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January 30, 2012

binding up the brokenhearted

By Steve Godfrey

Marc Chagall French, born Vitebsk, Russia (present-day Belarus), 1887–1985 White Crucifixion, 1938 Oil on canvas 60 3/4 x 55 in. (154.3 x 139.7 cm) Signed and dated, l.r.: "MArc ChAgAll/ 1938" Gift of Alfred S. Alschuler, 1946.925 © 2008 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

For Sunday, February 5th, 2012
Fifth Sunday of Epiphany
Psalm 147 

Does today find you brokenhearted?  Maybe you’ve lost your job, your spouse, or your way.  Don’t despair. There is a God reaching out to us who wants to bind up our wounds and set us back upon the healing path:

He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds. . . 
He takes no pleasure in the strength of a horse or in human might.
No, the Lord’s delight is in those who fear him,
those who put their hope in his unfailing love.
(Psalm 147:3, 10-11, NLT) 

Marc Chagall speaks to broken hearts in his 1938 work entitled ‘White Crucifixion’.  Chagall was a Russian Jew watching his world crumble around him.  Communism was sweeping into his world from the left while Nazism wreaked it’s own havoc from the right.  The distressed figures in the foreground just want to escape.  Yet amidst all of this stands the constancy of the cross of Christ, in which the suffering of all peoples, whether Jew or Gentile, comes together where redemption breaks into the chaos (1).

Let the good news of the gospel bind up our broken hearts, for God is here, and his love is indeed unfailing.

Credits:
1) Chagall, Ingo F. Walter and Rainer Metzger, 2006, Taschen, pp. 61-62.

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January 17, 2012

the specter of destruction and the compassion of God

By Steve Godfrey

Bull-Man Head from excavation of Nebi Yunus (“Mound of Jonah”) (Wikipedia, ‘Nineveh’)

For Sunday, January 22, 2012
Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Mark 1:14-20
Third Sunday After Epiphany

God’s will is a stubborn thing.  In this week’s first reading from the Book of Jonah the text begins, “The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.”  What did God say this second time?  The same thing he said the first time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh . . . “.   God’s will in this instance wasn’t general but rather very specific.  Jonah had rejected God’s call the first time and ended up on the shore of  a beach, cold and wet, laying in fish vomit.  God may speak to us specifically in certain circumstances.  We ought to be listening so that if and when he does we are in a position to respond affirmatively.

So then this second time Jonah obeys and goes to the city of Nineveh.  This was a major Assyrian city located just across the Tigris river from modern-day Mosul in Iraq (1).   There was great “wickedness” (Jonah 1:2) taking place here.   God says, “Let them give up their evil ways and their violence (Hebrew hamas) (Jonah 3:8).”  Nineveh was known as a place of self-confident pride (2).   One inscription discovered on the wall of King Sennacherib’s palace says this concerning his conquest of Babylon: “Its inhabitants, young and old, I did not spare, and with their corpses I filled the streets of the city.”(3)  There was a “We’re number 1″ mentality.  To those of us who are citizens of the USA this ought to give pause.

The message which God gave to Jonah for Nineveh was stark: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned (v. 4)“.  Before embarking on the trip Jonah called a couple of church growth consultants who went apoplectic when hearing what Jonah planned to say.  However Jonah had learned his lesson: he would say what God had called him to say, and leave the results to God.

Remarkably this self-confident and violent Assyrian city listened and response en masse.  Why?  It seems so unlikely that a foreigner could come in, proclaim this stark message, and have an entire city believe and repent in response.  There are several possibilities based on attendant circumstance.  First, the Assyrians may have suffered a recent military defeat.  Second, a major earthquake may have occurred in the region. Third, on June 15, 763 BC a total solar eclipse over Assyria occurred (4).  As we speak the gospel into our own culture we need to remember that we are not alone: God himself will move on our behalf to move our listeners to believing faith.

When the Ninevites responded in repentant faith God had compassion on them and withdrew his threatened destruction.  God will not tolerate evil and wickedness forever.  On this side of the cross, God has made us his final offer in Jesus Christ.  If in light of this, we persist in our evil, destruction will be the inevitable result.  May we therefore like the Ninevites recognize our own evil, repent both individually and corporately, believe in God, and like the Ninevites become the objects of God’s compassion.

Reader’s Corner:
Where are you aware of wickedness occurring in your own city whether in its urban areas or suburbs.  What might God be calling you to say or do in response?

References:
1)  Wikipedia, ‘Nineveh’.
2)  Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Jonah 1:2.
3)  Wikipedia, ‘Nineveh’.
4)  New Bible Commentary, p. 820.

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January 10, 2012

who is listening?

By Steve Godfrey

Philip the Apostle

For Sunday, January 15th, 2012
Second Sunday after Epiphany

I’d like to share with you why I find so powerful the weekly rhythm of reading, praying through, and applying the weekly lectionary readings.  It is because every time I read and reflect I sense the Holy Spirit pressing me into his mold.  This is a good thing because I still need a great deal of pressing.  Yet how refreshing it is to invite something other than the secular culture to mold me in its image.

In this week’s first reading Samuel says, “Speak, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3).  The irony is that Eli, the man who told him to say this, was unwilling to say it himself.  Eli knew God was there but this reality wasn’t important enough for Eli to care about being molded accordingly along with his own sons.

Will we be people who know what to say but refuse to say it (a.k.a. Eli’s)?  Or will we be people who wake up each morning and say to God as Samuel did, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

Do you have a plan for your own Bible reading for 2012?  If not, how about committing with me to read the weekly lectionary readings?  The four readings together can be read in 30 minutes per week.  Yet I can promise you that if you commit to this, and do it with a heart that says, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening,” you will be changed, and it will happen quickly.

Reader’s corner:

  • To what plan of Bible reading is God calling you this next year?
  • Would you like to join me in reading the weekly lectionary readings?  If so, what would be a good way for us to encourage each other?
  • What has God been saying to you recently about how he wants to bless your life?

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December 26, 2011

for Zion’s sake I will not keep silent

By Steve Godfrey
“Annunciation to the Shepherds”, Adam Pynacker, ca. 1620-1673, California Palace of the Legion of Honor

For Sunday, January 1, 2012
Isaiah 61:10 – 62:3
First Sunday After Christmas Day (Year B, Christmas)

Adam Pynacker’s “Annunciation to the Shepherds” appears as the header art for the Christmas season readings of the Revised Common Lectionary site.  I was surprised to find out that this was painted in the 1600′s.  It seems more modern given both the color template and use of light.  The glory of God is bursting into the darkness accompanied by all manner of angels, signs and wonders.  It’s quite terrifying for the shepherd and his wife who witness it.  She’s fallen down and he’s running for his life while their bull is charging one way and their goat another.  Is this not a metaphor for the chaos of the Christmas season.  If it’s not bulls and goats in a frenzy it’s Moms at the mall duking it out for a pair of Air Jordans.

Why would the angel of the Lord choose to make the first public announcement of Jesus’ coming to some shepherds in a field?  The Vanderbilt citation for this work contains this interesting insight into the status of shepherds in first century Palestine:

Shepherds were a despised occupational group. Shepherds could be romanticized, largely due to the status of King David, the once and future shepherd king…However, in fact shepherds were generally ranked with ass drivers, tanners, sailors, butchers, camel drivers, and other despised occupations. Being away from home at night, they were unable to protect the honor of their women; hence they were presumed to be dishonorable. Often they were considered thieves because they grazed their flocks on other people’s property. (Malina/Rohrbaugh, 93)

So the angel of the Lord comes to announce the revelation of the greatest of all mysteries in the Bible – the identify of Messiah – and makes it to the contemporary equivalent of a taxi driver and his wife?

Yet this is the beauty of the gospel.  God puts equal importance on each of his children no matter their present station.  He wants each of us to sing in our souls the way the subject of his redemptive purpose does in Isaiah 61:10,11:

I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God.  For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness . . . For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.”

Note that God’s end game is not simply to save individual sinners but also to redeem the world in all its brokenness.  The prophet Isaiah now picks up where the former speaker leaves off and says this:

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch.

In contemporary culture ‘Zion’ may be best known as the underground base of the rebels warring against the Matrix in the movie of the same name.  Yet in God’s lexicon Zion is is the city of God in the new age.  It is the place where his purpose dwells without constraint (TWOT).

The significance of Christmas is that God’s dwelling with Man has come in a new way, in the person of Jesus.  The church, as the body of Christ, is now the place in which the Spirit of God dwells.  In view of the darkness of our world, and in view of the certainty of God’s intent to dispel this darkness with his light, may we as the church not keep silent.  May we not remain quiet, but rather serve as a blazing torch to the world around us of something new, better, and real.

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December 19, 2011

a light for people walking in darkness

By Steve Godfrey

Vladimirskaya Theotocos, Orthodox Icon, 12th Century


For Sunday, December 25, 2011
Nativity of the Lord, Proper 1
(Isaiah 9, Psalm 96, Luke 2, Titus 2)

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.”  So starts Isaiah 9:2.  We Christians were once “people walking in darkness.”  We were those “living in the land of deep darkness“.  This latter phrase could also be translated “living in the land of the shadow of death.”  But while this was true of us now a light has dawned.    This is why we light up our homes at Christmas.  As our exterior illumination dispels the darkness of December so does the presence of Jesus dispel the shadow of death that once reigned.

Christmas has always been a difficult time for me emotionally.  It’s because of the trauma I lived through as a child as we struggled to cope with my Mom’s mental illness.  I’ve come a long way in terms of being able to enjoy  the holiday, but for me, the light has only dawned.  We’re far from noontime.  Yet this is okay.  The important thing is that the light has dawned and will only get brighter as I continue on this journey with Jesus.

Psalm 96 encourages us to “worship the Lord in holy splendor.”  What might “holy splendor” really look like in my local church?  My mind immediately goes to the beautiful cathedrals I have experienced in both Russia and right here in Milwaukee.  Yet the wise men who were with Jesus had no cathedral and yet certainly there was “holy splendor” in their worship of the baby Jesus, despite the straw all around.  They brought frankincense and myrrh.  Have you ever worshipped amidst the aroma of frankincense and myrrh?  A personal confession: I burn these as incense at home and find them wonderfully calming, affirming, and stimulating.  Bring some to your pastor.  Enjoy some together: might this be a way to bring some holy splendor into your Christmas worship?

What a joy as well to read Luke 2 this week.  I call this the Linus chapter, because having seen Charlie Brown’s Christmas so many times, I can’t seem to hear the words any other way.  ”Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people; to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”  No matter who is speaking them these are good words indeed, so Linus, thank you!

This week’s final reading, Titus 2, proclaims clearly and wonderfully what Christmas ought to mean for each of us who have come to the manger: “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and wordly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly.”  What a far cry from the vision of the world, which might sound like this: “For Hollywood has appeared, calling us to live lives that are self-actualized, glamorous, and glitzy.”  The problem: once the sugar high wears off all we’re left with is lives that are “self-indulgent, superficial, and vapid.”  Are you ready for something different?  Let the light of Jesus dawn.

Point to ponder:
You are standing by the manger.  You look into the baby Jesus eyes.  He looks back.  In this moment, what is God saying to you?  How can the light of Jesus grow a little brighter in your life this week?

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October 25, 2011

Brief: Walter Isaacson on Steve Jobs on 60 Minutes

By Steve Godfrey
I saw the 60 Minutes interview in which Walter Isaacson shared some of his last conversations with Steve Jobs.  Mr. Isaacson mentions that in some of those questions the subject of God came up.   He said that Steve said, “Sometimes I believe and sometimes I don’t.”  I find this fascinating.  Just maybe God found Steve before he died.  
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October 9, 2011

iSurrender

By Steve Godfrey

For Sunday, October 16, 2011
Season After Pentecost – Proper 24

Steve Job’s aspiration was to make a ding on the universe.  The dimple on the bottom of my iPhone suggests he succeeded.

I’m personally saddened by his loss.  I admire his genius for fusing technology with design.  I thoroughly enjoy using both my iPhone and my iMac.  I’ve felt affirmed as a person when I interact with his company for service.  Recently, rather than fighting through layers of automated menus only to be asked verbally for the phone number I had just provided to a computer prompt, the Apple representative I was on the phone with said, “Rather than calling the local stores yourself, would you like me to do that for you?”  Thank you God!  

My condolences go out to his family.  I watched my brother die of emaciating cancer.  It is difficult to see the vitality of a person’s life inexorably drain away.  My condolences also go out to the company as well: it’s hard to lose your visionary.  I saw the picture above flashed on a billboard on the way to work here in Milwaukee this past week.  It seemed fitting: well done Apple.  Yet it was sad.  iSurrender.  

Andy Crouch published an extended essay in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal called “The Secular Prophet“.  He highlights Mr. Job’s 2005 Commencement Speech at Stanford University as a means of summing up Steve’s philosophy of life:

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.  Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice, heart, and intuition.  They somehow already know what you truly want to become (emphasis mine).

Steve was a Zen Buddhist and an Existentialist.  This gave him a firm grasp on the first two stanzas of Reinhold Neibuhr’s “Serenity Prayer.”

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.  

What Steve may not have grasped was the wisdom of the next two two stanzas: 

Trusting that you will make things right if I surrender to your will, that I might be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with you forever in the next.

Steve Jobs surrendered to death but maybe not to the One who claims to have created us and to understand us better than we understand ourselves.  We indeed ought to listen to our “own inner voice, heart, and intuition“.   Yet do these not tell us that we are profoundly lost and in need of something outside of ourselves?  Could it really be that in Jesus there is a way to avoid surrendering to death by instead surrendering to life?  

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him (John 3:16).

iSurrender, yes, but not to death.  iSurrender to the love of God for me.  I was indeed naked but now I’m clothed with forgiveness, grace, and peace.  While I’m still very much a work in progress, I hope for something better and humbly invite you to join me on this journey.

Reader’s Corner:
Philippians 4:8 says this: “… Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”  What do you most admire about your iMac, iPhone, or iPad?  What in this material reality might point to a deeper spiritual reality running both around and through it?  

Image credit:  www.apple.com

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October 24, 2010

Lausanne Capetown 2010

By Steve Godfrey


For Sunday, October 31st, 2010

Proper 26

Last Sunday, October 24th, marked the end of the third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Capetown, South Africa. The Lausanne Movement is about “The whole church taking the whole gospel to the whole world” and is a key connecting point for evangelical churches worldwide. The first congress took place in 1974 in Lausanne, Switzerland. The second took place in Manila, The Phillipines, in 1989. This is therefore the first time in 21 years that such a congress has taken place.

This congress is publishing a document called “The Cape Town Commitment – A Declaration of Belief and a Call to Action.” The first half of this document is now available. The second half won’t be available until a discernment and listening process completes in December. That the Evangelical Church worldwide would take time not only to gather, but to listen and discern, is a wonderful sign that good things are to come, both for the church and the world.

One of this week’s readings, which includes a beautiful prayer of the Apostle Paul’s for the Thessalonian church, seems a fitting way to pray this week for our brothers and sisters in Christ represented at the Congress. It is a prayer above all that those of us who represent the church would be counted worthy of our callings, and that the Lord Jesus Christ might be glorified in us:

” . . . We constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours, and every act prompted by your faith. We pray this also so that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (vv. 11,12).


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July 23, 2010

know your enemy

By Steve Godfrey

Chuck Colson’s 7/22/10 Breakpoint makes some great points about the importance of understanding our enemies. I agree with him: we do ourselves no favors by declining to name our enemies. Our enemies are not Muslims, but extremist Muslims. We need to think and speak plainly about this if we are going to stand against the totalitarianism that this extremist Muslim worldview represents.

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February 13, 2010

the rhythm of Epiphany to Lent

By Steve Godfrey

“Christ in the Wilderness”, Ivan Kramskoi (1837-87)
For Sunday, February 21, 2010
First Sunday in Lent

One of the wonderful things about the Revised Common Lectionary is that it provides a rhythm for life. This week marks our transition from the Season of Epiphany to the Season of Lent. Epiphany was all about the Incarnation of Christ as framed by the Magis’ visit to the baby Jesus. With Lent our focus moves from encounter to reflection. Now that we’ve encountered Jesus’ incarnation on earth, what should it mean for our lives? The framing image for Lent is Jesus’ 40 days in the Wilderness.

Entering a wilderness requires a bit of planning and sacrifice. We can’t take all the creature comforts of home with us. Yet the benefit of spending time there is to reconnect with what really matters, which in turn transforms everything once we arrive back home.
‘Lent’ may seem a strange word. It comes from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘lencten’ meaning “Spring.” Some think that the church tradition of starting Lent came from the fact that winter food often ran out during this time so that a period of fasting might have often been necessary prior to when freshly-grown food would be available. However, it seems more likely that Lent was established as a means of removing distraction in preparation for the celebration of Christ’s resurrection at Easter.
Some might say, “Now look, there is nothing in the Bible about Lent, so let’s just drop the idea.” If Lent were merely intended to be an exercise in inducing guilt, understood. Yet there is so much more here on offer. Just as Spring brings new possibilities in terms of physical growth and change so does Lent bring with it new possibilities in terms of spiritual growth and change.
Will you therefore join me on an adventure into the Wilderness of Faith these next forty days? This will be for us an opportunity to let Jesus direct the very trajectory of our lives.
Amen and Hallelujah.
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