Hello Transformation Journal readers.
This is Kelly, writing to confess that I am not yet disciplined! :) I realize that i have not posted anything on Exodus since Thursday. I was given the task of keeping up the post while Melanie went off to get married, and I missed a few days. Now, I'm here and ready, but my journal is at home! I will get back into the "rhythm" of things tomorrow. I hope your work with the Transformation Journal is going well. I'm looking forward to becoming a more disciplined...
Kelly
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Justice
Sometimes i get up on my high horse of thinking that the Old Testament is full of dos and don'ts and that it was contextual and does not apply to my life today. I can sometimes even lean as far as to think that my faith could do without the Old Testament and just focus on the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus. Yet, what i read today reminds me that many of Jesus' teachings do stem from Old Testament scripture. And it's a beautiful thing to think about the fact that since the beginning of time God cared for the lost, the left out, and the poor. God has always been and will always be a God of Justice. Jesus came to teach us more about justice through his way of life, and his parables. I want to be more about justice like we read in Exodus.
What struck me, however, is how unnatural justice can be. We are called to return our enemy's donkey to him (Exodus 23:4) and to lift the heavy burden off of those who hate us (v. 5). I'd be happy to return a lost pet to a friend, or help someone i love who is hurting or in trouble. But when i think about the people in my life who have wronged me...the ones who maybe have left me on the side of the road, i have a hard time thinking about being as loving as this scripture encourages. I think that my natural instinct is that justice would be for them to suffer, or feel the pain that i have felt.
I think this is what is so remarkable, and yet so revolutionary about God and the call for each of us in faith. We are asked not to respond with what might "feel" like justice to us, rather to respond with what looks more like justice in the form of love. That's radical. That's Christ-like. That's really hard somedays!
My prayer for this world, especially those of us who are claiming to follow God, is that we would learn to be more loving in our understanding of justice. That we would see justice as God sees justice and love even those who might seem, at first, impossible to love!
May you love like that today!
-Kelly
What struck me, however, is how unnatural justice can be. We are called to return our enemy's donkey to him (Exodus 23:4) and to lift the heavy burden off of those who hate us (v. 5). I'd be happy to return a lost pet to a friend, or help someone i love who is hurting or in trouble. But when i think about the people in my life who have wronged me...the ones who maybe have left me on the side of the road, i have a hard time thinking about being as loving as this scripture encourages. I think that my natural instinct is that justice would be for them to suffer, or feel the pain that i have felt.
I think this is what is so remarkable, and yet so revolutionary about God and the call for each of us in faith. We are asked not to respond with what might "feel" like justice to us, rather to respond with what looks more like justice in the form of love. That's radical. That's Christ-like. That's really hard somedays!
My prayer for this world, especially those of us who are claiming to follow God, is that we would learn to be more loving in our understanding of justice. That we would see justice as God sees justice and love even those who might seem, at first, impossible to love!
May you love like that today!
-Kelly
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
More on Moses
Moses reminds me of a little child in this passage where God speaks from the cloud. He's bit whiny and lazy...actually he kinda reminds me a bit of myself. I have no idea what Mount Sinai must have looked like, or how large it was, but the fact that they continue to reference it in this passage as a mountain was what caught my eye today. That God gives Moses a bunch of instructions to tell the people..."have them be clean, don't let them touch the mountain, let them hear my voice..." But then God calls Moses to the top of the mountain, so after the mountain is covered with smoking fire and shook from a violent earthquake, Moses willingly CLIMBS A MOUNTAIN. Not just takes a small hike up the hill, but climbs a mountain. I imagine he must have been in better shape than i am because he had just made the trek from Egypt to Mount Sinai...eating only manna and quail (a diet i would have for sure tired of after the first week). So he huffs and puffs his way up to the top only to hear God say, "Go back down and tell the people not to touch the mountain!" Really God?! I just got my tired self up here and now you're saying go back down!?
Do you ever feel like Moses? Like you are sacrificing and climbing your mountain in order to please God and then just when you think you are at the top and it's time to rest, you're told to go back down and start the journey over! I'm with moses on this one. Verse 23 of Chapter 19 says, "Moses protested!" Darn right he protested! What a frustrating message to hear. But. That's what follows the protest. But, God... And then, Moses went back down.
One summer i was working for a mission organization, overseeing three mission trip sites in Colorado and Wyoming. It was a hard summer! I felt like I was doing my very best for God and making all kinds of sacrifices for Him. I was exhausted, at the end of my rope, and ready to come to the final week of the summer. I had three very difficult sites that summer with lots of staff issues, and spiritual warfare type stuff. So i was going to end my summer at my easiest site and just coast on home. Then the phone rang!
One of the sites in South Dakota had had a terrible accident and all the staff were in the hospital. They still had one week left of students coming, and there was no one to run the show. So, instead of dropping to my knees and praying for these poor friends who were badly hurt, one of them even in a coma, I threw a temper tantrum with God! I cried, yelled, hollered, threw my fists in the air and blatantly told God that He was asking too much of me! I knew i'd end up going eventually (it was my job and i didn't really have a choice), but before i went, i turned into a whiny little kid and cried my eyes out. I was exhausted. I couldn't do another week, including making an 8 hour drive to South Dakota the next day.
Kelly protested!
But.
But i went anyway. Reluctantly, even begrudgingly. I went with a bad attitude and a broken spirit but i went! And what came of that week is by far one of my most memorable weeks in a three year history with this mission organization! Kids' lives were dramatically changed. My life was dramatically changed.
I say all of this for one reason. I think that both Moses' story and my story show us that God is not a God who expects us to be anything other than what we are. broken. sometimes whiny. lost. hurt. tired. confused. However we are, we are given permission to be real with God. No need to fake a willingness. No reason to fake happiness. No chance at convincing God we are joyful when we're not. God takes us as we are, and uses whatever we are willing to offer. And that, my friends, is Good News!
Happy Wednesday!
kelly
Do you ever feel like Moses? Like you are sacrificing and climbing your mountain in order to please God and then just when you think you are at the top and it's time to rest, you're told to go back down and start the journey over! I'm with moses on this one. Verse 23 of Chapter 19 says, "Moses protested!" Darn right he protested! What a frustrating message to hear. But. That's what follows the protest. But, God... And then, Moses went back down.
One summer i was working for a mission organization, overseeing three mission trip sites in Colorado and Wyoming. It was a hard summer! I felt like I was doing my very best for God and making all kinds of sacrifices for Him. I was exhausted, at the end of my rope, and ready to come to the final week of the summer. I had three very difficult sites that summer with lots of staff issues, and spiritual warfare type stuff. So i was going to end my summer at my easiest site and just coast on home. Then the phone rang!
One of the sites in South Dakota had had a terrible accident and all the staff were in the hospital. They still had one week left of students coming, and there was no one to run the show. So, instead of dropping to my knees and praying for these poor friends who were badly hurt, one of them even in a coma, I threw a temper tantrum with God! I cried, yelled, hollered, threw my fists in the air and blatantly told God that He was asking too much of me! I knew i'd end up going eventually (it was my job and i didn't really have a choice), but before i went, i turned into a whiny little kid and cried my eyes out. I was exhausted. I couldn't do another week, including making an 8 hour drive to South Dakota the next day.
Kelly protested!
But.
But i went anyway. Reluctantly, even begrudgingly. I went with a bad attitude and a broken spirit but i went! And what came of that week is by far one of my most memorable weeks in a three year history with this mission organization! Kids' lives were dramatically changed. My life was dramatically changed.
I say all of this for one reason. I think that both Moses' story and my story show us that God is not a God who expects us to be anything other than what we are. broken. sometimes whiny. lost. hurt. tired. confused. However we are, we are given permission to be real with God. No need to fake a willingness. No reason to fake happiness. No chance at convincing God we are joyful when we're not. God takes us as we are, and uses whatever we are willing to offer. And that, my friends, is Good News!
Happy Wednesday!
kelly
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Bread without Yeast
Ya know the term, "beat a dead horse"? I kinda felt like that's what our scripture did today when it came to the discussion of the passover meal. I was struck by how many times i read the words, "bread without yeast" and how much focus there was on that part of the meal. So much so that if you were an Israelite during the passover time and you snuck a piece of leavened bread, or made something with yeast like wine or bread, you would not only be in trouble, you'd be literally kicked out of the community. "anyone who eats anything made with yeast during this week will be cut off from the community of Israel. These same regulations apply to the foreigners living with you, as if they had been born among you." Exodus 12:19. God was serious about this yeast thing.
Why?
I thought i'd be able to figure that out and write up an incredibly insightful, very moving entry about how God asked the people to be yeast free for these particular, life changing reasons, therefore teaching us something brilliant 2000 years later. But when i looked up yeast and did a little research on it, i basically am left with..."huh"? Why can't they use yeast in their bread? I understand that it changes the structure of the bread, it changes the taste of the bread, but what's the bid deal? Are they forbidden because there is evidence that the ancient Egyptians were the first to use yeast? Did God not want the people to succumb to one of their inventions? Is it because the yeast made the bread more desirable to eat and God wanted them to somehow be reminded of their suffering through the nasty tasting flat bread? Maybe God thought that the yeast was too much of a luxury? Maybe it was all done this way so that they were able to take their unleavened bread on the run with them when they were finally freed and had the ability to bake flat bread and keep the dough for longer than they would with the yeast!
Ultimately, this is one of those things that i am still confused by. God said no more yeast in this festival. not just this year, but always!
And i can't hear that without immediately thinking of Jesus telling the parable of the yeast and how the Kingdom of God is like yeast that works its way through the dough slowly and eventually penetrates the entire batch so that it is all delicious and raised. So, Jesus uses it as if yeast is a good thing. God seems to prevent the people from using it in Egypt, but i can't tell why! Any thoughts...
-kelly
Why?
I thought i'd be able to figure that out and write up an incredibly insightful, very moving entry about how God asked the people to be yeast free for these particular, life changing reasons, therefore teaching us something brilliant 2000 years later. But when i looked up yeast and did a little research on it, i basically am left with..."huh"? Why can't they use yeast in their bread? I understand that it changes the structure of the bread, it changes the taste of the bread, but what's the bid deal? Are they forbidden because there is evidence that the ancient Egyptians were the first to use yeast? Did God not want the people to succumb to one of their inventions? Is it because the yeast made the bread more desirable to eat and God wanted them to somehow be reminded of their suffering through the nasty tasting flat bread? Maybe God thought that the yeast was too much of a luxury? Maybe it was all done this way so that they were able to take their unleavened bread on the run with them when they were finally freed and had the ability to bake flat bread and keep the dough for longer than they would with the yeast!
Ultimately, this is one of those things that i am still confused by. God said no more yeast in this festival. not just this year, but always!
And i can't hear that without immediately thinking of Jesus telling the parable of the yeast and how the Kingdom of God is like yeast that works its way through the dough slowly and eventually penetrates the entire batch so that it is all delicious and raised. So, Jesus uses it as if yeast is a good thing. God seems to prevent the people from using it in Egypt, but i can't tell why! Any thoughts...
-kelly
Monday, September 24, 2007
Let My People Go...
I have the African American Spiritual going through my head right now - the cry of the oppressed throughout the ages have clung to this story of Moses freeing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. As I read this scripture this morning, I couldn't help but think of what is going on right now in Myanmar. Our church sponsored a refugee family from Myanmar this past year, as they and others have suffered under the military regime. I was struck by the images of what news reports said, were 10,000 Buddhist Monks and over 100 nuns who have been marching, trying to bring attention to the plight of the people, and bring about peaceful change for an oppressed people. I hope against hope, as they probably do, that change will happen in a peaceful way. It's my guess that Moses and the Israelites were hoping against hope to be free of slavery. It's an old story, but for people around the world, they are living it right now. The good news in this, is that in the story, we see that God is active and working with the people to bring about good change, to bring new life to them. It has been so, and may it be so today!
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Baby Moses
Our text today comes from Exodus 1 -2. The questions that come with it are all about the hard lives of the Israelites during the time of the new king. And yet, what struck me as i read this scripture today was that a nursing mother would put her son in a basket on a river! Hard conditions are one thing...not to downplay the slavery or problems of the people, but life must have been way more intense than our scripture shares if a new mother's best option for her child is to put him in a basket and send him on his way.
A friend of mine just had their first born, a son! I have never been as drawn to a child like I am this little guy. I was there in the hospital on the day he was born, and have had the privilege of watching him double in size in this first three months, and learn new things like laughing and discovering his own fingers and thumb to suck on. What a huge thing! And as i think about this little boy whom i love, that doesn't even belong to me, i cannot imagine what it must have been like for the people of Egypt if the most desirable option would be to send your son down a river in a basket! What faith! What trust in God that he would come through!
A friend of mine just had their first born, a son! I have never been as drawn to a child like I am this little guy. I was there in the hospital on the day he was born, and have had the privilege of watching him double in size in this first three months, and learn new things like laughing and discovering his own fingers and thumb to suck on. What a huge thing! And as i think about this little boy whom i love, that doesn't even belong to me, i cannot imagine what it must have been like for the people of Egypt if the most desirable option would be to send your son down a river in a basket! What faith! What trust in God that he would come through!
A little behind schedule...go figure!
So getting married in less than a week has taken quite a bit of my time, and I didn't get my reflections posted for the past two days. So sorry! Better late than never, here they are:
Friday's reading:
The scriptures spend a lot more time on Jacob than they do Esau. Perhaps that's because we are more like Jacob than Esau. We are more apt to cheat our way into a blessing, to do things that we not are not right, to flee from our wrongdoings, to wrestle with God in the middle of angst-filled nights. We might be Jacobs, but it's Esau I'd rather be. No, we wouldn't want our families to hurt or be dishonest with us, to cheat us out of an inheritance. It would be awful to feel like you've played by the rules, and been cheated by your own mom and brother. Yet over time, Esau didn't let revenge or anger overtake him. He moved on. He made a life for himself - and when he heard that his brother was coming back - after two decades - he ran out to welcome him home. Jacob was right in thinking that Esau might want to kill him - but Esau had long before chosen forgiveness over revenge. May we all live like Esau!
Saturday's reading:
I guess today, I take from Joseph's story the same thing I take from Esau. We can choose to let anger and revenge take hold of our hearts, or we can choose to be free from those chains, and live a life of forgiveness. I am amazed at some of the hurtful things that people can do or say, even to their family - the people they are supposed to love the most. And it can be a challenge to choose a way other than vengence. It takes a lot more strength to love someone than to despise or hate them. It's the harder path, but the better path to take. That's what I need to be remembering these days. It's hard, but it's better.
- Melanie
Friday's reading:
The scriptures spend a lot more time on Jacob than they do Esau. Perhaps that's because we are more like Jacob than Esau. We are more apt to cheat our way into a blessing, to do things that we not are not right, to flee from our wrongdoings, to wrestle with God in the middle of angst-filled nights. We might be Jacobs, but it's Esau I'd rather be. No, we wouldn't want our families to hurt or be dishonest with us, to cheat us out of an inheritance. It would be awful to feel like you've played by the rules, and been cheated by your own mom and brother. Yet over time, Esau didn't let revenge or anger overtake him. He moved on. He made a life for himself - and when he heard that his brother was coming back - after two decades - he ran out to welcome him home. Jacob was right in thinking that Esau might want to kill him - but Esau had long before chosen forgiveness over revenge. May we all live like Esau!
Saturday's reading:
I guess today, I take from Joseph's story the same thing I take from Esau. We can choose to let anger and revenge take hold of our hearts, or we can choose to be free from those chains, and live a life of forgiveness. I am amazed at some of the hurtful things that people can do or say, even to their family - the people they are supposed to love the most. And it can be a challenge to choose a way other than vengence. It takes a lot more strength to love someone than to despise or hate them. It's the harder path, but the better path to take. That's what I need to be remembering these days. It's hard, but it's better.
- Melanie
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