Samson

So I'm looking forward to reading Matthew next week. I'm a little tired of the judges and their tendency towards violence in the name of God. Delilah was seduced by money, Samson seduced by love, the people seduced by the power. In the end, most of them met a violent end, although we don't know what happened to Delilah. Did she take the money and run? Or was she sick with herself afterwards like Judas was? There is physical strength, the power of beauty, and the desire for power. None of these are bad in and of themselves, but when they are not connected to a moral strength, they can lead to such destruction. Perhaps this story reminds us that it has always been a challenge to hold both ideals - physical and moral strength - together. We often seem to value physical power and strength without giving equal time and attention to the ethical implications of our actions.
-melanie

Gideon and "The Lord is Peace" altar

Funny thing how Gideon built an altar and called it "The Lord is Peace", which he follows up with a sword and a war cry of "For the Lord and for Gideon!" I'm not a fan of the whole idea of dressing up the violence of war with nice, fanciful terms like peace. I remember visiting a military base and learning about nuclear weapons, being told that one of them was called the "peacekeeper". I was young, so I may remember my details inaccurately, but I thought they said it would only take 7 or 8 to blow up the whole world, and we had 4 or 5 times that many in our possession. I'm not sure that' s a true peacekeeper as much as it is a fear-instiller. The other issue I have is that these people went to war in the name of God, but even more than that, in the name of another human being. Gideon must have been some character - testing and retesting God, then getting others to fight in God's name, but also his own. The thing I most take from this passage tonight, is to beware of making gods of ourselves, which was the same thing Gideon was ironically trying to instill in the people. Perhaps he replaced the worship of baal with worship of the self?

What do you think? Am I being too hard on Gideon? He was, after all, trying to respond to God's call...

-melanie

Micah

Woe to you. That's often the word from the prophets in the Old Testament. The irony is, when someone tells you to watch out, they what you are doing is going to hurt you, do we ever really listen? Usually we just get upset, more set in our ways, convinced that the person we are dating really is good, that the work we are doing really is ethical, that the drinking isn't really addiction. I kind of feel sorry for the prophets, because they were set up for failure. They gave the warnings, but no one listened. Because we seem to always have to learn for ourselves, not from others mistakes. It's sort of like AA can do wonders for people, but only when they realize they need it for themselves.
Which makes Jonah so different from Micah. The people actually listened to Jonah, which he wasn't expecting, and then he was annoyed when they did listen and change their ways! I'm not sure who had the harder time of things.
There's something to be said for telling people we care about our concerns about the decisions they are making that are harmful in their lives. We have an obligation to do that, but we also have to accept that they will still make their own choices, whether we agree with them or not. And somehow, as painful as it is, we just love them the best we can.
-Melanie

Moses is dead, but...

Joshua is alive! I heard a sermon on this once, by Otis Moss and I will never forget it. Moses got to see the promised land, even if he didn't get to step foot in it. And he could have been bitter about it, but instead, he laid his hands on Joshua and blessed him with wisdom so that he could lead the people. How wonderful it is when those who have gone before us lay their hands on us and bless us to go forward. It doesn't always happen that way, so when it does, it is indeed a holy and sacred thing.
What blessings do you have to pass on to others to carry forward?
-Melanie

How many masters can we possibly serve?

In the Bible it talks about the impossibility of trying to serve two masters at once - God and wealth. I think things are harder now than they were before - we are torn to serve three, four, five, maybe more masters at the same time! It's stressful watching the frenetic pace of people trying to serve God and money. But now it seems we have to serve our jobs as master if we want to keep them in an age when people are getting laid off. We have to serve our homes if we want to keep them from falling a part. The greatest master trying to cajole me into service is my calendar. My life revolves around my calendar, and what it says I need to be doing at any particular moment of the day! If we only had to deal with God and wealth, that would seem like nothing compared to the many masters out there today! But when it comes down to it, money seems to be the one that is hardest to set aside. It's hardest to orient ourselves towards God when the big, flashy gold calf and dollar signs are shining off in our periphery. I know my weakness. That's probably why I choose to have my gifts to the church and other non-profits taken directly out of my bank accounts. If I didn't intentionally offer them as a priority, knowing that no matter what, each month my gifts will go to God through the church, if I waited until the end of the month, I'm pretty sure there would not be much left for God. What do you do to keep other masters from taking the place of God? Any ideas? Insights to share?
-Melanie

Priorities

The concern here seems to be with priorities. Hearing something and doing it are two different things. Hearing Moses say "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might" is one thing, doing it is another! God seems to get the human heart in terms of its needs. When things are rough, we hold on to God with all our hearts. But when things are going well, we might start putting our priorities and allegiances with other things. Moses says, "Take care that you not forget the Lord". The challenge is to remember God at all times, not just the rough ones. Hearing/doing, remembering/forgetting - these are the daily challenges we face! And some days we fare better than others. All we can do is give it our best effort, and keep this commandment before us - writing it on our hearts and our minds.
-Melanie

Intercessor

I spent this afternoon staring at my computer screen and thinking about what I was going to say at worship tomorrow about Jesus as Savior. The connections between the New Testament and the Hebrew Scriptures never cease to amaze me! One of the things I was thinking with Jesus is there was no longer a need for an intercessor on behalf of the people with God. Because of Jesus, we go directly to God, not through another person. That's what Moses got all messed up in. He felt pressured to go to God on behalf of the people because they were pressuring him to do something about their lack of water. But then he ends up with the consequence of getting to see the Promised Land but never actually stepping foot on it. That's a rotten deal! Thank God things have changed! Thank God for grace and mercy, for I surely wouldn't see the "Promised Land" if it required more faith and trust than Moses.
-Melanie