Hello! I'm actually on vacation this week, but that's no reason to stop reading the YOB and blogging, right? I thought so. Here we go. . .

Here's the question and answer from yesterday:
Sun, Mar 1: What must a Nazirite abstain from eating and drinking? (Num 6)
Numbers 6:3-4 3 he must abstain from wine and other fermented drink and must not drink vinegar made from wine or from other fermented drink. He must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins. 4 As long as he is a Nazirite, he must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins.

And here's the question of the day:
Mon, Mar 2: What group came to do their work at the Tent of Meeting under the supervision of Aaron and his sons? (Num 8)

And here's the reflection of the day:

We're going to Acts today, Acts 16 to be exact. It occurs to me that seeing a map of all the places Paul is traveling might be helpful to us. So I found this:

I'll add some other maps for the other missionary journeys in another post. Paul actually goes on three separate missionary journeys, with various accompanying people.

In Acts 16, we meet Timothy for the first time, Paul's partner on this journey. Timothy is a young man from a slightly complicated background. He actually is a perfect example of all of the hullabaloo that just happened at the Jerusalem Council about circumcision. So Timothy becomes a test case. Paul decides, if Timothy's going with him, that he needs to be circumcised "because of the Jews."

So, the spotlight is on Timothy. And he proves to be a good find and, in time, becomes one of the major leaders in the churches that Paul establishes. He is mentioned in several of Paul's letters and is the implied recipient of 1 and 2 Timothy, two of the so-called pastoral letters. (And, among the most important resources for organizing and nurturing a congregation.)

Timothy represents the variety of backgrounds found in Paul's day. Timothy is an uncircumcised believer, the son of a Jewish mother and a Greek father. His identity is Jewish through his mother, but he is the product of a mixed marriage; his birthright as a Jew is uncertain. He had not yet been circumcised--presumably because his Gentile father prevented Timothy from becoming fully Jewish.

So, Paul's decision to circumcise Timothy "because of the Jews who were in those places" (v 3) should be understood as their shared desire to continue good working relations between faithful Jews and Gentiles in the churches he is building. It is Paul's desire to keep the Jewish heritage alive in the new Christian faith so that other Jews, hearing the good news and believing, would be willing to convert.

Timothy is not the most obvious candidate as a missionary partner with Paul. It could be that Paul is less interested in his "religious credentials" and more interested in his mixed background, a very pragmatic solution to some very real problems he'll be facing. Timothy is one who handles the "being Greek" and "being Jewish" tension well, a tension that fills Paul's churches.

Maybe this passage has something to say to us about where we look for leaders in the church. Maybe we need to look for leaders whose personal histories and instincts that are well suited for the tasks at hand--kind of along the lines of the "Nazirite vows" I talked about in yesterday's post.

Just a thought. . .
Allison