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Holiness in our Midst: Session 42

SESSION XLII: ON HYMNS

Confession: I am a hummer. I can’t help it. While driving my car along Iowa’s country roads, caring for persons with disabilities at work or walking along local streets, humming is an unconscious habit. To take note of the current playlist on my hummer is to gauge the barometer of my well-being.  Especially hymns. The hymn demanding the most air time and the one that has brought me the most comfort in recent months is Be Still, My Soul. Written by Kathrina von Schlegel and translated by Jane L. Borthwick, this hymn has brought peace to me during work upheavals, family deaths, and national political mayhem. (Did I mention that my rent was just raised?)

The first verse reminds me: Leave to thy God to order and provide/In every change, He faithful will remain.

Other lines that still my fears: Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know/His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still my soul: thy Jesus can repay/From his own fullness all He takes away.

Be, still my soul: when change and tears are past/All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

Be still, my soul: the Sun of life divine/Through passing clouds shall but more brightly shine.

Is there a hymn that that has brought comfort, hope or healing to you lately?

STORY CIRCLE PROMPT: What hymn speaks to you today and why?

FOR PERSONAL/JOURNAL REFLECTION:

1. Read the above reflection.
2. Consider journal entries on the following topics: What was my favorite hymn as a child and why? What hymn do I hum most often today and why?
3. I remember a studious young pastoral intern at Fourth Presbyterian Church in downtown Chicago who encouraged us in the powerful experience of praying hymns as prayers. Is there a hymn that falls into that category for you? Reflect on your choice in a journal entry.

FOR GROUP STUDY:

1.   Read aloud Session XLII.   
2.   Ask each person to answer the Story Circle Prompt.

[View Past Sessions Here]

Note: Holiness in Our Midst: Sharing Our Stories to Encourage and Heal is a monthly on-line feature created by Janis Pyle to facilitate sharing of our personal experiences, thoughts, beliefs, and spiritual practices with one another, especially through stories. Barriers are broken down when we begin to see all persons, even those with whom we disagree ideologically, as sacred and constantly attended to by a loving Creator. Each column is accompanied by a “story circle” prompt and study guides for personal and group reflection. To share your stories, contact Hannah Button-Harrison at communications@nplains.org. Janis Pyle can be reached at janispyle@yahoo.com.

Leadership Development Musings: March 2016

Laura Leighton-Harris, Minister of Leadership Development

I participated in the webinar led by Steve Crain titled: From Call to Empty Tomb: Encounters with Jesus.

This was actually a retreat style webinar, which I found to be very refreshing and at a good time as we are in the Lenten season. So, for this month’s article I thought I would share the scriptures we meditated on as well as the seed questions Steve posed for us to ponder in relation to the scriptures. How might you and/or your congregation respond to these seed questions as you journey through this Lenten & Easter season?

Mark 1:16-20/Seed Questions:

*What fish have you been seeking? With what boat and nets?

*Has Jesus recently called you afresh “follow me?”

*Is it hard to follow?

Mark 4:35-41/Seed Questions:

*Did you see or feel the storm coming?

*What is the wind tossing your boat?

*Where is Jesus? What is he saying to you?

Matthew 26:26-29/Seed Questions:

*Jesus, the loaf, the wine, the table, the Upper Room. Who else has gathered at Jesus’s table with you?

*You’ve come to this table. What are you hungry for? What are you thirsty for?

*Where in your life is Jesus whispering: “I Am the bread; I Am the wine?”

Luke 24:1-5/Seed Questions:

*Is there a seed you long to see rolled away?

*Where are you discovering New Life where once you feared you would only find death?

*How are you hearing the words, “He is risen!” in your life?

14 from our congregation also gathered this past Saturday to watch and discuss together the Congregational Ethics webinar. These webinars are great avenues of continued education on a variety of topics and can easily be done as a group too. Just go to the McPherson website and type in Ventures and you will find those upcoming and those that are archived and register.

Blessings

Laura Leighton-Harris & Barbara Wise Lewzcak

District Conference Announcements: March 2016

This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song: Looking Ahead to District Conference

Rhonda Pittman Gingrich, Moderator

Special Opportunities for Fellowship at District Conference

When we gather for our 150th recorded District Conference, August 5-7, 2016, we will gather to do the work of the church and to worship our God together, but we will also enjoy times of fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ.  This fellowship is an important component of our time together, strengthening the bonds of unity.  Not only will we break bread together, sharing fellowship around the meal tables, but both Friday and Saturday evenings there will be special times of fellowship.  On Friday evening, conference-goers are invited to support our youth as they host their annual ice cream social, sharing conversation with old and new friends while engaging in a favorite Brethren pastime—eating ice cream. On Saturday evening, after a festival of story and song celebrating the ongoing ministry of God’s people in the Northern Plains District, we will celebrate our 150th anniversary with cake and another opportunity to share in casual conversations with one another.

150 Random Acts of Kindness

In the months leading up to District Conference, the District Conference Planning Committee also wants to remind congregations of the challenge to collectively engage in 150 random acts of kindness—or to put it another way, 150 acts of ministry—within your surrounding communities. We are celebrating a significant milestone in our life together, but we don’t want to focus solely on the past. As God’s people we are part of a continuing story. What better way to celebrate that than to actually embody our identity as a “sent people” and to reach out in service to those in need. As you engage in your random acts of kindness, take pictures of your efforts.  Send your pictures and stories to Hannah Button-Harrison communications@nplains.org for publication in the district newsletter and possibly on the website AND bring a copy of your pictures to District Conference for inclusion in a collage that will celebrate the ways we are still engaged in vital ministry in the upper Midwest.

Symbols of Congregational Ministry

The District Conference Planning Committee also invites each congregation to bring something that represents your congregational story to District Conference. The Northern Plains District is comprised of its congregations; without the congregations there wouldn’t be a district. We are not sure if we will use these items as part of the worship center or as part of a different display, but we know we want to create a visual representation of the congregations that make up our district. The possibilities are endless. The item you choose to bring might be an historical artifact, it might be a piece of art, it might be a symbol of a long-time and continuous ministry in which you are engaged, it might be a symbol of new vitality.  Hopefully the selection of the item won’t be a unilateral decision made by the pastor or a small committee, but a decision made by the congregation as you reflect together about your story and the ways your story intersects with God’s story.

Moderator Visits

Just a reminder, as a transplant to this district I now call home, I have a strong desire to visit as many congregations as possible between now and District Conference. During those visits, I want to talk about the importance of remembering and faithfully living into God’s Story—in word, song, and action—and I want to listen to the ways in which your own stories have intersected with God’s Story. To schedule a visit, please contact me at 612-239-6214 or rpgingrich@yahoo.com

Did you know: The Woman who Wanted to Break Bread

The woman who wanted to break bread

by Marlene Moats Neher

Reprinted excerpts by Alice Draper, with approval of Marlene Neher and Messenger. Original story in Messenger, June 1976. Marlene Neher is the great grandniece of Julia Gilbert.

Born in Maryland in 1844, Julia Gilbert was crippled by measles and scarlet fever, from which her brother and sister died. She later moved to Ohio and then to Iowa in 1897. Influenced by Brethren publications, regular church attendance, as well as devout family study, she read the Bible faithfully. At age 14, after baptism, she began to question the way Brethren did communion, feeling that it was her duty to do communion the way Christ did.  Early Brethren women were not allowed to break bread and pass the cup to each other at communion.

A query was brought up in 1849 and again in 1857 regarding women being allowed to break bread and pass the cup to each other. In 1883 writers were questioning the rights of women, including Julia Gilbert’s letter in the Gospel Messenger, citing women washing feet and the holy kiss. In 1894 she submitted a query for Annual Meeting to repeal former positions and grant women the same privilege in breaking bread and passing the cup as the brethren (men). It did not pass the church vote to be forwarded that year or in 1895. After moving to Grundy County, Iowa in 1897, where the Brethren of the Western frontier were considered radicals and innovators by Eastern Brethren, her query passed the local church. It was passed on to Annual Meeting in 1899. A modern sounding response from that meeting was to appoint a committee to investigate and report back in 1900. It was deferred for another year. A query was presented every year from 1906 to 1909 with more committee study. The eventual answer changed the existing practice. The officiating minister was to break the bread and pass the cup to both men and women.

In 1910, after an emotional speech by Julia Gilbert, explaining that men come between women and the Savior, the privilege for women breaking bread and passing the cup for themselves finally was approved.  In 1970 an Annual Conference resolution stated the church’s position on women in our church and society. In 1975 Ivester Church sent a query affirming women having full worth and humanity.  The spirit of Julia Gilbert continues to live on. The openness of Northern Plains District congregations continues to address leadership of women in the district. 50% of our congregations are now being served by female clergy, the highest in our denomination. Total clergy numbers, including retired pastors, is 45. Of this total, 23 of these licensed and ordained pastors are female in the Northern Plains District.

Message from the Moderator: March 2016

Our Story, Our Song: Conquest and Crown

Rhonda Pittman Gingrich, Moderator

Throughout the Biblical Story, God repeatedly reminds the people to remember the Story. As God’s people, it is important for us to remember and tell God’s Story and to sing the songs of our faith—in good times and in bad times—so we don’t forget who we are and whose we are. When we forget who we are and whose we are, when we fail to remember and tell God’s Story and to sing the songs of our faith, we run the risk of allowing our identity and lives to be shaped by the prevailing stories of society. God’s Story must not simply be remembered (recited and heard), it must be re-membered (pieced together and retold in ways that connect intimately with our lives), understood, and embodied.

So as we continue to move through this year, I invite you to join me in an ongoing exploration of the overarching Story of God and God’s people—a story that continues to unfold through us today. To provide structure for this journey of remembrance and reflection, I am drawing on God’s Story, Our Story: Getting Lost and Found in the Bible by Sean Gladding.

So grab your hymnal and your Bible and join me in exploring the Story that reminds us who we are, whose we are, and who we are called to be and become.

Sing: Lead on, O cloud of presence (Hymnal: A Worship Book, 419)

Read: Joshua 1-8; 22-23; Judges 1-8; 1 Samuel 8-11; 16; 28-31; 2 Samuel 3-5

This month we pick up our story as the Israelites finally enter the Promised Land after wandering in the wilderness for forty long years.  Just as they had fled from Egypt on a path created when God parted the waters of the Red Sea, so they entered the Promised Land on a path created when God parted the waters of the Jordan River. Leading the way? The priests carrying the ark of the covenant—the symbol of God’s presence among them. After crossing the Jordan, they camped at Gilgal, celebrated the Passover (an embodiment of God’s Story), and tasted the bounty of their new land for the first time. Still ahead was the task of conquering the land, but in the moments immediately after crossing the Jordan, the people paused to remember the Torah and to worship their God who faithfully provided for their needs.

The first city to be conquered was Jericho.  As Joshua stood on a hill overlooking the city prior to the battle, he was approached by a representative of God and in a scene reminiscent of Moses’ encounter with the burning bush, was commanded to remove his sandals because he was standing on holy ground (Joshua 5:14-15)—a reminder that Israel’s enemies would be defeated by God and God alone, not by the might of the Israelite people. And if this wasn’t enough of a reminder that God was in control, the walls of Jericho fell without struggle when the Israelites followed God’s command to march around the city with the ark once each day for six days and seven times on the seventh day with the priests blowing the shofar.

Then we encounter a part of the story that is difficult to comprehend—particularly for those who claim a Christian identity deeply rooted in the teachings of the Prince of Peace. As God had commanded, the Israelites killed every man, woman, and child, and every animal—with the exception of Rahab (who had earlier sheltered the spies) and her family. It is hard to reconcile the God of unfailing love, the God who responded with compassion to the cries of the enslaved Israelite people, the God who repeatedly forgave their transgressions, with the God who commanded the complete destruction of all the original inhabitants of the land. Perhaps God knew that the Israelites were susceptible to the temptations of the surrounding culture and that the only way they could possibly uphold their covenant with God and fulfil their mission to partner with God in bringing healing to the world was if they weren’t faced with temptation.  But does that really make it any easier to understand and accept?

Yet, in spite of God’s presence and the easy conquest, the people who had pledged their faithfulness to God almost immediately fail to follow God’s commands. While they kill every living thing and burn the city to the ground, they don’t destroy the gold and silver, bronze and iron. They fall prey to the temptation presented by such wealth. And in subsequent battles, they fall prey to the temptation of pridefully relying on their own power instead of seeking God’s guidance. As a result, it is many years before they gain full possession of the Promised Land, many years before they experience peace from battle. Even then, when Joshua addresses the people on God’s behalf just before his death, he finds it necessary to remind them of all that God has done for them, issuing a renewed call to be faithful to their God as God has been faithful to them and to resist the temptation to adopt the practices and worship the gods of the people they have conquered.

While the people give voice to their commitment to faithfully serve God alone (Joshua 24:16-18) their actions don’t reflect this commitment. Further, they stopped telling the story of God’s faithfulness. As a result, their children, who had not witnessed God’s great acts firsthand, did not know God. So peace was short lived.

The cycle of covenant faithfulness, betrayal, battle, repentance, deliverance, and restored peace was cemented.  “The Lord would send a nation to oppress them. Then the people would cry out to the Lord for deliverance. The Lord would raise up a judge to deliver them. Their oppressor would be defeated. And the people would have rest. But then they would forsake the Lord…once more” (Gladding, 111).  Orthniel, Ehud and Shamgar were first among a long line of judges God appointed to guide the peope. The stories of others such as Gideon, Samson, Deborah, and Samuel, son of Hannah and the last of the judges, are probably more familiar.

While the judges provided leadership at crucial times, the Israelites were not fully united, the twelve tribes of Israel at best maintained a loose-knit alliance. (see Judges 21:25).  As Samuel’s life was drawing to a close, he named his own sons as judges over Israel, but like so many of God’s people before them, they fell prey to temptation, perverting justice for their own personal gain. God’s people rebelled against their corrupt leadership, but in so doing, fell prey to the temptations of the surrounding culture. They came to Samuel and asked him to appoint a king to govern them “like other nations” (1 Samuel 8:5).

The request upset Samuel, but God told Samuel to listen to the people for “they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. Just as they have done to me, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you” (1 Samuel 8:7b-8). Samuel tried to warn the people about the power a human king would ultimately wield over them, but they would not listen, so with God’s blessing and guidance, Samuel anointed Saul to be the first king of Israel and a monarchy was born, although a monarchy divided along geographic lines with ten tribes occupying the northern regions of the Promised Land and two tribes occupying the southern regions of the Promised Land. The road to the creation of truly united kingdom was long and the preservation of that kingdom not without struggle—in large part because the kings continually fell prey to the temptations of power, wealth, pride, and the practices of the surrounding cultures.

“God had laid down conditions for the kings who would reign over Israel. They were not to build up a standing army, nor enter into covenant treaties with other nations through marriage, and they were not to amass wealth.  Thus they would continue to rely on God to provide for their needs, and to protect them, which would be a witness to the other nations that God was indeed present in their midst. God’s reign would continue through the king” (Gladding, 122). Saul had his victorious moments as the first king of Israel, but even before his own death, Samuel had become disenchanted with Saul’s leadership because he repeatedly defied God’s conditions.

So in response to God’s call, Samuel, the last judge of the people, also anointed the second king of Israel—David—even before Saul’s reign had come to an end. In fact, David served Saul. But as David’s popularity among the people grew, so did Saul’s jealousy and resentment. Ultimately Saul turned his attention from the fight against the Philistines—a very real threat to God’s people—to various attempts to kill David—his perceived rival.  Ultimately, when his army suffered a great defeat at the hands of the Philistines, Saul took his own life and David rose to power.

David succeeded in doing what Saul had not; he defeated the Philistines and united the northern and southern tribes, carefully choosing Jerusalem, a city located between the northern and southern regions as the capital. David’s exploits as king—both positive and negative—are well known. Under David’s leadership the unending cycle of covenant faithfulness, betrayal, battle, repentance, deliverance, and peace continued.  

God was faithful to the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: God formed a people, gave them a place to call home, and remained present with them. In spite of the people’s recurring faithlessness, God was faithful. It is important to tell the stories from this period because both the faithfulness and failures of God’s people and the faithfulness of God can inspire us to greater faithfulness. But it isn’t always easy to remember and tell these stories because they are so violent; it is hard to reconcile our picture of God who had so much love for the Israelites, extending grace and deliverance over and over again, with the God who violently destroyed their “enemies.”

So, just as it is important to tell the stories, it is important to question the stories. To question is to bring an open heart and mind to our engagement with the stories of God and God’s people throughout history. And when we approach the stories with an open mind and heart, we are often the recipients of new insights.

This month we continue to journey through the season of Lent, a season of reflection, repentance, and renewed commitment. When has God’s Spirit moved you to new insights in relation to particularly difficult stories in the arc of God’s Story? When have you—or your community of faith—fallen prey to the temptations of the surrounding culture? When have you experienced the cycle of covenant faithfulness, betrayal, struggle, repentance, deliverance, and peace in your own life? When have you experienced God’s faithfulness even in the midst of experiences of hopelessness and perceived abandonment or even periods of faithlessness? How are you being called to bear witness to God’s faithfulness and presence?

Sing: Shepherd me, O God (Hymnal: A Worship Book, 163)

Called to Serve

By Amanda McLearn-Montz, assistant workcamp coordinator

Photo by Don Knieriem

Growing up in the Church of the Brethren, I always contemplated serving with Brethren Volunteer Service
(BVS) for a year. I dreamed of the various places I could serve, and the ways I could make a difference. When I started college, however, these dreams fell to the wayside. I became distracted with the pressure of being a premedical student and the innumerable obligations of school and extracurricular activities.

Then, in 2012, God called and led me to work for the summer at Camp Pine Lake, the Church of the Brethren camp in the Northern Plains District. At camp, I grew closer to God while I lived in a Christian community and worked with children and youth. One of my favorite moments happened during a campfire that concluded a week of camp. The campers shared how meaningful camp was to them, and that they could feel God’s love there. At that moment, God reminded me of my dreams to serve in BVS. I realized that a year of BVS before medical school would deepen my faith, make me a better physician, and give me opportunities to spread God’s love.

Two years later, I discovered that God was calling me to serve with the Church of the Brethren workcamp ministry. When I was at National Youth Conference 2014 as a youth worker, I met people who had served as assistant workcamp coordinators. I eagerly listened to their stories, and fondly reminisced about my own workcamp experience during my summer on the Youth Peace Travel Team in 2013. I loved how the workcamp coordinators worked with youth and empowered them to strengthen their faith by serving others. The opportunities to travel, meet new people, and serve in a variety of ways also piqued my interest. After thoughtful prayer, I decided to apply. One year later, I moved to Elgin, Ill., and started my adventure.

During this time of service, I have experienced God in preparing for 2016 workcamps. When I went to Puerto Rico for my first site visit, the director and I were welcomed wholeheartedly by the congregation that we will be serving with in June. I saw God’s love in their hugs and smiles and in the pastor’s gracious hospitality. As I continue preparing with my fellow leaders, I know God will continue to guide and support us. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for this summer!

—Amanda McLearn-Montz is a member of Panther Creek Church of the Brethren in Adel, Iowa. She and Deanna Beckner serve as assistant workcamp coordinators for the 2016 season. Learn more or register at www.brethren.org/workcamps.

Originally printed in the February 2016 Simply Put: Stories of Sustaining Faith newsletter produced by the Church of the Brethren.

District News & Announcements – February 2016

District News & Announcements

February 2016

 “District News and Announcements” is a monthly e-newsletter for members and friends of the Church of the Brethren in the Northern Plains District.  District Leaders, Commissions, Committees, and those doing special ministries share information on programs and activities.  Local churches share news and invitations.  Send submissions by February 23rd for inclusion in next month’s newsletter to Hannah Button-Harrison, Interim Director of Communications, communications@nplains.org.

In this issue

1. Discerning District Leadership
2. 2016 District Directory
3. In Our Prayers…
4. Message from the Moderator
5. Did You Know: Remembering the Last 55 Years
6. RYC Reminder
7. District Conference Announcements
8. Heritage Tour
9. New Financial Secretary Reminder
10. Ventures Announcement
11. Leadership Development Musings
12. Paul Shaver Called by Ivester
13. Holiness in our Midst
14. Pastor’s Professional Growth Event

District Conference Announcements: February 2016

This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song: Looking Ahead to District Conference

Rhonda Pittman Gingrich, Moderator

As we look ahead to the Big Meeting, August 5-7, 2016, when we will gather as brothers and sisters for the 150th time, celebrating a long history of continuous ministry in the upper Midwest, the District Conference Planning Committee invites all of the congregations in the district to participate in a couple projects.

150 Random Acts of Kindness
In the months leading up to District Conference, we want to challenge the congregations in the district to collectively engage in 150 random acts of kindness—or to put it another way, 150 acts of ministry—within your surrounding communities. We are celebrating a significant milestone in our life together, but we don’t want to focus solely on the past. As God’s people we are part of a continuing story. What better way to celebrate that than to actually embody our identity as a “sent people” and to reach out in service to those in need. As you engage in your random acts of kindness, take pictures of your efforts. Send your pictures and stories to Hannah Button-Harrison communications@nplains.org for publication in the district newsletter and possibly on the website AND bring a copy of your pictures to District Conference for inclusion in a collage that will celebrate the ways we are still engaged in vital ministry in the upper Midwest.

Symbols of Congregational Ministry
The District Conference Planning Committee also invites each congregation to bring something that represents your congregational story to District Conference. The Northern Plains District is comprised of its congregations; without the congregations there wouldn’t be a district. We are not sure if we will use these items as part of the worship center or as part of a different display, but we know we want to create a visual representation of the congregations that make up our district. The possibilities are endless. The item you choose to bring might be an historical artifact, it might be a piece of art, it might be a symbol of a long-time and continuous ministry in which you are engaged, it might be a symbol of new vitality. Hopefully the selection of the item won’t be a unilateral decision made by the pastor or a small committee, but a decision made by the congregation as you reflect together about your story and the ways your story intersects with God’s story.

Moderator Visits
Just a reminder, as a transplant to this district I now call home, I have a strong desire to visit as many congregations as possible between now and District Conference. During those visits, I want to talk about the importance of remembering and faithfully living into God’s Story—in word, song, and action—and I want to listen to the ways in which your own stories have intersected with God’s Story. To schedule a visit, please contact me at 612-239-6214 or rpgingrich@yahoo.com.

Message from the Moderator: February 2016

Our Story, Our Song: Shaping a Community and Its Mission

Rhonda Pittman-Gingrich, Moderator

Throughout the Biblical Story, God repeatedly reminds the people to remember the Story. As God’s people, it is important for us to remember and tell God’s Story and to sing the songs of our faith—in good times and in bad times—so we don’t forget who we are and whose we are. When we forget who we are and whose we are, when we fail to remember and tell God’s Story and to sing the songs of our faith, we run the risk of allowing our identity and lives to be shaped by the prevailing stories of society. God’s Story must not simply be remembered (recited and heard), it must be re-membered (pieced together and retold ways that connect intimately with our lives), understood, and embodied.

So as we continue to move through this year, I invite you to join me in an ongoing exploration of the overarching Story of God and God’s people—a story that continues to unfold through us today. To provide structure for this journey of remembrance and reflection, I am drawing on God’s Story, Our Story: Getting Lost and Found in the Bible by Sean Gladding. So grab your hymnal and your Bible and join me in exploring the Story that reminds us who we are, whose we are, and who we are called to be and become.

Sing: The God of Abraham Praise (Hymnal: A Worship Book, 162)

Read: Exodus 1-24; 32-34; 40; Numbers 9-14; Deuteronomy 26-34.

This month we pick up our story with the Israelites on the eve of the Exodus from Egypt. These are Abraham’s descendants. They made their way to Egypt under the leadership of Joseph, Abraham’s great-grandson, to escape a famine. The Pharaoh at the time had deep respect for Joseph and welcomed the people with open arms. They lived and prospered in Egypt and just as God had promised, became a great nation. Unfortunately, four centuries later, a new Pharaoh viewed them not as a blessing, but as a threat and enslaved them. Still they multiplied and so Pharaoh ordered the death of all Hebrew infant males. One young mother rebelled and by her courageous actions the infant Moses was saved.

Many years later, God hears the cries of the Israelites, seeking freedom from their suffering and bondage. Remembering the promise made to Abraham—to continue the work of restoration, reconciliation, and re-creation—God calls Moses, who had fled Egypt and is now an old man, to return to Egypt and lead God’s people to freedom. The account of Moses’ dramatic and powerful encounter with God (Exodus 3:1-4:17) reminds us that “we do not worship a God who is distant and far off but a God who draws near, a God who hears our cries, a God who cares about us” (Gladding, 70).

But all is not smooth sailing. In a perplexing twist, God hardens the heart of Pharaoh so that he doesn’t immediately grant freedom to the Israelites. Why? Perhaps so that through the plagues, the Egyptians would see that the gods they served were powerless. Or perhaps, so the Israelites would experience the powerlessness of the Egyptian gods and place their trust in God alone.

A Sidebar: In Exodus 4:22-23 God refers to the Israelites as “my firstborn son.” God’s covenant with Abraham revolved around this one particular people. But perhaps in this reference to the Israelites as the “firstborn,” there is an implicit reminder that God’s vision for the world encompasses a much larger family that extends beyond this or any particular people.

But back to our story. God eventually delivers the Israelites from slavery. Their “salvation is not just from something, it is also to something: to service to the Lord, the God of Abraham, the God of the covenant” (Gladding, 72). The Israelites—and indeed, all of God’s people throughout the arc of time, including us—are called to be faithful to the covenant with God by embodying God’s promises of restoration, reconciliation, and re-creation in ways that invite others into relationship with God.

So while God has delivered them from the bondage of slavery, their journey is not yet over. The Israelites are not as quick to recognize and embrace the call to serve their God. And so God does not immediately lead them to the promised land. Instead, God guides them on a long journey through the wilderness, faithfully meeting their needs and shaping them for faithful service as mediators of God’s covenant, partners in God’s mission to heal a broken and hurting world.

It is in the wilderness that God gives the people the Torah, the Law. The Law is not just a set of rules, rather it is a set of “practices to shape their new life of freedom together—practices that would protect them from themselves, from the fear and anxiety that pervades humanity and from the darkest impulses that had been shaped in them from being enslaved…(transforming) them from a group of slaves into a holy nation—people made in the image of God who would reveal the character of God to the peoples around them” (Gladding, 89-90). To truly liberate them, God needs not only to bring them out of Egypt, but to draw Egypt out of them.

With the gift of the Torah, God renews the covenant with the people: observe my commandments—embody the knowledge that I am your God with heart, soul, and might—and you will be blessed, fail to observe my commandments and you will be cursed (these blessings and curses are outlined in Deuteronomy 28). But it is important to note, that the Israelites are not called to live by God’s commandments to earn God’s favor, but in response to God’s unconditional love and care for them.

Of course, it doesn’t take them long to forget God’s hessed love for them and subsequently to forget the covenant they made with God. Just days later, in an act of radical disobedience, they make the golden calf and Moses has to plead with God to remember the covenant and extend mercy to the people. This is not the first or last time the people doubt and Moses intervenes. Throughout their long sojourn in the wilderness, this becomes a pattern. And there are consequences. Those who God freed from bondage in Egypt, never set foot in the Promised Land. Only after they die does the new generation stand poised on the banks of the Jordan River, ready to enter the Promised Land. And in those moments, Moses once again addresses the people, encouraging them to renew their covenant with God, to embrace life as God’s people, holy and beloved (Deuteronomy 30:15-20).

Through the Exodus and during the wilderness years that followed, God came near to the Israelites, revealing both God’s name and God’s character, dwelling among them in the Tabernacle, and shaping the people into a holy and beloved community ready to worship their God and embrace their mission as God’s partners with faithfulness.

God’s Story is a story of liberation. Like the Israelites, we are often held captive by events, circumstances, and attitudes that prevent us from naming, claiming, and living into our true identity as God’s people, holy and beloved. We continually need to experience a new Exodus, an exodus from all that enslaves, all that distances us from God and one another: greed, envy, complacency, violence, selfishness, self-sufficiency, pride, and the list goes on. We need God to come near and liberate us from our bondage to sin and into our call to serve our God in a way that genuinely reflects God’s character marked by hessed love (defined as lovingkindness, mercy, and compassion) so that all of creation might come to know God.

This month we enter the season of Lent. Lent is a time for reflection, repentance, and renewed commitment. As you move through this season, I invite you into a time of reflection. From what do you need to be liberated? To what is God calling you that you might more fully reflect God’s character?

As a district, we are also embarking on a new round of the Sending of the Seventy. The theme for this round is how we are being called to serve our neighbors. The Torah was and is not intended to exclude, but to give form and shape to the identity of all God’s people. In fact, embedded in the Torah is a deep reverence for life, a commitment to care for and protect the vulnerable and marginalized. As persons created in the image of God—individually and corporately—our identity is shaped by God’s hessed love for us and for the world. Our faithfulness to the vision of extending God’s lovingkindness, mercy, and compassion to the most vulnerable reflects our faithfulness to our covenant with God. Who are your neighbors? What are their needs? What are some practical ways you can meet those needs and bear witness to God’s lovingkindness, mercy, and compassion?

Sing: Obey My Voice (Hymnal: A Worship Book, 163)

Holiness in our Midst: Session 41

SESSION XLI: ON JESUS’ QUESTIONS

Jesus was a question-asker supreme. His first questions were directed to his parents at the Temple: “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”

(Luke 2:49 NIV). He cried out the last one from the Cross: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mat. 27:46 NIV). Throughout his ministry, his everyday questions stirred those along his path to think more deeply, consciously and reverently.  The estimates of the number of questions Jesus asked in the New Testament differ; some say as high as 307. What we do know is that he asked thought-provoking (even enemy-provoking) questions at every turn. Here is a sampling:

“Who do you say I am?” (Mat. 16:15 NIV).
“How many loaves do you have?” (Mark 6:38 NIV)
“Do you love me?” (John 21:17 NIV)
“What are you discussing together as you walk along?” (Luke 24: 17 NIV)
“Who touched me?” (Luke 8:45 NIV)
“Does any man condemn you? Neither do I, condemn thee. Go, and sin no more.” (John 8:10 KJV)

The question that currently speaks to me in the midst of a season when politics, weather, and world events seem to have gone wild is: “Why are you so afraid?” (Mat. 8:26 NIV). Jesus asked this question before he stilled the storm. I hold the scene on the Sea of Galilee in my mind as I entrust my storms to the One who calmed the waves so long ago.

STORY CIRCLE PROMPT: Which of Jesus’ questions currently speaks to your heart?

FOR PERSONAL/JOURNAL REFLECTION:

1. Read the above reflection.
2. A faithful Bible class at a Church of the Brethren in North Carolina kept track every week of what prayers the class members shared and how each prayer was answered. The class even tracked a category of prayers that they called “Unspokens.” That latter category reminded me that there are prayers that we do not wish to share with a whole group. For journal reflection, call forth your deepest prayer needs by picturing Jesus asking you the question that he asked the blind man, “What do you want me to do for you?” (Mark 10:51 NIV).

FOR GROUP STUDY:

1. Read aloud Session XLI.    
2. Ask each person to answer the Story Circle Prompt.

[View Past Sessions Here]

Note: Holiness in Our Midst: Sharing Our Stories to Encourage and Heal is a monthly on-line feature created by Janis Pyle to facilitate sharing of our personal experiences, thoughts, beliefs, and spiritual practices with one another, especially through stories. Barriers are broken down when we begin to see all persons, even those with whom we disagree ideologically, as sacred and constantly attended to by a loving Creator. Each column is accompanied by a “story circle” prompt and study guides for personal and group reflection. To share your stories, contact Hannah Button-Harrison atcommunications@nplains.org. Janis Pyle can be reached at janispyle@yahoo.com.