OK, if that is what you want.

Exodus 32

In Exodus 4, Moses is contending with God that he is not qualified to speak to the people. He is convinced they will not listen to him. So God appoints Aaron to be the mouthpiece. This sets up a dangerous game of “telephone”. God tells Moses. Moses tells Aaron. Aaron tells the people. It seems to work out ok, but one must wonder…does this go to Aaron’s head? Does this relationship of being the spokesman to the people set something up in his heart that causes him to take himself too seriously? Does is cause him to value that standing among the people? Think it should be he, not Moses in charge?
When we flip over to chapter 32, we find Aaron saying and doing some weird things. First of all, the people come to him and ask him to do what he KNOWS is wrong. But he does it anyway. He seems to do it pretty quickly. It also says that he fashioned this calf with a tool. So work was involved. There was some intentional effort after the decision was made. He had to be thinking “this is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong…” and yet, he went ahead with it.
What is really interesting, is that he sets up a feast day and sacrifices on the altar of this new golden calf, but proclaims the day to be in honor of God. Not a false god, mind you. He proclaims the day in honor of Jehovah. Like he is trying to get God to approve what he just did. Even thought it was CLEARLY wrong. That is kind of weird. Worshipping an idol, but proclaiming it to be in honor of the one true God. We would NEVER do that…would we? Would we ever get impatient waiting for God’s direction? So impatient that we convince someone to do our bidding, in just the way we want them to, and then declare it to be “God’s will”? Maybe look for someone who is willing to tell us what we want to hear, in the way we want to hear it? Or do something that is outside of the God’s plan and then ask Him to bless it later?
The lesson here is, when God gives you something to say, say it. But just because you are His messenger once, or for a time, doesn’t mean He will rubber stamp everything you do or say. Especially when it is done to further your own standing among those around you.

Have no dealings with…

I am reading in John 4. The part about “the woman at the well”. If you have been around a church more than about three weeks you have heard this story preached, commented on and basically beaten to death. I have heard preachers go on for over 20 minutes on the point that it was “about the sixth hour”. Noon. Big deal. So it was hot, so it was the middle of the day, so most of the town’s women would have been there in the morning but because this woman had a “past” she was trying to avoid them. All good points, but still. Sometimes you just need to let it go. It was noon.
So my concentration is at an all time low this morning. Hotmail has supposedly released a new beta version of their calendar that will synch with Outlook. I found that interesting. That is how low my concentration is on this morning’s study.

So my thought for today is, how many times have we been over the same thing that it completely loses its meaning? There is a line in there about how the Jews would have no dealings with the Samaritans. I am sure there is meaning there. But maybe I have heard it too many times to remember.
Got to get back to a reason….

Not because of care for the poor.

In John 12 Mary anoints Jesus with oil and Judas gets all wigged out about it. This made me think. In the church world right now, budgets are tight. There is a lot of fear involved. When this happens, unfortunately folks oftentimes take their eyes off God and arrange a firing squad. Usually in a circle.
As the economy continues to shrink, we may hear a lot of second guessing of past spending decision from leadership. Or from the congregation. Or from ourselves. “If we hadn’t spent “x” on “y” back then, we would have it now.” True, but the ministry you did then wouldn’t have happened.
We may hear questions about why we spend so much on this or that. These are natural discussions to have. Especially when it comes time to make tough decisions. We all care deeply about the work we are doing. However, an argument or accusation about the past has no business in the church (or anywhere else). Discussions about past decisions with a direct focus on the future MAY have value, but fear can come in rather quickly and fear is where Satan lives.
I think we can take a big lesson from John on this one. He tells us that Judas was not upset because he wanted to take care of the poor. Judas was concerned about Judas. Don’t let your teams or leaders get caught in the fear trap. This only leads to pointing fingers at what may be perceived as another’s waste. Check your motives. Encourage others to check theirs. Ask everyone where their “Fear Factor” is. Ministry is bigger than “MY ministry”. Ministry is about the bigger vision God has for all

Not a liar, but not necessarily telling the truth either

In John 1:43-51 Philip, who had just met Jesus and was all excited, went and found Nathanael. Instead of being all excited about the discovery of the Messiah, Nathanael’s response was “can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip then convinces him to come and see, and when Jesus sees Nathanael, His response is “an Israelite in whom there is no deceit”.

Now we find that Nathanael was previously just hanging out, under a fig tree, probably watching ESPN or SportsCenter. He didn’t really want to be bothered with getting up to see another false messiah. We know there were others claiming to be the messiah from Acts 5:34-39. So his skeptical response, could possibly be understood. When he reluctantly agrees to go and see, as soon as Jesus tells him one thing, Nathanael is ready to believe. Old Nate has no idea the ride he is in for.

How many times are we like that? We would rather hang out and watch ESPN than get up and go where Jesus is. But then when someone convinces us to go, we see – once again- and realize that nothing on this earth compares.

Tell your youth director you would like to burn a few vacation days and volunteer with VBS. Call up the local food pantry and see if your family can help this weekend. If we are truly ready to follow Jesus, I think we will see “greater things than these”.

Following Jesus means a lot more than just “not doing the wrong things”. It means a lot more than “don’t lie, don’t steal…uhh..what were the other ones?” Nathanael wasn’t a liar, Jesus Himself said so. But initially, he wasn’t ANYTHING. Following Jesus means to also “do the right thing”. To do SOMETHING.

Go, Follow Him.

John the Baptist tells his disciples “Behold, the Lamb of God” at which point the disciples leave John and begin following Jesus. One of those two was Andrew, Peter’s brother.
There are several things I find interesting in this. One is John’s willingness to declare Jesus to his own disciples. No holding on to his “flock”. He knew who he was and who Jesus is. Once again we see John’s ministry is all about directing people to Jesus.
Another thing that crossed my mind is “What if it wasn’t necessarily Jesus?” What I mean here is, not so much a direct relation to John, but to modern day churches and Christians. Are we willing to direct people to ministries that can help them? Provided of course those ministries are of the One, True God. Or are we more concerned with holding on to “our members”?
If we saw Jesus alive and active in another church, ministry, or group, would we be willing to encourage people to go there?