Wednesday, April 30 — Psalm 55:20-23, Leviticus 22:17-23:22; Mark 7:9-23

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S (Scripture): Leviticus 23:22
22 “When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. Leave it for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God.”

O (observation): The Lord makes provisions for the harvesters, the planters, and those who have nothing.  Jesus uses this very scripture to permit his disciples to pick wheat on the Sabbath day (the first drive through) as they were going from town to town.

A (Application): This scripture is a reminder of God's provision.  God provides for all, for the landowner, for the harvester, for those who are without.  Making a 'provision' for the poor and foreigners among you.  Interesting scripture as it pertains to what it is that we are supposed to do with the stuff that we think is 'ours.'  The phrase; "I am the Lord your God," is a reminder as it is usually when it is used, that God is in charge, not us.  That is the thing about God's provision, God is the one providing.  the boundary God establishes here is for the benefit for the whole community, including the disciples as they eat from the edges of the field going from town to town.

P (Prayer): Lord, you are the provider of our lives.  Thank you!

Tuesday, April 29 — Psalm 55:16-19, Leviticus 21:13-22:16; Mark 7:1-8

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S (SCRIPTURE): MARK 7:1-8

O (OBSERVATION): Jesus is questioned by the religious authorities as to why his followers don't do things as they do, why their traditions are not important to his followers as they are to them.  Jesus response from Isaiah speaks to the cultural religion exuding from religious practice without belief. Ritual without Rite.

A (APPLICATION):  Without offering political implication (no R's, D's, or I's implicated here), a recent speech from by Sarah Palin to the NRA offered a side of cultural religion by misrepresenting the gospel.  You can see the video here. (along with commentary)

{Quick word that the Gospel message is not represented by any political figure, party, or philosophy.}

The point is that civil religion is littered with common practices that trump divine purpose. The Pharisees do this with hand washing, Sarah Palin made it about torturing people as a reference to the sacred practice of Baptism.  Either way, Jesus reference to the words of Isaiah help understand that words of the lips betray the purpose of the gospel.  Saying we are Christian does not necessitate a practice of kingdom goals. 

P (PRAYER): Lord, we all fall short of the glory of the kingdom.  Help us not perpetuate a civil religion that promotes our owns motives but help us live for you!

Monday, April 28 — Psalm 55:9-15, Leviticus 20:9-21:12; Mark 6:45-56


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S (Scripture): Mark 6:48-50
47 Late that night, the disciples were in their boat in the middle of the lake, and Jesus was alone on land. 48 He saw that they were in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the wind and waves. About three o’clock in the morning  Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. He intended to go past them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the water, they cried out in terror, thinking he was a ghost. 50 They were all terrified when they saw him.


O (Observation): Jesus shows up in the midst of the disciples struggle. 

A (Application): Our Easter theme is:  ".....When God shows up." Each lesson during the easter season God seems to show up in different ways, the empty tomb, to the disciples in the upper room...so on and so forth. I mention the theme because it is here that Jesus shows up.  Jesus shows up in the disciples struggling against the wind and waves, struggling to move forward, struggling to do it on their own.  jesus shows up, intending to go ahead of them and stops, jumps in their boat calms the storms and they end up on land. AND THAT terrifies them...and us.

We often pray that God will show up in the midst of our own struggle, the midst of my feeble attempts, in the midst of the storms of my life and when God shows up, God may do something we weren't expecting.  When God shows up, when Jesus enters the boat, the coarse begins to change.  And maybe that is what scares us most, that when God shows up we might head in a different direction than we planned.

P (Prayer): Lord God, thanks for showing up in our lives again and again....even if you take us in directions of your choosing and not our own.

Saturday, April 26 — Psalm 55:1-8, Leviticus 19:12-20:8; Mark 6:30-44

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S (SCRIPTURE): LEVITICUS 19:16-18
16 “Do not spread slanderous gossip among your people.
“Do not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is threatened. I am the Lord.
17 “Do not nurse hatred in your heart for any of your relatives. Confront people directly so you will not be held guilty for their sin.
18 “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

O (OBSERVATION): God wants us to speak well of one another, not to act as the world does with gossip and slander.

A (APPLICATION): If you have ever been on the wrong end of being falsely represented, talked about behind your back, or even had someone speak ill of you....it hurts.  yet, Jesus uses this very passage to instruct us what is expected of us from God....Love your neighbor as you love yourself.

The world we live in seems skewed from this reality.  From the cable news channels that pit people against each other and call it news or from reality TV that embraces hostility and drama over healthy relationships.  It is far too easy to speak ill or falsely of someone.  It is far too easy to share gossip.  It is far too easy to talk behind other people's backs.  This is why Jesus called the gate wide and the way narrow.  Living in God's commands is not easy...Yet it is rewarding.  Luther's explanation of the 8th commandment to not bear false witness against your neighbor was summed up by saying: We are to speak well of our neighbors at all times, giving them the benefit of the doubt, that their actions and words are not intended for malicious activity. (translation mine).  What would our world look like if this were how we went about our lives as individuals, as communities of faith, as a city, as a state, as a country?

P (PRAYER): Lord, help me to hold my tongue when necessary so that I may speak well of my neighbor at all times.  In doing so, I can follow your command.

Friday, April 25 — Psalm 54, Leviticus 18:6-19:11; Mark 6:14-29


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S (SCRIPTURE):  Mark 6:14-29

O (OBSERVATION): Speaking truth to power will get you killed.

A (APPLICATION): John the Baptist spoke out against Herod (The king at the time) because he married his brother's wife (which is also mentioned in the Leviticus reading).  Herod had a great way of removing people who threatened his power, including his own family members.  Regardless of how Herod's wife gets it done, she wanted to shut John up, for the same reason....preserving and protecting power.  john speaking the truth to power is what got him killed....if not this way, it would have happened another.

We see this time and time again in our own lives, prophets are not welcome and often time they are killed. John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Oscar Romero.  It doesn't matter how it is done, speaking truth to power will get you killed.  the foreshadowing of John's death for the Gospel of Mark is held up as Jesus marches onward to the cross.  "If any want to be my followers, you must die to yourself, pick up your cross and follow me."

We may not be put in such situations that when we speak truth to power, we get killed physically but there is some dying that happens.   A lot is done to preserve and protect power yet the truth is spoken not to relieve people from power but that by speaking truth power is displayed, even in dying.  That is the point of the cross, real power is shown in weakness.

P (PRAYER): Lord we grieve that you send prophets to us to speak your truth to us and we continue to try and protect our own selfish agendas. Redeem us and remind us of the power Jesus displayed in his dying and rising, that we too, might have the confidence to be the prophets of your future.

Thursday, April 24 — Psalm 53, Leviticus 16:26-18:5; Mark 6:7-13


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S (Scripture): Mark 6:8
8 These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts.

O (Observation): Jesus sends out the disciples with authority to cask out impure spirits.

A (Application): It amazes me at the amount of church growth/evangelism training materials out there.  Yet Jesus sends out disciples equipped with his Authority and that authority only.  I think Jesus meant it when he said...take nothing with you.  It feels different.  I want to have something to carry, something to pass out, something to gift people so that they will remember their encounter with the Gospel.  Yet Jesus is clear....take nothing with you!  You don't need a funny gospel tract (or worse a terrifying one).  You don't need a clever hand out.  The only thing you need is the authority placed on you by Jesus.  It seems simple but if you have tried this in a postmodern era, you know how difficult it really is.  

When I would 'go evangelize' I always felt naked, regardless of what I had to carry with me.  I felt this way because I misunderstood my purpose.  I would strategize on where to be, what to take, how many I should pass out this time...etc. I concerned myself with the preparation of lesser things than on preparing myself in the authority given to me by Christ.  In the end all of my strategic planning on stuff led me to feel like I was simply taking that stuff, handing it out and essentially saying to the people I met..."here, you throw this away."  It was futile.

P (Prayer): Lord, equip us with your authority to bless others with the kingdom message you place upon our lives.  Remind us that you have called us to this purpose and empower us to share the good news that has transformed our lives.

Wednesday, April 23 — Psalm 52, Leviticus 15:25-16:25; Mark 6:1-6

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S (Scripture):Mark 6:3
3 Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary" and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him

O (Observation): Jesus humanness becomes an issue for some regarding his authority to speak and the power he has.

A (Application): The word 'Just' is a limiting word. For example, I am 'just' one man.  Or I am 'just' a stay-at-home-mom. Here, it is applied to Jesus because he is 'just' a carpenter, the son of Mary. Because Jesus is in his hometown, there were people who saw him grow up, remember him as a young child, know him as 'just' another Nazarene. As they say, you can't go home again.

What we find in Jesus accessibility (being human/like one of us) the people of Nazareth contend against Jesus....for them he is JUST a carpenter, a local, no one really special. Yet Jesus IS the Son of God.  We have trouble holding those two things in tension with one another (Jesus' humanity with Jesus' divinity)

But in a more certain way we have trouble making an identity for ourselves in limiting the power of who we are in our own identity by using the same limiting word - ' Just.' We excuse ourselves away from God's calling and mission every time we claim; 'but I am just a _______."  In the same way Jesus spoke on the authority given to him by the Father, we too claim the authorioty placed on us in our Baptism...child of God.  These words dismiss the limiting word 'just' and claim for us the power and authority God places on us to represent God here on earth and bring in the Kingdom God claims for us.

P (Prayer): Limitless God, empower us to speak your authority, reclaim us in the identity you place on our lives, and forgive us when we limit who you created us to be.

Tuesday, April 22 — Psalm 51:13-19, Leviticus 15:1-24; Mark 5:21-43

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S (Scripture): Mark 5:21-43

O (Observation):  A desperate woman attempts to just touch the hem of Jesus' garment.  Power went out from him and she was healed.

A (Application): THIS!

P (Prayer): Lord, help us seek you when we are in desperate need of your healing power.

Monday, April 21 — Psalm 51:7-12, Leviticus 14:19-57; Mark 5:1-20

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S (Scripture): Psalm 51:8
Oh, give me back my joy again;
    you have broken me--
    now let me rejoice.

O (Observation): God humbles David after his sin of coveting Bathsheba, stealing her after he sends her husband Urriah off to war to die.

A (Application): I often laugh inside when we sing the song; Melt Me – Mold Me – Fill Me – Heal Me – Use Me!! I Laugh because inside I am far too aware of what we are asking God to do.  We use these words, mold me, shape me....God you are the Potter and I am the clay.  Yet we often let the words skim over our lips without thinking about what we are asking God to do.  Clay is beaten and pounded in order to become loose for molding.  That is what the potter does in order to create what needs to be formed.

David is able to acknowledge that THIS is exactly what has happened to him.  You have broken me.  King David had misused his power for his own benefit rather than for God's.  God has a way of humbling those in leadership positions.  But it is David's response in this psalm to find himself desperate for God's mercy and healing.  Now broken, rejoicing is possible.  That is the good news in singing that song....if we remember what we are asking God to do.

P (Prayer): Lord, mold me, humble me, break me, if necessary....so that I may be formed and shaped by your hands.

Matthew 27:45-50 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.