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Best of 2023 #1: I Don’t Know What I Don’t Know

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I’m on vacation for three weeks. While I’m gone, please enjoy the top 15 posts from 2023 based on total number of page views and podcast plays. Cheers!

I Don't Know What I Don't Know (CaD Job 34) – Wayfarer

‘Job speaks without knowledge;
    his words lack insight.’
Job 34:35 (NIV)

It’s been almost two decades since my first marriage ended. Back in those days there was quite a public stir around the divorce. A lot of speculation was making the rounds on the local grapevine, most all of it incorrect. I remember the feeling of helplessness to stop or control any of it. I learned many things during that stretch of my life journey.

One of the lessons that I still carry with me from those days is the fact that when it comes to what others are going through, I don’t know what I don’t know. I think of all the ignorant speculation that swirled around my divorce from people who knew very little about me, my marriage, or my circumstances. I also can easily make ignorant speculations about others despite having very little knowledge and without having all of the facts. I have become much more reticent to make speculative judgments of others. As a disciple of Jesus, my default is to be love not judgment.

In today’s chapter, Eli the younger continues his discourse. Once again, he recalls Job’s own words in an effort to refute them. Once again, he gets Job’s words mostly, but not completely, right. Young Eli then defends God from what he perceives to be Job’s insistence that God had done evil in his circumstances. He passionately defends God’s goodness, rightness, and just judgments.

Young Eli then makes the statement that Job “speaks without knowledge.”

This caught my eye because he is correct. Job has no knowledge of the conversations that took place between God and the evil one. But the same is also true of young Eli and his three elders. They have all made speculative arguments in reaching their conclusions.

In the quiet this morning, my mind conjures up the names and faces of individuals in my own circles of influence who have been at the center of public scrutiny for a variety of reasons. I’m thinking back to my own thoughts, words, and actions towards those individuals both in their presence and when they have come up in conversation. My endeavor is to be gracious and humble in the knowledge and acknowledgment that I don’t know what I don’t know.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Hidden in Plain Sight

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Hidden in Plain Sight (CaD Lk 18) – Wayfarer

Those who led the way rebuked [the blind man] and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Luke 18:39 (NIV)

Happy New Year!

One of the things I can expect every New Year in the media is the so-called experts’ picks of the “best” and “worst” things from the previous year. I’ve come to learn that my agreement with such lists is highly dependent on how aligned the “expert” and I am in the determination of what makes a good movie, song, or book.

When I was in college, there was quite a bit of consensus among movie critics and experts that Orson Welles’ classic Citizen Kane was the greatest movie ever made. If you’ve never seen it, it’s worth watching. The tale of a man who gains the whole world and loses his soul along the way is truly a masterpiece.

One of the things I love about both great movies and great books is the way that stories are crafted. The entire story of Charles Foster Kane is presented to us in the opening scene of Citizen Kane. As viewers, we simply don’t know it yet. I can watch great movies countless times because I can perpetually find things I’ve never seen before. The writers and directors placed things into scenes and dialogue that are hidden from me in plain sight.

In the same way, as I make my way over and over again through the Great Story, I perpetually see things that have been hiding in plain sight. I long ago realized that one of the mistakes I made for years was allowing myself to focus too intently on one word, one verse, or one passage a time that I missed the larger picture that the Author of Creation has connected throughout the Great Story. Today’s chapter is a great example.

In most modern Bibles, the text is broken up into chapters. Within each chapter, there are sections and verses. In today’s chapter, there are six different episodes or sections that the editors have called out for me with titles. This very paradigm of layout causes me to mentally compartmentalize as I’m reading and thinking. Yet, I’ve learned on this chapter-a-day journey that the meaning is often in the connection between the episodes just as there are connections between the books in the larger Great Story. I’ve had to train my brain to look at the larger story, books, chapters, and episodes for the connections between them.

Today’s chapter begins with a parable about a poor widow who pesters a Judge begging for justice. He ignores her at first, but her persistence leads to him taking her case just to shut her up. Jesus says prayer works like this. Keep praying, He says. Don’t give up.

In the very next episode, Jesus tells a parable contrasting a self-righteous religious leader who thinks he’s all that and a bag of chips with a poor wretch of a tax collector who knows the depth of his own sins and failures. The latter simply prays for the same thing over and over again (just like the persistent widow), “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Later in the chapter, Jesus once again tells The Twelve that He’s been a dead man walking on this trip to Jerusalem that they’ve been on since chapter nine. He’s going to Jerusalem to be betrayed, arrested, and executed, before rising from the dead. Luke then makes the observation that The Twelve did not get what Jesus was talking about even though this is the third time He has said it plainly. “Its meaning was hidden from them,” Luke writes.

In the final episode of the chapter, Jesus has a huge crowd around Him as He approaches the city of Jericho. Jericho is eighteen miles from Jerusalem, so Jesus is getting close to His destination. There is a blind man who is told that the commotion he’s hearing is because Jesus the Nazarene preacher everyone has been talking about is passing by. The blind man immediately begins shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!“

Let’s connect the dots.

The blind man begins shouting the same thing over and over, just like the persistent widow, so that everyone around him is annoyed just like the judge in Jesus’ parable.

What this poor blind wretch shouts is “Have mercy on me” just like the tax collector in Jesus’ parable.

In his repeated cries, the blind man calls Jesus “Son of David.” In Jesus’ day, this was a term people used to refer to the coming Messiah because the prophets had declared the Messiah would come through the line of David (which Jesus did, btw, Luke established that in the genealogy he put into chapter three, yet another connection. In recognizing Jesus as the Messiah, the “Son of David,” this blind man on the side of the road saw what others couldn’t see just as we learned that things were “hidden” in plain sight from Jesus’ closest followers.

The blind man saw who Jesus was while the fullness of Jesus and His mission were hidden from those with 20-20 vision. Jesus heals the annoying man who was shouting his repeated prayer for mercy, showing mercy just as the Judge had done for the poor widow in His parable.

By the way, how fascinating that this happens in Jericho, where God once miraculously caused the walls to come a tumblin’ down. I find something prescient in this connection.

In the quiet this morning, I’m once again blown away by how the Great Story connects. I’m humbled to think that I am not persistent enough in my prayers, and for all my knowledge I acknowledge just how many spiritual realities of God’s kingdom are hiding from me in plain site just like the story of Charles Foster Kane is hidden in a falling snow globe and the cryptic whisper, “Rosebud.”

As I enter a new year, a new work week, a new day – the echo of my heart is set on a persistent, repeating prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.”

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Listen Carefully

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Listen Carefully (CaD Lk 8) – Wayfarer

Therefore consider carefully how you listen.
Luke 8:18a (NIV)

Along my life journey, there are so many people I have met and with whom I have shared the journey for a particular season of life. Over forty years I have spent stretches of my journey amidst at least eleven different local gatherings of Jesus’ followers across two states. In each case, I had some opportunity to use the gifts I’ve been given in some kind of spiritual leadership.

I woke up this morning and the lake. My father and I made a quick trip down yesterday to winterize things and button the place up for the winter. As I sat in the quiet this morning, watching the sun come up over the cove, I let my mind linger in the memory banks. I thought of each of those gatherings. Faces and names came to me that I had not thought about in so very long. There are so many lives and stories.

There were so many individuals that I have no idea where their journeys led them or what has become of them.

A beautiful, intelligent, and personable young woman whom I visited in the suicide watch section of a mental health clinic. The death in her eyes concealed so many secrets.

A young man with so much happening inside of him, and he didn’t know what to do with all of his anger. He had flaming red hair to match that anger and he struggled as the only child with a single mother and absent father.

The rough, rebellious, foul-mouthed, drug-using offspring of a fundamentalist family system. Man, I loved him. His rough exterior, which put so many people off, hid a heart of gold. Come to think of it, I imagine Simon Peter was a lot like him.

The beautiful trophy wife of a wealthy, prominent attorney. No amount of expensive clothing and cosmetics could hide the loneliness and pain that had her dying inside. Her exterior was so put together for someone so spiritually desperate.

Then there are those whose stories I’ve known or learned about along the way.

The prank-pulling, immature dude who was not serious about anything ended up getting his act together, succeeding in business, and being a great husband and father to his kids.

A different beautiful, intelligent, and personable young woman whom I watched walk through her suicide attempt, struggle with her inner demons, and find her way.

Several individuals came out of the closet, (some to me personally) and found very different roads leading to very different places.

Multiple seemingly wise individuals made very different tragic and foolish decisions that led to painful consequences affecting so many others, which also led to very different places.

In today’s chapter, Luke presents a series of episodes from Jesus’ ministry, when the crowds were huge and He was riding a wave of popularity. The chapter begins with a parable Jesus told about a sower who scatters his seed. The seed falls in different places on different types of soil which leads to very different results. Jesus tells His disciples that the parable is about how God’s Word lands with different individuals which leads to very different results.

As I meditated on the chapter, I thought about all the different individuals mentioned in the chapter:

The wife of Herod’s house manager who became a member of Jesus’ entourage and a financial supporter of His ministry.

The man possessed by many demons, who after being delivered by Jesus, asks to join His entourage. In this case, Jesus tells him to stay home and tell his story to the people in his community.

The angry pig farmer whose pigs (and livelihood) the evicted demons entered and killed.

Jesus’ own biological family members trying to get in touch with him (and who, at the moment, think he’s crazy).

The little girl who dies and whose spirit leaves her body, only to be called back by Jesus. What did she experience while she was absent her body?

So many individuals encounter Jesus, hear Him, touch Him, and witness His interactions with others. So many different lives. So many different experiences. So many different outcomes.

Each person has their journey. Each person has their story. Each person ends up in different places with different outcomes.

I found it fascinating that after the parable of the sower, Jesus tells His followers: “consider how carefully you listen.” With each story choices are being made about listening, receiving, and responding. With each choice, different directions lead to different places. My story, my journey, and my trajectory in life that led to intersections with all of these different individuals I mentioned are rooted in how carefully I listened, how receptive my heart had been, and how I chose to respond. It led me to each of those people.

Indeed, that process continues today and each day of this earthly journey.

Lord, help me listen well, be receptive, and respond appropriately to Your Word and Spirit.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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The Deeper Need

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The Deeper Need (CaD Lk 5) – Wayfarer

When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
Luke 5:20 (NIV)

I have a sticker on my iPad cover of Caravaggio’s The Calling of Matthew. It’s one of my favorite works of art both because no artist has brought the dramatic moment to life than then the troubled Italian. And, it’s one of my favorite stories in all of the Great Story because of what it represents.

In today’s chapter, Jesus continues his Miracle Ministry Tour as the crowds of followers continue to grow. Twice, again, in today’s chapter Luke mentions the swelling and astonished crowds as Jesus prompts a miraculous catch of fish, heals a leper and then a man with paralysis.

But underneath the obvious miracles and the public spectacle, Jesus begins to hint at something deeper.

When the paralytic man is lowered through the roof to reach Jesus, Jesus initiates the encounter, not by healing his physical paralysis, but by forgiving his sins and healing what sin had done to his soul. For the first time, the religious leaders get bent out of shape, because they know only God can forgive sins. Jesus uses the conflict as a teaching moment, healing the man’s physical paralysis as well.

In the very next episode Luke shares, Jesus calls the local tax collector to be one of his disciples. Remember that Jesus’ base of operations in Capernaum is a diverse population of both Jews and non-Jewish (aka Gentile) residents who were Greek an/or Roman pagans. Levi was considered a traitor by his fellow Jews because he worked for Rome and got rich off the taxes he charged and collected. I’ll bet Levi made sure Peter made a hefty tax payment on that miraculous catch from earlier in the chapter. Jesus’ choice of Levi (aka Matthew) could not have been popular with his growing crowd of Jewish followers.

Jesus, however, ignores His Jewish critics and visits Levi’s house for a dinner party. Being a tax collector Levi rubbed shoulders with other tax collectors as well as prominent Romans and Greeks who were pagans who also lived in Capernaum. Jesus’ own people considered these people dirty and socially unacceptable. Simon, James, and John would never have crossed the threshold of Levi’s doors so as to show consideration for the Roman traitor or to be contaminated by the Gentile “dogs” he considered friends.

But Jesus did. I think The Chosen captures the moment well:

Once again, the good Jewish religious leaders are appalled by this Miracle Man. He certainly does miraculous things, but He refuses to stay in the well established and accepted Jewish lane.

Jesus response? “The healthy (God’s people) don’t need a doctor, but the lost sheep (Levi) and sinners (Levi’s Gentile friends) do.” Jesus’ choice to dine with Levi and his Gentile friends would have made Him a pariah to his Jewish followers, but would have won a lot of friends among their Gentile neighbors who were typically treated with contempt by the Jewish residents.

In both the forgiving of the paralytic, the calling of Levi, and his attendance at Levi’s dinner party, Jesus is firing a shot across the bow of the religious establishment. He can heal people all day long, but a paralytic who now walks makes just another walking sinner in need of a remedy for his spiritual affliction. Jesus’ mission is to bring spiritual freedom and healing to every tribe and nation and people and language.

In the quiet this morning, I confess that for many years I ran in certain Christian circles, and the religious establishment among those Christian circles were no different than the Jewish establishment of Jesus’ day. I was told to avoid modern-day Levis and their non-Christian ilk, just like Jesus. The further I got in my journey as a disciple of Jesus, the further away I was led from those religious establishments.

I love that Jesus was so bold in crossing religious and cultural boundaries right out of the gate. I love God’s heart, that all the way back in Genesis looked at everything that He created and loved it. Being a disciple of Jesus has led me to believe that any human religion that does not reflect the love of God for all of His creation does not reflect the heart of God.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Preparing the Way

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Preparing the Way (CaD Lk 3) – Wayfarer

[John the Baptist] went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Luke 3:3 (NIV)

One of my mother’s first cousins passed away recently. She and my mother were dear to one another, and the fact that the two of them both descended into dementia and died in the same year doesn’t surprise me in the least. Along my life journey, I’ve observed that there can be unexplainable “connections” of spirit between certain family members. Our families got together on an occasional basis when we were growing up, and when it happened it was always a major event. There was so much fun and so much laughter. I have so many good memories with my cousins.

My mom and her cousin, and my childhood memories of our families, came to mind as I meditated on today’s chapter in the quiet this morning. I find John the baptist to be one of the most intriguing people we meet in the entire Great Story. Luke provides us with more background information about John than Matthew, Mark, and John put together. Much of it in today’s chapter.

The fact that John and Jesus were related through their mothers Elizabeth and Mary (exactly how they were related is not explained) and that Mary stayed with Elizabeth during their pregnancies leads me conclude that John and Jesus spent time together growing up. How fascinating to think of the two playing together and hanging out as boys when the families got together.

The connection between John and Jesus was more than DNA. God made clear from their respective miraculous births and angelic pronouncements that they were an integrated part of the same chapter of the Great Story.

As I meditate on the person of John, there are two major themes that come to mind. First, the adult John is the archetype of the Lone Stranger that is already established in the Great Story before in persons like Melchizedek, Elijah, and Elisha. In fact, Jesus makes clear that John is the fulfillment of Malachi’s prophetic words that conclude the Old Testament:

“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes….”

John the Baptist is like the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophets. He represents the ending of one section of the Great Story as Jesus is about to usher the beginning of an entirely new section. Jesus repeatedly noted that God’s people murdered the prophets God sent to them. John became the last living example.

The other things that comes to mind as I think about John is water. The act of ritual baptism was prevalent in those days. Even at the base of the Temple mount, archaeologists have uncovered baptismal pools about the size of a modern hot tub. Three steps in and three steps out. It is likely that people would be ritually baptized or “cleansed” before ascending to the Temple mount. In the area of the wilderness around the Dead Sea where John operated, a sect known as the Essenes lived in caves in which there were vast networks of these ritual baptismal pools. Baptism was not a novel ritual concept that John created. It was a well-known ritual in which individuals cleansed themselves as a form of spiritual preparation.

That’s what John was doing. His baptism, Luke tells us in today’s chapter, was a baptism of repentance. John’s baptism was a preparation for Jesus and the forgiveness He would bring through His death, as well as the baptism of Holy Spirit that would follow His resurrection.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself thinking about the season of Advent that we are in. John and Jesus are connected on multiple levels, but primarily in John I find God modeling for us the importance of spiritual preparation. Like John’s baptism, Advent is spiritual preparation for what has done in Jesus first coming, for what God is doing in my own heart and life in this season, and for what God will do when Christ comes again in the climactic end of this Great Story.

I can’t help but believe that the better my preparation, the more transformative the full-fill-ment.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Community

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Community (CaD Lk 1) – Wayfarer

“All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things.”
Luke 1:65 (NIV)

The last few nights, Wendy and I have visited one of our local eating establishments. It’s always enjoyable to eat out, but living in a small town makes it a bit different experience. You tend to know people. You not only know people but you tend to know their stories. People stop and have conversation. It’s a communal experience.

I get that small town life isn’t for every one. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Community has become one of the things I have grown to value most on this earthly journey. People walking life’s journey together, sharing experiences and sharing tragedies. I have found there to be a psychological, social, and spiritual strength in being an active part of healthy community.

One of the reasons Wendy and I went out to eat last night is that every Wednesday night we allow our house to be used by four small groups of high schoolers and their youth program. Twenty or thirty kids and their adult leaders invade our home for two hours, while we have a date (see featured photo of our front door on Wednesday evenings). As Wendy and I drove home last night from our very sociable dinner and entered the house filled with a cacophony of teen voices, we were filled once again with gratitude for living in community.

As the holidays approach, I thought I’d go back to Luke’s version of Jesus’ story on our chapter-a-day journey. Luke was a doctor, and he was one of the many believers who became a follower of Jesus based on the witness and stories of those who’d been with Jesus and testified to Jesus’ message, miracles, death, and resurrection. Luke decided to thoroughly investigate all of these stories, interview those who were part of the story, and write them down for his friend Theophilus and other believers back in his own home community. Luke became a companion of Paul on his missionary journeys and documented those experiences, as well.

I love Luke’s version of the story because of the fullness he brings. In his opening chapter, it is Luke who fills in the stories of the miraculous birth of John the Baptist, Mary’s account of her angelic visitation and subsequent visit to John the Baptist’s mother, Elizabeth who was a relative. A woman who had been childless suddenly gets pregnant in her old age. Her husband, a respected priest in the community, is struck dumb yet claims an angel appeared to him in the Temple and told him this would happen. Mary arrives to add her own angelic experiences and miraculous conception to an already miraculous story.

I found it interesting when Luke the investigator adds, “All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things.” That’s what happens in a small, close-knit community. Word travels. Stories get shared. People both know and care about other people in their community. Personal events are communally felt. As an investigator and chronicler of these events, Luke is saying that people in that small Judean hill country were still talking about it: Zac and Liz’s miracle boy who became the famous Baptizer. Local boy makes good, then tragically loses his head because of Herod.

Our small town here in Iowa has produced a well-known professional athlete and a rock-star. Everyone in our town knows it. We know their parents and their siblings. People feel a communal connection. They feel part of the story. It was no different for the community in the Judean hill country where Zechariah and Elizabeth lived.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself meditating on living in community. Yes, I’ve known and experienced some of the unhealthy and annoying things that living in a small community of other flawed human beings brings with it. I have, nevertheless, found the positives to far outweigh the negatives. In our post-covid world, I continue to read about the negative consequences created by forced isolation. The psychological affects were felt by everyone from children who couldn’t be with their classmates to elderly individuals who were virtually shut off from any physical contact with their loved ones. It takes a mental and spiritual toll.

I need community. Jesus modeled with his disciples and the entourage of men and women who accompanied Him on His ministry. Luke experienced it as the followers of Jesus in his day met regularly in people’s homes to share meals and share lives. I’m convinced I would find community no matter where I lived. I’d seek it out. I need it for my own mental and spiritual health. But I’m here in a small Iowa town where I’m blessed to have it in abundance.

Today, I’m going to bask in the sheer joy of it.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Short-Cuts

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Short-Cuts (CaD Hos 12) – Wayfarer

The merchant uses dishonest scales
    and loves to defraud.
Ephraim boasts,
    “I am very rich; I have become wealthy.
With all my wealth they will not find in me
    any iniquity or sin.”
Hosea 12:7-8 (NIV)

When I was a young man, I was not great with money. I confess this. It took me some hard lessons, both financial and spiritual, along with some time to get things straightened out. It has been one of the most important spiritual lessons of my entire life journey. Part of that hard lesson I learned was that sound financial strategies, much like spiritual maturity, require discipline and longevity. Short-cuts appear tempting, but they make for long delays.

Along that journey, I’ve had a number of living parables present themselves.

I’ve personally known two individuals, both sincere and devout followers of Jesus and men I considered wise, who placed all of their retirement savings in one risky investment and ended up losing everything.

My father, the accountant, has regaled me with stories, repeatedly told, of businesses he discovered were cooking the books and kiting checks. The stories end up with law enforcement, businesses closing, and business owners in big trouble.

Years ago it was recommended to me (once again, by devout followers of Jesus who I considered wise) that we switch to using a broker who was making money hand-over-fist for clients. All the powerful and wealthy were flocking to this firm. Then, I witnessed that firm quickly and suddenly implode. The palatial offices were suddenly closed. Employees were quickly spinning off to create their own companies. Investors stuck in bad investments were livid and litigious. All these years later, I hear the lawsuits are still being settled.

In today’s chapter, the prophet Hosea raises charges against ancient Israel for the corruption and dishonesty that was happening among the wealthy and powerful elites who were packing the administrations of a string of crooked kings. He describes them as sitting atop the societal and governmental food chain working their dishonest schemes and feeling untouchable while the poor and marginalized suffered.

Hosea even uses the metaphor of Jacob to describe these ancient elites. Jacob was their patriarch who deceived his older twin of his birthright and then deceived their father to get the blessing of the first-born. Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, and Hosea makes it clear that the nation of Israel was guilty of their namesake’s deceptive ways.

In the quiet this morning, I am sobered by the trip down memory lane and the number of good people I have known who made foolish choices out of an out-of-control appetite to have greater financial security or to increase their earthly treasure. I’m reminded of Paul’s words to his young protégé Timothy: “godliness with contentment is great gain.” I’m also reminded that Jesus constantly spoke of being wise about what we treasure. He repeatedly spoke of the Kingdom of God as a hidden treasure worth giving up everything to acquire, while He spoke of earthly treasure as the worst investment one can make from a spiritual and eternity perspective.

Where am I susceptible to making foolish choices? What “too good to be true” opportunity would I be foolish enough to consider? Where am I most tempted to take short-cuts in life?

Short-cuts make for long delays.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Kings in Heat

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“Ephraim is like a dove,
    easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,
    now turning to Assyria.”
Hosea 7:11 (NIV)

Wendy and I live on the outskirts of our little town with a giant field behind us. As such, we get to enjoy a proximity to wildlife that can be both beautiful and annoying. As we have our morning coffee and smoothies, we often get to enjoy the sight of wild turkeys grazing in our backyard. We’ve heard the eerie sound of coyotes and their kits on the hunt in the evenings. And, the fire bushes we’ve twice planted along our back fence row have struggled to survive because the deer consider them a tasty snack.

Just last week we were driving home late in the evening and came upon a gorgeous eight-point buck. We see does, fawns, and yearlings on a regular basis, but it’s extremely rare for a male to show himself.

The following morning, we were on our way into town and it suddenly became clear why the male had been so bold to show himself. As we were driving, a doe shot across the road about ten yard ahead of us running at full speed and paying no heed to the fact our car was right there. I hit the brakes as the same buck we’d seen the night before lustfully tore after the doe.

“I know what he’s after,” Wendy exclaimed. We giggled and watched as the buck pursued and the doe did her best to evade him through the field on the other side of the road and into the tree line.

In today’s chapter, Hosea uses a stealthy double entendre describing the rulers of ancient Israel. The prophet describes them in culinary terms as “burning like an oven whose fire the baker need not stir.” He writes that they are “inflamed with wine” and “hot as an oven.” Of course, he’s describing the heat of passion. Their base appetites were out-of-control driving lustful behavior unbridled from reason.

It’s helpful to know a little history of ancient Israel to understand Hosea’s message. When the ancient kingdom of Israel split in two, the southern Kingdom of Judah continued to place on their throne direct descendants of King David. The northern Kingdom of Israel, however, had no such loyalties. The throne of Israel was constantly up for grabs to any bully or usurper who had a lust for power and the cunning to pull it off. Ten different dynastic “houses” ruled Israel in less than 300 years. As such, the kings and rulers of Israel tended to be self-centered tryants with a lust for power and wealth. Their children and their administrations were filled with similar ilk. These were not the type of men and women who were spiritually sensitive or possessed hearts of generosity, justice, and the things of God.

Hosea then describes these power-hungry, lust-driven rulers as easily deceived and senseless. They understood the blunt force power of being a local bully and seizing power of a relatively small kingdom, but when it came to the international diplomacy of dealing with empires, the seemingly endless string of usurpers were out of their league.

Hosea says,

“Ephraim is like a dove,
    easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,
    now turning to Assyria.”

History records that Hoshea (not to be confused with Hosea), the last king of Israel, had made an alliance with the Assyrian empire. When, however, there was a change of leadership on the Assyrian throne, Hoshea followed his lusts and tried to cut a better deal with Egypt. The betrayal caused Assyria to make an example of disloyal Israel. Assyria attacked, destroyed, and took Israel into exile and captivity. Just as God predicted through Hosea, the heat of Israel’s unbridled appetites would be the achilles heel that would lead to her destruction and exile.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself bringing the national-level lessons of ancient Israel down to personal-level application.

My grandfather used to be fond of saying “I’m king of my castle,” and as I’ve made my way on this earthly journey I recognize the truth of the matter. I am ruler of my own personal kingdom. Just like the kings of Israel, I can rule over my kingdom like a buck in heat following my base appetites for wealth, power, control, and pleasure. I can also rule over my kingdom with love, reason, humility, generosity, and justice. For me, the difference has been the acknowledgement and understanding of who is really on the throne of my personal kingdom. Many years ago, I agreed to submit my own personal kingdom to the Lordship of Jesus and the Kingdom of God. That has made all the difference.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Was, Is, & Will Be

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Was, Is, & Will Be (CaD Am 9) – Wayfarer

“New wine will drip from the mountains
    and flow from all the hills,
    and I will bring my people Israel back from exile”
Amos 9:13 (NIV)

In John’s Revelation, God is repeatedly referred to the One “who was, and is, and is to come.” The fascinating thing about this phrase being used repeatedly inside a work of apocalyptic literature is that the words of the prophets are layered with meaning, referencing things that were in the past, events that were imminently current, and events that were yet to be in the future. The words of the prophets are not so much “either it means this, or it means that,” but rather “Yes, it means this and it means that.”

I didn’t plan this quick trek through the ancient prophet Amos because of the current events unfolding in the middle east between Israel and Hamas. That said, I have found it virtually impossible not to read the ancient words of the prophet Amos in context of these current events.

In today’s final chapter, God through Amos boldly predicts that disaster is going to fall on the people of Israel. He says that many will die, but then says, “I will shake the people of Israel among the nations.” The chapter ends with a vision of restoration in which the nation is rebuilt and prosper. So let me unpack my thoughts based on “what was, what is, and what is to come.”

What was…

Exile is a perpetual theme throughout the Great Story. In fact, some scholars say that it is the pre-eminent theme of the entire thing. It’s first revealed in Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve sin and are cast out of the Garden of Eden into a sinful world. The rest of the Story is about humanity finding itself back in the Garden with God in the final chapters of Revelation. God calls Abram away from his home and into exile in a land God would show him. Abram’s grandson and great-grandchildren would find themselves living in exile in Egypt, where they will be enslaved for hundreds of years.

I could go on to discuss the theme of exile in the life of Jesus, the Acts of the Apostles, and the book of Revelation, but for now, let me stick to the fact exile was already an established theme of “what was” in the days our blue-collar prophet Amos was preaching to the people of ancient Israel.

What is…

The world at the time of Amos is primed for an extended period of history in which a succession of human empires will rise to control large portions of the western world. The land of Israel and Judah are nestled in a strategic crossroads between Persia, Europe, Arabia, and Africa. Any empire wanting to expand into those areas must go through the lands of the Hebrew people.

Just as Amos is prophesying exile to the northern kingdom of Israel, his prophetic successors to the south will soon begin to predict the same fate for the Hebrew people in Judah.

And, that’s exactly how it played out. It begins with the Assyrian empire who will conquer Israel (but not Judah) about 30 years after Amos’ proclaimed it. The Assyrian empire gave way to the Babylonian empire who conquered Judah and carried the likes of Daniel, Ezekiel, and Nehemiah into exile in Babylon. The Babylonians were conquered by the Medes and Persians, the Persians by the Greeks, and the Greeks by the Romans.

What is to come…

This is where things get really interesting, because the promises of restoration are layered with meaning that will only be revealed as future events play out.

First, there is a remnant of Hebrews who returns to the land during the Persian empire and rebuild Jerusalem and the temple there. That story is told by Nehemiah and Ezra.

As part of the description of restoration, Amos states that “new wine will drip from the mountains.” For any follower of Jesus, this echoes the very words of Jesus when He said that His teaching was “new wine” that won’t work in “old wineskins.” Jesus predicted a bold new era in which Jerusalem would be destroyed and God’s kingdom would expand to include peoples of every tribe, nation, and language. Jerusalem and the temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. and over the coming centuries the Hebrew people would be scattered among the nations.

Then, of course, we fast-forward to 1948, when the contemporary state of Israel was established by the British and the United Nations. From around the world, Hebrews returned from twenty centuries of exile to live in the very land where Amos prophesied almost three thousand years before.

And, that’s where I find myself sitting with wonder in the quiet this morning. What does this all mean? I’m not entirely sure. There are a lot of modern day would-be prophets who will confidently sell you their books and tell you exactly how the prophecies in the Great Story will play out. They’re always wrong. Jesus Himself said that He didn’t know the day and the hour of the events “yet to come.” Personally, I embrace that as an indicator I should humbly plead the same ignorance and rest comfortably being in Jesus’ good company.

And yet, the connection of what was, and what is leads me to believe that there is more to all of it than mere historical coincidence. It leads me to believe that everything, somehow, is playing out in relation to that what Jesus and the prophets envisioned as that which is yet to come. There is a Great Story being told. In the grand design that Paul described as “all things working together” I and my story are part of that Story.

How?

Someday I will know. That’s yet to come.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day, Uncategorized

Prudent Silence, Bold Speech

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Prudent Silence, Bold Speech (CaD Am 5) – Wayfarer

Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times,
    for the times are evil.
Amos 5:13 (NIV)

I remember Garrison Keillor once saying that a small town newspaper isn’t really the news, it’s just the table of contents. The real news, the stuff that’s really going on, never made it into print. Having lived in a few different small towns along my life journey, I feel the truth of Keillor’s statement. Yes, every small town has a City Council, but I’ve observed that there are always unelected individuals in small towns who wield unofficial power.

In the ancient days of the prophet Amos, the seat of justice was always at the local city gate. Small towns handled their own justice right inside the gates of the city. The town’s elders met there regularly to visit, share news, and conduct business. If there was a criminal or legal matter, it was the town elders who heard the case and meted out justice.

There was only one problem with this system, of course. Just like any small town, there were those individuals who wielded unofficial power. The wealthy and prominent puppet-masters pulled the strings of justice as they saw fit. And because the populace feared the threat of what the puppet masters could do in retaliation, they kept their mouths shut and their heads down.

Enter the prophet Amos.

Amos, the blue-collar prophet from Judah, strolls into town with words that bite. He calls the people of Israel to repent from the shady local politics and power games in which the poor and weak suffered at the hands of the rich, local puppet masters.

Today’s chapter was written as lyrics to a funerary lament. It was a way of Amos saying to his audience, “You’re already dead, you just don’t know it yet.” Amos then ends his lament with a proclamation of the “day of the Lord” when God would pronounce judgement on Israel. The justice of God contrasting the injustice of the local puppet-masters.

In the quiet this morning, I was struck by Amos’ description of the silent bystanders who are “prudent” in keeping silent. That is a theme that resonates deeply in the current events of today. Researchers say that the level of anxiety in young people today is off-the-charts, and one of the reasons is the daily fear that saying the wrong thing will get them cancelled and ostracized in the classroom or social media. Just yesterday I listened to an interview with Palestinians inside Gaza explaining that they must prudently keep quiet about what’s really happening inside Gaza or their Hamas puppet masters will torture and kill them and their families. On college campuses, the administrations who have always been quick to speak out about social justice issues suddenly find it prudent to keep silent about terrorists indiscriminately torturing, raping, and murdering innocent people, including children.

One of the things that I love about the prophets is their willingness to say the things that needed to be said. Of course, things did not always end well for them. The power brokers and puppet masters regularly found ways to silence their prophetic critics. Jesus offered His own lament over this reality:

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”

Just last week I was reminded of the words of Martin Niemöller, a Lutheran pastor who initially supported Hitler’s rise to power, but then became the leader of clergy who opposed the regime. He wrote:

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me

May God grant me the boldness of a prophet to speak and to pen the right words at the right time with a heart that is ever motivated by love.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.