CaseyRClark

May 20, 2012

Week 9

A Plague Inflicted Inflicted on Israel While Eating Quail — A Plague Inflicted on Israel While Eating the Quails; as in Numbers 11:31-34; illustration from the 1728 Figures de la Bible; image courtesy Bizzell Bible Collection, University of Oklahoma Libraries (from Wikipedia)

The Old Testament begins with book names that can sometimes obscure what they’re about. But it is pretty simple so far. Genesis was the beginning. It was the beginning of creation, of God’s story of dealing with that creation, and the beginning of his very own people. Exodus was Israel leaving slavery in Egypt. Leviticus is the law for the levites, continuing the law given to the people in Exodus. Now we come to Numbers. What’s that about? Want a hint?

Numbers 1:2, “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel…”

That’s right there in the beginning of the book as God commands Moses to take a census, to number the people. It is a continuation of the story from Exodus, which began with their delivery from slavery, as God now numbers his people and prepares them to journey into the promised land.

Meanwhile in the New Testament…

Luke finishes this week and offers another opportunity, after already having read through John, to contemplate the surprising ending to the gospel story. It may not surprise us now, as we have heard it and read it before. But the people surrounding Jesus did not expect him to go to the cross. Who would expect a messiah, God incarnate, one who had such power, to be crucified like a criminal? Read it slowly with a renewed appreciation for the great humility of God to submit himself to such punishment to save the very people who deny him and yell, “crucify him!”

Also, keep in mind that what follows next week is the book of Acts, written by the same person. Try to keep Luke in mind once we begin Acts to see how they connect.

May 19, 2012

Story So Far, Week 8

If you go back and read through Leviticus 14 you’ll see the lengths the priests had to go to make clean those afflicted with leprosy. The priest required the sacrifice of birds, hyssop, scarlet yarn, and cedarwood, and the process involved sprinkling of blood, shaving off hair, and washing. And that was only the beginning.

Compare that to the power and authority that Jesus has in Luke 17. Jesus meets not one, but ten lepers on his travels. They cry out to him, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” He tells them to do what seems to follow the order of Leviticus, “Go and show yourself to the priests.” But what should amaze the reader is that they are not cleansed after the priest heal them. Luke says, “as they went they were cleansed.” Their faith in Jesus’ words and their obedience was enough and they were clean. They did not need a week of sacrifices and ritual. Christ has greater power.

Sadly only one of the ten, upon finding out he was healed, turned right around to fall at Jesus’ feet and give thanks. If this Samaritan did not fully understand it before, Jesus then makes it explicit, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

In Jesus Christ, God has done so much to make us well, and because Christ has lived the righteous life for us, we need only to place our trust in him to be clean.

Having now finished Leviticus, and knowing that Christ has come to fulfill the whole law (Matt 5), not abolish it, isn’t it amazing that he could do so? All of Leviticus deals with the laws for the priests and much of Exodus directs people how to live in accord with God’s law. Jesus Christ came and perfectly fulfilled it. All that the law could not do, Christ did for us. What the law could never be for us, Christ is. He has fulfilled it and he has made us clean before God.

I hope by reading through these books of law you gain greater appreciation for the perfect work of Christ that he accomplished for us. He fulfilled the law and went beyond what it could ever offer us. “For if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose” (Gal 2:21b). By his death we are saved and made righteous, and we can take no credit for such a gracious act.

May 18, 2012

Reinforce What You Read

So this Sweet Potato event is almost upon us. We’ve had a handful of folks who plan to get their hands dirty bagging some produce, and just so you know, it’s not too late. You can still register yourself and meet us out there.

But I bring this up as another reading tip for you. Whatever you can do to add action to reading will add depth to the reading. Whether that is a Sweet Potato Double Drop or taking notes in a journal as you read. We are to be doers of the word and if you read through the entire Bible twice, but do not allow it to move through your eyes, into your brain, and down and out your arms and legs, you’re missing out.

If you can’t come tomorrow, no worries. There are countless ways to serve that come up in our church and beyond our church. But make it a priority to ask yourself how you can live out the faith we learn of in our readings. Doing so will help us to learn and keep within us God’s Word. We have a great God worthy of love, and we should seek to be holy as he is holy and to love him by doing what he commands.

May 17, 2012May 16, 2012

Habits of Highly Ineffectual Bible Study

It’s been a little while since I’ve posted some Bible study tips for you, so I thought I’d share this article I came across from The Gospel Coalition by Jen Wilkin. It warns against some of the misguided ways in which we approach God’s Word, such as the “Magic 8 Ball Approach”:

You remember the Magic 8 Ball—it answered your most difficult questions as a child. But you’re an adult now and wondering if you should marry Bob, get a new job, or change your hair color. You give your Bible a vigorous shake and open it to a random page. Placing your finger blindly on a verse, you then read it to see if “signs point to yes.

I’d recommend giving it all a read. She has some great points, and the only caveat I’d add is that I wouldn’t phrase the ending the same way. It is easy to break issues into false dichotomies or react against one problem by pushing too far in the other direction. She defines a disciple as “primarily” a learner, which I think is jut as problematic as “primarily” a doer. We are followers of Jesus, and that consists of learning at his feet AND doing as he commanded.

May 16, 2012

Spring Cleaning

There is a great concern in Leviticus for cleanliness and purity. There are sacrifices in order to be cleansed from sin and long lists of actions that are clean or unclean. An important role of the levitical priests is to help the people determine clean from unclean. Their job starts to sound like that of a doctor with all the descriptions of examining skin and sores and making appointments for follow up visits. I for one am glad my job description as pastor does not include diagnosing leprosy.

What is fascinating is that there is no great divide between physical cleanliness and what could be called moral cleanliness. God’s law for the priests is concerned with his people being clean in every way. This is not the way we tend to think today. If you were to go to church and hear a sermon about being clean, you might expect it to be entirely about spiritual things, things like prayer and confession, attitudes and motives, sin and morals. But you might be caught off guard if the preacher then spoke about toilet bowl cleaner, vacuuming, drinking enough water, and exercising. That stuff is physical, not spiritual, right? Why would the church care about whether my body or house is in order?

But it is a modern notion to completely cut off the physical from the spiritual. And it is foolishness to think that what we do with the body has no bearing on the spirit. We see in Leviticus that God cares about the wellness of his people in every area of life. And God does the same now. He doesn’t care about just a bit of our life. God cares about all of us, more than we can imagine.

I’m not saying God cares more that you eat wheat grass and work out two hours a day than he does that you love him and love your neighbor. But there is not one inch of our lives, as seemingly insignificant as they may seem in the grand scheme of human history, that our God isn’t concerned about. His love and care extend beyond Sunday mornings and beyond church doors. He follows you into the workplace and in the home, morning, noon, and night.

To be clean is a whole life commitment. This perspective demands more and is difficult, but be comforted knowing that God has always provided ways for forgiveness and cleansing. Ultimately it is only God who can make us clean. By the blood of Jesus Christ are our sins washed way.

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.