Contemplative Bible Reading

Acts 17:27 (New Living Translation)

27 His (God’s) purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us.

Paul is speaking to the educated people in Athens. Paul is telling these smart folks about the God that created everything. I find this all fascinating as it is a case where smart but ignorant people are listening to an explanation of how the entire universe works.

God’s purpose in all of history was and is for people to seek God—to look for God—sometimes feeling their way in the dark as they are inexplicably pulled towards God until they find God.

God is here. God is there, yes, everywhere. Still, God is not inside every person. Each person has to find God and allow God to enter them. That is simple, yet it is something that I cannot understand on some days. It is too amazing to comprehend.

Paul, speaking as a Jew, was telling these Gentiles that God the creator (YHWH or Jehovah) was not longer just for the Jews, but was for everyone. That is why God’s purpose was for the nations—all us Gentile groups—to seek after God and find God.

Perhaps I fail to explain this well. I am to go to God. I am to accept God’s terms. God welcomes all who come to God. But, hey, okay there are a few things I want to keep, that will be okay with God, right? Well, wrong. Go to God. Leave everything behind. Gosh, that doesn’t seem fair. Let’s negotiate on that, you see there are some things that are really important to me and I want to hold onto them and… No. Come to God.

Please God, help my in my unbelief.

Luke 18:34 (New Living Translation)

34 But they didn’t understand any of this. The significance of his words was hidden from them, and they failed to grasp what he was talking about.

Jesus is talking to the group of insiders who walked with Him daily. Jesus told them what was to happen in Jerusalem. Given our perspective of several thousand years, it was obvious was Jesus was saying. The Son of Man would be given to the Romans for torture and execution.

The followers didn’t understand any of it. Was Jesus speaking in some code? Was it not obvious that Jesus was “the Son of Man?”

And then there are the words, “The significance of his words was hidden from them.”

Here is my theory. Jesus spoke clearly about what was to happen. The time, however, was not right for the followers to understand. Had they understood, who knows what they would have done—probably the wrong thing.

Sometimes I am just not ready to understand something. Sometimes I need more time and experience and life before I am ready. Sometimes the significance of something is hidden from me for my own good.

Rats. I don’t like to admit that “I can’t handle that,” but often that is the truth.

Exodus 4:20 (New Living Translation)

20 So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to the land of Egypt. In his hand he carried the staff of God.

This is part of the (hi)story of God sending Moses back to Egypt to bring God’s people out of captivity and into the land promised to them.

Egypt is rich. It is a powerful nation—one of the world’s great powers at this time.

Their opponent? A middle-age flop of a livestock herder. He has his wife and little boys on a donkey. He walks. And, let’s not forget, he is carrying a stick.

Are you kidding? This is what God sends into a powerful nation to bring a million or so people out carrying gold and silver and riches from the people of the rich nation? This is preposterous.

The next thing you is that God will send the savior of the world to be born to a poor teenage girl in a damp, stinky cave in a backwater town… and, oh wait, that is what God did next. Never mind.

I live in one of the richest towns in the richest country in the history of the world. I am typing these words using rich technology invented by rich people in the last twenty rich years.

Where is God? Where is the next great messenger from God? Probably sitting on a cold sidewalk somewhere huddled in rags. Why do I think that? Look at Moses, his donkey, and his stick. Look at Mary and Joseph and that smelly stable. The examples go on and on.

God, please help me to see You and the people You send.

Exodus 4:10-12 (New Living Translation)

10 But Moses pleaded with the Lord, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”

11 Then the Lord asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.”

This is part of the (hi)story of God sending Moses to Egypt to bring the people out of captivity and to the land promised to them. Moses doesn’t want to go back to Egypt. Moses can foresee the stress and angst all this will bring to his life.

Excuse #1: I’m not a good speaker.

God replies: Are you kidding me Moses? I am the Creator. I decide who is a good speaker or a good listener or who notices what they see and who jumps high and runs fast and is good at math and…

Sometimes I need little reminders and sometimes I need GREAT BIG REMINDERS of the power and presence of God. “God, I am not the right person to do this.” How silly is that? God says go; God says do, and God says, “I have provided.”

Any further questions?

Well, when I read the above verses, I guess I have to stop making excuses and asking silly questions. God provides. Sometimes God nudges me along like God nudged Moses along. Sometimes God even provides someone to stand next to me just as God provided Aaron to stand next to Moses. Aaron was the brother of Moses. Oh, so that’s why God gave Moses a little brother. Is that why God gave me … (long, long list of things God gave me).

Exodus 5:1 (New Living Translation)

1 After this presentation to Israel’s leaders, Moses and Aaron went and spoke to Pharaoh. They told him, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go so they may hold a festival in my honor in the wilderness.”

This is part of the (hi)story of God bringing the people out of Egypt. God has sent Moses back to Egypt where Moses and his brother Aaron spoke with the leaders of the people, i.e., the Israelites. Now Moses and Aaron go and speak to Pharaoh.

Stop the story at this point. These two raggedy Israelite fellas’ just waltz into the palace and chat with Pharaoh who is the all-powerful leader of one of the most powerful nations on earth. Just walk right in and chat. Are you kidding me?

There are miracles on every page of the Bible. This is yet another one. It is mentioned so briefly that I have overlooked it for years, but here it is.

I believe that God performs miracles everyday right in front of me. Sometimes I notice them and, to my shame, most of the time I am just to busy to see. Please God, help me keep my eyes open and notice Your magnificent works everyday.

Exodus 4:3 (New Living Translation)

3 “Throw it down on the ground,” the Lord told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back.

This is part of the (hi)story of God charging Moses to go to Egypt and be God’s spokesman to bring the people out of Egypt. God demonstrates some of what will happen in Egypt. God had Moses put his staff on the ground. God turned the staff into a snake.

Moses jumped back.

Some translations write, “Moses ran away.”

A stick is not a snake. If I were to drop my pocket knife onto the ground and it became a snake, I would jump back and … well, I don’t know what I would do next.

Context: Moses is talking with a voice that is coming from a bush that is burning but not burning down. That is not an everyday occurrence. I would think that Moses would be prepared for another supernatural thing to happen.

Still, Moses was startled and frightened.

God does amazing things right in front of me everyday. And then on top of those amazing things, God tosses in things that are … super-amazing or something. They are frightening. Someone in traffic is heading right for me and they swerve clear at the last moment. That is a staff-turning-into-a-snake moment.

Matthew 3:13-15 (Christian Standard Bible)

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14 But John tried to stop him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?”

15 Jesus answered him, “Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John allowed him to be baptized.

This is part of the (hi)story of the immersion of Jesus in water by John the Baptist. This translation uses the word “allow.” Jesus asks that John “allow” Jesus to be baptized. John then “allowed” Jesus to be baptized.

For now, substitute the word “accept” for “baptize.” Jesus wanted to be accepted by John in front of all those who were with John in the wilderness. John resisted as John wanted to be accepted by Jesus. John relented and accepted Jesus.

I think that sometimes we confuse the order and meaning of words regarding baptism. We tend to say, “I was baptized.” We rarely say, “This group of Christians baptized me.”

I know there are others who know much more about the depths of discussions regarding baptism and salvation. For this little blog post, consider the ways we talk about baptism, allowance, and acceptance. Perhaps baptism is a sign of acceptance from a group of Christians that admit a person into the group of those who—with many trips, stumbles, and falls—are following after the Son of God. We want to be identified as a follower of the Son of God. We are accepted as a fault-filled person into a group of persons who are also filled with faults.

Again, there are those who know this topic much better than me. As a fault-filled person, I ask that they accept me.

Zephaniah 3:19 (Christian Standard Bible)

19 Yes, at that time
I will deal with all who oppress you.
I will save the lame and gather the outcasts;
I will make those who were disgraced
throughout the earth
receive praise and fame.

Jehovah the God of Israel is speaking to the people through the prophet Zephaniah. There will be a time coming when Jehovah will live with the people. It will be a glorious and joyful time.

I like the phrase in the middle of this verse about saving the lame and gathering the outcasts. The lame and the outcast lived in a sorry state at the time of this message. They were not fit to enter the Temple and be nearer to God. They were literally cast out by society.

Sounds like me. I am not fit to be near to God. My sins soil my clothes to the point where I cannot ever clean them. And there is no clothing store nearby to sell me nice, new, and clean clothes. I am cast out.

Jesus Christ, however, brings me in. Jesus Christ cleans my clothes. I am no longer lame; I am no longer cast out by society.

This is pretty simple. This doesn’t make any sense. This is true. Some days I accept it while some days I just don’t …

And there are days when I cannot enable anyone else to understand this, either. Please God, help me to understand and help me to live in such a way that others around me can understand as well.

Luke 3:23 (New Living Translation)

23 Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his public ministry.

Jesus was about half the age of life expectancy when He began His public ministry. Three score and ten is seventy years of age. The life expectancy in Jesus’ time and place was much less than seventy. Jesus was practically middle age or past His prime or a “has been.”

Jesus was the Son of God and did all things well and … well, you know … Jesus was Jesus.

Yet Jesus had to wait until He was about thirty years old. That required great patience to wait that long. That is what Jesus did; He waited and waited and waited. Jesus waited until Peter, James, and John and others were ready to hear Him. Jesus waited until just the right Roman rulers were in just the right positions of power. Jesus waited for the lame to be in just the right place at just the right time. And Jesus waited until Judas was the right age to be the treasurer and the betrayer.

I’m in a hurry—too often. Waiting until just the right time and place … that is a tough job. And what makes it tougher is that I don’t know just the right time and place for the other person and everything. Thinking back on my life, God put me in just the right time and place to love and serve just the right person.

This is all too complicated for me. How does God do this? I’ll never understand. Please God, help me to trust and obey.

Mark 3:20-22 (New Living Translation)

20 One time Jesus entered a house, and the crowds began to gather again. Soon he and his disciples couldn’t even find time to eat. 21 When his family heard what was happening, they tried to take him away. “He’s out of his mind,” they said.

22 But the teachers of religious law who had arrived from Jerusalem said, “He’s possessed by Satan, the prince of demons…

The family of Jesus was concerned that “He’s out of his mind.”

The teachers of the religious law said, “He’s possessed by Satan, the prince of demons…”

There was much happening at the time, but one thing that is listed before these statements is that Jesus and the disciples “couldn’t even find time to eat.” Again, much was happening, but this is what was mentioned specifically—time to eat.

Eating a meal has meant different things in different cultures at different times. From this (hi)story, it seems that eating a meal was pretty darn important in the time and place of Jesus’ ministry. The absence of “time to eat” brought all sorts of concerns from mental health to demon possession.

Simply, Jesus and the followers were serving, not being served. Does anyone accuse me of serving too much? Perhaps I don’t want to know the answer to that question.