The Daily Guide. grow. pray. study. from The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States "A puzzle: the apparent success of the wicked" for Thursday, 2 February 2017

The Daily Guide. grow. pray. study. from The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States "A puzzle: the apparent success of the wicked" for Thursday, 2 February 2017
Psalm 73:(0) A psalm of Asaf:
(1) How good God is to Isra’el,
to those who are pure in heart!
2 But as for me, I lost my balance,
my feet nearly slipped,
3 when I grew envious of the arrogant
and saw how the wicked prosper.
4 For when their death comes, it is painless;
and meanwhile, their bodies are healthy;
5 they don’t have ordinary people’s troubles,
they aren’t plagued like others.
6 So for them, pride is a necklace;
and violence clothes them like a robe.
7 Their eyes peep out through folds of fat;
evil thoughts overflow from their hearts.
8 They scoff and speak with malice,
they loftily utter threats.
9 They set their mouths against heaven;
their tongues swagger through the earth.
10 Therefore his people return here
and [thoughtlessly] suck up that whole cup of water.
11 Then they ask, “How does God know?
Does the Most High really have knowledge?”
12 Yes, this is what the wicked are like;
those free of misfortune keep increasing their wealth.
13 It’s all for nothing that I’ve kept my heart clean
and washed my hands, staying free of guilt;
Daniel 8:12 Through sin, the army was put in its power, along with the regular burnt offering. It flung truth on the ground as it acted and prospered.
13 Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the speaker, “How long will the events of the vision last, this vision concerning the regular offering and the transgression which is so appalling, that allows the sanctuary and the army to be trampled underfoot?” 14 The first said to me, “Two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings, after which the sanctuary will be restored to its rightful state.”
15 After I, Dani’el, had seen the vision and was trying to understand it, suddenly there stood in front of me someone who appeared to be a man. 16 I heard a human voice calling from between the banks of the Ulai, “Gavri’el, make this man understand the vision!” 17 He came up to where I was standing, and his approach so terrified me that I fell on my face. But he said to me, “Human being! Understand that the vision refers to the time of the end.” 18 As he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep, with my face toward the ground; but he touched me, set me on my feet, 19 and said, “I am going to explain to you what will happen at the end of the period of fury, because [the vision] has to do with the time at the end. 20 You saw a ram with two horns which are the kings of Media and Persia. 21 The shaggy male goat is the king of Greece, and the prominent horn between its eyes is the first king. 22 As for the horn that broke and the four which rose up in its place, four kingdoms will arise out of this nation, but not with the power the first king had. 23 In the latter part of their reign, when the evildoers have become as evil as possible, there will arise an arrogant king skilled in intrigue. 24 His power will be great, but not with the power the first king had. He will be amazingly destructive, he will succeed in whatever he does, and he will destroy the mighty and the holy ones. 25 He will succeed through craftiness and deceit, become swelled with pride, and destroy many people just when they feel the most secure. He will even challenge the prince of princes; but, without human intervention, he will be broken.
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Psalm 73 reflected a spiritual puzzle. People who completely ignored God seemed to be having success—no troubles at all (verses 3-5). If that was the case, maybe serving God was futile (verses 11, 13). Daniel 8’s apocalyptic vision pictured an evil power (probably, originally, the oppressive Greek king Antiochus IV Epiphanes). Three times it said he would “succeed,” but only in the short term. In the end, “he will be broken—and not by a human hand.”
• For this psalmist, it was “the prosperity of the wicked” that nearly caused him to give up faith in God. At what times in your life, if any, has the “success” of the wicked led you to ask, “Does the Most High know anything?” (v. 11) Whose position, possessions or prospects do you envy? How much does it matter to you how “success” is reached?
• If the evil power in Daniel 8:12-25 was Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the “daily sacrifice” likely referred to that king sacrificing a pig on the Temple altar in Jerusalem, deliberately trying to discredit Israel’s God. He was arrogant about his power— “in his own mind, he will be great.” But his army and title did not dethrone God. Can you think of other evil forces (e.g. Hitler’s “thousand-year Reich”) that crumbled after seeming success? Can you trust, as James Russell Lowell wrote in “The Present Crisis,” that “behind the dim unknown, Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own”?*
Prayer: O Lord, give me more and more of your eternal perspective on success. Keep my steps from slipping at the times when I see the apparent success of the wicked. Amen.
* If you’d like to read Lowell’s entire classic poem (it’s long), visit http://www.bartleby.com/42/805.html.
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I could come up with pretty long list of people who are both wicked and prosperous. It would be filled with dictators, unscrupulous billionaires, cult leaders, warlords, and all the rest of the B-movie villains. Then, after I’ve filled in the obvious choices, I’d move on to the people I know. The people I feel justified in judging by virtue of intimacy. Peers from high school who now earn six and seven figure incomes. Local political leaders whose views differ from mine. Friends. Family.
It doesn’t take long before my righteous indignation mutates into a seething bitterness. This, I think, is at the heart of our reflections today. What do we think about the prosperity of the wicked? Or, perhaps more accurately, how do we think about prosperity and wickedness?
In my life I fall victim to looking at success in limited, worldly terms. Success is just money and power, right? So the more money and power you have, the more successful you are. The wealthy and powerful are the most successful, but a surplus of one more or less makes up for a deficit of the other.
Wickedness is also pretty straightforward, right? The oppressors, the corrupt, the murderers, the rapists, the liars, the thieves. These are often overt crimes. They leave little room for interpretation or nuance.
So when we see prosperity in combination with wickedness, we join the psalmist in crying foul. “Seriously, God? Are you even paying attention? How do these villains keep winning?"But the psalmist’s journey doesn’t end there. He or she goes on to acknowledge that God’s justice is complicated but real. And then, in an exercise that is incredibly instructive, the focus shifts inward:
When my heart was bitter, when I was all cut up inside, I was stupid and ignorant. I acted like nothing but an animal toward you. (Psalm 73: 21-22, CEB)
Stupid and ignorant. Animalistic. When I read these verses I think, “my worst self.” It’s almost as if bitterness prevents us from participating in the nuanced dialogue required to unpack the nature of Divine Justice.
Can we be perfectly honest? I wish I was wealthy. I wish I had all kinds of money, power and influence. I also have this fundamental human tendency to view myself as a hero and others as villains. This means that when I look at the “prosperous wicked,” I’m not just thinking about justice. I’m thinking about how I should be prosperous instead. If that’s not a recipe for bitterness I don’t know what is. So how do I engage in a world filled with the prosperous wicked?
Well, for starters, I can probably drop the “wicked” label altogether. We’re all varying shades of wicked. I’m broken. So are you. So is everyone we’ve ever met and everyone they’ve ever met. God’s grace is big enough for all of us.
Second, I can probably spend some time expanding my view of success. If my view of success is the acquisition of power and wealth, then I’m casting a pretty narrow vision. What about a meaningful relationship with my family? Having a lasting impact on my community? Serving others? Living sacrificially? We know we are called to these things, but we often forget that.
Finally, I can acknowledge that if a heart of bitterness makes this type of introspection impossible, I need to start with a heart of love. There are times when we need to speak out against injustice, but in each of those cases (and in all other cases) we are called first to love. In all honesty I’m not sure what that looks like all the time. I know it usually involves reserving judgement, praying for peace, and offering care. But perhaps the most important piece of that puzzle is engaging with God. As the psalmist said:
“But when I tried to understand these things,it just seemed like hard work until I entered God’s sanctuary.” (Psalm 73: 16-17, CEB)
JAMES COCHRAN
James Cochran serves as the Director of Counseling Ministries. He is a licensed professional counselor and completed his graduate studies at University of Missouri – Kansas City. His professional experience includes counseling in a private practice setting, conducting mental health assessments in an emergency room, and developing programs for non-profits. James’s defining passion is helping people become who God created them to be. Resurrection has been James’s home church since he was in elementary school.
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"Young minister, tough situation, and a recipe for success"
Friday, 3 February 2017
1 Timothy 1:3 As I counseled you when I was leaving for Macedonia, stay on in Ephesus, so that you may order certain people who are teaching a different doctrine to stop. 4 Have them stop devoting their attention to myths and never-ending genealogies; these divert people to speculating instead of doing God’s work, which requires trust. 5 The purpose of this order is to promote love from a clean heart, from a good conscience and from sincere trust.
4:8 For although physical exercise does have some value, godliness is valuable for everything, since it holds promise both for the present life and for the life to come. 9 Here is a statement you can trust, one that fully deserves to be accepted 10 (indeed, it is for this that we toil and strive): we have our hope set on a living God who is the deliverer of all humanity, especially of those who trust.
11 Command these things and teach them. 12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because of your youth; on the contrary, set the believers an example in your speech, behavior, love, trust and purity. 13 Until I come, pay attention to the public reading of the Scriptures. 14 Do not neglect your gift, which you were given through a prophecy when the body of elders gave you s’mikhah. 15 Be diligent about this work, throw yourself into it, so that your progress may be clear to everyone. 16 Pay attention to yourself and to the teaching, continue in it, for by so doing you will deliver both yourself and those who hear you.
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On his second missionary journey, the apostle Paul met a younger man named Timothy (cf. Acts 16:1-4). Timothy became one of his most trusted associates, one Paul trusted to lead some of the churches he planted, and to continue leading them after Paul was gone. Such a large responsibility must have frightened Timothy at times, especially in the light of his youth (1 Timothy 4:12). But Paul urged him to lead with confidence and trust in God.
• In God’s sweeping story in the Bible, we see that God used people who might have been thought too old (e.g. Abraham, Moses) and others who might have been thought too young (e.g. Jeremiah, Timothy). If you are on the younger end of the age spectrum, do older people ever intimidate you, making you afraid to offer your gifts and insights? If you are on the older end of the spectrum, what helps you resist the urge to look down on younger Christians whose thinking or music may be different than you’ve been used to?
• What examples of either spiritual courage or timidity are parts of your family’s spiritual legacy? In what ways have parents, grandparents and other important people given you confidence to fearlessly value and use your God-given strengths? What effect have they had on you? How can you mentor and encourage someone who is younger than you are?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, as I live in this age-conscious culture, remind me that from your eternal view, age is one of the least of your concerns. Empower me to live without fear, now and in all the years of earthly life that are left for me. Amen.
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"The divine definition of true success"
Saturday, 4 February 2017
Isaiah 52:13 “See how my servant will succeed!
He will be raised up, exalted, highly honored!
14 Just as many were appalled at him,
because he was so disfigured
that he didn’t even seem human
and simply no longer looked like a man,
15 so now he will startle many nations;
because of him, kings will be speechless.
For they will see what they had not been told,
they will ponder things they had never heard.”
53:1 Who believes our report?
To whom is the arm of Adonai revealed?
2 For before him he grew up like a young plant,
like a root out of dry ground.
He was not well-formed or especially handsome;
we saw him, but his appearance did not attract us.
3 People despised and avoided him,
a man of pains, well acquainted with illness.
Like someone from whom people turn their faces,
he was despised; we did not value him.
4 In fact, it was our diseases he bore,
our pains from which he suffered;
yet we regarded him as punished,
stricken and afflicted by God.
5 But he was wounded because of our crimes,
crushed because of our sins;
the disciplining that makes us whole fell on him,
and by his bruises* we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, went astray;
we turned, each one, to his own way;
yet Adonai laid on him
the guilt of all of us.
7 Though mistreated, he was submissive —
he did not open his mouth.
Like a lamb led to be slaughtered,
like a sheep silent before its shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
8 After forcible arrest and sentencing,
he was taken away;
and none of his generation protested
his being cut off from the land of the living
for the crimes of my people,
who deserved the punishment themselves.
9 He was given a grave among the wicked;
in his death he was with a rich man.
Although he had done no violence
and had said nothing deceptive,
10 yet it pleased Adonai to crush him with illness,
to see if he would present himself as a guilt offering.
If he does, he will see his offspring;
and he will prolong his days;
and at his hand Adonai’s desire
will be accomplished.
11 After this ordeal, he will see satisfaction.
“By his knowing [pain and sacrifice],
my righteous servant makes many righteous;
it is for their sins that he suffers.
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Rabbis debated who Isaiah’s fourth “servant song” was about. The first Christians had no doubt—they quoted this song more than any other verses to describe Jesus’ redemptive suffering. In Jesus, the early Christians saw, God’s servant succeeded by taking the world’s evil and hatred onto himself and through what looked like failure to human eyes changed it into a redemptive force. No passage in the Hebrew Scriptures spoke more eloquently to those early Christians—and to every generation of Christians since—about the meaning of Jesus’ death. As the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology said, “God’s power is at its greatest not in his destruction of the wicked but in his taking all the wickedness of the earth into himself and giving back love.”*
• Jesus set the stage for the way New Testament writers applied Isaiah 53 by quoting part of the passage and applying it to himself (cf. Luke 22:37). It all came true in Jesus’ saving death and resurrection, they said. What does Jesus’ way of succeeding in defeating evil as the Suffering Servant tell you about how God defines success? What kinds of evil have you faced? How can Jesus’ example guide you toward the path of genuine success at those times? 
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you succeeded through self-giving love, through suffering for others and giving your life to offer me life. Reshape any flawed notions of success I may have, and help me to truly succeed by the same divine standards that you did. Amen.
* T. Desmond Alexander and Brian S. Rosner, ed. The New Dictionary of Biblical Theology. Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000, p. 222.
Family Activity: Collect a backpack, some large, heavy rocks and a few thick markers. As a family, invite each person to try on the empty backpack, and feel its lightness. Next, ask everyone to take two stones and a marker. Have each person think of something they are not very good at or something they have done wrong and write it on one rock. Pass the backpack around asking each person to share what they wrote and place it in the backpack. Talk about how the backpack is feeling heavier. Now, invite each person to take their second rock and write on it something they do well but can sometimes be difficult to do. Pass around the backpack again with each person sharing what they wrote on the second rock, and placing their rock in the backpack. Have each person try on the backpack again. Discuss how at times both our failures and our successes can feel heavy or burdensome. Read I Peter 5:7 and Matthew 11:28-30[I Peter 5:7 Throw all your anxieties upon him, because he cares about you.
Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all of you who are struggling and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.[Matthew 11:29 Jeremiah 6:16] 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”[Complete Jewish Bible]I Peter 5:6-7 So be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs. God’s strong hand is on you; he’ll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.
Matthew 11:28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”[The Message]]. Thank God for helping us carry our burdens.
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Join us for worship today - see our worship times and locations here. If you are not in the Kansas City area, you can take part in our worship via live Web stream atrezonline.org.
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Prayer Requests – cor.org/prayer Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
•Cheryl Highfill and family on the death of her husband Stephen Highfill, 1/21
• Laura Wingfield and family on the death of her mother Jean Ross, 1/17
•Katie Sloan and family on the death of her husband Robert Sloan, 1/16
•Rick Butterfield and family on the death of his father Richard J. “Dick” Butterfield, 1/14
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The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
913.897.0120
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