The Daily Guide. grow. pray. study. from The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States "God’s ultimate purpose: unshaken goodness for all people" for Tuesday, 7 February 2017Psalm 23:(0) A psalm of David:
(1) Adonai is my shepherd; I lack nothing.
2 He has me lie down in grassy pastures,
he leads me by quiet water,
3 he restores my inner person.
He guides me in right paths
for the sake of his own name.
Psalm 96:10 Say among the nations, “Adonai is king!”
The world is firmly established, immovable.
He will judge the peoples fairly.
11 Let the heavens rejoice; let the earth be glad;
let the sea roar, and everything in it;
12 let the fields exult and all that is in them.
Then all the trees in the forest will sing
13 before Adonai, because he has come,
he has come to judge the earth;
he will judge the world rightly
and the peoples with his faithfulness.
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The familiar King James Version rendering of Psalm 23:3 is “he restoreth my soul.” Along with “still waters,” it may sound to us like a day at a peaceful spa. But “he keeps me alive” (the
Common English Version’s translation) reflects the fact that for sheep, water and grass were not luxuries, but absolute necessities for survival. The Lord who ultimately rules over our world provides the things we need to keep our spiritual life always alive.
• Israel’s neighbors worshipped a “council” of Canaanite gods who, they believed, played favorites and ruled the world unjustly (cf. Psalm 82:5). Psalm 96:10 set the one creator God against that idea. “In contrast to the unjust rule of the gods…. God’s rule of justice and righteousness promises a stable and secure foundation.”* What helps you to trust that God’s eternal justice gives your life a stable and secure foundation?
• King David, who had been a shepherd (cf. 1 Samuel 17:34-36), likely composed Psalm 23. He described God as guiding him (and all God’s children) “in proper paths.” Living as we do in a culture that places great store on our freedom to choose our own path in life, how easy or difficult do you find it to trust God to point to the proper paths for your life? How can confidence that you are on the proper path reduce your fear of change?
Prayer: King Jesus, truly, you rule! You rule the universe, including our world—yet you will rule my heart and life only if I ask you to. So please rule my life, and direct me in the proper paths. Amen.
* J. Clinton McCann, study note on Psalm 96:10 in The CEB Study Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2013, p. 947 OT.
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I struggle to fit today’s Scripture with reality. I’ve written and re-written this introductory paragraph that you're reading probably half-a-dozen times now, and each version focused on a different form of injustice I see . With the breadth and depth of injustice around us - from the worldwide prevalence of discrimination against minority religious and ethnic groups to the simple (yet still profound) personal injustices we all see and experience - it’s difficult to understand how we can say that God rules the world with justice and righteousness.
For that to be true, I’d have to believe that my black friends are somehow inherently less deserving of social status than I am; I’d have to believe that women deserve to be paid less than I am; I’d have to believe that refugees deserve to be cast out of their homes and that my neighbor’s house deserved to be broken into. If the social structures of the world are God-ordained instruments of justice, I’d have to believe that I’ve earned the right to work at a job I love at a church I love in a city I love with the family I love; but when I actually look back on my life, I did nothing to earn any of this. Yet some of the most worthy people I know have none of these blessings.
How do we reconcile the just-ness of God with the broken world in which we live?
The Sunday School answer is that there is tension between God’s justice and the free will God has granted us, but that always feels like a cop-out to me. It feels shallow and insufficient. I know that theologians throughout the millennia have come up with a variety of answers to these questions (I’ve read a handful of them) but it remains a question that I wrestle with today. I hope I’m not alone in my uncertainty.
Here is what I do know, though:
We, as followers of Christ (particularly those of us in positions of socio-economic privilege), are called to be God’s hands of justice in the world. If we want to see a more just world, we must take up the mantle of responsibility for bringing it about. Voting and donating money to causes we believe in are wonderful places to start, but the call of the gospel goes much deeper than that.
By no means do I have all of this figured out, but I am learning that I need to lay my every privilege at the foot of the cross of Christ as I seek to be personally involved in the ongoing fight for justice for the most under-privileged in society. Will you join me?
RANDY GREENERandy Greene is a part of the Communications team at the Church of the Resurrection. He helps develop and maintain the church's family of websites. When he's not at the church, he loves to write on his blog and reads a wide variety of books.
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"Jesus: respect Caesar, in the context of God’s kingdom" for Wednesday, 8 February 2017
Matthew 6:9 You, therefore, pray like this:
‘Our Father in heaven!
May your Name be kept holy.
10 May your Kingdom come,
your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Mark 12:13 Next they sent some P’rushim and some members of Herod’s party to him in order to trap him with a sh’eilah. 14 They came and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you tell the truth and are not concerned with what people think about you, since you pay no attention to a person’s status but really teach what God’s way is. Does Torah say that taxes are to be paid to the Roman Emperor, or not?” 15 But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a denarius so I can look at it.” 16 They brought one; and he asked them, “Whose name and picture are these?” “The Emperor’s,” they replied. 17 Yeshua said, “Give the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor. And give to God what belongs to God!” And they were amazed at him.
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Jesus’ enemies tried hard to ask him “no win” questions, for which either answer would get him in trouble. Taxes were as much or more a hot button then as they are today. But Jesus’ answer said it wasn’t as simple as a “yes” or “no” answer. There was indeed a valid realm for “Caesar” (human authority), and a citizen’s duty to pay taxes fit into that. Yet God’s kingdom was a larger realm, and in the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus clearly indicated that God’s kingdom commanded his (and our) ultimate loyalty.
• Rev. Matthew Simpson, in the funeral sermon for Abraham Lincoln in Springfield, IL, said: “To a minister who said he hoped the Lord was on our side, he replied that it gave him no concern whether the Lord was on our side or not. ‘For,’ he added, ‘I know the Lord is always on the side of right;’ and with deep feeling added, ‘But God is my witness that it is my constant anxiety and prayer that both myself and this nation should be on the Lord's side.’"* Do you think Lincoln was correct to resist assuming that God would automatically
favor whatever he decided to do? How can you allow the Holy Spirit to guide you in discerning whether you are “on the Lord’s side” of decisions in your life?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, guide me to a clear sense of what my loyalty to you and your kingdom asks of me. Help me to respect earthly authorities, but never more highly than I respect your
authority. Amen.
* From http://lincoln.digitalscholarship.emory.edu/simpson.001/, page 16.
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“We must obey God rather than humans!” for Thursday, 9 February 2017
Psalm 115:1 Not to us, Adonai, not to us,
but to your name give glory,
because of your grace and truth.
2 Why should the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”
Psalm 115:9 Isra’el, trust in Adonai!
He is their help and shield.
10 House of Aharon, trust in Adonai!
He is their help and shield.
11 You who fear Adonai, trust in Adonai!
He is their help and shield.
Acts 5:17 But the cohen hagadol and his associates, who were members of the party of the Tz’dukim, were filled with jealousy. 18 They arrested the emissaries and put them in the public jail. 19 But during the night, an angel of Adonai opened the doors of the prison, led them out and said, 20 “Go, stand in the Temple court and keep telling the people all about this new life!” 21 After hearing that, they entered the Temple area about dawn and began to teach.
Now the cohen hagadol and his associates came and called a meeting of the Sanhedrin (that is, of Isra’el’s whole assembly of elders) and sent to the jail to have them brought. 22 But the officers who went did not find them in the prison. So they returned and reported, 23 “We found the jail securely locked and the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened it, we found no one inside!” 24 When the captain of the Temple police and the head cohanim heard these things, they were puzzled and wondered what would happen next.
25 Then someone came and reported to them, “Listen! The men you ordered put in prison are standing in the Temple court, teaching the people!” 26 The captain and his officers went and brought them, but not with force; because they were afraid of being stoned by the people. 27 They conducted them to the Sanhedrin, where the cohen hagadol demanded of them, 28 “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name! Look here! you have filled Yerushalayim with your teaching; moreover, you are determined to make us responsible for this man’s death!”
29 Kefa and the other emissaries answered, “We must obey God, not men.
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The expression of trust in Psalm 23 did not promise that God’s people would never face painful, “dark valley” experiences. In fact, in common with other Biblical passages (e.g. Isaiah 43:3), it assumed that such times would come into all lives. The value the
psalmists saw in trusting God lay not in being able to avoid pain and sadness, but in having God with us even in the darkest of times.
• Psalm 46:4 is poetry, not geography. “There is no river in Jerusalem. The river here is a symbol of life-giving power, in contrast to the threatening waters and waves of Psalm 46:3.”* How did that psalm set the stage for Jesus’ dramatic claim: “On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, ‘All who are thirsty should come to me! All who believe in me should drink! As the scriptures said concerning me, ‘Rivers of living water will flow out from within him’” (John 7:37-38)? In what ways has
Jesus quenched your inner thirst?
• We most often think something “pursuing us” is bad. Psalm 23 reversed that, saying, “goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life.” Were there times when you, like so many of us, tried to ignore or avoid God’s presence? In what ways have God’s
goodness and faithful love pursued you even if you were trying to get away from them?
Prayer: Lord God, sometimes I forget you. Sometimes I try to ignore you. But I do not want to face this scary world alone. And I thank you for never giving up on me, but pursuing me with your goodness and faithful love. Amen.
* J. Clinton McCann, study note on Psalm 46:4 in The CEB Study Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2013, p. 891 OT.
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"God: the unchanging 'king of kings'” for Saturday, 11 February 2017
Psalm 46:10 (9) To the ends of the earth he makes wars cease —
he breaks the bow, snaps the spear,
burns the shields in the fire.
11 (10) “Desist, and learn that I am God,
supreme over the nations,
supreme over the earth.”
Revelation 17:9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven hills on which the woman is sitting; also they are seven kings — 10 five have fallen, one is living now and the other is yet to come; and when he does come, he must remain only a little while. 11 The beast which once was and now is not is an eighth king; it comes from the seven and is on its way to destruction. 12 The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet begun to rule, but they receive power as kings for one hour, along with the beast. 13 They have one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. 14 They will go to war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will defeat them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are called, chosen and faithful will overcome along with him.”
Ezra 7:11 Here is the letter that King Artach’shashta gave ‘Ezra the cohen and Torah-teacher, the student of matters relating to Adonai’s mitzvot and his laws for Isra’el:
12 “From: Artach’shashta, king of kings
“To: ‘Ezra the cohen, scribe of the law of the God of heaven, etc.:
“Herewith
Revelation 11:15 The seventh angel sounded his shofar; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying,
“The kingdom of the world
has become the Kingdom
of our Lord and his Messiah,
and he will rule forever and ever!”
16 The twenty-four elders sitting on their thrones in God’s presence fell on their faces and worshipped God, 17 saying,
“We thank you, Adonai,
God of heaven’s armies,[Revelation 11:17 Amos 3:13; 4:13]
the One who is and was,
that you have taken your power
and have begun to rule.
18 “The Goyim raged.[Revelation 11:18 Psalm 2:1]
But now your rage has come,
the time for the dead to be judged,
the time for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your holy people,
those who stand in awe of your name,
both small and great.
It is also the time for destroying
those who destroy the earth.”
19 Then the Temple of God in heaven was opened, and the Ark of the Covenant was seen in his Temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, an earthquake and violent hail.
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The traditional King James Version translation of Psalm 46:10 is, “Be still.” But the Hebrew did not refer to going to a quiet mountain retreat. It was a call to say “enough” to our noisy inner
fears, and with them silenced, to recognize God as our place of safety. At the end of the Bible, in visions packed with symbols, Revelation proclaimed Jesus’ final triumph over evil. In the first
century, for Christians, the persecuting Roman Empire (Rome—the city on seven mountains, or hills) was evil incarnate. The vision gave Jesus a double title— “Lord of lords and King of kings.” It echoed a title Caesar often claimed. Jesus was king, not just over “little people,” but over all other kings, even over Caesar. He was, and is, “our place of safety.”
• “The basis for the Lamb’s victory in 17:14 is that ‘he is Lord of lords and King of kings’…. Just as the Babylonian king [in Daniel 4] was addressed by this title, so the king of latter day Babylon (Rome) in John’s day was similarly addressed…. The Lamb exposes as false the divine claims of the emperor and others like him.”* Rome was hardly unique. Human rulers have often claimed divine approval or status (e.g. Nazi soldiers wore belt buckles that said, in German, “God is with us”). Many rulers today, formal or informal, claim exalted status for themselves. Do you trust that Jesus is “king of kings” over all of them? In what ways is that trust the foundation for the peace and hope in which we can live at all times?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you are the King of kings, you are the Lord of lords. I cannot fully grasp all the reach of that, but I can and do ask you to be Lord of my life, to make me the person you want me to be. Amen.
* G. K Beale and D. K. Carson, ed. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007, p. 1139.
Family Activity: Many people struggle with change, sometimes even fear it. As a family, name the four seasons, then invite each person to share what they like and dislike about each one. For example, the summer brings about more free time, but often high heat. The winter offers snow for sledding and snowball fights, but unsafe driving conditions. Take a moment to imagine what life would be like if you only experienced one seasonevery day, all year long. What would you like about that? What would you miss? Remind one another that even though change can be difficult, we can often find good in the new experience or situation. Read Lamentations 3:22-23 and Hebrews 13:8 [Lamentations 3:22 that the grace of Adonai is not exhausted,
that his compassion has not ended.
23 [On the contrary,] they are new every morning!
How great your faithfulness! and Hebrews 13:8 Yeshua the Messiah is the same yesterday, today and forever.] aloud, then thank God for being faithful through all of life’s changes. Pray for a heart and mind open to positive and healthy change.
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Prayer Requests – cor.org/prayer
Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
• June Wallis and family on the death of her husband Charles Wallis, 1/30
•Brad Wallis and family on the death of his father Charles Wallis, 1/30
•Tim McCarthy and family on the death of his sister Katie Maninger, 1/30
•Steven Blair and family on the death of his mother Sandy Blair, 1/30
• Julie Bickel and family on the death of her mother Gloria Qualls, 1/30
•Gene Spratford and family on the death of his wife Missy Murray, 1/29
• Joyce Gregory and family on the death of her father Frank Deibert, 1/27
•Tim Danner and family on the death of his mother Mary Anderson, 1/27
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13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
913.897.0120
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