Chapter 6

To summarize the global mandate: As we are going, share the gospel with all of God's creation - everyone, everywhere - so that all on earth might believe.

Yesterday, as I was dropping Evan off at school, I got cut off by someone with the Jesus fish on the back of their car. I kept thinking, is that what Jesus would do? Does He really want you to cut to the front of the line?  You're THAT important? Which is why I don't want to put a St. Philip's decal on the back of my car. What if that person turns out to be me on a bad day, what kind of message would I be sending about St. Philip's? "As we are going" sometimes does not leave a good impression.

A good friend once told me, "church would be a great place if it weren't for all the people." We're just all so, well, human.

God's Heart for the Nations - Lesson 5

            So, the scriptural gist this week has been that Jesus came not just to make the nation of Israel great, but to be a light for gentiles, for all nations/peoples/races; to restore the tribes of Jacob AND the world - to be a light for all people living in darkness.

            We are sometimes - often? mostly? - just as insular as the Jewish people of Jesus' time. I think sometimes the unwritten lyrics after "God bless America," are actually "but not those other nations (or even the other people in our own country) that are not like us." May we never forget that we are ALL children of God, and he came for us ALL. May our outrage and sorrow for the Boston & West victims carry over to outrage & sorrow for other peoples and nations who are suffering. Syria is in the midst of a civil war and may be using chemical weapons; 340 Bangladeshi died in a factory collapse, and thousands are now protesting the unsafe working conditions (& burning some factories down). And so much more is going on out there. May they all receive the prayers of our hearts, broken for them.

            And yet....and yet, I do not feel a call to leave this country and serve abroad. But that does not mean I am free to ignore the other peoples/nations of the world. Let us pray, and take one step at a time where we are to relieve the suffering in the world, much as we discussed last class regarding sharing the Word.

            OK. So Luke 4:14-30 has always bothered me. It appears that Jesus has been teaching and receiving much praise - even in his hometown - and then they all turn on him and want to throw him off a cliff! I never really made the connection before that the reason for the shift is that Jesus was attacking/challenging their belief that the Messiah was only for the Jewish nation and not the gentiles/rest of the world. Their pride & joy had turned against them, so to speak, and this was SO NOT OK.

            Before we are too quick to judge their narrow-mindedness, don't we all get this way - at least to some extent - when our beliefs/values/world views/life assumptions are challenged or even turned on their head? Maybe we don't try to throw anyone off a cliff, but I often choose to tune-out voices I just don't want to hear. Sometimes, it's the right thing to do; but sometimes, perhaps, I am just being stubborn & hard-hearted, like the nation of Israel in Jesus' time. And so many other times. History does tend to repeat itself. Open our hearts and minds Lord, open our hearts and minds. Amen.

Feb 4th Class:The Paralytic

Jesus heals with a touch or a word, yet at first, despite the obvious need for physical healing, he bestows the gift of forgiveness. Blasphemy, to the Pharisees, and so then, to prove a point, he performs the physical healing. In can't tell if I'm projecting my own feelings onto this. Did Jesus hold back initially simply because he knew wanted to make the point that he had the power from God to forgive sins, or did he perform the physical healing out of frustration? Hmmm...

January 20 Class Lessons

Simon Peter's Mother-in-Law:
- Jesus can heal with a touch or a word
- for Jesus, illnesses can be evil or caused by evil (spirits)

A Man with Skin Disease:
- Jesus has great compassion
- Jesus has divine power
- Jesus respects Mosaic Law