Hello, weekend! And hello to you too. Glad you stopped by. You've made it another week through the Bible. Congratulations!
Here's the question and answer from yesterday:
Fri, Mar 6: Which leader of one of the 12 tribes of Israel owned the staff which “budded, blossomed and produced almonds?” (Num 17)
Numbers 17:8 8 The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron's staff, which represented the house of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds.
And here's the question of the day:
Sat, Mar 7: What was made out of bronze and put up on a pole? (Num 21) Bonus Point: What organization used this image as their symbol?
And here's the reflection of the day:
Do you think of Sunday as the first day of the week or the last day? Do you know what I mean? Does Sunday begin a new week or does it finish the week off?
As a pastor, Sunday feels like the last day of the week for me. All week long, all I do leads up to worship on Sunday. Maybe for you, it feels like the end of the week too. It feels like a final day of rest, especially if you have to go to work on Monday. Others may feel like Sunday is the beginning of the week, that worship marks the beginning of the new week and provides energy for the new week.
During Creation, God worked for six days and on the seventh, he rested. God created the Sabbath, a day that was holy, a day set apart for God. All through Leviticus and Numbers, we hear about the festival and holy days. And the Sabbath is always one of them. To this day it is still a deeply beloved tradition in the Jewish tradition.
In Acts 20, we see the first reference to sabbath in the Christian church. In verse 7 it refers to "the first day of the week" where they gathered to "break bread" and "hold a discussion with" the congregation in Troas. This is the first time sabbath is referred to in the New Testament. And it seems that Sabbath is meant to be seen as the first day of the week, not the last.
It is meant to be a continuing memorial of Jesus' resurrection and his appearances to the disciples. In fact, you can find parallels with resurrection throughout the story: gathering, teaching, and breaking bread and fellowshipping over a common meal.
Perhaps the most overt reference to resurrection is with poor Eutychus, whose name ironically means "lucky." Eutychus is part of the congregation gathered to hear Paul teach. They've eaten and Paul is speaking for a long time. Imagine it: a stuffy room filled with people, long past bedtime. Anybody could fall asleep. It is unfortunate that Eutychus chose to sit, rather precariously, on the sill of an open window. He dozes off for a bit and falls to the ground.
It's a comical scene really. How many of us have dozed off during church? How many of us have gotten caught, either by the person we're sitting with or the even the pastor?! And how many of us have a private little giggle when we read about Eutychus and his ill-chosen seat?
Well, Eutychus' story takes a turn for the worse when he is "picked up dead." Paul (perhaps feeling a little guilty for not being the most exciting preacher/teacher in the world) rushes down the stairs to him, announcing, "Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him" (v10).
Here is another resurrection reference; though he is dead, he will be alive. And this continues the healing-teaching cycle that Paul is so concerned about.
Paul is the broker of God's life-giving power and miracles. But the point is not to dwell on the miracle; the point is that Paul resumed the preaching and teaching. Miracle and teaching go hand in hand. Paul even downplays the miracle by returning to teaching right away. The message is the center of the story, the center of the faith.
It is easy to get distracted by good works and looking for miracles, but what sustains us, what gives us life and breath and faith is the Word.
Have a good day!
Allison
Showing posts with label rituals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rituals. Show all posts
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Happy Saturday!
Sorry I'm not posting this first thing in the morning. I got up early to run to the store and then got a little busy copying bulletins since our bulletin-copy-er is down with shingles. But I'm here now and reading to reflect.
Here's the question and answer from yesterday:
Feb. 27- Who was appointed to priests?
Numbers 3:10, “Appoint Aaron and his sons to serve as priests.”
And here's the question of the day:
Feb. 28- What was the issue surrounding the Council of Jerusalem?
And here's the reflection of the day:
Everything was going to so well for Paul and Barnabas so far. The mission they were on is called the "Mission to the Gentiles" and so far they were having much success, as we have been reading in Acts (with the exception of that whole mistaken for Zeus and Hermes incident in ch 14!).
And then we read the first verse of Acts 15 that "some men" came to Antioch and they were causing trouble. These men were concerned that Paul and Barnabas were preaching to the Gentiles (aka non-Jews) and they were becoming believers. This is not what the men objected to--they knew that God's love applied to all the families on the earth. (Genesis 12:3: I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.")
So they were not opposed to gentiles being brought into the faith; what they objected to was that Paul and Barnabas did not insist that they be circumcised. The men wondered how could these converts be a part of the faith if they did not undergo circumcision, like Jesus himself who went through the ritual. So the men must have thought to themselves, "How dare Paul and Barnabas allow the converts to skip this sacred ritual!?"
Isn't this the way things go in the church? We're bouncing along just fine, everybody's faith is growing and we're all getting along. And someone, inspired by Holy Spirit, comes up with a great idea for the church. He or she is excited and passionate about how this event will bring people closer to God, and enthusiastically brings it to the governing board of the church, where it is promptly shot down for fear that the carpet will get messed up (or some other inane reason).
Suddenly faith is flat and the member is full of disappointment.
This is the situation the disciples find themselves in: things were going great guns and then things fall flat with the resistance from these "men" and the theological summit that happens at Jerusalem to address these issues. This is known as the Jerusalem Council. You can read for yourselves how the Jerusalem Council turns out and what they decide about circumcision with the converts.
One of the most difficult things a church can go through is a dispute over doctrine. This kind of conflict can be seen in most mainline denominations today. Church members can 1) flee from the conflict, stomping off in a huff never to return, 2) duke it out until no one is left standing, or 3) ignore the conflict and hope it goes away.
But these disciples chose a different option: they show how the gospel has given them all they need to work through whatever controversy arises without being destroyed by it. Luke doesn't spend time writing about churches which are too weak and timid to work through the problem; their stories wouldn't give the kind of hope that we have at the end of Acts 15.
So, the next time you are confronted with a controversy at church (or at home or at work or wherever), remember Paul and Barnabas and the Jerusalem Council. Remember that you have the gospel and with it comes the skills necessary to work through any conflict, without the conflict taking over.
Have a great day!
Allison
Here's the question and answer from yesterday:
Feb. 27- Who was appointed to priests?
Numbers 3:10, “Appoint Aaron and his sons to serve as priests.”
And here's the question of the day:
Feb. 28- What was the issue surrounding the Council of Jerusalem?
And here's the reflection of the day:
Everything was going to so well for Paul and Barnabas so far. The mission they were on is called the "Mission to the Gentiles" and so far they were having much success, as we have been reading in Acts (with the exception of that whole mistaken for Zeus and Hermes incident in ch 14!).
And then we read the first verse of Acts 15 that "some men" came to Antioch and they were causing trouble. These men were concerned that Paul and Barnabas were preaching to the Gentiles (aka non-Jews) and they were becoming believers. This is not what the men objected to--they knew that God's love applied to all the families on the earth. (Genesis 12:3: I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.")
So they were not opposed to gentiles being brought into the faith; what they objected to was that Paul and Barnabas did not insist that they be circumcised. The men wondered how could these converts be a part of the faith if they did not undergo circumcision, like Jesus himself who went through the ritual. So the men must have thought to themselves, "How dare Paul and Barnabas allow the converts to skip this sacred ritual!?"
Isn't this the way things go in the church? We're bouncing along just fine, everybody's faith is growing and we're all getting along. And someone, inspired by Holy Spirit, comes up with a great idea for the church. He or she is excited and passionate about how this event will bring people closer to God, and enthusiastically brings it to the governing board of the church, where it is promptly shot down for fear that the carpet will get messed up (or some other inane reason).
Suddenly faith is flat and the member is full of disappointment.
This is the situation the disciples find themselves in: things were going great guns and then things fall flat with the resistance from these "men" and the theological summit that happens at Jerusalem to address these issues. This is known as the Jerusalem Council. You can read for yourselves how the Jerusalem Council turns out and what they decide about circumcision with the converts.
One of the most difficult things a church can go through is a dispute over doctrine. This kind of conflict can be seen in most mainline denominations today. Church members can 1) flee from the conflict, stomping off in a huff never to return, 2) duke it out until no one is left standing, or 3) ignore the conflict and hope it goes away.
But these disciples chose a different option: they show how the gospel has given them all they need to work through whatever controversy arises without being destroyed by it. Luke doesn't spend time writing about churches which are too weak and timid to work through the problem; their stories wouldn't give the kind of hope that we have at the end of Acts 15.
So, the next time you are confronted with a controversy at church (or at home or at work or wherever), remember Paul and Barnabas and the Jerusalem Council. Remember that you have the gospel and with it comes the skills necessary to work through any conflict, without the conflict taking over.
Have a great day!
Allison
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Feasts and Festivals
I'm glad you decided to stop by today. I hope God is blessing you as you continue to read through the Bible--even while you're reading Leviticus. Just a few more days!
Here's the question and answer from yesterday:
Mon, Feb. 23- What did the voice tell Peter to do?
Acts 11:7, “Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’”
And here's the question of the day:
Tues, Feb. 24- What are the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you to proclaim as sacred assemblies?
And here's the reflection of the day:
Though I am tempted to write about the man being stones in Leviticus (Lev 24:10-23), I have already addressed the principle of this issue in an earlier post. No need to be redundant. Instead, I thought it might be helpful to explain what all these festivals are about!
1. The Sabbath: Hopefully you know plenty about this festival. The seventh day is declared a day of holy rest because on the seventh day of Creation, God himself rested. This day is meant not just to be a day of rest, but to be a day dedicated to God. To translated this festival into our contemporary society is difficult, however. Many jobs require folks to work on Sundays or to work six days a week so that Sunday is the only day left for chores. (Not to mention that Sundays are work days for pastors!) If you have a schedule that is not conducive to Sabbath on Sundays, I encourage you to find another day for Sabbath rest.
2. The Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread: This is a ritual observance to celebrate God delivering the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. The Passover originally was celebrated by slaughtering a lamb for a meal with the whole family, to remember when God's Spirit "passed over" the houses of Israelites who put the lambs blood on their doors. It later blended together with the "Feast of Unleavened Bread," which, in its latter days, was a celebration of the first harvest of the season. (Think of the similarities of these two feasts with the whole Exodus story.)
3. First Fruits: This is a celebration of the first crop of seasonal produce--grain, new wine, new olive oil, syrup, leavened food, bread dough, and even wool. The Israelites acknowledge that the earth is the Lord's and therefore its crops are intrinsically holy. And since it was the Lord who led the Israelites to the land, the first part of the crop was to be given to God before the rest could be produced.
4. Festival of Weeks: This festival is a celebration of the firstfruits of the wheat harvest. It involved a freewill offering that functions as a ritual response of gratitude to God. As they celebrated, they were also to remember the time when they were enslaved. In the latter years of this festival, it became associated with the Sinai covenant.
5. Festival of Trumpets: This is a feast normally celebrated in September/October, which begins Israel's most sacred month, including the Feast of Booths (Tabernacle) and Day of Atonement. When the trumpets would blast, all work was to cease and the people gathered to hear a reading of God's Law. There were sacrifices, burnt offerings, and a sin offering to make atonement for the people. It was probably an anticipation of the Day of Atonement, which happened 9 days later. Scholars are uncertain what this festival was intended to mark, though is its latter years it became associated with a New Year's celebration.
6. Day of Atonement: This is the annual day of purification. At this time, the high priest enters the holy of holies in the tabernacle; this is the ONLY day of the year in which a person enters this most sacred place. The high priest "places the sins of the community on the head of a goat (the scapegoat) which is sent out to the wilderness. The ritual functions to cleanse the camp of impurities and to remove the sins of the people from the camp" (Eerdman's Bible Dictionary, p 459).
7. The Festival of Booths/Tabernacles: This is a seven day autumn festival associated with gathering produce used in making oil and wine. It is a celebration which is a response to as well as an anticipation of God's blessings. Scholars think this is named for the"booths" which were temporary field shelters constructed by the people during the time of the harvest.
Christianity has developed its own sets of "feasts and festivals" throughout the year. All of our celebrations of seasons have their roots in our Judeo-Christian heritage. Sometimes I wish we made a bigger deal out of the "festivals" that we have. Christmas and Easter get all the glory, but lesser holy-days don't get much attention.
There is something to having rhythm, a cycle of celebrations, that helps us to examine the different aspects of God's story. To focus on new celebrations would be to get us out of our liturgical ruts.
Maybe that's something to think about for next year. . . .
Hope this was helpful!
Allison
Here's the question and answer from yesterday:
Mon, Feb. 23- What did the voice tell Peter to do?
Acts 11:7, “Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’”
And here's the question of the day:
Tues, Feb. 24- What are the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you to proclaim as sacred assemblies?
And here's the reflection of the day:
Though I am tempted to write about the man being stones in Leviticus (Lev 24:10-23), I have already addressed the principle of this issue in an earlier post. No need to be redundant. Instead, I thought it might be helpful to explain what all these festivals are about!
1. The Sabbath: Hopefully you know plenty about this festival. The seventh day is declared a day of holy rest because on the seventh day of Creation, God himself rested. This day is meant not just to be a day of rest, but to be a day dedicated to God. To translated this festival into our contemporary society is difficult, however. Many jobs require folks to work on Sundays or to work six days a week so that Sunday is the only day left for chores. (Not to mention that Sundays are work days for pastors!) If you have a schedule that is not conducive to Sabbath on Sundays, I encourage you to find another day for Sabbath rest.
2. The Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread: This is a ritual observance to celebrate God delivering the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. The Passover originally was celebrated by slaughtering a lamb for a meal with the whole family, to remember when God's Spirit "passed over" the houses of Israelites who put the lambs blood on their doors. It later blended together with the "Feast of Unleavened Bread," which, in its latter days, was a celebration of the first harvest of the season. (Think of the similarities of these two feasts with the whole Exodus story.)
3. First Fruits: This is a celebration of the first crop of seasonal produce--grain, new wine, new olive oil, syrup, leavened food, bread dough, and even wool. The Israelites acknowledge that the earth is the Lord's and therefore its crops are intrinsically holy. And since it was the Lord who led the Israelites to the land, the first part of the crop was to be given to God before the rest could be produced.
4. Festival of Weeks: This festival is a celebration of the firstfruits of the wheat harvest. It involved a freewill offering that functions as a ritual response of gratitude to God. As they celebrated, they were also to remember the time when they were enslaved. In the latter years of this festival, it became associated with the Sinai covenant.
5. Festival of Trumpets: This is a feast normally celebrated in September/October, which begins Israel's most sacred month, including the Feast of Booths (Tabernacle) and Day of Atonement. When the trumpets would blast, all work was to cease and the people gathered to hear a reading of God's Law. There were sacrifices, burnt offerings, and a sin offering to make atonement for the people. It was probably an anticipation of the Day of Atonement, which happened 9 days later. Scholars are uncertain what this festival was intended to mark, though is its latter years it became associated with a New Year's celebration.
6. Day of Atonement: This is the annual day of purification. At this time, the high priest enters the holy of holies in the tabernacle; this is the ONLY day of the year in which a person enters this most sacred place. The high priest "places the sins of the community on the head of a goat (the scapegoat) which is sent out to the wilderness. The ritual functions to cleanse the camp of impurities and to remove the sins of the people from the camp" (Eerdman's Bible Dictionary, p 459).
7. The Festival of Booths/Tabernacles: This is a seven day autumn festival associated with gathering produce used in making oil and wine. It is a celebration which is a response to as well as an anticipation of God's blessings. Scholars think this is named for the"booths" which were temporary field shelters constructed by the people during the time of the harvest.
Christianity has developed its own sets of "feasts and festivals" throughout the year. All of our celebrations of seasons have their roots in our Judeo-Christian heritage. Sometimes I wish we made a bigger deal out of the "festivals" that we have. Christmas and Easter get all the glory, but lesser holy-days don't get much attention.
There is something to having rhythm, a cycle of celebrations, that helps us to examine the different aspects of God's story. To focus on new celebrations would be to get us out of our liturgical ruts.
Maybe that's something to think about for next year. . . .
Hope this was helpful!
Allison
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Today, we begin Leviticus. . .
Happy Valentine's Day! I was trying to find some kind of music or video clip to add, and I came across this one from http://www.youtube.com/. It's a new cultural phenomenon called "Post Secret." It's a blog "art project" where you can write something on a postcard anonymously and send it to them. They will take a picture of the postcard and post it on their site. It's a place to "post secrets." You can check out the website if you're curious: http://www.postsecret.blogspot.com/.
Here's their Valentine's Day video:
Here's the question and answer from yesterday:
Fri, Feb. 13- What was attached around the hem of the priestly robe?
Exodus 39:26 “The bells and pomegranates alternated around the hem of the robe to be worn for ministering.”
And here's the question of the day:
Sat, Feb.14- Why were Ananias and Sapphira struck dead?
And here's the reflection of the day:
Today, we begin Leviticus. . . . Please curb your enthusiasm. If you haven't read Jim Davison's little blurb on Leviticus, it says this: "Leviticus is a book to read quickly. Much of the material it records, which is intended to regulate religious and civil life for Israel, will be hard to understand and will appear burdensome to us." He mentions there are some major themes to the regulations, especially a theme of atonement in chapter 16 and of justice/helping the poor in chapter 19.
I'll do my best to point out other themes as they might apply to us. One of the challenges of reading a book that's two thousand years old is to figure out how it still applies to us today. And as someone at Bible Study this week said, "It's surprising how much of this stuff written so long could be written today!"
Let me introduce you to Samuel E. Balentine, author of the commentary on Leviticus that I'll be relying heavily on for explanation and interpretation for the next 13 days--that's how long it's going to take to read through Leviticus. I wanted to check out his introduction to see if there was anything there that might help us keep an eye on the big picture and not get lost in the details.
It seems that Balentine has a bit of a sense of humor dealing with Leviticus. In his introduction, he writes, ". . . how does one 'explain' and 'apply' a book that devotes seven chapters to the bewildering, if not seemingly bizarre, requirements of ancient Israel's sacrificial system and five chapters to details of ritual impurity, including such indelicate matters as menstrual blood and semen?" (p 1). Thank God for humor, right?
The theology of Leviticus is not clearly spelled out; instead, it is tucked inside the rituals it details: "every act, whether movement, manipulation or gesticulation, is pregnant with meaning" (Milgrom quoted by Balentine) (p 3). To us the word "ritual" is something we associate with being old or ceremonial or even superstitious--like "Friday the 13th" or not walking under a ladder. How can we reinterpret rituals so that they become helpful and positive? That is one of the questions we must ask as we read through Leviticus.
A ritual is a "social drama"--a repeated act by an individual or group. What we need to pay attention to, as we read these rituals, is the worldview (or the reasons why) certain rituals are proscribed. Balentine points out that there are TWO MAJOR BELIEFS that help us to understand these rituals:
1. "God has created the world and purposely designed its rhythmic orders that keep it tuned to its capacity to be 'very good.'" (In other words, God has set up his relationship with the world in harmony and when that harmony is disrupted, the harmony between God and the earth is fractured)
AND
2. "God's creational order is generative of sustained by human observance of an imaging ritual order" (p 4). (In other words, what we read in Leviticus is meant to establish boundaries to allow a holy God to dwell among a people vulnerable to sin and defilement.)
Keep these 2 beliefs in the back of your mind as you read through Leviticus. What are your favorite rituals we do in church? (baptism, sharing communion, lighting the candles, singing hymns--worship is full rituals!) Why are they so important? Why do you think we do the rituals we do?
Have a great day!
Allison
Here's their Valentine's Day video:
Here's the question and answer from yesterday:
Fri, Feb. 13- What was attached around the hem of the priestly robe?
Exodus 39:26 “The bells and pomegranates alternated around the hem of the robe to be worn for ministering.”
And here's the question of the day:
Sat, Feb.14- Why were Ananias and Sapphira struck dead?
And here's the reflection of the day:
Today, we begin Leviticus. . . . Please curb your enthusiasm. If you haven't read Jim Davison's little blurb on Leviticus, it says this: "Leviticus is a book to read quickly. Much of the material it records, which is intended to regulate religious and civil life for Israel, will be hard to understand and will appear burdensome to us." He mentions there are some major themes to the regulations, especially a theme of atonement in chapter 16 and of justice/helping the poor in chapter 19.
I'll do my best to point out other themes as they might apply to us. One of the challenges of reading a book that's two thousand years old is to figure out how it still applies to us today. And as someone at Bible Study this week said, "It's surprising how much of this stuff written so long could be written today!"
Let me introduce you to Samuel E. Balentine, author of the commentary on Leviticus that I'll be relying heavily on for explanation and interpretation for the next 13 days--that's how long it's going to take to read through Leviticus. I wanted to check out his introduction to see if there was anything there that might help us keep an eye on the big picture and not get lost in the details.
It seems that Balentine has a bit of a sense of humor dealing with Leviticus. In his introduction, he writes, ". . . how does one 'explain' and 'apply' a book that devotes seven chapters to the bewildering, if not seemingly bizarre, requirements of ancient Israel's sacrificial system and five chapters to details of ritual impurity, including such indelicate matters as menstrual blood and semen?" (p 1). Thank God for humor, right?
The theology of Leviticus is not clearly spelled out; instead, it is tucked inside the rituals it details: "every act, whether movement, manipulation or gesticulation, is pregnant with meaning" (Milgrom quoted by Balentine) (p 3). To us the word "ritual" is something we associate with being old or ceremonial or even superstitious--like "Friday the 13th" or not walking under a ladder. How can we reinterpret rituals so that they become helpful and positive? That is one of the questions we must ask as we read through Leviticus.
A ritual is a "social drama"--a repeated act by an individual or group. What we need to pay attention to, as we read these rituals, is the worldview (or the reasons why) certain rituals are proscribed. Balentine points out that there are TWO MAJOR BELIEFS that help us to understand these rituals:
1. "God has created the world and purposely designed its rhythmic orders that keep it tuned to its capacity to be 'very good.'" (In other words, God has set up his relationship with the world in harmony and when that harmony is disrupted, the harmony between God and the earth is fractured)
AND
2. "God's creational order is generative of sustained by human observance of an imaging ritual order" (p 4). (In other words, what we read in Leviticus is meant to establish boundaries to allow a holy God to dwell among a people vulnerable to sin and defilement.)
Keep these 2 beliefs in the back of your mind as you read through Leviticus. What are your favorite rituals we do in church? (baptism, sharing communion, lighting the candles, singing hymns--worship is full rituals!) Why are they so important? Why do you think we do the rituals we do?
Have a great day!
Allison
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