This week won’t make any greatest hits. Like last week,
my daily regimen of Scripture was nil – except, unlike last week, I didn’t play
ketchup until Sunday. I also found myself battling a phantom ulcer (according
to WebMD and Oschner) and a migraine (from too much scripture in one day), so I’ve
gotta take better care of myself, lest I become a Sheila. Let’s get to it.
Old Testament
(Genesis 41:17 - Exodus 3)
So Joseph gets a promotion from Pharaoh – he goes from being
a prison trustee to Veep, just by doing a little dream analysis. What impresses
me the most about this part of Joseph’s story is the notation that as soon as
Joseph left Pharaoh’s presence, he began his work. As a self-confessed
lazybones who spends every Monday
hanging out with the Lethargariansin the Doldrums, the idea that this guy wouldn't spend his first week on
the job sitting around his palace playing Nintendo 64BC amazes me. To me, that
is dedication. That is purpose. It’s consistent with his character, because
Joseph has thus far proved himself a dedicated worker – but the fact that he
got started as soon as he walked out of the throne room? Wow. Props.
Query: how old is Benjamin when they come to the part where
he has to go to Egypt
with the brothers? In the pictures of my Beginner’s Bible, Benjamin is still a
little kid at this point – but my grown-up math tells me that my Beginner’s
Bible might not have been inerrant. So, that said, why the heck is Jacob
treating Benjamin like a little kid?
Doesn't this guy have any self-respect? Can’t he speak up for himself and say, “Yo
daddio, we need bread!” I completely realize that it’s a different culture and
what Jacob says goes, but it seems like every other tribe of Israel had two
cents… Benjamin had nothing?
Speaking of Jacob and his lesser sons, I did appreciate the
part where he essentially says why he likes some kids more than others: “Reuben
slept with my wife. These guys are stone-cold killers. This guy has honor and
Jesus will come from him. And this guy sold himself into slavery… screw him.”
The only note I've got about Exodus so far (besides Moses’
whining) is that the exodus Pharaoh reminds me of Calvin Candie from “Django
Unchained” (“We gotta take care of these Israelites, otherwise they’re gonna
rise up and kill us all!”). Didn't work out so well for Calvin… looking forward
to Pharaoh.
New Testament
(Matthew 13:24 - 17:27)
This week, we saw Jesus walking on water and I could try and
write a whole thing about stepping out on faith… but Audio A already did (and
I’m not gonna beat that one).
So Jesus points out that every student of the Kingdom is
like a shop-owner – able to get you what you need when you need it. I’m
assuming this is two-fold:
1. A student of the Word is going to know the Word and can give a good Word when Words are needed.
2. A student of the Kingdom is going to be in connection with the Holy Spirit.
My biblical knowledge is, by my own assessment, pretty limited. I've forgotten a lot of what I learned over the years and that well was pretty dry for the past few years. But despite my discipline struggles in the area of biblical study, I've been pretty reliant on the Spirit to get me through a lot of groups, a lot of individual sessions and a lot of situations in general. I've got a number of examples of times where my mouth/brain/whatever was empty before I had to lead a group, but the Spirit led the group members to bring a topic to heart or to share or brought an illustration to my mind when I needed it. So this idea of the holy shop-owner is an idea I can fully relate to – as long as I’m running a shop where POD and W's records are freely distributed and not banned or censored (looking at you, Lifeway).
1. A student of the Word is going to know the Word and can give a good Word when Words are needed.
2. A student of the Kingdom is going to be in connection with the Holy Spirit.
My biblical knowledge is, by my own assessment, pretty limited. I've forgotten a lot of what I learned over the years and that well was pretty dry for the past few years. But despite my discipline struggles in the area of biblical study, I've been pretty reliant on the Spirit to get me through a lot of groups, a lot of individual sessions and a lot of situations in general. I've got a number of examples of times where my mouth/brain/whatever was empty before I had to lead a group, but the Spirit led the group members to bring a topic to heart or to share or brought an illustration to my mind when I needed it. So this idea of the holy shop-owner is an idea I can fully relate to – as long as I’m running a shop where POD and W's records are freely distributed and not banned or censored (looking at you, Lifeway).
Another day I’ll write about the impressions Jesus’ hometown
had about him. Another day, another book. And speaking of other writings, I
remember writing one time about how Jesus could have just used a single loaf
and fish to feed all those hungry, but he used a number that totaled to 7. I’m right-brained
and not The RZA, so I don’t give two shakes about numbers, but I did think that
was cool.
This morning, Rob made a point in his sermon regarding the
importance in using your teaching to support the Bible… and not the Bible to
support your teaching. I was reminded of this when Jesus spoke about the
Pharisees and said, “They just use me as a cover to teach whatever suits their
fancy.” I grasp at straws a lot of times in the teaching that I do – mainly with
outside illustrations (Star Wars = masks; Inception = irrational beliefs; Fight
Club = coping skills), but I've definitely been guilty on occasion of trying to
stretch my instructional reach to include biblical concepts (and then failing
because the concepts don’t apply to what I’m teaching). Lord knows I don’t want
to be a Trapper Keeper,
adapting everything and creating a mess, so I gotta lock down my references and
keep em within the contexts!
Let’s return to previous entries’ notes about the Bible
being the story of what Jesus did and
not about how it relates to me. I see
an example of this during the Transfiguration in the character of Peter – Peter
sees Jesus transformed in glory, standing with Moses and Elijah on a
mountaintop, and asks, “Hey! Jesus! I’m going to build three memorials here to
mark this experience, what do you think about that?” before God pulls the
ultimate group moderation and shuts Peter down with an endorsement of Jesus. This,
to me, exemplifies the times that I try to insert myself into these glorious
moments that God accomplishes in my life. I want a memorial of my experience, not necessarily the experience. Granted, this is a day
an age where this idea is formed, galvanized and golden-plated through social
media, blogs, whatever – everything is all about how I experienced this event. Being aware of how I experienced God’s
love is certainly important – it’s the filter through which I see the world and
if there are distortions in my filter, they need to be replaced. So some self-awareness is good – but self-centeredness,
not so much. I've got to remind myself time and time again, this is God’s
story, I’m just a bit part.
Ok, scholars, here’s my question for the week: Can someone
explain Jesus’ exchange with the Gentile at Matt 15:22-28? For years this
passage has confounded me. Obviously, racism and Jewish superiority aren’t in
Jesus’ character – this is the guy who dines with tax collectors and had that
intimate chat with the Samaritan chick! So someone with a clue please explain that exchange to me?
Props.
Psalms (18 -
22:18) & Proverbs (4 - 5:14)
I've gotten pretty burnt out on the Psalms at this point. I
feel like The Author (David, right?) just keeps writing the same song over and
over. I haven’t even gotten to the 20th Psalm yet and I’m confident
that I've read, “They are wicked in your sight… I have remained righteous in
your sight” at least that many times. David is like a biblical Chris Tomlin/Nickelback… he found one
hit and he just keeps cranking it out.
That said, I did find a common, pertinent theme in the
Psalms and Proverbs this week: “May the words of my mouth and the meditations
of my heart be pleasing in your sight.” I've found that re-reading a Bible
verse that I’d once memorized (and forgotten) is a lot like hearing a song that
slipped out of your memory. I wrote one time about how this happens
periodically with me and 3 Doors Down’s “Loser” (although less
often now that I've made myself aware of it). I would hear this song and rock
out to it for a week, remembering how much I loved it, before completely
forgetting about it’s existence until some nostalgic DJ decided to restart this
cycle. Reading this verse, as well as it’s corresponding verses in Proverbs
(Guard your heart, watch your tongue, keep your eyes straight and feet moving
forward), brought this experience to my mind.
I’m very aware that I have a sailor’s tongue. Too often, I
try to chalk it up to a casualty of my work environment – I hear, on average,
200 f-bombs a week so I figure “a few” are bound to slip out of my mouth.
Recently, however, I've been making an effort to curb this negative habit –
based off comments from my fam, friends, and mainly the fact that the kids are
learning how to talk and those are words you learn at school – not from your
fun uncle. I also think bowdlerized speech is much more humorous than expletives
(see: Farscape). These
verses provide me with the encouragement that this lagniappe goal isn't just
something else I’m tossing on my plate – it’s a part of the whole goal to
improve my life by inundating it in Scripture.
