July 2007 Disciple Cycle
1st 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
Moses got them to the Promised Land. Joshua leads them in. Reading the story of the Israelite invasion and eventual take-over of Canaan is unsettling in the light of contemporary conflicts between Palestinians and Jews today. One has a distinct sense of déjà vu. The story of Joshua is clearly written by the more militant and uncompromising historians from the later time of David and Solomon, but there is a “back story” that is more peaceful. Israel appeared on the doorstep of Canaan as refugees with only a faint claim to historic residence in the area. After all, Jacob and his tribe were nomads, and if it can be said that they “resided” anywhere it was in Egypt. Were they prodigal cousins of the tribes already in Canaan … or foreign invaders with a completely distinct identity?
Team Meditation
There are two sides to the migration into Canaan. The first was relatively peaceful and involved intermarriage, merging families, coexistence, and negotiation. We don’t read much about it explicitly, but the fact that Joshua and other military and religious leaders reacted so strongly to it suggests that it was more common that ancient Jewish historians wanted to admit. They feared an accommodation to existing cultures that would dilute or subvert true faith in the One God. The other side was militant. The story of conquest by divine right draws us to reflect on the current situation in which two cultures claim a divine right over the same land. Does coexistence necessarily lead to a compromised faith?
In the midst of the violence, it is worth noting that Dante places the wrathful and the sullen at the fringe of the next, deepest, depth of hell. The sullen are the victims just waiting for their revenge; the wrathful are the victimizers striving to maintain dominance. The Middle East has often seemed like an endless cycle of victims and victimizers, never learning how to beak the cycle and make peace. Dante describes their punishment as fighting eternally in the mud.
Worship Theme
Joshua 24 is a classic rhetorical tool to focus the real point of history … the “moral” of the story. The historian pictures Joshua recapping the story of struggle (much like Stephen will be pictured summarizing salvation history later in Acts). And like Stephen, Joshua sums up the entire history of challenge and conflict as a kind of test to determine the true loyalties of God’s people. Either obey God or obey some other gods. It must be one or the other. This critical choice to water down the covenant with Abraham, or live up to the covenant with Abraham, is the eternal choice of God’s people. Can it be done without bigotry? Can it be accomplished without violence? The answer is yes … but it will cost you. It will cost you a lot in personal discipline, risk, and self sacrifice to be both faithful and peaceful. The easy way out is to either give up or resort to violence. The hard part will always be to turn the other cheek and pray for those who persecute you.
Small Group Discussion
The story of Joshua … and many of the coming stories of violence, war, and conflict … challenge traditional Christians who see God as loving, compassionate, and just toward foreigners and outcasts. How can God authorize such bitter suffering? It is easy for discussion to become abstract and merely philosophical. Therefore, do some additional study about the history of Palestine in the 20th century. Instead of talking abstractly about God (which frankly is what both sides of the conflict in the Middle East are doing), instead focus on talking about what it means to be obedient to faith and compassionate toward people who disagree with our faith. Put yourself in their shoes. What does it mean to have integrity … and to defend that integrity?
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2nd Sunday in July (Week 28) David’s Heritage (Ruth 1:1-17 and 4:13-17; John 13:1-20, 31-35; The Book of Ruth)
Overview
The story of Ruth is a welcome interlude to the grinding history of war and violence that occupies the attention of ancient court historians. Here is the “other side” of the migration … one that is more peaceful, relational, ambiguous, and human. It is not hard to see in Ruth the ordinary women of Palestine today, and to see in Boaz a kind of “Everyman” who is simply trying to survive, thrive, and be faithful and peaceful at the same time. It is particularly important to see that the story of David really originates here, and not in the violence of war or dynastic struggles of Israel. David life history is a living exploration of whether people in Palestine can be faithful and peaceful at the same time. He will not be perfect, but he will have a larger vision of both justice and compassion.
Team Meditation
David’s place in history as a kind of mediator between the two sides of Israel’s migration (violent and peaceful) is intertwined with our understanding of Jesus. Jesus represents the fulfillment of David’s intuition that faithfulness and peace can … at a high price … be possible. Jesus pays that price, and shows us how we, too, must pay a price in self-sacrifice. David tried to accomplish this by example, public policy, and good works, and failed. Only divine intervention allows (which we see in Christ) allows humanity to break the habits of sin and truly achieve the impossible. If you are reading Dante’s Divine Comedy, note how many times it requires divine intervention for Dante to keep going on his journey to face the worst of hell and climb to the pinnacle of grace (See Canto IX).
Worship Theme
Ruth 4:14-15 "Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without next of kin; and may his name be renowned in Israel! 15 He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him."
The child of Ruth and Boaz becomes the grandfather of David … and if we trace the rest of the genealogy in Matthew he is the ancestor of Jesus. This continuity is important. It means that God did not have to randomly choose this or that person to save Israel, or that God simply reacted to changing circumstances, but that God’s grace is in fact a plan that has been unfolding from ancient times. God is not reactive. God is pro-active. Indeed, God is in control of the direction of history. The common thread of grace is that this distant relative (Jesus) will also be the “restorer of life and a nourisher of our old age”.
Small Group Discussion
Ruth is not Jewish. She is a Moabite, and through circumstances beyond her control she finds herself among a foreign people who worship Jehovah, all alone with her mother-in-law whom she loves. Instead of retreating to the relative security of her own culture and faith, she clings to her new culture and faith. She does this not because she understands all the theological nuances, but because of her trusting relationship with her mentor Naomi. This is how many people come to faith in Christ. They are not won by education or indoctrination, but by relationships of credibility. If Naomi believes, then it must be right, because Naomi is a spiritual person, mentor, and loved one. Faithful obedience really hinges, therefore, on the credibility of our own spiritual lives. Reflect for a moment about your own family relationships … parents, children, and relatives. What is it about your example, conviction, and purpose in life that will influence their faith?
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3rd Sunday in July (Week 29) David’s Heritage (1 Samuel 1:19-27 and 3:1-21; Acts 22:3-21, 26:2-18; 1 Samuel 1-3)
Overview
Presumably Obed (son of Ruth and Boaz) grows up to raise a family of his own. And as Jesse grows to adulthood in some quiet corner of Palestine, God continues to work through prophets like Eli and Samuel. The authenticity of faith was threatened more by peace than by war … which is often the case today. In times of stress, choices between obedience and disobedience become clear. But in times of relative comfort and security, it is easy to drift from faith and accommodate to the surrounding culture. The historian says: 1 (Samuel 3:1) “And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.”
Team Meditation
The call of Samuel and the call of Paul are strikingly similar in the essential details. God speaks, but there is initial confusion about who is talking and what it means. Both are guided to mentors who can help them figure out what God is commanding. Both are guided into a direction of leadership that neither really wanted. Both experience a dramatic life transformation. The call makes them into something new and different. It is not just that they have a new purpose. They have new gifts, new insights, new passion, and new obligations. They are different, and the old relationships will no longer serve. The most remarkable thing is how readily Samuel and Paul surrender themselves to such a transformation. It is as if they have been inwardly waiting for it without knowing, and perhaps even resisting it, but when it happens they recognize their destiny immediately.
Worship Theme
1 Samuel 3:19 And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.
The old stories use simple metaphors that leave nothing in doubt, but which do open multiple layers of meaning. God spoke to Samuel, and every single word was precious. God speaks to us in the Bible, and every single word is also precious. Even those words which don’t make sense, or which seem trivial, or which offend us by being so politically incorrect or offensive … all are precious. Letting a word “fall to the ground” implies indifference, not rejection. It suggests the prophet might not be paying attention. Yet Samuel never fails to “pay attention”. He is never indifferent to the voice of God, even if it is still, or small, or unexpected. It would be a desecration … a shame … to let something sacred fall into the mud. Samuel never allows that to happen. His core values place God’s word above literally every other thing, including his own well being. God calls everyone in the same way, and expects from every Christian the same attention.
Small Group Discussion
Most Christians find it hard to identify themselves with Samuel. We prefer to think of “calling” as something exclusive to very special people … like prophets, or apostles, or clergy. Yet the very essence of “covenant” in the old and new testaments is that everyone is “called”. Every Jew is called; every Christian is called. The calling is to a radical obedience, sacrificing everything for the sake of the Lord; staking everything to receive God’s vision; dedicating everything to listen for God’s word. How would you define your personal mission … and how prepared are you to stake everything on it?
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4th Sunday in July (Week 30) David’s Heritage (1 Samuel 10:1-24; 1 Peter 2:1-10; 1 Samuel 8-10 and 15:10-35)
Overview
Spiritual credibility is one of the crises of our time … as it was in the past. If we keep reflecting on the problems of the Middle East today we see why. There is no single leader who is broadly credible among all parties … no one who is perceived to exercise power for anything beyond self interest. This was at the root of Samuel’s reluctance to approve a king for Israel. He saw … as we see today … that power corrupts event the person of high integrity and this moral dissolution can happen all to quickly. What can guarantee credibility?
Team Meditation
1 Peter 2:1-3 1 Peter 2:1 So put away all malice and all guile and insincerity and envy and all slander. 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.
Worship leaders understand that the primary yearning of the public is not for professionalism or excellence, but for credibility and spiritual authority. Just look at some of the stars of entertainment or the political leaders of our time. The excellence of music and show is overwhelming, and the rhetoric in speeches is impressive, yet their general behavior is arrogant and selfish. The same thing happens in churches all the time, as leaders forget spiritual authority and become tactically efficient. Where does that credibility come from? Taste the kindness of the Lord like spiritual milk, and let your leadership grow without any evidence of malice, guile, or insincerity.
Worship Theme
“God gave him a new heart … and made him into another man.” The elevation of Saul as King was only possible because of God’s miraculous intervention. It really was not Saul who was to be made King … it was a “New Man” who would become King. The idea is that he would be set apart from factions, free from self-interest, and rule with pure justice. Unfortunately, as we shall see, Saul was still as sinful as the next man. The new heart was really the old heart just trying to be better; the new man was really the old man covering up his weaknesses. Yet at the time, Saul’s popularity and authority rested on his reputation and behavior as a “new man” with a “new heart”. While human ability to live up to it might be questionable, God’s power to do it is beyond doubt. Remember that when you read Jesus’ promise that you can be “born again.”
Small Group Discussion
Read carefully the first 15 chapters of I Samuel. The crisis of Saul’s credibility came with the defeat of the Amalekites, the despoiling of their camp, and the capture of Agag their king for ransom. Samuel was furious. [1 Samuel 15:22-23 22 And Samuel said, "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king." Trace the thread of disobedience throughout the story of Saul. The underlying issue is that Saul, like all ancient and modern despots and tyrants, serves himself and uses God as an excuse.
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5th Sunday in July (Week 31) David’s Heritage (1 Samuel 16:1 – 17:58; 2 Timothy 2:1-15; 1 Samuel 16 – 21 and 31)
Overview
Having failed miserably with Saul, God guides Samuel to go to the opposite extreme in selecting the next king. No one could be less like Saul, and therefore less like an ancient or modern despot. David is the youngest of the family, a physical stripling, short for his age, with no experience or training in military life. Among the first things to be said about this chosen King is that he is ruddy, handsome, and has beautiful eyes! He plays the harp and sings. God is deliberately choosing the least likely person to be king, so that his success will be clearly due to the power of God rather than his personal abilities.
Team Meditation
One can easily imagine Paul’s instruction to Timothy as if it were David’s briefing by Samuel before he went out against Goliath. The decisive words that prepare men and women for combat (spiritual or otherwise) are never about tactics. They are always about attitude and alignment. The real preparation for leadership is about disciplining yourself in the right attitude of leadership, and aligning yourself to God’s purposes. This is a hard lesson in life and worship: It’s never about you! Whether you succeed or fail, receive praise or criticism, fundamentally it’s not about you. God’s spirit will use whatever you offer and do miracles with it. It is never up to you to succeed in mission. It is always up to God.
Worship Theme
The story of Goliath is intended to exaggerate the paradox of Samuel’s choice of David as king. It is a story of the impossible. There is absolutely no reason why David should have won against Goliath. Sure, David was brave, good with a sling, and had the advantage of surprise. Still, Goliath should have won. Even David knew that, and his attribution of victory to God was passionate and sincere. This spiritual authenticity rooted in dependence on God would the essential stamp of David’s reign, setting him apart from all other rulers. Other kinds prayed to God. David really meant it.
Small Group Discussion
Spend time in the small group searching literature, television, and other media for allusions to the David and Goliath story. The public has lost most of its biblical literacy, but few people do not know in some part this story. At the time of my writing, for example, frequent commercials compare Microsoft PC computers (the “Goliath” of the industry) to a relatively puny looking 20-something who wittily represents Apple computers (the “David” of the industry). It is a common theme. Yet modern people have completely reversed or misinterpreted the point of the story. How?