Esther 2:17 17 Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.
I’m finding the book of Esther a little difficult. There are so many things we need to watch out for and we have to be cautious of our interpretation. When I first underlined this scripture I was struck by how Esther was able to win the heart of the king by basically being obedient. My first inclination is to remember that if we are obedient to Christ we would be amazed at what can happen through us. But there are problems, the king is not Christ, he doesn’t display a hint of Christ like behavior. Also there is the concern that my words could be used to support submissive behavior in women just for the fact that they are women, which I don’t agree with. What I learned here was actually surprising to me; it was a reminder of even if a passage speaks to me in a certain way I need to be cautious in how I speak about it. We need to support one another when we come to narrative passages and use them to build up the community and create dialogue about some of the problems within interpretation. Maybe that is the task of Esther, to remind us of community and the importance of that community.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Job 23:11-12
Job 23:11-12 11 My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. 12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.
In the middle of all of this mourning and complaining comes this statement. This verse reminded me of something really important. That is no matter how good you think you are, how well you do your devotions or how often you attend worship services bad things still happen. Now I know that sounds like a no brained comment, but over the last 30 plus years the Health and Wealth Gospel movement have basically claimed if you don’t do anything wrong God will reward you. It’s amazing in all my dealings with Health and Wealth people I’ve never heard them mention Job. Things happen. And while we need to depend upon God we need to do his commandments our devotions the best we can while we are in the problem.
In the middle of all of this mourning and complaining comes this statement. This verse reminded me of something really important. That is no matter how good you think you are, how well you do your devotions or how often you attend worship services bad things still happen. Now I know that sounds like a no brained comment, but over the last 30 plus years the Health and Wealth Gospel movement have basically claimed if you don’t do anything wrong God will reward you. It’s amazing in all my dealings with Health and Wealth people I’ve never heard them mention Job. Things happen. And while we need to depend upon God we need to do his commandments our devotions the best we can while we are in the problem.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Ruth 4:9-10
Ruth 4:9-10 9 Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, "Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion and Mahlon. 10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon's widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from the town records. Today you are witnesses!"
The end of Ruth seems to just rush to many different conclusions. Yet for some reason this verse struck me. In the midst of Gods plans for salvation, the Davidic line which eventually leads to Christ, God acts in the work of a normal towns business. While I can acknowledge that this was a unique marriage in the community this appears to me to be another instance of God working in the midst of the “world.” In our daily lives most of us live in the secular far more than the sacred, a verse like this reminds us that the sacred (unlike the secular) is present in all things everywhere. We just have to take the time to look. It might be a birds flight across the sky, a sunrise, or sunset. It could be that grocery store attendant that you never met before, or the homeless person you pass on the street. The sacred is everywhere and God has given us the ability to see it. Will you look?
The end of Ruth seems to just rush to many different conclusions. Yet for some reason this verse struck me. In the midst of Gods plans for salvation, the Davidic line which eventually leads to Christ, God acts in the work of a normal towns business. While I can acknowledge that this was a unique marriage in the community this appears to me to be another instance of God working in the midst of the “world.” In our daily lives most of us live in the secular far more than the sacred, a verse like this reminds us that the sacred (unlike the secular) is present in all things everywhere. We just have to take the time to look. It might be a birds flight across the sky, a sunrise, or sunset. It could be that grocery store attendant that you never met before, or the homeless person you pass on the street. The sacred is everywhere and God has given us the ability to see it. Will you look?
Job 23:11-12
Job 23:11-12 11 My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. 12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.
In the middle of all of this mourning and complaining comes this statement. This verse reminded me of something really important. That is no matter how good you think you are, how well you do your devotions or how often you attend worship services bad things still happen. Now I know that sounds like a no brained comment, but over the last 30 plus years the Health and Wealth Gospel movement have basically claimed if you don’t do anything wrong God will reward you. It’s amazing in all my dealings with Health and Wealth people I’ve never heard them mention Job. Things happen. And while we need to depend upon God we need to do his commandments our devotions the best we can while we are in the problem.
In the middle of all of this mourning and complaining comes this statement. This verse reminded me of something really important. That is no matter how good you think you are, how well you do your devotions or how often you attend worship services bad things still happen. Now I know that sounds like a no brained comment, but over the last 30 plus years the Health and Wealth Gospel movement have basically claimed if you don’t do anything wrong God will reward you. It’s amazing in all my dealings with Health and Wealth people I’ve never heard them mention Job. Things happen. And while we need to depend upon God we need to do his commandments our devotions the best we can while we are in the problem.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Ruth 3:4; 3:18
Ruth 3:4 4 When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do."
Ruth 3:18 18 Then Naomi said, "Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today."
The third chapter of Ruth holds many problems for people. One of the primary problems is the use of sexually charged language, as in verse four, and in other places where there is almost a blatant sexual overtones to the whole night time meeting of Ruth and Boaz. Many people don’t like the idea of the sexual in this biblical story. One of the reasons is because the act of sex is seen as something someone who is upright, like Ruth and Boaz, would not engage in as part of a “business” proposition. I think we’ve sterilized the biblical heroes enough. Ruth, in my mind, was obviously an attractive woman. Boaz, is a good guy who tries to do the right thing. In the deep of the night something intimate happened, something that could be miss-interpreted by the townspeople. Ruth and Boaz share, and maybe what God means for us to find here that yes even sex with ulterior motives has a place in the story of God. Often when our relationship get intimate, even married relationships, we push the person away. We feel we’re being crowded or hampered from doing what we want because of this special tie. Maybe what our reaction in our relationships needs to be like what Naomi says, “Wait…for the man will not rest until the matter is settled today.” Relationships, whether business or sexual take time and patience, not a pushing a way of intimacy. Remember wait, until things are settled.
Ruth 3:18 18 Then Naomi said, "Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today."
The third chapter of Ruth holds many problems for people. One of the primary problems is the use of sexually charged language, as in verse four, and in other places where there is almost a blatant sexual overtones to the whole night time meeting of Ruth and Boaz. Many people don’t like the idea of the sexual in this biblical story. One of the reasons is because the act of sex is seen as something someone who is upright, like Ruth and Boaz, would not engage in as part of a “business” proposition. I think we’ve sterilized the biblical heroes enough. Ruth, in my mind, was obviously an attractive woman. Boaz, is a good guy who tries to do the right thing. In the deep of the night something intimate happened, something that could be miss-interpreted by the townspeople. Ruth and Boaz share, and maybe what God means for us to find here that yes even sex with ulterior motives has a place in the story of God. Often when our relationship get intimate, even married relationships, we push the person away. We feel we’re being crowded or hampered from doing what we want because of this special tie. Maybe what our reaction in our relationships needs to be like what Naomi says, “Wait…for the man will not rest until the matter is settled today.” Relationships, whether business or sexual take time and patience, not a pushing a way of intimacy. Remember wait, until things are settled.
Job 19:7
Job 19:7 7 "Though I cry, 'I've been wronged!' I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice.
Job’s cry is the cry of the pained. Most of us have had very few times that we’ve been wronged, certainly almost none of us have been wronged to the extent that Job has been wronged in his life. Job is expressing this statement to his friends. One of the greatest dangers for friends and families of a victim is not to actually see them as a victim. We are to close to the situation to see clearly what is going on. That is why it often takes an outsider to report child abuse or spousal abuse. As Christians one of our responsibilities is to stand up against injustice, to challenge abuse and abusive systems. Whether they are questions about marriage and marriage rights, or our governments oversea policies. We have a call to stand with those whom injustice is being perpetrated against.
Job’s cry is the cry of the pained. Most of us have had very few times that we’ve been wronged, certainly almost none of us have been wronged to the extent that Job has been wronged in his life. Job is expressing this statement to his friends. One of the greatest dangers for friends and families of a victim is not to actually see them as a victim. We are to close to the situation to see clearly what is going on. That is why it often takes an outsider to report child abuse or spousal abuse. As Christians one of our responsibilities is to stand up against injustice, to challenge abuse and abusive systems. Whether they are questions about marriage and marriage rights, or our governments oversea policies. We have a call to stand with those whom injustice is being perpetrated against.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Ruth 2:11
Ruth 2:11 11 Boaz replied, "I've been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband-- how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before.
Reputations have a tendency to follow us. Even now years after graduating from High School some of the reputations that were gained then still follow me. This is a lesson it would be well for us to remember. The reputation that you get as an individual of faith, has bearing on how you will impact or influence people around you, and your individual reputation will then in turn have an effect on the reputation of the church you are a part of. The passage above from Ruth reminds us that those things we do, the things that we often feel aren’t observed are more often than not the incidents that cause a reputation. How you act toward your family, your friends, your job, or even the stranger in the grocery store will follow you and either set you up for success (physical or spiritual) or failure.
Reputations have a tendency to follow us. Even now years after graduating from High School some of the reputations that were gained then still follow me. This is a lesson it would be well for us to remember. The reputation that you get as an individual of faith, has bearing on how you will impact or influence people around you, and your individual reputation will then in turn have an effect on the reputation of the church you are a part of. The passage above from Ruth reminds us that those things we do, the things that we often feel aren’t observed are more often than not the incidents that cause a reputation. How you act toward your family, your friends, your job, or even the stranger in the grocery store will follow you and either set you up for success (physical or spiritual) or failure.
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