The Ins and Outs of the Gospel

Acts 2:36-47
By grace, God has formed a new community of faith in Jesus Christ. This reality is central to Peter’s message on Pentecost as recorded in the book of Acts. Indeed, it is because of this divine initiative that Peter can point to an ever widening circle of fellowship beginning in Jerusalem. “Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him’” (Acts 2:38-39).

There’s a song by musician Peter Gabriel that speaks to the natural human tendency to seek out distinctions between people and to shape society along those sometimes artificial barriers. He says:

There's safety in numbers
When you learn to divide.
How can we be in
If there is no outside?

Speaking in terms of the gospel, the apostle Peter refuses to make any such distinctions, recognizing instead that all authority rests with God and God alone. He and the others who had followed Jesus from the beginning sought shelter in the days immediately following the ascension, but now the Holy Spirit had sent them out into the streets to share the good news to all people. There had been relative safety for them in the isolation of the upper room, in the ability to control those who came and went from their midst. But that safety would now be lost to the hubbub of the marketplaces and the roadsides. There no longer would be an “inside” established by the community of faith because whatever “outside” there might be would exist only at God’s will.

The contemporary church serves God best when it embraces this reality, that God’s promise is for whoever God determines. There is safety to be found in small rooms and in closed communities, but as the crucifixion makes so vibrantly clear, the gospel has never been about safety. It is a message infused with risk which sometimes leads to discomfort and even death, but which also leads to the gift of eternal life. By God’s grace the question becomes: can anyone be “out” if there is no “inside?”

Prayer: Almighty God, help us to open our hearts to your message of grace and peace and our lives to the work you would have us do. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Say What?

John 7:37-52
There is a curious statement in our gospel reading today, one that at first glance seems to contradict other passages in John. “Now [Jesus] said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:39). What exactly does John mean by “for as yet there was no Spirit.” Already in this gospel Jesus has made references to the Spirit, most notably, perhaps, in his nighttime conversation with Nicodemus in chapter 3. There Jesus says, “What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit… The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (3:6, 8). What are we to make of this? John’s reference to the Spirit in chapter 7 is very likely in terms of the events of Pentecost, when believers would be empowered to witness to Jesus and the Messianic age, of which the Spirit is a sign. At this point in the gospel account, Jesus has not yet gone through his passion, death, and resurrection, what John calls his being “glorified.” Yes, the Spirit has been at work throughout history, and is now at work within the ministry of Jesus. But the church has not yet been given birth because Jesus has not yet complete his work.

I’m sure that, for many, it is tempting to dismiss material such as this as having no relevance in life. The effort to come to terms with the meaning or the purpose of passages like John 7:39 may seem wasted when so many other issues confront us on a daily basis, matters of life or death, matters of poverty or wealth, matters of growth or decay. It is fitting, though, that the subject of this particular passage is the Holy Spirit, because it is in our struggle, our wrestling with the word of God, that the Spirit often meets us face to face and leads us to a richer understanding of faith. Indeed, we who live on this side of Pentecost and the birth of the church have no need to wonder about the presence of the Spirit; it is always at work in our midst reveling the love of God in the most interesting and challenging ways.

According to John, Jesus was, at a particular time in his ministry, pointing ahead to another particular event––Pentecost––which we have passed but which continues to color our view of the world and of God’s activity in it. But the Spirit remains active in our word and our lives in no small part because of the words we read in John through which the Spirit offers us guidance and hope. The very real aspects of these events help us to also view the coming kingdom as real and impending.

Prayer: Gracious God, we thank you for your work in and through the Holy Spirit, not only in history but in our lives today, as well, and in the future which you have promised to us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Lend Me Your Ears

Revelation 3:1-6
I’m guessing that many people my age, especially those who live in the English-speaking world, have encountered at some point or other the following lines from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Act 3 Scene 2:

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar.

This speech by Mark Antony is a masterpiece of manipulation, used to perfection to turn the Roman mob against Brutus and his fellow conspirators in the assassination of Julius Caesar. But the speech begins with the familiar request to “lend me your ears,” to listen up, to pay attention to what is being said. John, the writer of Revelation, shares a similar request in our New Testament reading for today. “Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches,” he writes (Revelation 3:6). He has just shared words of warning for the church at Sardis, calling the members to wake up before Christ comes “like a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come to you” (v. 3). But the appeal for attention is addressed to a wider audience than the Christians of a particular city or region. “Anyone who has an ear” is enjoined to “listen to what the Spirit is saying.” In other words, you and I have a responsibility to pay attention as well and to listen, not to those who would guide the church according to human standards or worldly goals, but to the Holy Spirit alone. What does God want us to do? Where is God calling us to be active? How may we serve God so that our objective is not success but faithful obedience? Seen in this light, the words of Revelation are far from manipulative, they are straightforward and direct. And while the meaning of much of Revelation is difficult to grasp fully, the demand for attention is precisely on point. “Let anyone who has an ear listen…”

Mark Antony had a carefully crafted message for the crowds of Rome by which he wanted them to be roused to action. But while the words of Julius Caesar, Act 3, Scene 2 are worthy of study, they do not speak to current events with any real significance. John, the writer of Revelation, has a message for us all, one that remains vital and alive, one that is Spirit-filled and bourn of urgency right up to the present hour. Will we hear? Will we even listen? And if we do, will we be guided in the direction we need to go? Perhaps that is the question with which we need to wrestle.

Prayer: Gracious God, may we indeed have ears to hear your message to all people and may we be filled with the Holy Spirit as we seek to do your will at all times. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

One Way Or Another

Acts 8:14-25

One of the more interesting details to emerge from Acts is the fact that there is no set pattern by which individuals come to full inclusion in the faith. Our reading today is a good example. “Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus)” (Acts 8:14-16). Elsewhere we read that the Spirit is received at the time of baptism, and occasionally the Spirit comes before baptism, but here the Spirit does not arrive until well after baptism. What then shall we say about these things?

What we can say is that faith is a fluid thing, not bound by human understanding or expectations. God has spoken to God’s people in many ways and in many circumstances, sometimes directly, sometimes in dreams or visions, sometimes by way of angles or a burning bush, sometimes through a heightened sense of awareness. When Jesus healed the sick he did not always do so in the same way; sometimes he touched the one in need of healing and sometimes he simply spoke to them, but sometimes he was not even in their presence at all. The church has never come to a definitive understanding on how it is to baptize men and women, or at what age it is appropriate to receive the sacrament, some believing that a person must be “of age” and able to profess the faith, while others believe that it is appropriate at any point in life.

The good news is that with such fluidity God is never out of touch, never left behind, never without recourse. God always has the appropriate response to humanity and we are blessed by God’s actions.

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for your presence in our lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Which Would You Rather Have, Righteousness or Food?

Romans 14:13-23

What is it that ultimately gives a community its shape and its resilience? Is it the restrictions and prohibitions that are maintained? Is it dietary customs? Is it the normal manner of dress? Paul answers this question in terms of the people of God when he writes, “For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The one who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and has human approval. Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding” (Romans 14:17-19). Paul would rather have followers of Jesus Christ concentrate their efforts on the fruit of the Spirit, and particularly on bearing one another in love, than on any single law or custom. What God seeks most in creation is lives of joy focused on loving God and one another. When we are able to do this we will meet all the requirements necessary. Don’t be concerned just for yourself, but “pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.” Focus on “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” which is very different from the sort of rules and regulations that punish or demean others.

We spend a great deal of time condemning others for their lifestyles or for their choices, and in truth there are actions that must be resisted. But if our first response to any disagreement is to lash out at or to pull apart from those with differing opinions we have failed to meet Paul’s terms. Recently I was politely told that the denomination with which I am affiliated has—in the past few decades–moved away from certitude on many points and now seems to offer either/or choices. I accept that as both a fact and a challenge, for it seems to me that what some call certitude is really self-centeredness and bigotry while what some consider to be an unwillingness to commit on issues is really a recognition that there are no quick or easy answers to some questions, and never have been.

But that doesn’t mean we can quit listening to and for the word of God, for it is in an open and honest consideration of others and in a mature and prayerful approach to God’s will that we find the greatest chance to build community while bringing joy to our creator.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we reject others for the sake of our own opinions or pride. Help us to hear your word of peace and joy and to live accordingly. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Ready, Set, Wait!

Mark 1:1-13

A church member stopped me during my pre-worship walk through the sanctuary yesterday. He was reading the scripture passages from which I would be preaching and had gotten to Mark 1:12: “And the Spirit immediately drove (Jesus) out into the wilderness.” The church member wanted to know if that verse would be the text for my sermon. No, I told him, the sermon was not going to deal with that particular issue. But then in today’s readings I find Mark 1:12 popping up again so I guess I can’t get away from it after all.

The word that is used to describe what happened to Jesus is used most often in Mark in reference to demons being “driven out” of those who are possessed (Mark 1:34 and 39 for example). In other cases it is used when a person is sent away (like the leper in 1:43), driven out (like those who were selling and buying in the temple in 11:15), or thrown out (like the heir to the vineyard in 12:8). Immediately after his baptism, then, Jesus was compelled by the Spirit to go to a lonely place and to separate himself from human contact. But why?

For one thing, places of desolation have often offered revelation and preparation for God’s people. What we sometimes call a wilderness journey may lead to a clearer understanding of what God wants or expects from us. But there is also the importance of timing. The promise given to Abraham and Sarah was that their descendants would take possession of the land in which they dwelled, not they themselves. At the time of the ascension Jesus told the disciples to return to Jerusalem and wait there for the Holy Spirit which would come when it was time. Likewise, when Jesus came up from the waters of his baptism the Holy Spirit took him right away to a lonely place. Could Jesus have needed time to prepare for what he was about to do? Of course. Even during his ministry Jesus could be found taking time away for prayer and reflection. The days following his baptism offered breathing room for getting things in order, something that the humanness of Jesus would have needed, especially considering where it would lead. Jesus was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness. From there the good news of the gospel would erupt upon the world.

Prayer: Lord help us to live in patience according to your will. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Restoring God’s Renown

Habakkuk 3:1-18

The prophet Habakkuk offered these words to God in prayer. “O Lord, I have heard of your renown, and I stand in awe, O Lord, of your work. In our own time revive it; in our own time make it known; in wrath may you remember mercy” (Habakkuk 3:2). What would it mean for God to revive the divine renown, the holy work in our day and age? What would it mean for God to remember mercy in the midst of wrath today? In other words, can these be our words as well? Is this an appropriate prayer for Lent 2012 and beyond?

In truth, God has been visibly at work in our world all along and has, “in our own time,” continued to show profound mercy and compassion. In Jesus Christ God entered our lives and suffered alongside us, going so far as to die for our sake, and to rise again with a promise of eternal life. On Pentecost the Holy Spirit performed spiritual CPR on a small band of terrified believers and emboldened them to share the good news. On the Damascus road Paul caught sight of our risen Savior and a new meaning for his own life. At every step of the way God has remained steadfast and merciful, leading God’s people to serve and to share with heart, mind, soul, and strength. When we have failed and faltered God has judged us and held us accountable but has never once ceased to love us or forgive us when we have confessed. Today the people of God–inspired by the Holy Spirit, guided by the will of Jesus Christ–are involved in countless forms of outreach and ministry, all to the glory of God.

So is Habakkuk’s prayer suitable for our own time? Is it even necessary? The answer is yes. I say this because we, the people of God, need constant reminding of whose we are and who we serve. To pray with the prophet is to reflect on the needs of the world and our own shortcomings. It is to lay claim once more to the charge that Jesus gave us saying, “go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19). It is to reflect on where we are and where we need to be. In short, to pray with Habakkuk is to use the season of Lent for repentance and renewal.

Prayer: O Lord, in our own time revive you renown and make your work known; and in wrath may you remember your mercy. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

NOTE: Beginning on February 25, I will be including blog posts each Saturday written by "guest bloggers" who will offer their insights on the readings for that particular day. I deeply appreciate the willingness of these folks to share their time and talents with us. Be sure to stop by on upcoming Saturdays to see what they have to say.

The Only Word That Really Matters

Amos 3:1-11 2

2 Peter 1:12-21

The Season of Advent receives its texture and its meaning from the word of God. God has made promises to us that we know will be kept, so even as we wait with hope and expectation we must prepare ourselves for what God is about to do. Two of our readings for today touch on the role that God’s word plays in our lives.

“The lion has roared;

who will not fear?

The Lord God has spoken;

who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:8)

“First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Peter 1:20-21).

When God speaks through the Holy Spirit men and woman of faith are compelled to share that message with others. Amos in particular resisted the title of prophet; he was a farmer who had heard the voice of God. What else could he do but speak God’s truth? The writer of 2 Peter affirms that God alone is the source of prophecy. We are not called to speculate blindly about the future, but to embrace God’s will and live toward it. On any given day many voices will clamor for our attention: advertisements, political rhetoric, gossip, the crass and clashing sounds of our culture. Only God’s word, however, can set the tone for the days that lie ahead, for only God’s word contains the truth.

Prayer: Lord, allow us to hear your word and to be moved by it in all that we do, throughout the Season of Advent and into the days ahead. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Unforgivable

Matthew 12:22-32 According to Matthew Jesus had just healed a blind and mute demoniac by casting out the demon that plagued the man. While the crowds wondered if Jesus could be the Son of David the Pharisees accused him of being of the devil. They reasoned that there was no other way for Jesus to command evil spirits unless he was in league with them. Jesus’ reply to this accusation is direct. He ends by warning the Pharisees that “people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come” (Matthew 12:31-32).

The Pharisees had witnessed the work of God and yet willfully discounted it attributing it instead to Beelzebub. It is this hardness of heart, this stubborn denial of the truth, that separates one from God. If we deny the Holy Spirit’s work we have essentially hung a “do not disturb” sign on our lives telling God to leave us alone. According to Jesus, God is inclined to do just that, to leave us to our own sinful destruction. If, however, we acknowledge God’s work in the world, we will find opportunity for grace and forgiveness even when we fall short of God’s intentions. A willing and obedient faith opens us to God’s grace. A refusal to accept what God is doing leaves us closed off and withdrawn from that same grace.

Prayer: Lord, we do not always acknowledge you as we should. Help us be open to your grace and live as you intend. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Something Greater

Matthew 12:1-14

According to our gospel reading for today Jesus said to the Pharisees, “I tell you, something greater than the temple is here” (Matthew 12:6). He was talking about himself and about God’s presence in the midst of the people. God’s work in Jesus was far more profound than the religious institutions of that day. In fact a part of Jesus’ ministry was to set the hearts of the people on God and not on religion per se. But few of the Pharisees seem to have understood what was going on. The institution-law and temple-was what they knew, and Jesus was flaunting it.

In fairness we shouldn’t be too hard on the Pharisees. One of the challenges that we must address today is how to serve God in and through the church without letting the church become the focus of our devotion. When we gather to worship we must remember that something greater than the church is there. When we talk about the future, about stewardship, about ministry and evangelism, about what it means to be faithful disciples, we must remember that something greater than the church is there. When we argue about doctrine and about who is more faithful to the scriptures, we must remember that something greater than the church is there. Otherwise we become the Pharisees of our day.

Something greater than the church is here! It is the Spirit of God at work, leading, teaching, building up, challenging, making restless, confounding, inspiring, and doing so much more. If we rely solely on brick and mortar, if we cling to the fellowship that we find so comforting, if we hold tight to “our kind of music” or “our kind of worship” then we will miss the opportunity to join in the magnificent things that God is doing. Truly, something greater than the church is here.

Prayer: Open our eyes, O Lord, and let us see what you are doing and how we might join you in that work. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

We Need An Advocate

Acts 4:1-12

John 16:1-15

When I was in about the sixth grade my mother and I attended the trial of a man charged with armed robbery. We had been told by a friend that this particular case would be interesting because the defendant had chosen to represent himself in the proceedings. The man was eventually found guilty, supporting the adage that anyone who acts as his or her own lawyer has a fool for a client.

Our reading from Acts this morning describes the events that take place when Peter and John are brought before the elders and priests of Israel. The disciples are there to explain what they have been saying and doing in the temple. The writer of Acts tells us that Peter was “filled with the Holy Spirit” and began to address the gathered leaders (Acts 4:8). It might have appeared that Peter was representing the disciples himself, but in fact he was being guided by God’s Spirit in what he said. Jesus alludes to such in our reading from John’s gospel today. “…It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7). The early church did receive the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, and it was by this presence that Peter was emboldened and enabled to speak. In other words, Peter had the best council in the room.

We, too, should allow for God to work in and through us. When we are faced with a challenge to our faith, or questioned about what we believe, or overwhelmed by doubt and fear the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, is with us providing us guidance and council. We need not depend on ourselves or on what we can prove because we, too, will have the best council possible.

Prayer: Lord, may your Holy Spirit guide us throughout our lives that we may live as your people without fear or hesitation. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Getting Our Bearings Straight

Isaiah 30:18-26

John 14:15-31

In 1973 singer/songwriter David Essex asked the musical question, “Where do we go from here?/Which is the way that’s clear?” These may have been the questions on the minds of the disciples in the days following the resurrection. Living in a world as challenging as ours, they might be our questions as well. Where DO we go from here as people of faith? IS there a way that’s clear?

Our readings today provide two appropriate answers. Isaiah looks ahead to a time of grace and says, “…when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it’” (Isaiah 30:21). John’s gospel adds these words from Jesus, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you” (John 14:26). Okay, so maybe the answers here are more to the question “how do we go?” than “where do we go?” But they offer the hope that in the days to come God’s people will receive guidance, direction, encouragement, and reminders of what they have been taught.

I think of a GPS device talking to a driver. “Turn left in 200 yards.” Or a coach yelling instructions from the sideline. “Move to the right!” By the grace of God we, too, have an Advocate offering us direction, a voice calling us back from our wayward paths. “Where do we go from here/which is the way that’s clear?” We follow what we know about God in Jesus Christ by the voice of the Holy Spirit. It’s the only true path we have.

Prayer: Lord, guide us by your Spirit that we may walk the path you offer to us. Amen.

Different…But the Same

Hosea 13:9-16
Acts 28:1-16
Luke 9:28-36
Our readings for today would seem to be about as dissimilar as they could be. The passage from Hosea is an oracle of judgment against Israel strongly condemning the people. Acts continues the story of Paul’s journey to Rome as a narrative. Luke, also in narrative form, tells the story of Jesus’ transfiguration. While God’s words are spoken in Hosea and Luke, God is not directly quoted in Acts. Each reading has a different thrust, with Hosea calling for repentance, Acts demonstrating the healing power of those who followed Jesus and the will of God that Paul arrive in Rome, and Luke foreshadowing the resurrection. And the differences go on from there.

But there are similarities as well. Each account is grounded in human history within a particular time frame. In each, God is working toward the restoration of the relationship between Creator and creature. Behind each reading there is a person of faith who is willing to record words and events for our consideration. And of course, we trust that the Holy Spirit is at work through each passage shedding light on the words and bringing them to life for us.

While there is only one God, the manner by which God interacts with us is not “one size fits all.” Different times and places require a diversity of responses or actions. What God might do in one setting is not what God does in another. If scripture could be condensed to five or six verses I fully believe it would lose it’s elasticity and it’s deft ability to touch us on so many different levels and in so many different circumstances. So thank God for all the variety we encounter in the Bible, but thank God, too, for the similarities that bind it all together and make it such a living (and life-affirming) document.

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for the word through which you speak to us and offer guidance. May we ever be attentive to you and your will for our lives. Amen.

Finding the Spirit

Note: The readings in today's blog are actually those intended for yesterday, September 21, 2010. I apologize for getting a day ahead of myself.

Acts 19:1-10
Luke 4:1-13
There is no formal Doctrine of the Trinity to be found in scripture. Even Paul makes no real effort (that we know of) to define how God can be three persons and yet One. But our readings today from Luke and Acts attest to the importance of taking the entire witness of scripture into account, especially when it comes to the work of God. Luke tells us that Jesus, though the Son of God, is nonetheless guided by the Holy Spirit. “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness…” (Luke 4:1). In Acts, “(Paul) said to them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?’ They replied, ‘No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit’” (Acts 19:2). As Luke and Acts are believed to have been written by the same person, we can see that the writer has a very strong sense of God’s work through the Spirit. It is a form of guidance for Jesus as well as a sense of purpose. The Spirit is also a conveyor of gifts to those who would follow God in Christ. One does not know God fully until one knows of the Holy Spirit, and one is enabled to endure when one trusts in the same Spirit.

I know that in my own life it is very easy to focus on God in fairly narrow terms. I lose track of the full majesty that God demonstrates when I think only in terms of God the Creator, or of Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior. There are so many ways that God has chosen to be known by people and none of them is more appropriate than any of the others. In this way our relationship with God resembles a balance diet. Without drawing on all three aspects of God’s person we may suffer a spiritual deficiency, or be too limited in our perception of the glory of God and therefore not able to respond to God’s claim on our lives as fully as we should.

One way to challenge our limitedness is to intentionally address God in a variety of ways over the course of a day or week. If we only ever pray to God as ”Father” or “Lord” or “Savior” we may be missing out on many other ways that grace is manifest in our lives. We may be missing out on a balanced spiritual diet.

Prayer: O, God, great Three-in-One, bless our lives with better vision, that we may see you at work in the world more clearly and that we may be able to follow you more steadfastly. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Always More to Learn

Acts 18:12-28
Luke 3:15-22
I admire Apollos. Here is a man “well-versed in the scriptures” (Acts 18:24), with a “burning enthusiasm” who teaches “accurately the things concerning Jesus” (v. 25). “But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the Way of God to him more accurately” (v. 26). Apollos, for his part, was willing to listen and apparently eager to learn. There is always more to learn, always more to the story, always another way that the good news can touch us and heal us and guide us. John the Baptist also offers a “more accurate” message, this to the people who flock to hear him. Not only do they need to repent—live as wheat and not as chaff (Luke 3:17)—but they also must recognize that John is not the one they are seeking. “I baptize with water;” he tells them, “but one who is more powerful that I is coming…. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (v. 16).

One of the things that constantly surprises me is the fact that on Sundays such as Easter and Pentecost, with a limited number of texts to draw from––texts that that have been read on those days for centuries—there is always a fresh word, a new application, a more accurate way to hear what God is saying. Is the word changing? No, not really. But we are. Our lives are in a constant state of flux yet the word of God remains relevant to our needs. There are only four Easter accounts in scripture, and only one passage that really depicts Pentecost, yet we return to them again and again for meaning and hope and encouragement, all of which we find.

This is one reason why the people of God must remain attentive to God’s word. To quit wrestling with the scriptures is to assume that God has said everything God intends to say which is simply not true. The Holy Spirit still pulses through the pages of the Bible offering up new truths for our day and beyond. Apollos knows he has more to learn. John shows the people that they have more learning to do. So do you and I. There is always more to learn, but it takes time and it takes a willing spirit.

Prayer: Lord, give us hearts and minds set upon your word that we may continue to grow in our knowledge and appreciation of your love and that we may live lives of faithful discipleship. In Jesus’ name. Amen.