1^st Sunday in July (Week 27) Israel’s Covenant (Joshua 24:1-32; Luke 6:27-49; Joshua 1, 5-8, 14-16, and 20, 23, 24)

Overview

The great goal of reaching the Promised Land was the driving force being the exodus of the people of Israel. It is the driving force behind many a newly planted church, or revitalized congregation. We assume that the achievement of our goal will bring total satisfaction … that we can “coast” form now on … that success is final. So it comes as a shock that success only ushers in a whole new set of challenges, and that arrival in the Promised Land only sets the stage for a whole new series of struggles. Most church plants struggle 5 to 7 years later.  They find themselves plateauing just after the building campaign and the erection of a church building. Suddenly they are in the Promised Land … and lost again. Not uncommonly, the founding pastor (Moses) moves away … and a grounding pastor (Joshua) emerges … and the stress of that leadership change is the next great challenge.

Team Meditation

What does it mean to found your church on a rock? The clue lies in Jesus comment that there is little credit in simply loving those who love you. Even sinners honor membership privileges. If arrival in the Promised Land simply means that you pay attention to members first, and treat non-members as second class citizens, then you will surely die. Membership privilege is the most insidious of sins, and the most pervasive of idolatries, and it will beset the people of Israel (and the emerging church) for centuries. Here is the bottom line question: With our first breath and our last penny, will it be Me or God’s Mission?

Worship Theme

Joshua 24:19-21  ¹⁹ But Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve the LORD; for he is a holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.  ²⁰ If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm, and consume you, after having done you good."  ²¹ And the people said to Joshua, "Nay; but we will serve the LORD."

Absolute obedience. That is the radical demand of faith. Joshua recognized this when he finally led the Israelites to the Promised Land. He understood that the people would most likely relax. They would enjoy contentment. They would eat the honey and drink the milk, and take pride in their achievement. They would say: “Our worship and our church is an oasis in our busy lives, where we can retreat and ignore the changing world.” They would say: “The church is the rock in our existence, the refuge that we seek from an chaotic world.” They would elevate Israel above God, and heritage above God. They would value quietude over spiritual discipline, and pay professional Levites and Priests to be faithful in their behalf … and all the while grow passive and inward … protecting their status and taking less and less responsibility for God’s mission.

Sound familiar? Of course it does. It sounds like the average church in the western world. Yet you have chosen to serve the Lord … and God will hold you to that promise.

Worship Design

Begin this worship service by showing a clip or two from the National Geographic video Inside Hurricane Katrina (2005). Use a clip from the aftermath that shows the expectation of the victims of the storm that the government was responsible for their safety and their welfare. Be careful not to let this become a political battleground; instead, use the clip as an analogy of what is going on in the Western church today. The church is like unto New Orleans. It has been hit by a storm called culture and post-Christendom. The church has shrunk, finances are tenuous at best, and it no longer even “looks” like the church it once was. And many church members are looking for those responsible to call them into account and so the church can be “restored.” 

Bill T-B

Small Group Discussion

Joshua 1, 5-8, 14-16, and 20, 23, 24

North America has been heralded as the new “Promised Land” for centuries now. It was a land flowing with milk, honey, wheat, minerals, and even gold. It was a rich and prosperous land where opportunity prevailed. Indeed, even the conquest of the continent has eerie parallels to the conquest of Israel (just how many native tribes no longer exist because of our ancestral participation in genocide?). As you read through the scriptures this week, read through eyes looking for parallels ‘tween them and us. And in your small group discussion, expand those parallels: what do you think God might be saying to us today?

Bill T-B

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2^nd Sunday in July (Week 28) David’s Legacy (Ruth 1:1-17 and 4:13-17; John 13:1-20, 31-35; The Book of Ruth)

Overview

Obedience to God’s will is a consistent virtue throughout the Old and New Testament, but the course of obedience can be hard to discern and even harder to perform. Ruth says to Naomi, and later to Boaz, “where you go, I will go”. Centuries later Jesus will say to his mother and disciples “where I go, you cannot come.” Life is full of paradoxes. The tactic that works today, may not be right tomorrow. But obedience to God’s will is constant.

Team Meditation

“Where I go, you cannot come … but you will follow later.” Obedience rarely depends on willingness. At first the disciples were willing to follow Jesus into danger, but they were required to watch the tragedy from a distance. Later they were hesitant to follow the risen Lord into mission, but they were required to leave their comfort zones and traditions and follow him anyway. Do we stay or do we go? Do we speak or shall we be silent? Do we take a risk, or do we stay the course? We cannot go by mere precedent. We have to evaluate the meaning of “obedience” fresh every day.

Worship Theme

“Where you go, I go.” The Biblical Ruth has become a symbol for loyalty. She is loyal to her first mother-in-law; loyal to her new husband; and loyal to her chosen community. I’m not sure we modern people understand the risks she ran out of such loyalty. As an outsider, a woman, and an immigrant she risked prejudice, rejection, and abuse. Therefore, the flip side of loyalty is trust. No one would take such risks if they didn’t radically trust their relationships.

It’s something to think about during the long hot days of July … or even the busy days of winter in Australia. Whether you are in reflection-mode or immersion-in-life, our loyalties are tested as never before. Whenever loyalty is in doubt, trust is the issue. If you expect spouse, family members, friends, employees, or work associates to be loyal to you, ask yourself to what degree the deserve to radically trust you. You cannot expect what you have not already given.

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3rd Sunday in July (Week 29) David’s Legacy (1 Samuel 1:19-27 and 3:1-21; Acts 22:3-21, 26:2-18; 1 Samuel 1-3)

Overview

If the boomer generation was all self-indulgence, and the buster generation was all survival, the most recent generations are all about calling. The younger a person is, the more apt they are to believe there must be a personal mission, and hidden purpose, to their lives. They speculate how many times God might have called to them, and they have not heard it. Perhaps they were sidetracked, preoccupied, or busy with other things. But deep in their hearts they are convinced that there is a deeper meaning to their personal lives.

Unlike their grandparents and parents, therefore, they are not looking for a university education, nor even a good job. They are looking for mentors who can help them discern God’s call amid the background noise of living.

Team Meditation (Acts 22:3-21, 26:2-18)

Paul had a growing sense of destiny in his self-consciousness. At first, he simply felt the call to follow Jesus; then the call to make disciples; then the call to mission among the gentiles; and at the end he felt the call to go specifically to Rome. His “destiny”, as he came to see it, was to risk his life to convert the powerful, educated, affluent, influential people of his world. Many others would lead revolutions and make war; and still others would drop out and look out for themselves; but Paul’s destiny was to transform the Roman world from the inside out.

It is a destiny church leaders are called to imitate. You could just get mad, rebel, and fight the system (whatever that “system” might be). Or you could just drop out, mind your own business, and fulfill your life in spite of everything. But you are most likely called to transform the world … and each person in it … from the inside out. It is your destiny pay attention to the hearts and minds of individuals, and prayerfully and carefully and wisely guide them to a new perspective, a new attitude, and a new way of life.

Worship Theme (1 Samuel 1:19-27 and 3:1-21)

Samuel had an advantage over modern day youth, in that from the beginning his mother also believed he had a higher purpose in life. These parental convictions that a) God exists, b) God cares about my child, and c) the child needs help discerning God’s will were crucial to Samuel’s life. His parents did not send him to university, nor even demand he get a good job. They delivered him to a “mentor” (Eli), and prayed that between wise guidance and the work of the Holy Spirit that Samuel would hear his calling.

And Samuel did hear God call. At first he didn’t recognize it. He needed a mature, faithful, mentor to force him to stop, ponder, and listen. In the future, Samuel would himself become a mentor to prophets and monarchs, because they, too, will have a purpose in life and need help to hear God’s call.

Before you veteran church members rush away from your dutiful worship to lunch, relaxation, vacations, or your private time, consider this. There may be a youthful newcomer in worship who is looking for a mentor. They did not come to worship eager for music or liturgy. They are not motivated by any strong sense of duty to the religious institution. They came in the course of an endless search for a mentor … something very hard to find in today’s culture. Maybe it is you who needs to hear God’s call … a call to take time to mentor instead of time for self-indulgence or survival.

Small Group Discussion (1 Samuel 1-3)

Many Christians today have completed spiritual gifts discernment processes. I invite the group to share their spiritual gifts with one another … but before you do, first try this simple exercise. Let each person write down what he or she thinks are the spiritual gifts of the person sitting to their left. Now share … and talk.

But this isn’t the end of your conversation with God. God calls you to use your gifts to bless others … God calls you to participate in God’s mission. Calling is not just about passion. It’s about compulsion. It’s about enduring in a greater purpose even when it is painful, tiring, or dangerous. It’s about persisting even when mission seems boring, unproductive, or unfruitful. Call is something more than gifting.

Every human being has spiritual gifts. Every Christian is open to receiving spiritual gifts they never had. And every disciple is ready to hear a call to use those gifts for the sake of Christ’s mission. What gifts do you have? What gifts does God want to give you? And for what personal mission does God call you to risk your life and lifestyle?

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4th Sunday in July (Week 30) David’s Legacy (1 Samuel 10:1-24; 1 Peter 2:1-10; 1 Samuel 8-10 and 15:10-35)

Overview

One’s life can be transformed at any time, in any way, for any purpose, in the blink of an eye. It happens when you least expect it. One minute you are on vacation, expecting to relax and enjoy life … and the next second you are face to face with God, stressed both positively and negatively beyond anything you have ever known, and starting a new life. One morning you leave for work, ready for the coming routine, expecting to the usual schedule of labor, lunch, and relief. By noon you find yourself quitting work, ready for a whole new adventure, not even knowing what to expect. It isn’t circumstance, luck, or even personal choice that sweeps you away. It is God that sweeps you away. Boomers fear it; busters resist it; younger generations search for it.

Team Meditation

1 Peter 2:2-3   ² Like newborn babes, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation;  ³ for you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.

It is difficult not to compare ourselves to the metaphor above, and fail to come out wanting. Are we Christian leaders truly like newborn babes (innocent, eager to experiment, learning constantly, growing healthy and strong as servants of the Lord)? Do we really limit our diet to pure spiritual milk, exhibiting such discipline that we focus wholeheartedly on scripture, prayer, edifying conversation, and mission immersion? Or are we like spoiled brats (selfish, content, proud, and stagnant), satisfied with trite phrases, shallow reflection, weak generalizations, and prejudice? We have tasted the kindness of the Lord … and how do we repay such kindness?

Worship Theme

1 Samuel 10:9   ⁹ When [Saul] turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart …”

If ever there was a bundle of mixed motivations walking on two legs, that was Saul. He was the best and worst a human being could be. He would prove to be a great king and a cruel tyrant, all rolled into one. Even at the beginning of his calling as king, he had mixed motivations. He wanted it and feared it at the same time. It sounds a lot like you and me, and most of the people we know over the age of 2.

That’s why the above verse stands out. It isn’t education, ritual, reputation, or office that is the making of a man or woman. It is a “changed heart”. It’s not that one motivation in the mix is the right one, but that the entire mix of motivations that stirs our heart and causes us ulcers needs to be replaced by a single, true, shining purpose. It is the love of the Lord that needs to fill our hearts, replacing all the confusion and doubt and turmoil. God can give us another heart: a quieter heart, a more purposeful heart.

When we have such a heart, our mind clears, our doubts vanish, and our fears disappear. We are able to make choices, take risks, and invest ourselves in living conscious that whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

Small Group Discussion

Why did Saul fail? Most upwardly mobile North Americans can identify with him. He has the passion, the ability, the opportunity, and the support. Initially, he did so well. He was anointed CEO with fanfare and optimism, and led corporate Israel into prosperity and security..

Did the stress of leadership unhinge him? Did the power and wealth go to his head? Was he the victim of unwise choices in his partnerships and subordinates? Was the competition ultimately just to overwhelming for him? And aren’t these the same questions and worries that keep us up at night as we seek to rise in our careers?

The challenge of radical faithfulness is one of the most pervasive themes of the Bible. It was an issue when God tested Abraham over the sacrifice of his son; it will be an issue when Jesus sends the disciples out into the world. It is hard to trust God … not one’s own abilities, resources, and strength. It is also hard to focus on what counts as real success (i.e. the fulfillment of God’s will) versus the appearance of success (i.e. the fulfillment of our preferences). How effectively do you do it in your upwardly mobile life?

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5th Sunday in July (Week 31) David’s Legacy (1 Samuel 16:1 – 17:58; 2 Timothy 2:1-15; 1 Samuel 16 – 21 and 31)

Overview

It is extremely difficult for modern people, raised in an age of science, weaned on the confidence of free will and human reason, to accept the principle that God is in control of history. On rare occasions we might actually be able to see the hand of God changing life situations in dramatic ways; often we only begin to see God’s influence in retrospect, sometimes only from the distance of decades or centuries; but most often we just don’t see it at all. It is frankly difficult to imagine God is in control of history. It seems like nobody is in control of history, least of all the selfish, proud, limited leaders who can’t seem to deal with global warming, pandemic disease, terrorism, nuclear war, and countless other threats to world health and harmony. We seem to be surrendered by not one, but a dozen “Goliaths”, with nary a David to be seen. Yet faith is precisely the conviction that, somehow or other, God really is in control of history.

Team Meditation

Paul’s advice to Timothy takes the most difficult road of faith. He warns that Timothy may not really see that God is in control of history, now or ever. It may never make sense. It may appear that evil triumphs and death is the end. Yet it is not so, says Paul. Our confidence does not lie in our perceptions, but in our faith.

Faith for Paul is comprised of two elements: surrender and endurance. These two characteristics are what makes a good solider, a good athlete, and a good workman. We must surrender to God’s will … to the principles of living, the commitment to self-sacrifice, and the hope of resurrection that we see revealed in Jesus Christ. And we must endure the consequences. We must accept whatever pain or joy results, the former with fortitude and the latter with thanksgiving. If we have died with Him, we shall also live with Him. Even though life can be so bitter that we cannot even endure, God’s purpose will still triumph. We could deny him, but he will not deny us. Pain and loss may even cause us to be unfaithful, but he will remain faithful. In the end, what we believe or do not believe matters little. All that matters is the ultimate grace of God.

Worship Theme

Recently a number of books have been written speculating about what would have happened if historical events had happened differently. What if Napoleon had won at Waterloo? What if Hitler had been assassinated? What if the south had won the American Civil War? It leads us to reflect on our personal lives. What if I had turned left instead of right? What if the car had not swerved off the road? What if I had met this person before I married that person? The list is endless. “What if …”

So … what if Goliath had won? Certainly it would have been no surprise. It was, after all, the norm for Israel. Presumably Saul would have retreated; Israel would have paid tribute; and God would have gone about raising up a favorite Son differently. Yet does anyone doubt that God would have done it? Of course God would have done it. One way or another, the ultimate outcome of salvation is guaranteed. Yet God’s power over history is more subtle and pervasive than this, and the ancient prophets like Samuel knew it. It wasn’t that people even had the power to delay God. If Goliath had won, that, too, would have been filled with the hidden purposes of God. That, too, would have worked to achieve God’s goal. We just don’t know how, and perhaps may never know how, but in the end our “knowing” really isn’t relevant. We don’t need to know. We just need trust.

Small Group Discussion

The story of David is the first truly human story in the Bible. All the other great Biblical leaders seem like caricatures or legendary heroes, like the two-dimensional cardboard cutouts that Sunday school children used to create in Grade 1. Yet David leaps out of the Bible as a fully human, flesh and blood, three-dimensional person. We see his strength and weakness. We sympathize with his vulnerability and are inspired by his nobility. We can identify with David. He is the best of us … but he also reveals a side that is the worst of us. He is a kind of Everyman.

The more human David becomes, the more Saul emerges from black-and-white into color. He, too, becomes more human and our sympathy grows for him. In chapter 31, when we read of Saul’s despair and suicide, and the death of his three sons and loyal armor-bearer, we feel a great tragedy about Saul’s life. He, too, is a kind of Everyman. Where did Saul go wrong? Where did David go right? And with whom do we identify the most?