The Daily Guide. grow. pray. study. from The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States "Jesus: respect Caesar, in the context of God’s kingdom" for Wednesday, 8 February 2017Matthew 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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"Thy will be done." This phrase from the Lord’s Prayer is one worth repeating in my head over and over. How often in prayer am I asking for MY will to be done, rather than God’s will? Each day, I pray for wisdom, for God to guide me and for all I do, say and think to be acceptable and pleasing to God. But if I’m honest, the rest of my prayer often goes on to sound like a laundry list of ways I am asking God to intercede on behalf of MY agenda, not God’s.
I have been pondering Abraham Lincoln’s quote from today’s study in answer to a comment about the Lord being on our “side.” Lincoln replied in part that it gave him no concern whether the Lord was on our side or not. And then went on to say, “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.” This really speaks to me. Am I pushing for God to be on my side, to get on board with my agenda, or am I working on refining myself and my character look more like the heart of Jesus? If I am earnest in my prayer for God to guide me, I need to be doing a much better job of submitting to Him and His will for me, rather than asking God to bail me out of whatever messy situation I’ve gotten myself into (in the exact prescribed way I’ve asked Him help me).
I got to thinking about this over the weekend watching the Super Bowl, and how the concept of God choosing “sides” might apply to sports. You often hear players or coaches attributing their win to God. Or you might hear a locker room prayer before a game asking for God to be on their “side.” Or fans pleading to God for a win for their team. Does God care about a football game? Or basketball game (even if it is a game in “God’s country”--you know, Lawrence, KS)?
I think most of us can see the fallacy in thinking God is going to favor one team over another. If both teams are vying for God to be on their side, it’s easy to see God isn’t going to choose one over the other or intercede at all. Rather, teams should seek to play to the best of their ability and with integrity. And so it is in our own families, our church, our community, city and nation.
As a family, church, community, city and nation, Lincoln tells us we would be best served to be less concerned about whose side God is on, and focus our attention on whether we are using God as our compass for our own actions. Am I using Scripture to guide my ideological and moral stances? When I am standing up for a cause, am I doing so with integrity and respect? Am I modeling my actions and reactions after Jesus? If we (collectively) are actively seeking God and His will for us, then even though we may have different ways of approaching an issue, we should be able to engage in a productive, problem-solving discussion. If we do that, we can work towards making our family, church, community, city, nation and world look more like the Kingdom of God.
Join me in praying like Lincoln: for ourselves and our leaders to seek to be on God’s side, and for God's will to be done.
KARI BURGESSKari's responsibilities on the ShareChurch team include marketing, guest registration and service, and coordinating hospitality volunteers for the conferences we host at Resurrection.
She enjoys running and hiking and loves being a cheerleader for her girls at all of their sporting, music and school events.
She considers it a joy to serve in ministry at Resurrection, using her gifts and skills gained in the corporate world toward the purpose of renewing God's church.
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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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Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
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