June 21 – Thoughts on Esther 3-5 & Acts 5:22-42

As Esther debates with herself just what to do about the king’s decree to destroy all the Jews, her uncle Mordecai gives her (and us) some very important news.  “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape.  For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish.  And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

First, Mordecai assures Esther that privileged does not guarantee freedom from persecution.  When people rise up against God’s family, history has shown that nothing but God can protect them.  This is important for we in privileged positions to remember.

Second, Mordecai assures Esther that God will save His people, with or without her.  If she does not rise up to the challenge of being God’s instrument, He will simply raise another and we will miss out on all that God has in store.  This is important for us to remember when we think God’s plan depends on us.

Finally, Mordecai assures Esther that God’s plan to save His people began long before the danger arose in the first place.  Before Haman even conceived of his plan for Jewish genocide, God had put the objects of His salvation in the right places.

Once again, we are reminded that it is God’s plan, God’s battle, and God’s power that saves us and those around us, not our ability or success.  These are important lessons, ones that I hope we will remember in the days ahead.

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June 20 – Thoughts on Esther 1-2 & Acts 5:1-21

Have you ever lied when you really didn’t have to?  Exaggerated a good story to make it better?  Increased the number of something to make yourself more of a hero?  We call these “little white lies” and consider them normal in conversation.  But God doesn’t consider them normal.  In fact, He considers them an abnormality to the way things are supposed to be, which is another name for sin.

Ananias and Sapphira owned some land, and as new believers, they sold it, kept some of the proceeds and gave the rest to the apostles.  But upon their giving of the gift, they proclaimed that they gave all that the land was worth.  Why do such a thing?  There was no obligation, legal or theological or personal, even to sell the land in the first place.  They could have kept the land and been fine.  Or they could have sold the land and brought half to the church and been honored for their generosity.

But instead, they tried to play the heroes and lied about the amount they brought.  And in so doing, they not only lied to the apostles, but they lied to God.  And that was not to be tolerated in this fledgling Church.  While the church was facing attacks from outside its ranks, attacks from the Jewish leadership and the Romans alike, they also are here facing attacks from within their own ranks.

Trust and faith are the same word in the bible, and lies break both.  To allow a lie to linger is to actively destroy faith.  This is why lies are so dangerous – they burrow like termites, eating away at the foundation of the building until it collapses.  Was this a drastic punishment for a little white lie?  You bet.  Was it unjustified?  No way.

Beware of lies, big and small ones.  They will destroy the foundation of anything you’ve built and bring judgement upon your head.

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June 20 – Thoughts on Esther 1-2 & Acts 5:1-21

Have you ever lied when you really didn’t have to?  Exaggerated a good story to make it better?  Increased the number of something to make yourself more of a hero?  We call these “little white lies” and consider them normal in conversation.  But God doesn’t consider them normal.  In fact, He considers them an abnormality to the way things are supposed to be, which is another name for sin.

Ananias and Sapphira owned some land, and as new believers, they sold it, kept some of the proceeds and gave the rest to the apostles.  But upon their giving of the gift, they proclaimed that they gave all that the land was worth.  Why do such a thing?  There was no obligation, legal or theological or personal, even to sell the land in the first place.  They could have kept the land and been fine.  Or they could have sold the land and brought half to the church and been honored for their generosity.

But instead, they tried to play the heroes and lied about the amount they brought.  And in so doing, they not only lied to the apostles, but they lied to God.  And that was not to be tolerated in this fledgling Church.  While the church was facing attacks from outside its ranks, attacks from the Jewish leadership and the Romans alike, they also are here facing attacks from within their own ranks.

Trust and faith are the same word in the bible, and lies break both.  To allow a lie to linger is to actively destroy faith.  This is why lies are so dangerous – they burrow like termites, eating away at the foundation of the building until it collapses.  Was this a drastic punishment for a little white lie?  You bet.  Was it unjustified?  No way.

Beware of lies, big and small ones.  They will destroy the foundation of anything you’ve built and bring judgement upon your head.

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June 19 – Thoughts on Neh. 12-13 & Acts 4:23-37

One of my favorite Greek words found in scripture is “homothymadon”.  While it sounds like my 3 year old’s favorite dinosaur, in reality the word means “of one mind” or “like minded”.  It’s a word that I wish we could use of our modern church but unfortunately, it’s not a very good descriptor.

Today’s text contains that word as a description of the early church.  “All the believers were one in heart and mind” – homothymadon at its best.  They were the ultimate community, where everyone shared everything, from missional priorities to finances.  If one was in need, someone with more would help them out.  And this was the norm rather than the exception.  Being a Christian community, there was no fear of someone “milking the system” by not working and just relying on others.  Anyone who didn’t contribute did so because they couldn’t and earned the mercy of the group.  One in heart and mind – that kind of unity would confuse, impress, and cause the world around us to envy us.  What a witness we would have, live, and be with a simple attitude of homothymadon.

Sadly, instead we have adopted the “every one for themselves” attitude of our capitalist society.  “We have because we’ve earned it,” the belief goes, “so I shouldn’t have to give away what I worked hard for.”  This goes directly against the biblical reality that all we have is a gift from God, given to help others.  No, when the world looks at the church, they see their own ideas and attitudes reflected back with an extra dose of self-righteousness and judgmentalism.  Our witness is weakened to the point of impotence because we are simply not homothymadon.

Can we change?  Can we decide to live “like mindedly”?  Can we be unified in our hearts?  Can we share what we have, and let go of our societal addiction to ownership?  I don’t know, but if we don’t then our witness is doomed.

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June 18 – Thoughts on Neh. 10-11 & Acts 4:1-22

When God shows His power in the world, the unfortunate side effect is that the “powers” of this world have their impotence revealed.

Peter and John innocently heal a lame man, and all hell breaks loose.  They are arrested, jailed over night, brought before the High Priest, reprimanded, and finally released.  But not before we see the power of the Jewish leadership for what it is – assumed, not proven.  They question Peter and John, two “unschooled men”, only to find their answers unassailable.  They meet in private to decide their fate, and in the end the only thing they can do with their human, positional power is to command them not to preach any more.

Yet even in that, Peter stands tall before them.  Rather than agreeing to their face and then turning around and preaching again anyway, defying their authority passive-aggressively, he uses this moment to teach the teachers.  He tells them to their face that he must obey God’s will, which is to continue preaching, rather than theirs, which is to stop.  And they have no choice but to let them go regardless.

What powers in this world do you face that will be proven impotent when God’s power is revealed?

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