Pastor's Ponderings: Old Testament bible study of Ezra 4:7-23 (December 7, 2023)

Thursday Bible Study of the OT book of Ezra 4:7-23

bible open to book of Ezra

Blessings and Grace are my prayers for you today.

This is such a busy time of the year. This year we have opted to reduce our cookie baking, by purchasing some of our favorites at the store. I will still be creating the now famous L. Olsen oatmeal/butter cookies in multiple batches. (a better name might be butter/oatmeal cookies. They are definitely the product of a Scandinavian kitchen). They are always the first choice at our house over chocolate, sugar, Cookie Monster hand painted, fruitcake, Mexican tea crescent, and so many more cookies that our kitchen has produced over the years. Of course, if you are familiar with my Christmas baking, sour cream fruit filled coffee cakes will be getting started pretty soon. I implore you to be careful in your driving too. Our streets are extra busy right now, so being safe and law abiding is even more important.

Here at church, we will be having our free movie afternoon on Dec. 16 at 2PM. We will be providing treats, and the animated movie we are showing is great for adults and children alike. It follows the themes of the Birth Narrative in the Bible. Because this study is going out on the internet, I cannot, by licensing restrictions, share the name, but if you want to know what it is, we have posters about it on the information boards at church. This movie is my new favorite now. Please pray for safe travel for everyone who is headed to see family and friends this holiday season. Also, please pray for our Jewish sisters and brothers as they celebrate their holy day of Hanukkah.

Prayers too for the victims of the warfare in the middle east. There are no winners in war! Through our national church we support the medical ministry of Augusta Victoria Hospital in the West Bank. This hospital serves Christians, Jews, and Palestinians.

This is an interesting segue into our bible study lesson from Ezra today. Remember that in the last session we spoke of the animosity that developed between the Judahites and the Samaritans, which was mostly based on differences of worship practices of both communities and their mutual inflexibility. The letter which is sent to King Artaxerxes back in Persia is from leaders of the Samaritans who are sharing a long-known truth about the Judahites. They are stiff necked and difficult as subjects, and, indeed, are more than likely to rebel once the city of Jerusalem is fully rebuilt. The King’s reply is to stop the rebuilding immediately. However, under Nehemiah, the rebuilding gets resumed and completed, except perhaps for the Temple, which under Solomon was covered in gold. Once again, here are the Samaritans trying to throw a wrench into this whole thing.

Interesting fact: Portions of this letter were written in Aramaic. It had become the official language used for all formal and governmental communications. The other book of the OT that contains sections of Aramaic is Daniel. For the Judahites it would have been relatively easy for them to move from their own language to both understand and communicate using it. There were many similarities between the two languages. The time order of this part of Ezra is kind of wild. The content here seems to move through the period of a number of kings in Persia. We need to know that the aggression of the Samaritans spread over many years and a number of kings. There is a name here that we may not understand, The People Beyond the River. For any Persian both Samaritans and Judahites were part of that geographical designation. Anyone west of the Euphrates River was designated by that name. So, the people who write this letter are obviously Persian representatives present in Israel. Note: Nehemiah was one of these officials who we know by name. He was responsible for getting King Artaxerxes to give his permission to continue the rebuilding. But, prior to that permission we can visit the Biblical saying that the sins of the parents will be visited on their children for generations. The Jews were indeed rebellious and fought hard to keep their land and power in the face of much larger enemies over long historical periods. In this case, there is a difficult time for the newest generation of Judahites which God allows to happen, but the LORD will move to get everything going again.

Just a note about personal things. I will not be doing my Monday study of the Gospel of Mark. Monday is Melody's and my 52nd wedding anniversary. I am taking the day off.

In Christ's Love, Pastor Kim

Pastor's Ponderings: Meandering through Mark 5:14-17 bible study (December 5, 2023)

Tuesday, December 5, 2023, Bible Study on the Gospel of Mark 5:14-17

Blessing and Peace to you on this first week of the New Church Year and the first week of Advent in our lectionary and liturgical year.

This Sunday's worship is at 10AM followed by a cake reception for Melody and me for our 52nd wedding anniversary. We hope that you will come to join us at worship as we live once again with anticipation for the birth(day) of Christ and celebrate our loving partnership on this 52nd year. Please continue to keep Holly in your prayers as she recovers from a battle with pneumonia. Also continue praying for Kandice K in Hawaii whose cancer has developed a new tumor and is now under a new treatment plan which will hopefully include old tumors and the new one. Today, we continue our bible study in chapter 5 of the Gospel of Mark.

This passage begins with what we might think of as a huge surprise. The non-Jews on the east side of Galilee are really unhappy with the healing of the person who was mentally fragile, running naked in the cemetery. We call this man the Gerasene Demoniac. Evidently his mental health was so bad that he was constantly injuring himself in his mental rage. As you may remember from the previous reading, Jesus identifies the culprit for this mental health crisis as Legion, a host of evil spirits who are in control of the man, and Jesus moves them to a herd of pigs which immediately rushes into Galilee and drowns. There are several things going on here.

1. Jesus has just destroyed an economic resource for these people, who are providing pigs for meat for the Roman Army.

2. Jesus has threatened the financial security of these people

3. If these people are religious, Jesus has threatened their thinking about the god they worship.

4. BUT, Jesus has healed a man who has been sick for long enough for people to be comfortable with his presence. Notice: We are not told if this man has a family.

5. In this passage there is no happiness by others for this man who is "possessed" when he is healed, and Jesus is asked to leave 'the area.

The people of this time, and all too often, we too, are bothered and troubled by change. We all get far too comfortable where we are. We see it frequently for seniors who must leave, or who are being encouraged by the children to move to a place where there is a level of greater care, and dare I say it, supervision. We like things the way they are.

Another of the issues of living undisturbed is that we don't want our possessions changed either. Leave the things that I own alone. Don't change my furniture, or remodel my bathroom, or change the fire pit in the back yard, and especially don't threaten my resources.

And as I mentioned, we don't like our religion and its practice changed. I know that at American I have gotten the name of Pastor Change, because I am willing to try new music, new liturgical settings, and other different formats hoping to catch the attention of someone who may be disconnected from the church due to not liking the repeating formats and music that the church has used for hundreds of years. I know, some of us really like doing it the way that we always have done it. It's TRADITION!

Now let's talk about Jesus. If there was anyone who threw a wrench into large portions of human orthodoxy, it was, and continues to be today, Jesus! We are called through His Word to live with generosity as a hallmark of our lives. We are challenged to never judge others for the sake of protecting things the way that we like them. In fact, we worry that some of the direction of the Church which has moved to inclusivity for all people, may bring people into our midst who before this time, in her shame, the Church may have just rejected. The Great Commandment and it's second is our guide when we accept Christ as our Savior. No restrictions and no judging others who have come to faith in our Savior and Lord. Paul reiterates this in his writing, and says we can't, and don't, have the privilege of judging ourselves, let alone judging others. We are called to carry the Gospel into an ever-changing world. To never change would mean that the church would lose its meaningful place in our culture and society. Christ has come into our midst to tell us to change our hearts for the sake of the world for which He died. He is the LORD of all of creation, not just the ones who we feel most comfortable with. He ate with tax collectors and sinners and was shunned by His own people because of their hatred for those "others". Through Paul Jesus called for offerings for the early church, and hence, all churches to support the ministry of the Gospel for the sake of the world. I lived in a home with the most generous people in the face of the world’s economics. May Dad was a factory worker, who in his 50's received an estate gift from his father that would easily be worth three quarters of a million dollars today. When we needed help buying our first home, we were gifted with the down payment, when our children needed college tuition help, both my parents, and Melody's mother helped out for a tough semester for our son. In seminary, congregations that we knew and had worshiped and served in supported us with regular extra giving. But, when it came to Christ's church, my parents were not generous considering their resources. The old saying you can't out give God is true. Melody and I have lived our lives trying to be generous beyond our resources, knowing that serving the Gospel must just be the beginning of the stewardship to which we are called, and one of the reasons that we have stayed so long in my ministry for the Gospel at American is that sense of living generously for the Gospel is in others in our congregation too! We work to always provide for every need and circumstance of the church, and its members. And though our retirement years will be tight, we do not regret living as Christ has called us to live every day. When you and I give extra for CROP, or the Global Barnyard, or bring new white athletic socks to be sent to a monastery in Mexico, or provide discretionary resources, all in addition to our regular giving, we are being the people of Jesus Christ in this needy world. By the way, we are not all in equal positions to give more, and to give some considerable amount as others may see it, but what is most important, is what is in our hearts as we give and share Christ's love.

So, Jesus challenges us to let go of our heart's and mind's selfish thinking, sharing His Love in our words and deeds for the others who have yet to come to know the joy of giving thanks in all things for the unmerited Grace of God through our Savior and Lord. Christmas Eve services are at 10AM and 7PM on Sunday, December 24th.

In Christ's Love, Pastor Kim

Pastor's Ponderings: Meandering through Mark 4:33-41 bible study (December 4, 2023)

Monday morning Bible Study on the Gospel of Mark 4:33-41

Grace and Peace to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I hope that your weekend over Thanksgiving was special for you and your family and/or friends. Here at our home, we hosted our family and their friends, 18 in total. I am the official turkey person at our home, so I was up at 4AM to prepare, stuff, and get the turkey ready to be in the oven no later 5:45AM. It turned out to be one of the best turkeys which any of us have ever had. I think that the majority of the praise for that goes to God and the farmers who raised the turkey that we used. I really did nothing extraordinary at all, except give it an extra hour and thirty minutes longer to cook than the directions called for.

If you remember, I was to get my immunizations last week. I went in first thing last Monday morning to get my flu and covid shots. I was hoping to be feeling OK Tuesday morning to do the next portion of our study on Mark, which I did instead on Wednesday.

I have a family prayer request today. My brother Rick and his wife Connie are in need of prayers for healing and freedom from chronic pain. Please also pray for Holly who after a long intestinal illness has now tested positive for covid and developed pneumonia. Pray for healing and light symptoms for her.

(Now, a note about why this study is so late getting to your inbox. It is a bit abbreviated because of a malfunction of my computer when I hit send. Not only was it NOT sent last Monday, but it cut off a portion of the study. I found out this week that it had not really gone out, and had somehow gotten shifted to my draft documents, but only a part of it was saved there.)

In verses 33 and 34, we have some words from Mark about how Jesus approached his preaching and teaching. He always made certain that he used stories/parables to address and offer theological clarity to all who heard Him speak. He spoke in ways that people could really understand, where their minds were able to clearly comprehend the point, or at least be challenged with the simplicity of the parable to understand it in greater depth, which could help them arrive at the important facts of their relationship with God's Reign and Kingdom Work. Every really good preacher and teacher in the Church speaks in a way that helps people start where they are in their thinking, and pulls, or pushes them to see with greater clarity the whole point of the passages to which the teaching and preaching are speaking. Often it is simple examples, for Jesus that meant often speaking about planting and harvesting in the agrarian culture in which He found Himself. I remember on a Sunday many years ago choosing to bring an example of what it means to allow Christ to be our Head, Master, and King, and also how hard it could be to allow that to happen. I had a good friend who had a tandem bicycle. I brought it in to the church in Ann Arbor, set it up in the Altar area next to the pulpit, and used it as the primary example of the Gospel reading for the day about allowing Christ to always be in the lead in our lives. I also explained how difficult it was for me to be the rider who sat in the rear pedaling along, and leaning on the guide of the one in the front who was steering the bike and making decisions about direction. In Ann Arbor, there were many bike riders just like here in Tucson. The point was clear, because often we are accustomed to being the ones in the lead, and not the ones in the back. It is not always easy, and sometimes it is just plain difficult to allow Jesus to always lead our lives. With practice we can all get better at it though. One of the things which strikes us about the need for Jesus to take the disciples aside to explain the parables to them, is that we have to wonder how it was that they were unable to comprehend such clear points that were revealed by these stories. Perhaps it was the intent of Christ that their minds were did not clearly understand, giving Him an opportunity to speak to them privately in greater detail, adding in many more theological constructs which they would most certainly need after His crucifixion. Or... perhaps these men and women who followed Jesus had little experience learning in settings where the speaker used stories to convey an important Truth. At any rate, we must know that another important learning here for us is that Jesus was most patient. This is key to how we reach out to others with the Truths of God which Christ revealed. Everyone starts where they are, and if there is little skill for this in their lives, patience is key to their understanding and growing into greater comprehension.

Thank you so much for your patience with this missing section. It is now the first week of Advent in the new church year. I invite you to join Melody and Me this coming Sunday for a cake reception after church celebrating our 52nd wedding anniversary. God Bless you and keep you every day.

In Christ, Pastor Kim