Saturday, May 31, 2008

Famous Last Words

While home, I was able to engage in a personal study of “Famous Last Words” as I like to call it. I studied over the texts of Deuteronomy 29-33 (34), Matthew 28:16-20, Mark 16:9-20, Luke 24:13-53 & Acts 1:1-11, John 20:11-21:25, and gave a cursory glance to II Timothy, having followed much of a II Timothy sermon series back home. I wanted to learn from the examples of Moses, Jesus, and Paul principles of exiting ministry through what has been recorded in Scripture. While we can find all sorts of examples in history, which should not be disregarded, my personal preference is to begin with the Biblical texts and move out from there.

What I found in this study does not amount to a perfectly strung together prescriptive for leaving a place of ministry. Rather each text offers contextualized principles that we can today study and use as our contexts allow and need. If it is disconcerting to you that the Synoptic Gospels record for the most part similar material but some leave out (Mark) details others find necessary to gather (Luke), it will be important to realize two points. 1) Each book is written with a specific literary emphasis and their content aligns thus. 2) Common themes run throughout these Gospels, as we will find in this study—that of “doubt” or “disbelief.” So, while each ending of these books is not perfectly matched to the other, we can see now that even in their being written apart from one another, God then was crafting a most brilliant handbook (among other uses) for us today.

I would like to add this caveat—I am not a Biblical scholar nor am I an Old or New Testament historian, so my study and cultural understanding of the texts will be limited at best. If you want to go further with this study, I suggest grabbing a good commentary. However, the beauty of Scripture study as understood through a key Reformation point is that I a commoner may have access to reading and study of the Bible just as much as the most learned person, believing the Holy Spirit is at work to reveal truth as I go.

With all that then, here we go:

Deuteronomy 29-33 (34)—Trusting in the Passing

I want to spend most of the time looking at chapters 32-33, but a few things happen beforehand which are necessary to mention. One, God used Moses as his instrument to renew his covenant with the nation of Israel and all others gathered into their midst. Secondly, Moses knew his days on earth were numbered and so took the opportunity to name publicly his successor Joshua. He also reminded the people that while Joshua would be their leader, God would be going with them. We seem to always need both, do we not—a physical leader but a pointer that it is God in which all things hang together? Thirdly, Moses establishes a law for the express purpose of it teaching the generations to come to “hear and learn to fear the Lord.” At the end of his life, Moses does not take lightly nor easily forget the many times the people of Israel have turned their backs on God, and so takes the preemptive measure to establish a code, a system for bringing them to remembrance. And lastly, Moses, Joshua, and Yahweh took specific set aside time as three alone for Joshua’s commissioning. Despite what is to come with entering their promised land and despite how the Israelites will turn from God, Joshua holds as personal testimony that God will be going with him as he takes the leadership reigns.

Now that we have considered what comes before, let us look at chapters 32 and 33. Chapter 32 records Moses’ next to last words for Israel—a song. As I read, I saw that this song sees the works and person of God through the lens of his presence in the midst of his people. It is both warning and a reminding to the Israelites, but most definitively it is a naming of who God has been in their midst. Moses does not sing his own praises but rather the nearness of his God. Moses’ identity is not his own but is inextricably linked to a people who serve a particular God. He is not some wild individual wandering loose in the hot deserts but is a servant of God to a specific people. We cannot understand Moses as a leader without understanding who he was in the midst of the nation of Israel.

When we arrive at chapter 33, Moses no longer thinks his end is near but knows with certainty his life will end soon. He also understands this as a result of a lack of faith in the wilderness and will not enter into the land to which he has lead Israel, a hard way to go out if there ever was one. It seems that Moses does not fight but accepts and faithfully completes the work at hand. This faithfulness warrants that he bless the tribes of Israel. I do not have the knowledge to work specifically through the each blessing of chapter 33, but we can see this pattern:

1) Moses reminds them of whom God was as Israel initially gathered.
2) He gives specific blessings and prayers for each tribe.
3) He reminds Israel of who God is and remains because of what God did.
4) He continues to establish Israel’s identity in the person and work of Yahweh God.

What principles do we gain throughout this text and Moses’ example, which have not already been mentioned? We see that Moses is able to see the Promised Land, but dies having to trust God’s faithfulness to take the Israelites into it. Applied this means we are at times able to look into the good that is coming but must leave positions of ministry or leadership having our faith established in God’s ability to accomplish what he purposes, not our own. This is the ultimate test of leadership for Moses and for us—can we trust? Have we come to know and understand a God who is faithful? We also see in 34:7 that after 120 years of life and leadership, his eyes were undimmed and his vigor unabated (ESV translation). How are we leaving a ministry position? Are we dimmed with lessened vigor or are leaving as alive as we entered? Depending on our state, this may require we reevaluate how we engaged ministry and what was or became our source so that we leave as full as we came.

There is so much more to consider within this text—historically, culturally, theologically. I have only attempted a brush at the surface. But I hope we can look to Moses as a model of healthy closing leadership and ministry. He had his moments of faltering (don’t we all?!) during his years of being Israel’s leader, and in fact one of these provides the reason he dies this side of the promise. Nonetheless, as we read the text, we encounter much learned wisdom and gain practical principles for how we too can exit ministry roles and leadership positions.

Primary Principle—We are to trust God to fulfill his promises even if we don’t see them fulfilled.

Questions to Consider—Where are we placing our trust in our position of ministry? How have we/are we ordering ourselves in the work of ministering the Gospel and/or leading? What is our place and what is God’s? How do we need to be challenged to trust?

The Synoptic Gospels
While I pointedly handled issues of transferring leadership and ministry transition with Moses, with the following texts I simply want to consider their records and lift out principles for ministry transitions we find in the interactions between Jesus and the disciples. I do not necessarily name any of them as specific “what to do’s” when exiting ministry roles but rather consider these interactions key for our both sympathizing with and learning from how Jesus left a place he learned to call home for 33 years. As I read and studied, I was asking—what can I learn from Jesus’ words here and what can I learn from the disciples’ responses, presence, and records?

Matthew 28:16-20—Obedience Despite Doubt

This text includes the oft-quoted “Great Commission” yet it is also the text which, for me, leaves the most to be questioned and filled in. Wonderfully ordered, Mark and Luke follow Matthew spelling out in more detail how exactly the presence of doubt among the disciples was responded to by Jesus. However, to consider this text alone, I find the following two principles to be at work:

1) Doubt initially has a place. The eleven left were not all convinced either of Jesus’ resurrection or of Jesus’ appearing himself. And while we may read in other texts that Jesus responds to this, for Matthew’s record, we do not, which bears out significantly for both ministers of the Gospel and our understanding of Gospel. Does this passage indicate that we must have all of our questions resolved to be of use? Is there no room for doubt in the ministry of the Gospel? I believe the other passages will support the following—Jesus’ rebuke of their doubt does not discount its presence. In fact, it is in stages and according to very specific ministerial purposes that reasons for this doubt are alleviated. Matthew does not allow doubt to win out over belief and obedience, but he allows the reader to recognize it as a part of the minister’s process of spiritual growth and understanding. As a principle, the disciples are thus equipped to respond to doubt and false teaching among members of the Early Church, as many of the epistles will further recount.

2) The disciples were obedient. In verse 16 we read that they had gone to meet Jesus at a mountain “to which Jesus had directed them.” We are not told in Matthew when exactly after Jesus’ resurrection he gave them these orders, but we know they followed them. This then sets the ground for what Jesus will next tell them to do—“go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” Between their following Jesus around during his ministry and this moment, the disciples hit a few bumps in the road—disowning, disbelieving, distancing. Their meeting him on the mountain reestablished their willingness to be obedient, despite the presence of doubt. Jesus knew through their following a simple command that he could commission them and entrust them with this larger work of going out into the world in his name.

Questions to Consider—If doubt has its place, what space are we giving it? Does it take over and paralyze or does it push us to search Scripture, prayer, the record of history, and the person of God for answers? Is how we are responding to Jesus today indicative of how we will respond when he calls next time? How or how not and what needs to change?

Mark 16:9-20—Who to Believe and Why?

Mark’s short text begins to fill out for us what Jesus did with the disbelief. In three places the disciples’ disbelief is recorded, quite the punch-packer for such a brief record. I believe we will find in the text a reason for this unbelief, as well as a response established through the words of Jesus. First, briefly, let us consider how Jesus succinctly handled his disciples’ doubt of his resurrection. “Stop it,” in a word, was his rebuke. Appearing before them and at close proximity, he was able clearly in his true bodily form to respond to their doubt. He offered no other proof than himself. But, we may be presented with doubts in ministry—of others or our own—and if we cannot conjure up a touchable Jesus, how do we so powerfully respond? Our answer is in the text!

In verse 11, the disciples would not believe Mary Magdalene. In verse 13, some would not believe two witnesses. In verse 14, we read they were rebuked because “they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.” As the adage goes, the proof is in the pudding. What do I mean? Was Mary not trustworthy? Were the other two regular liars? No. They were simply not Jesus. In response to Jesus’ physical presence they all believed. However, as we read on, Jesus ascended to heaven…but not before both commissioning them and teaching them that signs would accompany their belief and their ministry. In verse 20 we read that the Lord “confirmed the message” by signs. While Jesus stated specific signs, I have no desire to walk into the muddy argumentative waters of charismatic versus non-charismatic understanding, nor other understandings, of accompanying signs. The overarching principle is this—While Jesus may not be physically present, doubt of Jesus encountered in ministry may be alleviated by signs in and through Christians which will confirm the message, namely Jesus’ life and death, being shared or preached. We cannot expect on any terms Biblically to accomplish sharing the Gospel if life-giving signs are not complimenting a spoken message. If we learn anything from this text, it is to be reminded that words from us, the fallen Mary’s and other disciples of this world, can only convince others so far of Jesus’ life. If our words bear no accompanying signs, they fall empty and ineffective on hardened ground with good and Biblically grounded reason.

Primary Principle—Signs accompany belief in Jesus Christ and it is through these we may offer reason for his truth and invite others to believe.

Questions to Consider—How is our belief identified—do others know we are a disciple of Jesus by our love, our accompanying works, miraculous signs and wonders? If we told someone about Jesus tomorrow, would they have reason to believe us? Why or why not? (Note: The question is not will they but would they have reason—a significant distinction between what we can do and what the Spirit accomplishes.)

Luke 24:13-53/Acts 1:1-11—To Everything a Season and Reason

I love when a doctor writes a book. It’s detailed. It’s clear. It fills in the picture. Between these two texts, we are given the most information concerning Jesus’ final moments in earthly ministry. Thank you Luke.

These texts communicate more to us concerning the stages of disbelief and doubt along with God’s lifting of those veils. Let us consider first the verses which explain to us why disbelief among disciples occurred—veiling. This passage records the famous “road to Emmaus” scenario in which Jesus walked with two unidentified disciples along the road between Jerusalem and Emmaus. We see that even in verses 25-27 as Jesus spoke all the prophetic knowledge recorded concerning himself, they could not see that he himself was the prophecies’ fulfillment. It was not until an intimate moment breaking bread together that “their eyes were opened, and they recognized him” Yet by their recorded words, something had occurred in them as Jesus spoke on the road that confirmed his presence being revealed at the table. They did not come to see Jesus as himself even while “their hearts burned,” and we can assume that this was for a reason left unrecorded. A side note I would like to add here is this—Isn’t it interesting that the way in which Jesus spent his final hours with his disciples was the same way in which he chose to reveal himself after his resurrection—while breaking bread at a table? (Makes the French consideration of mealtime as holy seem not quite so far off, huh?)

Later as Jesus appeared to all eleven, we read that he “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” We can then assume that although he was re-teaching all that he spoke before his death, his words had not been fully received and understand, and thus applied. It is only now, after his resurrection, that the full import of his teachings make complete sense and mean something which spurs onto action those whom he gathered to be his witnesses.

How do these stages of unveiling square with the whole of this passage? In Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:4-5; 8 we come to see that the disciples are not released to fulfill his commandments until the final preparation of the Holy Spirit being poured out on them is accomplished. We also see in Acts 1:7 further veiling of God’s timing occurs concerning the establishment of his Kingdom. Why? Ministers of the Gospel are allowed into knowledge and ministering ability according to what God knows, not what we can see. Their eyes’ being veiled, Jesus’ asking them to remain in the city, and his Kingdom’s coming all indicate stages by which they are prepared for ministry. We cannot fully understand the specific reasoning behind each, as the text does not provide them nor are we at liberty to pull them from elsewhere. But the overarching truth remains that God knows how his disciples need to be equipped for the moment of ministry and when. Many times as the unveiling is occurring, we are not even able to name it as such but know that something has occurred by which we are further equipped to be disciples of the Gospel. The question then remains for us, are we sensitive to the Spirit’s work or are we trying to push through ministry formation barriers that are not allowed to come down yet? As ministers, too, are we sensitive to the Spirit’s leading as to how he would have us pull down veils for others or are we moving at our pace, be it fast or slow, impatient or fearful?

In closing out these texts, I want to draw our attention to a small piece but one that nonetheless correlates with our earlier passages in Deuteronomy. According to Luke 24:50, as Jesus left his disciples he blessed them. Luke may not give it much space here, but nonetheless we have in Scripture that Jesus did not only leave his disciples commanded and equipped. He left them with a word of blessing, meaning that their work on his behalf would be cared for by the very hands of God. If that is not a meaningful way in which to commission those to follow, I’m not sure what is.

Primary Principle—Only God can lift veils but we may participate in stages of the revealing of Jesus. This unveiling also syncs into God’s preparation of Gospel ministers in stages as well. All understanding and wisdom is not nor can be given at once but according to our present ministry need and purpose.

Questions to Consider—Can we look back and recognize stages of unveiling and spiritual development which equipped us for a present moment of ministry? Write them out and chart them. What veils are we participating in taking down and which ones are left to God to continue without us?

II Timothy

Having listened to an incredibly excellent sermon series from my pastor at Fellowship Bible Waco, I feel I can add no more than what I have already been taught about this passage. While I recommend the entire series, his teaching on II Timothy 4:6-22 is particularly pointed when considering the “last words” of a minister to a disciple. This sermon is what started my inquiry into “famous last words,” and so to my pastor, Paul, and Timothy this study is indebted.

Sources for Study
If you’re interested in more studies in any of these passages, I recommend the following easy-to-use study aids. Unfortunately I don’t have commentaries at my disposal to recommend but as soon as I acquire some, this study will be beefed up with their aid!

Ryken’s Bible Handbook; Ryken, Ryken, and Wilhoit
How to Read the Bible for All its Worth; Fee and Stuart
What the Bible is All About; Henrietta Mears

Note: But she left out John! No, he’s coming later because I love John so much he gets his own entry. Look forward to that some time this week.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

It's Good to Be Back

After a little over two week stint in the states, mainly in Oklahoma with a run to Denver for a wedding and down to Texas to fly out, I'm back in Compiegne for the final leg. And how wonderful it is!

Me, Lauren, our cousin Casey relaxing after her art show


Even at 23 and 25, we still pull off "adorable" (in my opinion).


An impromptu run over to see Mamaw in Tyler, TX before I flew out of DFW.


Wednesday night the McAuleys graciously allowed me to organize a round table on Muslim worldview and evangelistic conversation points with students in their home. Nari, Armel, and Clement (responsables and future responsable) came for a two hour plus dinner and learning time with two workers from the Paris area. This was an exciting evening to organize and we were truly blessed by our time together and further equipped for our increasing opportunities to engage Muslim students in dialogue concerning their faith and Christianity. For most in the Muslim tradition, questioning and understanding their faith is either unacceptable or not thought of to do, a major point which Christians can engage not by antagonizing but by simply asking them questions of their faith. This can begin them on their own asking and seeking journey, one which we may pray brings them to see Jesus as more than prophet.

Me, Nari, Armel, our two guests, and Clement after our dinner round table


It was wonderful seeing three of the students and Nari had exciting news--she has been accepted for a humanitarian project in Laos using her degree in food engineering and design. She will be helping design nutritional programs for underfed children with limited resources. Is that not cool?! I jumped and got all giddy when she told me. :)

This morning at L'Arche, while meeting with Valerie before group de decoration, I was corralled into the kitchen and presented with a croissant as my welcome back. As I often arrive on Thursdays with a croissant in hand for my meeting with Valerie, Benedicte was convinced this would be a sure winner. And lest you be fooled--the way to my heart is by food. No wonder me and the French get along so well. As I laughed and savored, they peppered me with questions about my time home and I heard of Martine and Valerie's trip to London. Group deco was two short, as Gerard broke his finger and Sabine is still in the hospital. I have particularly enjoyed working with Gerard to help him discover gifts within--namely his artistic ability only recently realized--and look forward to his return. Tomorrow we celebrate 4 birthdays and I am excited to be back for them!

My time home put these next 5 weeks into a perspective that I can't quite describe other than to say I have great peace and joy and am not overwhelmed with the sadness I thought imminent. This must be God. I've been doing some reading and reflecting on Scripture, which has been a great aid, and I will hope to post those notes soon. Lunches abound with students already, weekends between now and when I leave are full, and life and ministry rolls along. Next Tuesday night some students and I head down to Paris for Passion: Paris and the last JAO of the year is scheduled for June 7th. Please continue to lift us up here.

Here are two French song links to check out. I pretty much LOVE Garou's voice and if the arrangement of Belle doesn't make you weep, something is severely wrong.

Belle
Sous le Vent

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

GEM Day of Prayer for Europe

I invite you to join Greater Europe Mission tomorrow (May 20th) in lifting up the beautiful peoples of Europe before the gracious thrown of God. Please see the following website for country guides, daily devotionals, and resources for prayer.


In praying, I encourage you to also dwell on the text of 2 Peter, which is a heavy and hard read but nonetheless provides significant points of intercession as we dwell on God's desires for the nations of this world. In juxtaposition to its hard-hitting writings concerning God's judgment, I find the following to be both of ministerial and personal comfort--informing our sense of time, reminding us of God's final desire, spurring us on to love and good deeds, and shaping the ways in which we learn to love and serve according to God's wills and the prayers of the people.

But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. --2 Peter 3:7-9

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Waiting and Way

This is a post I wrote for Advent season. As you await a real France ministry update, I thought it appropriate. Long story short--GBU Congres National, GEM Muslim and immigrant training in Berlin, pointed discipleship encounters with GBU women, planning for last month in France, I'm in Oklahoma now for my sister's AMAZING art show and college graduation. I promise, a real update by the end of the week. Until then...

If there is one theme that keeps resurfacing in ministry and personal contexts it is this—waiting. What an apt season we have entered into as well as such discussions arise, Advent. It is the season of looking for Christ, the tones of which I hear reflected in each conversation—faithful weariness, excited anticipation, confused frustration, unsure steps, darkened ways. Catholics, as I have sadly only learned in France, do not place Jesus in the manger scene until Christmas day. It keeps us coming back, doesn’t it, a tangible reminder that he is yet to come, that some of his promises and yes, even some of his presence is yet to be given us?

But we are not cultivated to respond well. Our “total satisfaction or money back guarantee” culture tells us to look only once and if Jesus or whatever we are waiting on hasn’t shown, we should go look elsewhere for it. We do not need to learn how to wait for that which we know is coming (faithfulness), we do not need to learn how to keep coming back (perseverance), we do not need to learn how to at times live in tension, with great hope, with unmet anticipation (patience). All we know to do, current culture models, is to not spend our time waiting, because it really is a bother after all, and to get filled up elsewhere. Our time and days are too precious to waste in anticipation, to spend in waiting, we think. And so we leave the Nativity even though it’s not yet Christmas Day, and we go in search for something or someone else, which we are sure, we convince ourselves, will satiate just as well.

Except that this isn’t a very Biblical response to waiting, is it? As I recently wrote, I’ve wanted to study and to spend some time in reflection on why it is that we wait, for what it is that we wait, how are we to wait? I do not have the capacity to have found answers for all of these nor have I had the time to thoroughly seek out complete answers in what I have found. Yet, I have found this pattern and this truth.

God is a God of the waiting. The sea awaited its inhabitants. Adam awaited his equal partner. Abraham and Sarah awaited a son. Noah waited for the storm to clear. Joseph waited for the right time to reveal his identity to his brothers. The Israelites awaited their release from captivity…multiple times. Hannah awaited Samuel. David waited for the throne. The Jews awaited their Messiah. Mary Magdalene waited for Jesus. Thomas waited to see his hands. Paul waited to be rejoined with those he loved and had to leave often. And we are at once participating in and waiting upon the Kingdom of God.

But Yahweh God is always God of fulfilled promises, who makes a return on his word after he has asked others to wait, apart from a time schedule most of these characters and us would choose. One further point also needs to be made. Waiting reveals to persons on earth a profound aspect of God’s character—patience. While we may be very excited to run around in our great hurries, he is in no rush.

What does this mean for how I minister here and for how in general we who call ourselves Christians are to live? For ministry, it means I encourage women truly seeking--to know God’s heart, to live rightly, to believe, to have answers to their questions--to keep pressing in. It means I give them specific Scriptures or examples I have found that can personally encourage them. It means I walk prayerfully into each conversation, into each encounter, listening well to better understand for what it is they wait and seek, what are the roots. It means I trust the Holy Spirit to be constantly at work to be in the business of fulfilling God’s promises to these women. It means I personally trust and lay aside my wrestlings for the sake of modeling what it means to rest in a season of unrest (because if there is one thing that caring for souls entails, it is unrest), not mindlessly but carefully and out of deep faith. It means together we seek the coming Jesus, for indeed he is coming.

As Christians it means we embrace waiting rather than run from it. It means we rest next to the manger, through the cold nights, the long days, and keep peering over the edge for a glimpse at perhaps the Arrived One. It means that we wait with all the other stragglers and harried companions who know deep down we were “designed to be dissatisfied” until at last we may look on the holy face of the Holy One. It means we embrace the tension and frustration of the “now but not yet” and press into the long moments that leave us weary but at the end of which are great riches we cannot even fathom.

Do we really want to be instantly satisfied? Maybe, on our rough days, on our honest days too, we want instant—oatmeal, satisfaction, relationships, experiences, knowledge, direction…or money back. But we are told to wait, to trust, to press on in faithfulness. I of all am a most skeptical disciple of the Nativity and the Cross. Some days I question God’s faithfulness in return and I really wonder, are you going to show up? Are you going to do a work? Is your Son really coming?

Mary and Joseph are traveling. The shepherds are tending their sheep. The angels are readying their robes and horns. King Herod is pacing the throne room. And somewhere in this great expanse of universe our Great Love is readying himself for us. May we learn not only to seek him but to await him.