Scriptures for the 12th Sunday after Pentecost
Genesis 32:22-31, Psalm 17:1-7, 15, Romans 9:1-5, Matthew 14:13-21
Recently my dad gave me a one page article from Christianity Today where the writer was comparing the warnings he heard from a famous Russian dissident in a lecture at Harvard to the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah. As I read, I began to think about how all of the Old Testament prophets had underlying complaints against Israel or Judah that were tied to their warnings of judgment. When you read these prophets, it is like listening to prosecuting attorneys build God's case against the people. So I decided to go back and survey the book of Jeremiah to see what the main complaint was. It was unfaithfulness of worship, otherwise known as idolatry. Since the commentator in Christianity Today was taking a particular political spin, I began to think about how our political agendas can become a form of idolatry. I sat down and in between chores on my day off began to write some thoughts about this subject (I know I can be a real geek sometimes). I then boiled it down to the basics. I hope these basic thoughts help us to stay focused during this politically explosive season. Click on the link to view these thoughts and then return to read the rest of this post:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfcqvpvz_10qtss2rgz
Genesis 32:22-31, Psalm 17:1-7, 15, Romans 9:1-5, Matthew 14:13-21
Recently my dad gave me a one page article from Christianity Today where the writer was comparing the warnings he heard from a famous Russian dissident in a lecture at Harvard to the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah. As I read, I began to think about how all of the Old Testament prophets had underlying complaints against Israel or Judah that were tied to their warnings of judgment. When you read these prophets, it is like listening to prosecuting attorneys build God's case against the people. So I decided to go back and survey the book of Jeremiah to see what the main complaint was. It was unfaithfulness of worship, otherwise known as idolatry. Since the commentator in Christianity Today was taking a particular political spin, I began to think about how our political agendas can become a form of idolatry. I sat down and in between chores on my day off began to write some thoughts about this subject (I know I can be a real geek sometimes). I then boiled it down to the basics. I hope these basic thoughts help us to stay focused during this politically explosive season. Click on the link to view these thoughts and then return to read the rest of this post:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfcqvpvz_10qtss2rgz
So what do you think?
Think about a typical American corporate worship service. Do you think that much of our worship promotes a self focused agenda with God tacked on? Or is God the focus and we are challenged, stretched, shaped, and molded by our worship for God's agenda? Churches which begin to mix too much of a particular political agenda, whether left or right, into their corporate worship run the danger of trying to tack God onto that which is self focused (personal rights to freedom or justice). Worship that is God centered turns us into grateful people. Grateful people leave the worship experience knowing that they are blessed. They leave more ready to take responsibility and to be good stewards of God's blessings! Gratitude, responsibility, and stewardship are the political values of God's kingdom.
