Missionary Renegade: The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States Grow Pray Study Guide for Thursday, 08 March 2018 "Jesus ministered outside of Israel's borders"

Friday, March 9, 2018

The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States Grow Pray Study Guide for Thursday, 08 March 2018 "Jesus ministered outside of Israel's borders"

The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States Grow Pray Study Guide for Thursday, 08 March 2018 "Jesus ministered outside of Israel's borders"
Daily Scripture
Mark 7:24 Next, Yeshua left that district and went off to the vicinity of Tzor and Tzidon. There he found a house to stay in and wanted to remain unrecognized, but keeping hidden proved impossible. 25 Instead, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit in her came to him and fell down at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, by birth a Syro-phoenician, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter. 27 He said, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s food and toss it to their pet dogs.” 28 She answered him, “That is true, sir; but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s leftovers.” 29 Then he said to her, “For such an answer you may go on home; the demon has left your daughter.” 30 She went back home and found the child lying on the couch, the demon gone.

31 Then he left the district of Tzor and went through Tzidon to Lake Kinneret and on to the region of the Ten Towns. 32 They brought him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment and asked Yeshua to lay his hand on him. 33 Taking him off alone, away from the crowd, Yeshua put his fingers into the man’s ears, spat, and touched his tongue; 34 then, looking up to heaven, he gave a deep groan and said to him, “Hippatach!” (that is, “Be opened!”). 35 His ears were opened, his tongue was freed, and he began speaking clearly. 36 Yeshua ordered the people to tell no one; but the more he insisted, the more zealously they spread the news. 37 People were overcome with amazement. “Everything he does, he does well!” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak!”

***
Reflection Questions
Hard on the heels of teaching about what was truly unclean in God’s sight, as opposed to what outer ceremonial rules deemed unclean, Mark showed Jesus acting on that principle with a non-Israelite woman many would have thought unclean. (Matthew wrote an expanded version of Jesus' dialogue with the desperate mother—cf. Matthew 15:21-28). Then Jesus healed a man’s hearing and speech, a miracle that evoked memories of Isaiah 35:5-6, a passage that anticipated God’s love bringing renewal and deliverance.

Look up Tyre on a map of ancient Israel. (Click here if you don’t have one handy.) Jesus went well outside Israel’s boundaries, into modern Lebanon, when he met this Canaanite woman and healed her daughter. Ephesians 2:14-16 said one outcome of Jesus' ministry was to break down barriers between people. When has Jesus brought healing to strained and broken relationships in your life?
After seeing Jesus restore a man’s power of hearing and speech, Mark said “people were overcome with wonder.” Scholar N. T. Wright said that in urging people to follow Jesus, Mark “envisages, not a boring life of conventional religion, but things happening that would make people astonished. If we’re still too deaf to hear what he’s saying, the problem is perhaps with us rather than with the message.”* However long you’ve followed Jesus, what things help keep alive a vital sense of wonder and astonishment in you?

Prayer
Lord Jesus, preserve (or deliver) me from any sense of boredom or tedium as I follow in your footsteps. Keep my heart alive to the awe your presence inspired when you walked this earth. Amen.
* N. T. Wright, Mark for Everyone. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004, p. 99.

Read today's Insight by Janelle Gregory
Janelle Gregory serves on the Resurrection staff as a Human Resources Specialist. Janelle finds that her heart is constantly wrestling with the truth that she needs a Savior, and the times when she's at her very best are when she's just too tired to put up a fight.
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It’s March! It’s the best month of the year, at least if you’re a college basketball fan. The other night I was watching South Carolina State play Morgan State in the first round of the MEAC men’s tournament. It was 74 to 72 with just over 4 minutes to go. Who would win? Who would move forward? The anticipation was killing me! Then all of a sudden, the unimaginable happened. The players stopped moving. Actually, everything on the screen stopped moving, including the ball in mid-air! The screen was frozen. Why did it freeze? Because my phone was updating apps and completely locked up. That’s right. I was watching the game on my phone.
In the moment, I was completely frustrated that I couldn’t watch the game. It wasn’t until later that I sat back and realized how amazing it is that I can watch a live basketball game on my phone to begin with! I tried to imagine describing this to a younger version of myself. Had someone told me in the 80’s that there would be a day when phones would play movies or take pictures or show live sports, it would have blown my mind! “Tell me more about your magical phones of the future!”
However, now I’m so used to the advances on my phone that I’m frustrated if I CAN’T watch a basketball game on it. I’ve completely lost the wonder of being able to carry a gadget in my pocket with more power than the computer I had 25 years ago. How is this technology no longer extraordinary?! I can’t point to a day when I was no longer impressed with the high functionality of smart phones. I just got used to it. I think we all have.
I imagine the same happens in our spiritual lives. We’ve heard hundreds of times how Jesus walked on water, healed people, or even rose from the dead. It’s not as if that isn’t impressive, but it may not take our breath away. We’re used to Jesus, we’re used to him performing miracles. A miracle here, a miracle there - blah, blah, blah, so on and so forth, onto the next chapter. Yet if I saw my neighbor instantly heal a deaf man or my grandmother rise from her casket, would I not be overwhelmed by wonderment?
Shame on us if we become complacent with the magnificence of Jesus. We must take a moment to stop and realize how amazing he is. He healed people on the inside and out. He fed thousands on a basketful of bread and fish. He was killed, but he came back to life. Unbelievable! Yet I find that some of his most incredible works have happened since that time. I’ve seen him move in the lives of others in transformational ways. He’s brought goodness in the midst of evil and light to the darkest shadows. I know, because I’ve experienced the power of his redemption myself. My hope is that we guard ourselves against becoming accustomed to his splendidness and power. Our Lord is GLORIOUS! Today, let’s hear anew and be astonished by the marvelous wonders of Jesus!
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The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States Grow Pray Study Guide for Wednesday, 07 March 2018 "Purify the inside, not the outside"

Daily Scripture
Mark 7:1 The P’rushim and some of the Torah-teachers who had come from Yerushalayim gathered together with Yeshua 2 and saw that some of his talmidim ate with ritually unclean hands, that is, without doing n’tilat-yadayim. 3 (For the P’rushim, and indeed all the Judeans, holding fast to the Tradition of the Elders, do not eat unless they have given their hands a ceremonial washing. 4 Also, when they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they have rinsed their hands up to the wrist; and they adhere to many other traditions, such as washing cups, pots and bronze vessels.)

5 The P’rushim and the Torah-teachers asked him, “Why don’t your talmidim live in accordance with the Tradition of the Elders, but instead eat with ritually unclean hands?” 6 Yeshua answered them, “Yesha‘yahu was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites — as it is written,

‘These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far away from me.

7 Their worship of me is useless,

because they teach man-made rules as if they were doctrines.’[Mark 7:7 Isaiah 29:13]

8 “You depart from God’s command and hold onto human tradition. 9 Indeed,” he said to them, “you have made a fine art of departing from God’s command in order to keep your tradition! 10 For Moshe said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’[Mark 7:10 Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16] and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’[Mark 7:10 Exodus 21:17; Leviticus 20:9] 11 But you say, ‘If someone says to his father or mother, “I have promised as a korban” ’ ” (that is, as a gift to God) “ ‘ “what I might have used to help you,” ’ 12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. 13 Thus, with your tradition which you had handed down to you, you nullify the Word of God! And you do other things like this.”

14 Then Yeshua called the people to him again and said, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand this! 15 There is nothing outside a person which, by going into him, can make him unclean. Rather, it is the things that come out of a person which make a person unclean!” 16 [Mark 7:16 Some manuscripts include verse 7:16: “Anyone who has ears that can hear, let him hear!”]

17 When he had left the people and entered the house, his talmidim asked him about the parable. 18 He replied to them, “So you too are without understanding? Don’t you see that nothing going into a person from outside can make him unclean? 19 For it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and it passes out into the latrine.” (Thus he declared all foods ritually clean.) 20 “It is what comes out of a person,” he went on, “that makes him unclean. 21 For from within, out of a person’s heart, come forth wicked thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, arrogance, foolishness…. 23 All these wicked things come from within, and they make a person unclean.”

***
Reflection Questions
Ancient Jewish culture was extremely strict about purity laws, especially food laws. Jesus said it's not what goes into a person's body that is bad; it is what comes from within a person. He went further to show that many people’s keeping of the Hebrew religious rituals had become empty and destructive. The most hurtful, defiling stuff, he said, comes from inside, from the human heart apart from God’s guidance.

To people devoted to carefully following the Old Testament food laws, Jesus’ statement was shocking: "Nothing outside of a person can enter and contaminate a person in God’s sight; rather, the things that come out of a person contaminate the person." God’s main concern is your heart's motives and your relationship with God. What helps you to focus your primary energy and concern on the state of your heart, rather than on trying to make your outward behaviors look good?
In verse 21 Jesus said, "It's from the inside, from the human heart, that evil thoughts come." God covers us with grace, and the Holy Spirit bears fruit in our lives. But God doesn't change our hearts without our collaboration, working with him to shape our thoughts and actions. How can you keep religious rituals from becoming empty forms, just done for the sake of doing them? Which faith rituals truly draw you closer to God?

Prayer
Lord Jesus, continue changing and renewing me from the inside out. Teach me each day how to make my heart one from which your qualities of life flow out. Amen.

Read today's Insight by Kari Burgess
Kari is a part of Resurrection's ShareChurch team. She is involved with the marketing, guest registration, and volunteer coordination for the conferences we host, and she considers it a joy to serve, using her gifts to help renew God's church. She enjoys running and hiking and loves being a cheerleader for her girls at all of their sporting, music and school events.
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You are what you eat. This is a phrase we use over and over related to healthy eating, weight management and our overall health. If you eat nothing but sugar, processed foods, and foods with high fat content you will likely feel terrible, become overweight and develop health complications like heart disease, high cholesterol and diabetes.
We know this and attempt to fill our plates with healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains and lean fish and meat. But decadent desserts, savory Kansas City barbeque and salty snacks are enticing, especially with commercials and other media constantly coming at us with close-up depictions of cheesy, mouthwatering, delicious food! (Hmmm, it may be time for a mid-afternoon snack. Perhaps a walk to the Spring Café for a yummy Sonflower Bakery cookie. The bakers are hard at work 3 afternoons a week, right around the corner from my office. The delightful smells of cookies and scones wafting down the hall truly is torture on my will power.)
When Jesus says in today’s Scripture from Mark 7 that “nothing from the outside that enters a person has the power to contaminate” he is, of course, saying the intake of “unclean” food cannot contaminate our heart (soul). He is not speaking of our physical bodies here. The food we eat can certainly contaminate the physical body or, if we make healthier choices, the food we eat can contribute to keeping the body healthy and high functioning.
Jesus goes on to say, “It’s what comes out of a person that contaminates someone in God’s sight. It’s from the inside, from the human heart, that evil thoughts come….” But what helps us keep this human heart healthy? (Again, not our physical hearts; Jesus is speaking about the condition of our souls). I would again say, you are what you eat. That is, what comes out of your heart is a result of what you put in. If we fill our minds and our hearts with contaminating, destructive and unhealthy vices, then the condition of our hearts (our souls) will decline or deteriorate, much as making poor food choices can deteriorate our physical health. If we fill our minds with violent television or video games, destructive gossip, pornography, polarized political rhetoric, mindless or trashy TV, critical thoughts and mudslinging comments on social media, then what can we expect to come out of our hearts as a result?
Much more constructive is filling our head and hearts with more mindful, productive and God-pleasing activities. Things like listening to praise music, daily Bible reading, regular worship attendance, devoting intentional time to prayer. Or even less specifically faith-based things like playing board games with the family, coffee and check-in with a friend, volunteering at a local school, or even spending time with your dog.
As we work to make healthier choices for our human heart (soul), then surely the natural result coming out of our hearts will look more like a reflection of Jesus: acts of kindness towards a stranger, taking time to listen to a friend in need, volunteering time in our community, kinder words to our loved ones and positive remarks on social media.
Lent is the perfect time to make more heart healthy choices. Yes, fasting by giving up sweets or something else you really enjoy can be an important act of self-denial which can prepare your heart for Easter. But I would suggest that giving up something contaminating your heart and starting a new life-giving faith ritual may be an even better choice.
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