Went to the Job Centre today for the most pointless half hour ever. Even though I have a job starting tomorrow I had to listen to how to find a job... Confusing stuff. But hey ho. Onto business then,
Today’s readings
Exodus 37:1-38:31
Mark 8:14-9:1
Proverbs 6:1-11
Gosh I love Mike P. I read today's Exodus and was just lost for things to type about that I hadn't already said... And so I looked to the Soul Survivor vlog for inspiration and... well it's funny stuff and I'd recommend you give it a watch. But they do make a good point which is the only thing I picked out too. The end of chapter 38 lists just how much money, time and labour the Israelites invested in making sure that God was honoured and present with them. That's some impressive prioritising and I think it's clear that we need to make sure we're giving God all our efforts and all our talents rather than hiding away for fear of failure or selfish worry.
Into the New Testament we scurry and we start with Jesus making a point about the two feeding miracles. Verse 21 has Him asking "Do you still not get it?" So what is there to get? I think that the disciples are not just missing that Jesus can provide for them. Although a point on that, I wonder if they're being stupid or if they're actually a bit embarrassed about constantly asking Jesus for help and to intervene. I know I can get like that sometimes and worry about asking God to help me with everything in case He gets angry. Well Jesus is saying here first that He is always going to want to help us and hear our complaints, especially when the alternative is us fighting amongst ourselves and not futhering His Kingdom. I also think He's making a point similar to yesterday as to how Jesus will take what we give Him, even if it's just a pure and true faith, and multiply it in ways we can't imagine.
And there's another meaning here. He's a clever chap that Jesus! Jesus initially talks about the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod. Now yeast is actually a mould which can be pretty nasty in a lot of situations. And that's Jesus' warning. He's wanting us to be wary of words and beliefs that successful or authoritative people use or have because when we start thinking that success means that they must have the truth, we start missing Jesus' truth. Let's not forget that He was a labourer who left His business to wander from town to town and then died a convicted criminal. We're not meant to look at people who have done amazingly for themselves as being Christ like purely for that reason and we have to be careful just what value and trust we put in people who appear to have it together. It's ok to listen to people like our parents, our teachers, our bosses (even our celebrity wise folk like Oprah and Jeremy Kyle can sometimes have wisdom) but we need to remember that the ultimate wisdom has to come from Jesus and has to fit with His ethic of loving everyone regardless of anything.
The miracle that follows is an interesting one and I feel a bit naughty that I'm cribbing so much from the Soul Survivor guys today but they've put together a really good video. Jesus' healings come so often in Mark it's easy to gloss over them as quickly as we would the dimensions of the table in Exodus! But let's not forget that this is a real example of Jesus have a direct impact in a person's life. Someone, no different from us, being led out away from the crowds, Jesus holding his hand, and healed through a means that made sense to the people there. I've said before how much I love when there are examples of Jesus being fully God and fully man. Now if Jesus had pulled out a big laser and done laser surgery to fix the guys eyes then people would have been screaming like the cavemen in Bill and Ted. But instead He works within their understanding and it's important to remember that Jesus doesn't want to be this mysterious figure all the time. Certainly there will always be a mystery about Him because we can't comprehend the holy until we're in Heaven, but when Jesus needs to have an impact in our lives and make a change then He will come to us on terms and in ways that we can understand.
Jesus then talks about who people think He is and Peter realises the truth. Now I find it interesting the Message's translation of how the disciples react to Jesus' prophecy about His own death and resurrection. They waver wondering what to believe. Interesting. Is that because they don't believe Jesus will die or because they don't believe He will rise again... I can imagine these young men who are so full of verve and passion for Jesus and His message suddenly being shell shocked by the news that it will all end much sooner than they realised. All the Old Testament prophets tended to live a long time and leave ministries that their followers could continue but here's Jesus saying He's going to leave and not only that but that His disciples will also have to be willing to suffer for their belief in Him. This is scary stuff to hear and it's understandable that they'd be shaken but Jesus calls us to a ministry that's risky and hard. Check the end though. Through all the trials, we will see the Kingdom of God one way or another.
Finally we get some Proverbs and there's one simple message here that challenges me quite a lot! Don't sit around and be lazy. Act for change! I find being lazy WAY too easy and appealing and it's tough to remember that Jesus calls us to serve, not just to be saved. With a new job starting tomorrow my whole life is going to change purely because I'm not going to have the same amount of time to watch YouTube, do this, play PS3, clean the house and all the other stuff I do to pass the time. But I'm already prioritising like we read at the start. I will keep this blog going. I will keep seeking God's plan for my life and I will keep trying new and different youth work experiences so that I can share the amazing news of eternal life and love and justice while we're here on earth in exactly the way God wants me to.
And that's your lot for today. The shortest Old Testament recap ever followed by a big ol' New Testament chunk and all sorts of different themes. Yesterday's song is here. Questions, criticisms and comments welcome as always,
Jon
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