Monthly Archives: September 2018

Podcast

Episode 38 | The Plan: Go Time

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In this episode, Rev. Todd concludes the 5 part series called The Plan with a look at another letter written by Paul, this time to the Colossian church. Be challenged by this message to with the plan, which includes growing ever closer to Christ and ever more like him.

EPISODE REFERENCES:

Devotional

God’s People, part 123: High Priest

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Read John 11:45-57

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“‘Away with him,’ they yelled. ‘Away with him! Crucify him!’ ‘What? Crucify your king?’ Pilate asked. ‘We have no king but Caesar,’ the leading priests shouted back.”  (John 19:15, NLT)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

bible-videos-caiaphas-jesus-trial-1426886-printPart 123: High Priest. When we think of the High Priest of the temple in Jerusalem, we think of someone who was from the Levites and was chosen by God to serve in the position of High Priest, fulfilling the duties of ordering the worship life of the Temple and leading the kingdom of Israel in an ongoing and faithful relationship with God. We think of someone divinely chosen and independent of politics.

Unfortunately, this is a mistake. First, the High Priest WAS a political position as much as it was a religious one. The ancient world did not make any sort of distinction between the political and the religious spheres. That distinction is, strictly speaking, a modern one. This is extremely important to realize. The high priest was not just in charge of religion, but also of law. The TORAH was not just religious law, but the LAW of the land.

Second, the High Priest in the time of the Roman occupation became more of a political role than it was religious. This may sound scandalous and, if you are thinking that, you are absolutely right. It was scandalous. By Jesus’ time, some groups such as the Essenes had left Jerusalem and went out into the wilderness to live. They believed that the corruption of the office of the High Priest, and the ultimate corruption of the Temple, were signs of the end times. Thus, they waited in the wilderness for the Messiah to come, ready to join the holy war when that time came.

The first high priest to be appointed under the newly formed Roman province of Iudaea (aka Judea, pronounced Yoo-dee-ah), was Annas in 6 CE. What’s more, Annas was appointed to that position by Quirinius, the Roman legate governor of Syria. You read that right! A Roman aristocrat and politician appointed Annas as the High Priest of Judea. I am sure you can now see why groups like the Essenes “got out of Dodge” and headed for the wilderness hills.

Annas’ was deposed as High Priest in 15 CE at the age of 36. With that said he held great influence of the Sanhedrin (the Jewish Legal Council made up of priests) through his sons who succeeded him in the role of High Priest. First, his son Eleazar succeeded him and was High Priest for one year (16-17 CE). Following Eleazar was Annas’s son-in-law, Caiaphas. He was High Priest from 18-36 CE and was the High Priest who plotted to have Jesus handed over to the Romans to be crucified.

As you can see, there were major politics at play here in the first century. We Christians like to pretend that everything Jesus did was “spiritual” and not “political”; however, this simply was not true. By accusing the High Priest of hypocrisy and corruption, by violently overturning the tables in the Temple, Jesus was intentionally upsetting the political and the religious order simultaneously!

This should challenge us as Christians. We often choose to remain silent on issues because we don’t want to be “political”; however, our silence is just as political as speaking out. In fact, when we don’t speak out we stamp our seal of approval on whatever it is that is going on. We ought not be afraid of upsetting the political or the religious order. If what is going on is wrong, we ought to take a stand against it. Our Lord did no less. We ought to carefully steer away from the status quo, which the High Priests were holding fast to for their political gain and power, and draw close to Jesus who would have us interrupt the silence for the Kingdom of God.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Damning are the politics of silence.

PRAYER
Lord, give me courage to interrupt the silence. For I know you are with me and strengthen me. You are my rock and my redeemer. Amen.

Devotional

God’s People, part 122: Herod

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Read Matthew 2:16-18

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. ‘Get up!’ the angel said. ‘Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.’”  (Matthew 2:19-20)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

hires3Part 122: Herod. What can be said about Herod the Great? Like any human being, Herod’s life weaved in between good and evil. There were many that he did that put Judaea on the map, not just in his time period, but throughout time. Some of those feats were amazing; however, Herod, like many rulers before and after him, was utterly corrupted by power and he let nothing stand in the way of his ambition.

To be balanced, let’s quickly look at some of the “amazing” feats of King Herod. First, he was born in about 74 or 73 CE in Idumea, which is also known as Edom and lies due south of Judaea and Moab (where Ruth was from). Traditionally, the Edomites were NOT Jewish and worshipped gods such as Quas, El, Baal, and Asherah; however, post-Exilic Edom did convert to Judaism and so Herod was raised up as a Jew.

Herod became known as “the Great” not because he was a great guy, but because he had spent his reign undergoing major building campaigns, many of which can be seen (in part or in whole) today. He built fortresses such as Masada and Herodium, developed water supplies for Jerusalem, established new cities such as Caesarea Martima, and erected tombs and monuments such as the Cave of the Patriarchs.    He and Cleopatra had a stronghold over asphalt mining in the dead sea. That was used for ship building. Furthermore, he leased copper mines from the Romans on Cyprus.

With that said, Herod was a despot and a tyrant. He had one of his sons and his wife, along with several other family members, put to death. He had secret police spying on common people to “feel out” whether they were malcontent and a threat to his rule. Protests were prohibited and he had no problem removing people by force.

He put any and all who opposed him to death and he taxed the life our of his Jewish subjects so that he could continue to fund his building campaigns. He showed little respect for the laws of Moses and had a Roman Eagle placed in the Temple in honor of Rome. What’s more, this is the same Herod who is reported in the Gospel of Matthew to have ordered the deaths of tons of first-born children up to 2 years old in order to kill any potential messiahs being born in the city of Bethlehem.

It is under this despotic king that Jesus was born, and it is this king that sent Mary, Joseph and Jesus fleeing into Egypt as refugees. In the end, Herod’s lavish lifestyle and his tyrannical power came crashing to a hault once he died. He was the last person to be sole king of Judaea. From his death onward, the province was under the rule of three tetrarchs who were overseen by the Roman Procurator or Governor. This reality should remind us that as in power as we might think we are, we are powerless apart from God. Let us be challenged by that and join forces with God as opposed to against God.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
We are powerless apart from God.

PRAYER
Lord, you alone are my rock and redeemer, and I trust in the power of your name. Use me in a way that brings hope, healing, and wholeness in this world. Amen.

Podcast

Episode 37 | The Plan: Expansion Project

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https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-hsg8r-9a5797

In this episode, Rev. Todd continues his 5 part series, The Plan, with this fourth installment entitled, “Expansion Project”. This particular episode revisits Abraham from the theological perspective of the Apostle Paul and challenges us, once again, to get with God’s plan.

EPISODE REFERENCES:

Devotional

God’s People, part 121: Rome

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Read Luke 13:1-5

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“This calls for a mind with understanding: The seven heads of the beast represent the seven hills where the woman rules.”  (Revelation 17:9a)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

crucifiedPart 121: Rome. If one dances with the devil, they are bound to get burned. Case in point: Judaea’s ill-fated alliance with Rome. If you recall from the last devotion, the Hasmoneans allied themselves with Rome in order to protect themselves from the oppression of the tyrannical Seleucid Empire. The Jews signed a treaty with Rome that stated that both parties would defend the other should anyone attack them.

Initially, Rome held up to its end of the bargain. The Senate sent the Seleucid a “cease and desist” letter, telling them that their would be severe reprocussions for  attacking and or bringing harm to the Jews. Good deal, right? That is exactly what the Jews were hoping to accomplish in that treaty. The problem is that Rome was on the rise to become the most powerful empire EVER and they were not going to ever give the Judaeans an opportunity to rise to the top.

Eventually, following conquering the Seleucid Empire, it sacked Jerusalem in 63 BCE under the general Pompey. Following Rome’s victory, it declared the Hasmonean prince, Hyrcanus II, as “Ethnarch”. An ethnarch is someone who is placed in charge of an ethnic group. What that means is, instead of being the next Hasmonean king, Hyrcanus became a puppet governor of the Jews, who obviously rebelled against the new regime. Rome also appointed Hyrcanus as the High Priest. One can easily imagine how well that went over.

Julius Caesar later went on to appoint Antipater the Idumaean (aka Antipas) as the first Roman Procurator. Antipater’s son, Herod the Great, was eventually designated as “King of the Jews” by the Roman Senate. It is important to note that Herod was from Edom, and was an Edomite. The Edomited traced their lineagute through Esau and had, by this point in history, converted to Judaism. Thus, Herod was born and raised a Jew, contrary to some myths that are out there.

We’ll talk more about Herod in the next devotion; however, suffice it to say, one can easily see what happened as a result of the Hasmonean alliance with Rome. The Romans became even greater persecutors of the Jews than the Seleucids. While Rome did allow for the Jews to follow their religion and customs, something they learned was necessary to keep the peace, they ruled the Jews with an iron fist.

If any one so much as hinted at insurrection or rebellion, they ended up a part of an artificial forest of crosses that lined the roadways as a reminder to all who passed by of what happens to anyone who challenges Roman rule. The Romans took cruelty to an all-time low and had no problem eliminating anyone they felt was a threat to the Roman way.

The challenge for us is to see that when we sell out to save ourselves, we end up losing so much more than we could ever anticiapte. Human hindsight is always 20/20; however, our foresight is often clouded by fear and doubt, both of which lead to poor decision making. The challenge for us is to stop selling our souls for security and safety. We must place our complete faith and trust in God and not put other things, other ways, before Jesus Christ who IS THE WAY.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
The devil always gets more than what one believes is being sold.

PRAYER
Lord, steer me clear of the wiles of the devil. If it requires selling out, it must not be of You, for you’ve already purchased me as I am through your Son Jesus Christ. In him I trust. Amen.

Devotional

God’s People, part 120: Hasmoneans

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Read 1 Maccabees 8

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”  (1 Peter 5:8 NLT)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

judah-maccabee-leading-troops-to-warPart 120: Hasmoneans. Hello time travelers! Welcome to the first century CE (Common Era…aka A.D.), the world in which Jesus and the disciples lived and did ministry. Before we can truly understand the New Testament world, it is important for us to have some of the context. The next several devotions will hopefully provide some of the historical contexts that illuminate the world in which Jesus and his disciples lived.

Following the return from exile, the Persians continued to have a hold on Israel until the Greeks, under the reign of Alexander the Great, conquered the Persians. Over the period of thirteen years, Alexander went from being the King of Macedonia to uniting the Greek city-states into one kingdom and conquering the known world between Greece and India. Yes, you read that right. His empire expanded to India.

Once Alexander died, his death is somewhat of a controversial mystery, his unified empire split up into opposing factions led by commanders and officials. One of those commanders was Seleucus (pronounced sel-oo-kos), an infantry general in Alexander’s army. He went on to form and rule the Seleucid Empire, which was made up of Persia, Judea, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and what are now Cyprus, Israel/Judea, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Turkey, Kuwait and parts of Pakistan and Turkmenistan.

Under the Seleucid Empire, particularly during the rule of Antiochus IV, the Jews suffered terrible oppression. The Temple was defiled by Antiochus who put statues of Greek gods in it to be worshipped and the practice of Judaism was outlawed. This was a part of a campaign to further Hellenize the Jews (e.g. to make them more Greek-like). There were “progressive” Jews that sided with Hellenization and thought that Judea needed to get more with the times. These Jews had much to gain from Greek culture. Others, who were much more conservative or “traditionalist”, rejected the push for Hellenization.

When Antiochus IV persecuted and the Jews and banned their religious practices, the Mattathias and his sons killed a Hellenized Jew who was about to make a sacrifice to an idol. A year later, his son Judah Maccabee led an army of Jewish insurgents in an uprising against the Seleucid occupiers. The ensuing revolt and/or war lasted seven years. Though Judah was killed, the Jews under the leadership of two of Judah’s brothes, were able to win independence.

With that said, the way they won independence was through a “deal with the devil” so to speak. They ended up signing a treaty and a (sort of) alliance with Rome, where Rome would attack anyone who waged an attack on Judea. This alliance allowed them their independence and the Maccabees went on to become the rulers of what became known as the Hasmonean Dynasty. While this alliance worked in their favor to begin with, eventually that same “ally” would conquer them and put Judea through an oppression it had never endured before. In fact, the effects of that oppression is still felt by Jews around the world today.

This ought to challenge us. In what ways do we bargain and deal with the devil in order to achieve an immediate victory? I ask this question both to individuals reading this as well as to the church collectively. In what ways do we sell a bit of ourselves here and a bit of ourselves there in order to have status, security, power, authority, influence and prosperity?

We all should be honestly reflective on this and also weigh the potential consquences that are mounting up against us as a result of such bargaining. Such reflection will hopefully bring us, individually and collectively, to repentance and back toward faithfulness to God. I pray that we all take this seriously and cut our ties with the devil.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
The devil is always in the details, often times in the smallest print.

PRAYER
Lord, you know the right course for my life. I place my trust in you, and you alone, to guide me toward righteousness. Amen.

Podcast

Episode 36 | The Plan: Inclusion Appeal

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https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-erc79-99bb2d

In this episode, Rev. Todd continues his 5 part series, The Plan, with this third installment entitled, “Inclusion Appeal”. This particular episode explores the character, Ruth, and how she connects to God’s overarching plan of salvation.

EPISODE REFERENCES:

Devotional

God’s People, part 119: The Silent Years

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Read 1 Maccabees

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“When Mattathias saw it, he burned with zeal and his heart was stirred. He gave vent to righteous anger; he ran and killed him on the altar.”  (1 Maccabees 2:24 NRSV)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

Supermassive_black_holePart 119: The Silent Years. And like that we have reached the end of the Old Testament. Having journeyed from Creation in Genesis to the final prophet Malachi, we have gotten to see the people God claimed as his own and how they did, and often times did not, live up to God’s call to faithfulness. The reality is that each of the people we have learned about were just that people. They were mortal, fallible, sinful, and sometimes they did downright evil things.

What’s more, they were no greater than you or I. They were not the ones who did great things, any more than you or I could do the great things that they are seen in Scripture as having done. Rather, it was the power of the Holy Spirit within them that did great things in, through, and often times in spite of those people. The truth be told, the Holy Spirit can do those great things, and even greater things, through us if we open our hearts to God.

In between the books of Malachi (in the Old Testament) and Matthew (in the New Testament) is a time period known as “the Silent Years” because the Bible is silent on what happened in those periods. Well, the Bible was not really silent at all, rather it was silenced. Many books were written during this time period and those have become known as the “apocrypha”. These are the books that Rev. Martin Luther mistakenly believed the Roman Catholic Church was responsible for placing them in the Bible to begin with.

While there is a whole history behind the compiling of the Bible, and I do not have time to go into it here, the books of the Apocrypha (a word that originally referred to esoteric writings meant to be kept a secret but has since come to mean writings that are questionable) were books were originally among the scrolls considered to be Scripture. They were included in the first Hebrew Bible compilation known as the Septuagint; however, because that first compilation was in Greek and there were some translation disputes between the Greek translation and the original Hebrew, the apocryphal texts ended up getting removed by Jewish scribes looking to compile a Bible in Hebrew.

Regardless, much happened between Malachi and Matthew. The Greeks ended up defeating the Persians and, with Alexander the Great leading them, conquered the known world. Those Greek rulers, over time, ended up becoming tyrannical and defiled the Second Temple. This led to a revolt by Judah Maccabee and his brothers. The Maccabees, upon kicking out the Greeks, established the Hasmonean Dynasty, which lasted only a short while before the Romans came in, conquered them, and put in place a puppet king known as Herod the Great.

There’s more, where that came from too. The point is that though there is nothing between the books of Malachi and Matthew, there were people who lived, who suffered under the oppressive reigns of multiple tyrannical empires and/or dynasties, and who were hoping that the LORD would once and for all deliver them from outside rulers.

We, of course, never truly have silent years either. Even when we appear to be silent, we are often struggling in the silence. We are being oppressed by our fears, our failures, other people, our governments, our hatred, our bitterness, and plenty of other things. We, too, are longing for the day when the LORD will send the Messiah to us, to liberate us from the chains of bondage. The challenge for us, as it was for the people in those not-so-silent years, is to be willing to embrace the truth of the One who comes to deliver us and to follow him, forsaking all other things but Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  – St. Paul (Philippians 2:9-11)

PRAYER
Lord, draw me close to you so that I may never wander and always praise you with both my lips and my heart. Amen.

Devotional

God’s People, part 118: Malachi

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Read Malachi 2:1-16

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“I have always loved you,” says the LORD. But you retort, “Really? How have you loved us?” And the LORD replies, “This is how I showed my love for you: I loved your ancestor Jacob,” (Malachi 1:2)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

Prophet-MalachiPart 118: Malachi. It is hard to believe but we have arrived at the final prophet in the Old Testament. We know very little about Malachi, as is the case of most of the minor prophets. For instance, scholars are not really sure who wrote the book attributed to Malachi, or if Malachi was the prophet’s name or a sort of alias for someone else.

Most scholars recognize that whoever wrote the book of Malachi, it was written by a prophet who was living during the time of the Persian Restoration period following the return from exile. The text seems to be consistent with the time period following the rebuilding and rededication of the second Temple, and the rebuilding of the wall. In fact, it seems that it may have been written around the time of, or shortly after, Nehemiah’s second return from Persia to Jerusalem (See the devotion on Nehemiah to refresh your memory on him).

Malachi’s prophetic book focuses on the lackadaisical religious and social behavior of the Israelites, especially the priests, in Jerusalem following the return from the exile. For instance, Malachi calls the priests out for making less than desirable sacrifices, as if performing their priestly duties is a chore or a bother for them. Evidently the priests were sacrificing any old animal rather than making sure the animal was without any blemish. In fact, they were sacrificing lame and sick animals. When you think of it, sacrificing a lame or sick animal, which will most likely die anyway, is not much of a sacrifice. If the priesthood cannot lead faithfully, how can the people they lead grow in their faith?

Another issue raised by Malachi was the issue of divorce. Malachi saw this both as a religious and a social issue. In fact, the two really could not be separated. The Israelite men were evidently divorcing their wives (of which the priests were allowing) in order to marry foreign women. Socially, divorcing one’s wife brings shame upon her and her family. Often times, divorced women were shunned by their families and left to fend for themselves in a man’s world. This, often times, led women destitute and prostitution was often the only means available for survival.

The religious end of this is that the men were then marrying women who worshipped a foreign god. Thus, they were not only being unfaithful to their Jewish wives, but they were being unfaithful to their God as well. In fact, divorcing their wives for such a ridiculous reason is not being faithful to God either.

What Malachi shows us, as God’s people, is that it is not hard for us to fall into laziness, complacency and unfaithfulness. Whether we are leaders, or we are laity, we all have the tendency to fall away and to lead others to plummet with us. The challenge for us is to remain loyal (aka faithful) to God and to Jesus Christ. In order to do that we must maintain our spiritual disciplines such as reading and studying scripture, attending worship, participating in the Sacramental life of the Church, serving, praying, giving and witnessing to others. Those things keep us in connection to, and knowledgeable of, our Lord God. May you ever grow in your love of God and your desire to seek God out through daily spiritual discipline.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Those who do not see the mandate to be socially just, and to seek out social justice, in the Bible are simply not reading the Bible.

PRAYER
Lord, make me a vessel of your love, your peace, your hope, and your justice. Amen.

Podcast

Episode 35 | The Plan: A Large Number

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https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-43jvd-99395b

In this episode, Rev. Todd discusses the Exodus from slavery in Egypt and how that connects God’s ultimate plan of salvation for the world. Also discussed is our part in that plan.

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