May 2012 – Page 3 – Year in the Bible

May 15, 2012

Putting Leviticus into Practice – This Saturday!

It may be easy to read parts of the New Testament and immediately understand how that could inform your life. Does the same happen as you’re reading Leviticus? It’s harder isn’t it? Well, read this passage from Leviticus 19:

When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.

Isn’t that a great example of some clear application from Leviticus? No?

Maybe the fact that you don’t have fields and harvests is causing you difficulty. But I’m here to help. There is a process called gleaning in which fields which have already been harvested are left for others to come and gather what has been left behind. There is an organization called the Society of St. Andrew that helps with this, and they have an urgent need this Saturday. They have 80,000 lbs of sweet potatoes that need to be bagged and distributed and it is going on nearby in Hillsborough.

My wife and I are going to try to make it–I’ll at least attend. If you can come along, let me know. Or you can sign up individually on their webpage. They need folks to bag the produce and if you have a truck and would like to help distribute, they need that as well. The sweet potatoes are going to locations in Hillsborough and Durham County.

I know this is short notice, but look at your calendar. If your Saturday morning is free, or at least partly free, give this some thought. It is a great way to serve the poor and the sojourner and glorify God in the process. They need the help and the more who come out the quicker it will go.

Here are the details, which again can be found at their website, or call (919) 683-3011 for more information.

WHAT: Society of St. Andrew has received a very large donation from one our NC sweet potato growers. To celebrate our 20th year of feeding the hungry in North Carolina, we are having a Sweet Potato DOUBLE Drop!

We will have 36 bins of sweet potatoes (80,000 pounds), so this will be as simple as standing beside a bin, filling bags with potatoes, and loading the bags in the truck beside the bin.

WHEN: Saturday, May 19, 8 am-1:30 pm

WHERE: New Sharon United Methodist Church
1601 New Sharon Church Road
Hillsborough, NC 27278

May 14, 2012

Learning the Story So Well

We’ve been teaching a class at church about learning and telling the story of Jesus in a variety of ways, connecting his life with other stories in Scripture. The goal is to better know Jesus’ story for yourself and to know it better so that you are then prepared to share it. If your child asks you about Jesus or a co-worker says, “What’s the big deal about Jesus?”, I want you to be able to answer. Learning the whole story of God’s love for us is a goal of Year in the Bible. We are seeing the big picture of history and how God remains faithful throughout and how his love is most clearly seen in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the pinnacle of such love.

How better to know this story than to read the book?

I found this image and its geared toward children, but I think with a bit of imagination, adults can understand the point, too. This site created the graphic based off a quote from the book, Give Them Grace: Dazzling Your Kids With The Love Of Jesus, by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson.

We want to know the one good story so well that we can be reminded of it in our daily experiences, but also so that we can discern truth and lies by it. We want to know Jesus so well that we can be easily prompted to share his goodness in conversation. We want to know that story of good news so well that we won’t be so easily satisfied by what the world offers us that appears good.

If you’ve ever felt like you couldn’t quite articulate your faith or express what you believe, let’s read this Good Book together. God will reveal himself to you.

May 13, 2012

Contest Extension

I’m giving y’all a bit more time to win the Prodigal God book by submitting any artistic representation of the Prodigal Son. Maybe today’s sermon inspired you, so make a doodle and send it in.

Here’s an example to get you going. It’s the younger son getting jealous of the pig’s food.

May 13, 2012

Week 8

I don’t know about you, but week eight has come quick. But my week seven was quite eventful, so you may feel differently.

We finish Leviticus (ch. 15-27) and are on our second to last section of Luke (ch. 17-20). I’m interested to hear how Luke has been going as we changed our pace a bit from John, since we now are just reading four chapters per week. I like to hear feedback, and I could even tweak the future quarters a bit if that seems like a good plan.

Don’t forget our Psalms (ch. 20-25) that we’ve had the last few weeks. Our focus passage is actually from there this time, with the familiar 23rd Psalm. Hope you can return to a passage you’ve read many times before and meditate on it in a fresh way. The Word of God is living and the Spirit continues to speak to us through it, so approach with great expectations.

As we continue, remember I love to hear your questions. A post from last week was prompted by a very good question in a reading group, and I’m sure there are many more questions out there. And just as it was this time, I’m sure others are thinking the same thing as you and would benefit from someone speaking up and asking the question.

Happy Readings.

May 12, 2012May 12, 2012

Story So Far, Week 7

We’ve made it to the last day of week seven, so give yourself the customary pat on the back for getting this far. We’re now half way through Leviticus with only one week remaining and we’re getting toward the end of Luke.

I posted earlier this week an image about the most read books in the world, and the Bible tops that list. The question I asked was how many people have read the Bible–the whole Bible? It may be the most circulated book by a mile, but that isn’t the only thing that matters. I want the Bible in the hands of the people, but I want its bindings creased. I want you to open it and read it and love it. Having read half of Leviticus you’re probably in a small percentage of readers. Maybe in these last seven weeks you’ve read more pages of the Bible than you have in your life. Fantastic.

This isn’t to say that you’ve now earned some badge of honor. But God’s Word is a beautiful thing and it is of great value to have spent this time with it. Even if you’re not seeing God work through you in his Word yet, he will do so. He who has planted these seeds will continue to tend them.

So keep out carving time out for the Lord. Spend time with him in study and prayer. Learn at his feet and follow him. We’ve had many challenging words from Jesus to that point. I like his imagery about salt, and how it loses its value when it loses its saltiness. Let the Bible flavor you each day. Be salty.

If you want one piece of homework, one little activity, try going without salt for a few days. I’m not saying put your salt shaker away. Do that, but more than that I mean don’t any eat food that has salt as an ingredient. I suspect it wouldn’t take long to develop a better appreciation for salt and a better understanding of Jesus’ words. Salt preserves, but it also flavors. As disciples of Christ we are the salt of the earth, and what we are endeavoring to do in reading all of Scripture is great preparation for that seasoning process.

May 11, 2012

More Than Thou Shall Nots

Too often we reduce the moral imperatives of our faith into “thou shall NOT” statements. We shall not steal, kill, nor covet. And that list could go on and on. It is easy to think about what we are not supposed to do, but if we stop there we are left with a very shallow understanding. If we’re only called to not do certain things, then we are left with little idea of what we’re actually supposed to do. But the Christian life is not summed up by sitting on our hands. We are called to act.

We could look throughout Luke to see what Jesus calls us to in obedience to him. This obedience is a response of love, it is how we show love to him. But instead of quoting from Luke, read this example from Leviticus:

“‘If anyone sins because they do not speak up when they hear a public charge to testify regarding something they have seen or learned about, they will be held responsible.” (Leviticus 5:1 NIV)

The law was not concerned only with not bearing false witness, but in the people standing up to testify. It may seem mundane to you, and maybe it is because I watch too many crime shows, but this sounds bold to me. We don’t always want to speak up and stand out. Sometimes it is for our personal benefit to keep our mouths closed. But we have a responsibility to speak truth. Again, we can’t be content to understand the expectation of us to cease just at not bearing false witness. It goes beyond. Just as the golden rule isn’t: Do not do to others what you don’t want them to do to you. Rather we have the difficult, challenging call to do for others as we want done to us.

May 11, 2012May 10, 2012

No More Sacrifices?

You see a lot about the sacrifices as we read Leviticus. It’s practically a manual for how to perform them. But you may ask yourself, do Jews still sacrifice today? Christians see a radical change when God came to earth in Jesus Christ. That event changed the world. But for the Jews who don’t accept him, should they continue in Old Testament practice? If they don’t sacrifice, why not?

I found this article to be helpful. It’s written from a Jewish perspective and is a bit technical, but if you stick with it, it may shed some light on the situation. I have a different perspective on some issues, like the Old Testament system being a precursor to Christ, but that’s to be expected.

Here is sample:

The last place appointed by G-d for this purpose was the Temple in Jerusalem, but the Temple has been destroyed and a mosque has been erected in the place where it stood. Until G-d provides us with another place, we cannot offer sacrifices. There was at one time an opinion that in the absence of an assigned place, we could offer sacrifices anywhere. Based on that opinion, certain communities made their own sacrificial places. However, the majority ultimately ruled against this practice, and all sacrifice ceased.

May 10, 2012

Thoughts on Old Testament Sacrifices

NT Wrights offers some thoughts about the sacrificial system of the Old Testament. He doesn’t give a definitive answer to a question, but leaves more questions to answer. But it is interesting.