-Gump-like, considering he was amongst the “Who’s Who” of English history. A quick summary:
- Appointed chaplain to Princess Mary at The Hague. Dismissed when he insisted Prince William of Orange honor his vow of marriage to a lady of the court. (William found her dull as dishwater.)
- Appointed Bishop to the court of King Charles II. This seemingly cushy gig had a drawback: King Charles was married & had, by one count, 13 mistresses. King Charles, in a pickle at one point, asks Thomas to stash a mistress in Thomas’ parsonage. (This mistress was Nellie Gwyn a famous actress with a very, very outgoing personality.) Thomas refuses. King Charles has him dismissed. (Interestingly, King Charles has Thomas later re-appointed as Bishop & even requests that Thomas deliver the last rites for him.)
- In 1688, King James II issues the Declaration of Indulgence, which declared the King as absolute sovereign & recognized other denominations besides the Anglican Church. Thomas joins six other Bishops in refusing to honor the Declaration for fear it endorsed Catholicism & compromised the spiritual freedom of the church by making it subject to the auspices/whims of the state/King. Thomas & his friends were arrested, committed to the Tower of London, tried, but ultimately acquitted.
The Morning Hymn encourages us to rise joyfully & to shake off the temptation of sloth & to capture each precious moment of this amazing day. We are to remind ourselves that we are forgiven children of God & we are to seek ways to let our light shine for others.
The Evening Hymn thanks God for the blessing of the light. Asks God for His forgiveness & welcomes the peace that comes with the confidence of knowing His love. We look to our time asleep as a time to strengthen us for God’s great plans the next day.
Finally, one can imagine the Midnight Hymn being a blessing to the boys at school as they perhaps wrestled with homesickness or worry about homework & tests. Thomas’ lyrics seek to comfort them during that time when doubts & darkness can seem so near at hand.
So, what might your favorite hymn be? Today might be a good day to briefly set aside the deep questions of our faith & just rest easy in the warm embrace of God’s love as we listen to some Godly tunes. (I’ll just be listening to a father’s favorite hymn, “Let all Mortal Flesh Keep Silent.”)
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