We had a good discussion at our church officer training class on Tuesday evening. I led a talk on the Old Testament, which means nothing more than getting the dialogue going. One could not hope to cover the material we were given in two hours, so I mainly focused on themes relating to God’s redemptive history. We just barely made it into Genesis.
One question that our pastor asked stirred up a lot of interest. It actually caused our faces to contort into the “I’ve never thought of that before” look, followed by the “if I have…I don’t remember/am afraid to answer” face. The question is what came first, God’s law or God’s grace? I could just give you the answer in this post, but I am interested in your responses and why.
Using the word complicated to describe the affairs in the Middle East is an extreme understatement. There are many layers to the conflict and few solutions in sight. It would be foolhardy for me to think that I can lay out the answers in a blog post. However, there are a couple things about the situation in the Middle East that bother me relative to how many Americans view Israel. The first is the sense that Israel has yet to use up the “free passes” that have been granted to them because of past persecution. The second is the effect that Dispensationalism has had on shaping United States’ policy in the region.
Without pulling out the history and theology books, I think that it is important for us as Christians to remember that God chose Israel. It was not because they were special or great — Israel was a tiny stiff necked nation — rather God simply set His covenantal love on them. Fast forward to the New Covenant, which is really part of the same covenant of grace that God made with Israel, and you see that God’s plan of salvation is characterized by the same grace and mercy. He save us, both Jew and Gentile, not by works which we had done, but by the blood of Christ Jesus poured out richly on us.
In the Middle East hate runs deep on both sides of the border. While it is painful to see the bodies of Palestinian children being lifted out of the rubble, or watch people live under the constant threat of rocket attacks, it is also difficult for us as Westerners to comprehend that at a very young age these people are taught to hate their neighbor — Palestinian or Israeli, Arab or Jew. The closest we come to this in America is the cycle of racism. Both are generational problems, but over there it manifests itself far more violently.
I think we need to be careful about how we view the war between Israel and its neighboring Arab countries. It would be very, very easy to side with one group, or the other, and forget that neither side is special. This is where our favoritism toward Israel gets in the way, because the people on both sides of the conflict are equally deserving of our prayers and compassion. Until we repent of this behavior and see the Palestinian people on par with the Israelis, as the neighbor Jesus speaks of in Matthew 22, then I think in a very real sense we become passive participants in the cycle of hate.
I know a missionary family of five that moved overseas several months ago to minister specifically to Palestinian refugees. The Hastings’ presentation at our church and their love for these people opened my eyes to a suffering that I would not have otherwise seen. They were supposed to be in Beirut, but at the last minute the mission agency routed them to Jordan. Please pray for this family, their ministry and for all who are carrying the gospel to this needy region. By God’s grace, the work by people like Jonathan is the only real hope for a lasting peace settlement in the Middle East.
On my way home from work this evening I was passing under the railroad bridge at the intersection of 37th St. and Tennessee Ave. when I noticed that the train stopped on the tracks was filled with FEMA trailers. I had seen enough of them in Biloxi, MS (post hurricane Katrina), so I am certain that they were destined for the Gulf Coast. After the kids were in bed I decided to head back there with my camera and tripod in the hopes that I could document the sighting for my photoblog.
Unfortunately, when I arrived around 8:30 PM the train was gone. Not to be one who wastes a trip, I decided to make the best of the situation and proceeded down Broad St. to look for something to photograph. I parked near the old Southern Saddlery building and began taking long exposures of passing cars (with the building in the background). Little did I know that my own stereotypes and biases would be challenged enough for me to blog about it later.
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After a brief Advent hiatius in which we spent Sunday mornings in fellowship instead of classrooms, Sunday School resumed again this morning at our church. With some deliberation I decided to forgo Romans and stick with Pastor Dan’s class. I had sat through his Old Testament overview in the summer and fall, so I felt like the winter quarter would be best spent on his overview of the New Testament. My wife, however, is going to the study on Romans, which by the way she says is very good so far.
Most of today’s class was focused on talking about truth. What is truth? How do we define it as Christians? How does our culture define it? Is truth just a cultural artifact, or is there a universal truth found in our faith? Is our confidence in the Bible as truth solid and comforting? Does it offer understanding and hope?
The introduction to the overview was a discussion on a quote from Walter Truett Anderson’s book, Reality Isn’t What it Used to Be: Ready-to-Wear Religion, Global Myths, Primitive Chic and Other Wonders of the Postmodern World, which reads as follows:
Three umpires are having beer after a baseball game. One says, “There’s balls and there’s strikes and I call ‘em the way they are.” Another responds, “There’s balls and there’s strikes and I call ‘em the way I see ‘em.” The third says, “There’s balls and there’s strikes, and they ain’t nothin’ till I call ‘em.”
It was an exercise that provoked a discussion about truth, relativism, absolutes, and how Christians and the world define truth. I would be interested in hearing which umpire you would agree with and why?
After class I was talking with one parishioner about the topic and possible avenues for further study (as today’s class was intended more to set the tone for a NT survey rather than serve as an intro for a study on epistemology). I immediately thought of a book by Jim Thomas that I taught to the High School class a couple years ago. Coffeehouse Theology: Where Real Questions Meet Honest Answers addresses many of the questions that we face in our own lives, as well as the questions that the watching world is likely to pose. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking to take a deeper dive into the mechanics of the Christian faith.
I delivered my first sermon this morning. In large part I think it went well, although it is hard to tell by the handshakes at the door. There was one remark in particular that I will treasure for a long time.
The experience has given me a far greater appreciation for the “job” of pastor. A few things that struck me are: 1) sermon preparation requires a huge amount of time and effort; 2) I do not know how they find time for other “pastorly” duties; and 3) the work schedule for a pastor is 24/7.
Many thanks must go to my pastor for helping me scope, narrow and refine the message. I am posting the text for those who asked me to do so (click on the following link). Maybe once I get a copy of the tape I can put up my first podcast? (more…)