God's Covenant with David

I was having a conversation this week, where the person I was speaking with shared these wise words: "We never rush the Holy Spirit." While we were nearing the end of our time togehter, this opened up a rich place where we disclosed our hearts and failures, those times when we tried to outpace the Holy Spirit. I don't think we, as people of God, truly want to outpace God. But I think in our zeal to serve, sometimes we fail to seek. To seek God's heart in prayer. To ask God for the desires of Christ to be revelaed to us. To ask if what we are desiring to do is really part of the work of the Kingdom. What would it look like if we truly submitted our thoughts and plans to Christ's will? What would change in our lives? And what would change in our world?

The Golden Calf - Exodus 32: 1-14

    Sometimes I wish we would go back to a society where we didn't have money - paper and coins - but instead traded what we have made or grown. I wish we would go back to a society where we didn't try to define the worth of our jobs by the money we make or the worth of our lives by how many things we have accumulated. Yet, here we find ourselves, paper money and all.
     Rev. Mike Slaughter once said that most of us don't seek after the will of God, instead we want God to bless our will. I think thats one of the things that makes having discussion about stewardship in churches so hard. We want to be told that its okay to be in tremendous amounts of debt and not tithe, because thats the society we live in. Yet, its not scriptural. Its not the plan God has for us. And we've let our will of accumulating things, get in the way of following God's will for us for God's kingdom.
    We need to start thinking of plan to get out of debt. We need to stop defining our worth by our paychecks. We need to start living within our means. And we need to start giving our very best to the Kingdom of God. Church, we need to rethink our relationship to money and live in an intentional way that honors God with our resources, even it its hard and takes a lot of steps to get there. Lets renounce the idols of this world, so that we can proclaim the Kingdom of God, both in this world and the world to come.

(Reblog of Shiny Gods - Part 1, 10/3/16)

God's Promise to David - 2 Samuel 7: 1-17 Devo

October 25th, 2020 Devotional “God’s Promise to David” - 2 Samuel 7:1-17 Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com Monday: “Go and Do” - 2 Samuel 7: 1-3 In three short verse that begin this week’s tex we find so much going on. First, we read that David, as king, had been given rest from his enemies. Often we think of times of rest being when we come up with our best ideas. We have heard that under times of stress, we can make hasty decisions that are not the best laid plans. Yet, here, in a time of rest, David still comes up with a plan that isn’t in line with God’s will. Why? Because he didn’t seek the face and heart of God! Rest or stress - good times or hard times - we always need to seek God first. Second, David recognizes that he lives in this palace, made of beautiful cedar, while the ark of the covenant in out in a fabric tent. But that’s all he says to the prophet Nathan, before Nathan bestows his blessing on whatever David has in mind. He didn’t even fully hear him out before he said to go and do. Nathan also failed to seek to listen to the Lord. What happens when you do need seek the Lord first? How could have David and Nathan responded instead? Prayer: Lord Jesus, we want to honor you. We want to put you and your ways first. But sometimes, O Lord, in our haste, we jump ahead. Ahead of your timing. Sometimes even ahead of your plans. Forgive us, O Lord, and realign our hearts with yours. Amen. Tuesday: “Same Night” - 2 Samuel 7: 4-5 God jumps right in and tells Nathan what he thinks of this unformed plan that David is seeking to do. That same night God shows up to Nathan with a message - go and tell David, are you the one who is to build me a house to live in. Notice that while it appears to be a question - to which David may answer yes in his own heart and mind - God did not send this message to ask David, he sent him to tell David. This is a command wrapped in a question. To stop. For this is not what God has in mind. Nathan could have dismissed this word from the Lord. He could have shook it off or not shared it with David out of concern and fear. But instead, he laid before David in faith and trust, so that David can act in obedience. Has there ever been a time in your life when God told you to stop? How did you respond? Prayer: Lord, we thank you that you do not allow us to continue to stray from you, going our own way. We thank you that you called David to return, and that you call us as well. Keep reaching into our hearts, O Lord, for they are yours. Amen. Wednesday: “House” - 2 Samuel 7: 6-7 David started out with a good intention. He looked at his house, in all of its beauty and splendor, then looked at the ark and came to the conclusion that God deserved better. But he didn’t follow his thought the whole way through. He wanted to offer to God a beautiful place to dwell and live but God isn’t contained to a house of worship anymore then God was contained to the ark. In other words, David didn’t realize that God has been with the Israelites every place they have went, from the wilderness to the Promise Land, not because of the ark itself, but because God is God. Sometimes we fall into this trap as well. We think that God can only be found in a church building. Or that we need to pray to God a certain way in order for God to hear us and respond. But God cannot be contained or constrained, for God is bigger than human our ways and means. What are some ways that we, as humans, try to limit God? Prayer: Lord, we thank you that you are always with us. We know, O Lord, that this is something that we often say, but we confess, Lord, that sometimes we fail to live like it. We act as if you can only be approached in a specific location or way. Remind us, O Lord, that the earth, and everything in it, is yours. Amen. Thursday: “Took You” - 2 Samuel 7: 8-10 Just incase David missed what God was saying, God then took him to school. God reminded David that he was only King in the first place, in this house made of cedar, because God took him out of the pasture in order to lead, not David’s people, but God’s people. God has been with David from the beginning and God will continue to be with him, making both David and Israel’s name great. One of the thing that makes me uncomfortable is when people say something along the lines of “look what I have done” or “look what I have earned” or “I deserve (fill in the blank) because of what I’ve done.” While we may certainly work hard, all that we have received is God’s. Just like all that David has received is not of his own making, but a gift from God alone. Make a list of what you are grateful for. Give God thanks for all that you have received by God’s gracious hand. Prayer: Lord, we thank you that you have blessed us in ways beyond our wildest imaginations. We confess that sometimes we act as if these things are of our own making. Call us back to a place of having grateful hearts for what you have done, Precious Lord. Amen. Friday: “House” - 2 Samuel 7: 11-17 God continues, telling David that while he thought he would construct a house for God, God is actually going to make a house for David. Only this, too, will not be a physical place to live. Instead it is a house of the line and lineage of David for his descendants. Their kingdom will be forever. Now, we know that David’s earthly kingdom, in terms of ruling, did not last forever. At least not as a monarch. But this promise was fulfilled through Jesus, who rules forever at the right hand of God. David had no idea how great and lasting this house would be, nor how it would change the whole world. So it is with us. Often our minds are too small to even begin to comprehend the ways of God, yet God continues to move in ways seen and unseen! Tell of a time you thought too small when it came to the work of the Lord. What changed in your life because of this experience? Prayer: Lord, we thank you that your ways are not our ways and your thoughts are not our thoughts. We thank you for your love for us that changed the world through Jesus Christ. Let us continue to seek to be part of what you are doing in this world, all for the sake of your name. Amen. Saturday: Preparing for the Word You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic: “God’s Care for the Widow” - 1 Kings 17: 1-16

The Golden Calf Devo - Exodus 32: 1-14

October 25th, 2020

Devotional

“The Golden Calf” - Exodus 32: 1-14

Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com

Monday: “Make gods for Us” - Exodus 32:1

How can people tell that you love God? Is it simply by the words you say or do your actions declare it as well? We find in the New Testament this morning the response Jesus gave those inquiring about what the greatest rule is in our faith journey. He responded with two - love God with all you are and all you have and to love your neighbor as yourself. But perhaps that is easier said than done. 

In the Old Testament, people knew who you loved by who you followed. 

The people of Israel had a heart problem. They had seemed to have lost faith in the God who provided for them time and time again. While God had brought them out of Egypt in dramatic fashion - including the drowning of Pharaoh’s army, they can be found time and time again in the book of Egypt complaining. Thinking that God had abandoned them or that God hadn’t given them enough. That’s one of the reasons they wandered in the dessert for forty-years, to try to stress to them that God is the provider and to get their hearts back in check.

Yet, in today’s scripture passage they are right back where they started - disbelief. Moses has left them for a period of time to go up on the mountain and receive what will be known as the ten commandments, the rules of living for the Israelites as a free people. He’s been gone for so long that they are starting to worry that he isn’t coming back or that he has left them. So they go to Aaron, Moses’s brother and the second in command, and start to complain again. Start to say that they need to see the god they worship like they did back in Egypt. 

How do people know that we love God?

How do we fail sometimes to show that love?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we want to honor you. We want to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbors as ourselves. Yet, we confess that often we fail. Often we let our fears get in the way - and those fears sometimes lead us away from you. Forgive us, we pray. Restore us to the right path. Amen. 

Tuesday: “Gold Rings” - Exodus 32: 2-3

The Israelites have complained a lot because Aaron caved - he gave in to what they wanted. He asked everyone to bring all of their gold to him and he crafted a golden calf, which the people then started to worship. Worse they declared that it was this god seen in this calf that had brought them out of the land of Egypt! 

  Idolatry isn’t a new problem, as we can see from this mornings scripture lessons, but it is a big problem still. An idol is anything or anyone that receives our primary focus, energy, or resources instead of God. Rev. Mike Slaughter describes the problem plaguing both society and the church today like this: “Instead of making our primary life passion to worship the Lord our God and to serve only him, we begin to separate our spiritual life from the practical aspects of our life. We use our idols, instead of God, to provide identity and meaning to our lives.” (From the book Shiny Gods)

What are some of the unconfessed idols in our lives?

Prayer: Lord, it is so easy to hear this story and say that we would never do anything like that. But if we examine our hearts and lives more closely, we see that we stay to worship idols in so many ways. Point out to us our blind spots, we pray. Amen. 

Wednesday: “Image of a Calf” - Exodus 32: 4-5

I would take a fair guess that none of you have golden calves that you are worshipping in your homes, but the truth is we still struggle with idols. The Psalmist describes idols as they work of our own hands that we begin to worship, but perhaps more frighteningly they can also be the good gifts that God has given us that we start to abuse. Even our virtues and gifts can become our vices. 

  Rev. Slaughter writes in his book Shiny Gods: Finding Freedom From Things that Distract Us (which this sermon series is based on) about a question that he posed on Facebook about the things that his followers have turned into idols. Most of the responses were good gifts from God that people had began to substitute for God or put before God. They wrote about things like food - a good gift from God that we need to function - that people started to abuse in a way that distracted them from God. One woman wrote that she was putting the desires of her husband and children before her worship and obedience to God. Once again, relationships, especially families, are a beautiful gift from God, but we need to make sure that we don’t place more importance on them than the relationship that should means the most to us - our relationship with God! Amongst church folks, almost all of our idols are really good gifts from God that we have abused. 

  What we worship is what we place worth or value upon. Worship of God should demonstrate the value and place that God has in our lives. But too many of us are claiming to worship and follow God, while still trying to serve our idols, and it just doesn’t work. Which brings me back to my original question - how can people tell that you love God? 

How do we truly know what we worship?

Prayer: Lord, we think of worship as the thing that we do on Sunday mornings, but worship is that which we put our hope, trust, and love in. Lord, let us truly worship you and you alone, we pray. Amen. 

Thursday: “Sacrifices” - Exodus 32: 6

Let’s take a look at two places that reveal the depths of our hearts this week. First, let’s look at our calendars. If you gave your calendar to a stranger and told them to decide from it what was important to you - what you valued - what would they say? Our calendars often reveal what you worship. Now that doesn’t mean that your entire calendar needs to be filled with church activities, but if our lives should be about loving God with all we are and having our hearts directed towards Jesus, does your calendar reflect that? What do you do with your week that shows how you love God and love your neighbor? For those of you who have jobs - how can you love God and love your neighbor at work? For those of you who are retired - what are you doing with your days that glorifies God? How does your time express your passion or love for God? Because stewardship isn’t just about stewardship of money, but of time as well. 

  Second, let’s look at our checkbooks. How do you spend your money, friends? I know many people who would say that they are just trying to pay the bills or just trying to get by from paycheck to paycheck, and if that’s you, how many of your bills are because of the possessions you thought you had to have? 

The problem with our checkbooks comes when we give God the leftovers because we perceive that we don’t have enough. And sometimes we truly don’t have enough because we are spending more money on our shiny gods, or idols, then we have to spend. Sometimes our idols lead us away from God, keep us in debt, and make it so we don’t have anything to give to the work of the Kingdom of God. 

How are worship and stewardship connected?

Prayer: Lord, we thank you that you continually invite us to examine our lives to see what you are doing in and through us. Never leave us, O Lord. Keep shaping and molding us, we pray. Amen. 

Friday: “Turned Away” - Exodus 32: 7-14

We live in a society, according to Rev. Slaughter, where we have become marked by three verbs, or three actions. To want. To have. And to achieve. On the surface there is nothing wrong with any of those things, but Christ invites us towards a different verb - to love. How do the things that we are stewards of - particularly this week our time and our money - reflect that we love - love God and love our neighbor? Let us go forth from this place and have a check of our hearts, as we examine our lives and priorities and confess before God any shiny gods or idols that we have propped up in place of the lord of our lives and Savior, Jesus. 

How do our idols keep us form loving God and loving others well?

Prayer: Lord, you have created us to love you and love others. Keep the action of love always before us, and shed from us that which keeps us from showing and sharing your great love. Amen. 

Saturday: Preparing for the Word

You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic: “God Answers Hannah” - 1 Samuel 1:9-11, 19-20; 2:1-10

Sabbath. Study. Serve.

Sabbath, Study, Serve Taking the Sermon Into Our Week Scripture of the Week: 2 Samuel 7:1-17 From the Sermon: The prophet Isaiah once said that God’s _______________________ and God’s ___________________________. Are you the one to build ______________________________? What it boils down to is that _______ of the Lord is not like our and God is not captive to our _____________________. God didn’t stop with simply saying that he did not desire a house; God went on to say that he would form _________________________. God’s presence cannot be ________________________. This was an __________ covenant with ___________ ramifications. _______________ — the grace and love that came before. Reflection Questions: What are some ways that we try to out-pace God? Has there ever been something that you really wanted to do to honor God, only to have it fail spectacularly? Are we living as people of the promise? What is lost today if we insist on our own plans instead of God’s? Prayer: Lord, for the times we have acted as if we knew better than you, forgive us. For the times we have acted so quickly that we failed to seek first your desires, forgive us. For the times we have failed to speak of you and your Kingdom, forgive we, we pray. Amen.

Sabbath. Study. Serve.

Sabbath, Study, Serve 

Taking the Sermon Into Our Week 

Scripture of the Week: Exodus 32: 1-14

From the Sermon:

The Israelites looked to Moses looked for _____________ and _____________.

Aaron starts collecting the peoples ______ and forming them into an image of a ______.

We turn away from God when we get ________ more than we would like to admit.

We get in trouble when we try to give the ________ priority in our lives over the gift giver.

Sometimes like the ancient Israelites impatience and fear take over and we stray from God. We start to look for our ________ elsewhere. 

Reflection Questions:

Why did the Israelites make the Golden Calf?

What is our idol today?

What are some ways to know that we are straying and worshipping idols?

Prayer:

Lord, we confess that we have made idols out of people and things in our lives. Worse, O Lord, sometimes we have not even realized that we were doing so. Stir in our hearts this week and show us what we need to repent of and turn away from in order to return to you. Forgive us, we pray. Amen. 

God Answers Hannah - 1 Samuel 1:9-11, 19-20; 2:1-10

    I still remember the first time I really felt the need to lament. I was working as a chaplain and one of the patients I had been visiting several times a week passed away. It felt like my heart was breaking. All I wanted to do was cry out to God. In fact, I believe my tears held a deeper question of why this person, why now, why God?
    We all need space in our life to lament. I think one of the great tragedies of the American church is that we have bought into this very unBiblical lie that if we truly trust in and believe in God then we won't lament. But the truth is under the thin veneer of smiles and unwavering faith, lies the truth. We all need to lament. And in order to lament you need to trust firmly in God in the first place.
    Lament helps bring healing to our broken hearts. So let us join together in songs of lament for that which we held dear.

(Reblog - "Lament" - 01/29/2018)

God Answers Hannah Devotional

October 18th, 2020

Devotional

“God Answers Hannah”

1 Samuel 1:9-11, 19-20; 2:1-10

Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com

Monday: “Presented Herself” - 1 Samuel 1:9-10

  We often do not talk about prayer as presenting one’s self before the Lord. It sounds too formal. Like we need to be prepared to pray. But for Hannah, presenting one’s self to the Lord was simply coming before God. Walking past the priest. Coming to the place of worship without a petition for someone else to bring before God or a sacrifice to put on the alter. She simply brought herself. 

The Message translation of scripture simply says that Hannah entered the sanctuary. She knew that she needed to get away from that dinner and went to where she could pray. 

For some people, churches are a place that they associate with prayer. For others its in the quiet of the woods. Or running down the street. Or digging in the flowerbed. Where are your places of pray and how do they help you to present yourself before God?

Do you think there is a right or a wrong place to pray? Why or why not?

Prayer: God, we thank you that we can come before you in prayer wherever we may find ourselves. We know that for each of us, there are some places where it is easier to pray than others. May that be our holy place, set apart, to present ourselves to you, O Lord. Amen. 

Tuesday: “Vow” - 1 Samuel 1: 11

Some people claim that the vow that Hannah makes before God is some sort of bargain - if you give me X than I will do Y, Lord. But if that’s true, she offered a pretty big ‘Y’ in response to an answer to prayer. 

It is true that sometimes people do try to make bargains with God in prayer. Things like, Lord if you do this thing for me, then I promise to be in church every Sunday. Or Lord if you get me out of this situation, I promise to follow you. Those however, are conditions of our behavior and response to God based on what we demand that God will do for us. 

In contrast, Hannah makes a promise. If God will answer the cry of her heart and give her a son, she will return that son for service to the Lord. In other words, she will give up that which she prayed for the most. This is quite the promise to make. 

What do you think the difference between a vow to God and bargaining with God is?

Prayer: Lord, we confess that sometimes we turn our prayer life into a set of demands - telling you, O Lord, that you must do something for us before we are willing to respond. Forgive us, O Lord, for putting you to the test. Let us come to prayer with you because you are God, not because of what we want to get out of it. Amen. 

Wednesday: “Conceived” - 1 Samuel 1: 19-20

Even with Hannah’s tearful prayer, the answer still came in God’s perfect timing. She and her husband knew one another, the Lord remembered her, and she conceived and bore a son, whom she named Samuel.

Sometimes we want God to answer our prayers in our timing. We wonder why God won’t move faster. Or we become discouraged for praying for the same thing over and over again, so we simply give up praying, assuming that God isn’t listening to us. 

Hannah’s story is one of the persistence in praying. I have to wonder how many times she prayed for a son before she entered that sanctuary. I have to wonder how many times she continued to pray after she left. 

When I pray, I often end with saying “your will be done.” Powerful words that we find in the Lord’s Prayer. But more than a statement, it is truly the cry of my heart. I pray and hand things over to God - whose ways and timing are better than mine. 

How do you respond when God does not answer your prayer right away?

Prayer: Almighty God, we thank you for you ways and your timing. We thank you for allowing us to come before you in prayer again and again and again, as an act of trust and dependance in you alone. Lord, give us patient hearts that lean into your grace as we wait. Amen. 

Thursday: “Hannah Prayed” - 1 Samuel 2: 1-4

What is ironic about the heading found in some Bibles for 1 Samuel 2, “Hannah Prayed” is that Hannah also prayed in 1 Samuel, chapter 1. The prayers just looked different. 

In chapter 1, Hannah poured her heart out before the Lord in a prayer of lament. She told the Lord how she was feeling, shedding tears out of her feeling of brokenness. But her prayer of lament is also one of hope - she trusts that the Lord cares for her and that the Lord will act on her behalf. 

In chapter 2, Hannah’s prayer turns to one of praise. She sings to the Lord a new song, that exalts in how the Lord has given her victory. 

In many ways 1 Samuel 1 and 2 read like the Psalms - where the Psalmists both cry out to God in despair and praise God - sometimes even in the same prayer. 

God wants to hear what is on our heart. We do not need to keep anything from the Lord. Instead, we can cry laments or songs or praise or anything in between, because our God loves us and cares for us. 

Do you more often find yourself praying prayers of lament or praise?

Prayer: God of Grace, throughout your Holy Word you have given us many examples of how people can approach you in prayer. Even in this week’s scripture we have seen a variety of ways to pray. You remind us that you simply want to spend time with us and hear from us as well as speak to our hearts. Thank you, O Lord, for being present both on the mountaintops and in the valleys of our lives. Amen. 

Friday: “Raises Up” - 1 Samuel 2: 5-10

  It is hard to read Hannah’s prayer and not hear the echoes of what will come in the Gospel of Luke with Mary’s Magnificant. Both speak of the poor and lowly being lifted up and God doing great things. 

And both put into proper perspective that all honor and glory and power belong to the Lord. 

Two women, centuries apart. One whom begged God for a child. One who never expected to be pregnant. Both used in mighty ways in the story of Salvation. 

What similarities and differences do you see between Hannah and Mary?

Prayer: God, we thank you for people in your Word, like Mary and Hannah, who you have used in mighty ways. We entrust our lives into your hands and ask that you use us as well, to make your name and your Kingdom known. Amen. 

Saturday: Preparing for the Word

You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic to prepare for worship: “God’s Promise to David” - 2 Samuel 7:1-17

Sabbath. Study. Serve.

Sabbath, Study, Serve 

Taking the Sermon Into Our Week 

Scripture of the Week: 1 Samuel 1:9-11, 19-20; 2:1-10

From the Sermon:

Elkanah tried to comfort Hannah but he ____________________.

Hannah had ______________________.

Hannah prayed a prayer of ____________.

Laments are also a radical act of ________.

Whether we are in the valley or on the mountain top - ______________________.

Reflection:

What lead Hannah to pray the way she did?

What is your experience with praying prayers of lament?

Prayer:

Lord, teach us what it means to come before you in lament. Give us the boldness and bravery of Hannah to lay our hearts out before you. Remind us that you love us deeply and care about us intimately. Comfort us, we pray. Amen. 

The Promise of Passover - Exodus 12:1-13; 13:1-8

    Some of the most sacred memories I have are around the celebration of Holy Communion. There is one experience in particular that sticks out in my mind. When I was a freshman in college I was part of a church plant. We met in the evenings in the basement of a church. One particular evening I came in to find the communion table set before us in the middle of the room. When it came time to celebrate - we were invited to come to the table and do a number of things. First, we were invited to come and kneel at the table for a time of prayer. During that time, we were to write a confession of our sin on a paper table cloth and then leave that sin there - not to pick it up again. Next we were to look across the table to the person kneeling and pray for them - it didn't matter if we knew them or not, we simply prayed. Then we partook of the body and blood of Christ.
    There was nothing magical about that communion meal - but it invited me to think about the celebration of the sacrament of communion in a new way, ultimately reminding me of Christ's sacrifice, not just for me but for the person across the table from me as well.
    What experience of celebrating Holy Communion has deeply moved you?

(Repost of 1 Cor 11: 17-34   Living Our Beliefs: Holy Communion from 05/2016)

The Promise of Passover Devo

October 4th, 2020

Devotional

“The Promise of Passover” - Exodus 12:1-13; 13:1-8

Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com

Monday: “Lamb” - Exodus 12: 1-6

The story goes that Moses had tried time and time again to convince Pharaoh to let Gods people go. Each time, after being struck by some sort of plague, he would agree only to relent later. So God brought forth one last plague, killing the first born of every Egyptian household. The night this was to take place, the Israelites were instructed to sacrifice a lamb to God and put its blood above their door post as a reminder to God to pass over their house leaving it unharmed. The lamb was then cooked and eaten as one final meal before their journey.

Because God did such a great act in rescuing the people of God, Passover was (and still is) to be a time of celebration. A time to remember in order to look forward to the future.

But, for Christians, Jesus changed the tone of the evening when he interrupted with the disciples knew, all of the ritual they had experienced since they were children, by taking the unleavened bread and breaking it. Then taking one of the cups of wine and saying it would be a sign of the new covenant. The disciples were probably confused. Jesus’ ministry up to this point had been marked by parables that confused the disciples, but now Jesus was giving them something tangible, not simply a teaching. The bread stood for his body, the wine his blood that would be shed. Jesus was giving them one last thing to remember him by.

How are Passover and Holy Communion linked?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we thank you for the meal you shared with your disciples on Passover. We thank you that in the midst of the story of liberation from Egypt emerged the story of liberation from sin. Tell us this story again and again, we pray. Amen. 

Tuesday: “Blood” - Exodus 12: 7-11

If you have ever been to a Passover Seder you know that it is a meal marked by symbols. Everything on the table symbolizes a part of the story of Exodus - the story of the flight from Egypt. Bitter herbs, wine, salt water, apples, the unleavened bread, the lamb. All part of the story. 

In Jesus’s celebration of the Passover, the rituals were kept alive. At three o’clock they joined the line at the temple to have their lamb slaughtered. The priest would take each lamb and slit its throat, collecting the blood in a bowl to be poured at the base of the alter table. The priest would butcher the lamb and give it to back to the person bringing the offering. They would have cooked the lamb for three to four hours, before everyone gathered for the dinner at seven o’clock to remember the story of how God rescued the Israelites from the oppressive hand of Egypt.

In this particular scripture from Exodus, we are told not only what was consumed, but with what posture. “This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the Lord.” This is the story of a people waiting for God to move - waiting for God to liberate and set them free. 

What in our story speaks to the liberation that comes from God?

Prayer: Lord, we thank you that you are the God of love and liberation. We thank you, O God, that you set us free, sometimes from that which we do not even know is holding us back. Break open our hard hearts and free us from sin, we pray. Amen.

Wednesday: “Pass Through” - Exodus 12: 12-13

We may never fully understand the ways of God. Sometimes when I read this story, my heart aches to think of all of the people who lost their lives or loved ones. Some people, smarter than I, ask why in the world would God do this? Many point back to the Pharaoh commanding that Hebrew boys be slaughtered - a fate which Moses escaped. 

But, even if we fully do not understand the ways of God or this plague in particular, we do know this - when people gather to celebrate the Passover meal, there is no rejoicing at the death of the first born. This is part of the story, but it is not part of the celebration. For people’s lives were lost. 

What do you do when you do not understand the ways of God?

Prayer: Lord, sometimes when we read your Word we are overwhelmed - especially overwhelmed by that which we cannot fully understand. Speak tenderly to our hearts and draw us near to yourself, we pray. Amen. 

Thursday: “Consecrate” - Exodus 13: 1-2

To consecrate is to set apart for a holy purpose for God. In Exodus, God tells Moses to set aside the firstborn for God. For us, today, we consecrate the bread the cup when we celebrate Communion. We take the ordinary things of the earth and see them as symbols, telling a holy story for a holy purpose. 

When Jesus celebrate the Passover long ago, it began the last 24 hours of Jesus life that tell the story of a God of boundless love, whose love could not be confined. In fact, it is a love so profound that Jesus, God’s son, was sent to lay down his life for all humanity. And this is what we now celebrate each and every time we come to the communion table, that God’s love is big enough to deliver us from sin and death. We come together and remember who we are defined through Jesus’ sacrifice. We remember who we were, who we are, and who we will be. And we come together to celebrate it as a community, not alone. 

This is what the bread and the cup are set apart to remind us - whose we are and who we belong to because of the love of Christ. 

What does the celebration of Holy Communion mean to you? 

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for the holy meal we celebrate together. We thank you for taking ordinary things and giving them an extraordinary meaning. Thank you, O Lord, for your grace, your mercy, and your love. Amen. 

Friday: “Tell” - Exodus 13: 3-8

For this entire year together we have been exploring scripture from the Narrative Lectionary. We have been re-hearing and re-learning the stories of the Old and New Testaments. Why? Because we need to know both our story and the story of scripture and how they come together in order to go forth and tell. 

For the people of Israel, coming together once a year at the Passover table was a reminder of the amazing story of how God brought them out of a land of oppression to a place of freedom. It’s a story of deliverance, grace, mercy, hope, and salvation. And why did they celebrate? So they could continue to tell the story to their children and their children’s children. 

We, too, have a story to tell. A story of deliverance, grace, mercy, hope, and salvation. A story of a Savior who gave everything for us. A story we are called to remember and to tell. What story are you telling?

How do you tell your story of faith? What is important for you to include?

Prayer: Lord, we love to tell the story. Your story and how it transformed our story. Let us proclaim it far and wide, dear Lord, for the sake of your Kingdom. Amen. 

Saturday: Preparing for the Word

You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic: “The Golden Calf” - Exodus 32:1-14

Sabbath. Study. Serve.

Sabbath, Study, Serve 

Taking the Sermon Into Our Week 

Scripture of the Week: Exodus 12:1-13; 13:1-8

From the Sermon:

___________ and our celebration of _______________ are intimately linked.

Pharaoh went through _________ where he would turn Moses away only to find himself and his people afflicted with plagues.

The Israelites are celebrating the _______ that came even before their ___________ because it is a turning point in their story - a turning point in their history.

The ___________ point us to the story of God.

Reflection Questions:

Why do we tell the story of our faith?

How do we remember the deliverance of God?

At times when it seems like the foundations of the world are sharking - what can we do?

Prayer:

Lord, help us to be people of your story. People who reflect on the symbol of Holy Communion that we took part in this week. People who are sent forth to proclaim the story of God! Amen! Amen! Amen!