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Living Word Weekly Study (February 13-18, 2017)

Monday: 3:1-4:20 This week, we are beginning a two-week sermon series about evangelism, called “Just Go”. Yesterday, we focused on the story from Genesis about ’s call from to leave the land of his ancestors and go to “a land I will show you”, and how Abraham responded in obedience. What is interesting to notice is that the entire biblical narrative, from Abraham to , is framed by two commands from God to His people to “go”: Abraham’s call to “go to a land I will show you”, and Jesus’ words to His disciples just before His ascension to “Go and make disciples of all nations” – the subject of this coming Sunday’s sermon. Faith in God is always about “going” – and that is what evangelism is. It’s about following God’s command to us to take His Word to people who need to hear it, to encourage others to turn to God’s will, and to become part of God’s mission in the world.

Today’s Scripture from Exodus begins to show us just how difficult it can be for us to respond to that command. is always remembered as a great , and a great leader – the man who boldly confronted the of Egypt and led the out of slavery. But the story of the – where God first tells Moses that he has been chosen for this role, and what that role entails – shows us that Moses was quite reluctant to do what God told him to do. Look again at Exodus 3:10, and notice that God specifically tells Moses to GO – I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the , out of Egypt.

Then, notice how many excuses Moses gives for trying to get out of doing what God asks. First, Moses says “I’m not anybody special – why me?” Then Moses says “I don’t even know how to tell them who gave me this authority – who ARE you?” Even after God gives Moses a lengthy answer that He says will convince them, Moses says “Nah – they’ll never believe me.” So God gives Moses miraculous signs that he can use to convince the people. Even then, Moses says “But, God, I’m just not a good speaker,” basically saying “I still think you’ve got the wrong guy!” Notice how emphatic God gets in verse 4:12 – “Now GO – I’ll help you with the words”. And yet Moses ultimately still pleads with God – “PLEASE just send someone else”. Once again, God helps Moses by allowing his to accompany him and speak for him. But in the end, it is MOSES who God has asked to do this, and in the end, it is Moses who is obedient to God. Verse 4:20 says “So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and started back to Egypt.”

• How many of Moses’ excuses have you used for not talking to other people about your faith, about God, or about your church? • What do God’s answers to Moses tell you about your own doubts and fears? • Who ARE you to do this? How DO you understand who this God is? What if they DON’T believe you? What if you AREN’T an eloquent speaker? What if YOU really just don’t feel like you’re the right person to evangelize? • Why is God so insistent, and why does Moses ultimately do what God asks? • Throughout this week, be in about where God is asking YOU to GO.

Tuesday: 1 Kings 18:1-19:19 in the were simply people who spoke for God. They had an intimate, close relationship with God, and God asked them to speak on His behalf, to call a people who were wandering away from God back into obedience to God’s will. We will see throughout the remainder of this week’s readings how prophets responded to God’s call to GO and speak His Word.

One of the earliest of ’s prophets was . Early in Israel’s history, at the time of our reading today, prophets were essentially advisors to the kings of Israel and , the two nations that worshipped , the God of Abraham and Moses. Kings would seek the counsel of the prophets to try to understand God’s will for their leadership of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. However, many false prophets also rose up to lead the kings astray, and frequently the kings preferred their counsel to the Word of the true prophet of God. At the beginning of today’s reading, we see that King Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, had been killing off the true prophets of God, leaving alive only the prophets of other (such as and Asherah), and false prophets whose words aligned with her personal desires.

Verse 18:1 tells us that God sent Elijah to GO to King Ahab in a time of famine, with a of rain. The story that follows, of the contest on Mount Carmel between Elijah and the false prophets of Baal and Asherah, shows us that part of the reason God sent Elijah to Ahab was to show him the foolishness of heeding the advice of Jezebel’s prophets. When God gives Elijah that great victory by igniting the soaking wet fire for the when the other prophets could not, Ahab seems to get the message, and as the rains begin, he heads home to tell his wife the news. Jezebel, of course, is furious, and chapter 19 gives us one of the greatest portraits of the depth of human fear and discouragement that can sometimes follow successful obedience to God’s command to go. Elijah prays and tells God “I have had enough, Lord”, and God provides him with sustenance. He runs to hide in a cave on – the same mountain where Moses heard from God in the burning bush – where God asks Elijah why he’s there. Elijah expresses his fear, but God tells Elijah his mission is not over. In verse 19:15, God again tells Elijah to GO, back the way he came, to anoint a new king over Israel, and a successor, , to follow in his footsteps. And Elijah goes.

• Why was Elijah so afraid, when He had just won a great victory? • Contrast the Elijah of chapter 18 and the Elijah of chapter 19. What accounts for the difference? • How does Elijah’s interaction with God in chapter 19 convince him to go on? • Have you ever been faced with rejection after being obedient to God’s command to go into the world with God’s Word? How did that make you feel? • Have you ever tried to talk to others about your faith, but had so little success that you just want to give up trying? • What does God’s not being in the wind, or the earthquake, or the fire, but in a gentle whisper say to you about both how we are to make God known to others, and about how God is made known to us? • How is God providing YOU sustenance and encouragement to keep going?

Wednesday: 6:1-13 Isaiah was a prophet to Israel about 100 to 130 years after Elijah. By this time, prophets had evolved from being primarily advisors to the kings to writing their words for all of Israel to be able to see and hear. The entire nation was continually falling out of a relationship with God, and God began to use His prophets to speak to all the people about such issues as social injustice, , and insincere worship.

Today’s Scripture reading is about the call of Isaiah to the role of prophet. For Isaiah, it began with a vision of God. He experiences God with all of his senses – He SEES God on His throne, with surrounding Him. He HEARS the angels singing praises to God. He FEELS the room shake at the sound of the angels’ voices, and He SMELLS the smoke of the incense in God’s presence. And there, immersed in the presence of God, Isaiah has a great sense of his own sin, in the midst of his community’s sin. Once God has offered him cleansing (atonement) by placing a coal on his lips, Isaiah is changed – when God asks for someone to GO, Isaiah is ready, willing, and able. He jumps up and says “Here I am. Send ME!” without even knowing what it is God wants him to do. As it turns out, Isaiah is tasked with telling Israel that God’s patience is wearing thin. It seems Israel will never get it, and so God’s judgment on Israel is imminent, although a stump, a holy seed, will remain from which God will rebuild the Israel that was always meant to be. In fact, soon after Isaiah’s prophecy, the nation of laid waste to the nation of Israel, sending its inhabitants into exile.

• How does Isaiah FIRST react to being in the presence of God? Why is he overwhelmed by the awareness of his own sin and the sins of his country? • The touching of the coal to Isaiah’s lips is the critical part of the story. The tells Isaiah his has been removed and his sin atoned for. For the Christian, this is accomplished through the of Jesus Christ on the cross. How have you experienced this atonement, this removal of guilt? • Why is Isaiah no longer held back from agreeing to go where God sends him by this act of atoning for his sins? • Have you ever felt reluctant to be a witness for God in your world because you feel like you, yourself, are too much of a sinner, and that it would be hypocritical for you to do so? How does Isaiah’s willingness to go, once he realized his sins were atoned for, speak to your life situation? • What would it look like for you to enthusiastically say to God “Here I am, send me!”? Are you open to wherever God would send you in response?

Thursday: 1:1-19; 20:1-18 The prophet Jeremiah was called by God between 100 and 120 years after Isaiah. By this time, the nation of Israel had fallen to the Assyrians, but the southern kingdom of Judah had survived. The living in Judah thought they were immune to God’s judgment, because the Temple was in in Judah, and because all of their kings had been direct descendants of King . But now, through Jeremiah, God would tell the people of Judah that even they were subject to God’s judgment if they did not turn wholeheartedly back to God.

Our Scripture reading this morning from the first chapter of Jeremiah shows us Jeremiah’s call. Jeremiah is quite young and refers to himself as a child. God tells Jeremiah that being a prophet is God’s purpose for his life, but, like Isaiah before his atonement, Jeremiah expresses reluctance. From Jeremiah’s words, and from God’s actions, we get the sense that Jeremiah’s reluctance is not so much about his awareness of his sin, as it was in Isaiah’s case, but a genuine fear of the role. After telling Jeremiah “you must GO to everyone I send you and say whatever I command you”, God touches Jeremiah’s lips, signifying that Jeremiah need not fear because his words will be God’s words. A second time, after God tells Jeremiah that he must warn Judah that kings from the north (from Babylon) will overthrow the nation, God tells Jeremiah not to be terrified, and that He has made Jeremiah himself into a fortress. People will fight against him, but God will always rescue him.

The reading from chapter 20 comes from much later in Jeremiah’s story. Jeremiah has been obedient to God’s Word, He has gone where God sent him, and it has gotten him beaten, jailed, and ridiculed. Jerusalem is under attack, its downfall is imminent, and Jeremiah must still tell the people of Judah that they have brought this on themselves. The prayer in verses 7-18 shows us that Jeremiah felt much the same way Elijah did when He was being persecuted by Jezebel (day 2 of our reading). He hates the role God has given him, and yet, he cannot ignore it, however, hard he tries. He knows God is with him, he trusts God to rescue him, but he is a human being, and the pain and anguish of the ridicule and the violence against him are too much. It’s so bad, he asks God to wreak vengeance against his persecutors, and then wishes he had never been born. But as the subsequent chapters show, Jeremiah kept going.

• Why do you think Jeremiah was afraid? (Notice in 1:10 the kinds of words God uses to talk about what Jeremiah would be called to do.) • Did Jeremiah have reason to be afraid? Think about what happened to Jeremiah, what didn’t happen to Jeremiah, and what God had promised Jeremiah. • Have you ever felt compelled to go somewhere, to say something, or to do something you were sure God was asking you to do, but that you weren’t sure YOU really wanted to do? What did you do? • Have you ever been hurt by someone you spoke to about faith in God (either emotionally or physically)? • Or, is fear holding you back from evangelizing? Does Jeremiah’s reaction to the consequences of being obedient to God’s call encourage or discourage you further? • Why should we go where God sends us even if we don’t want to, or even if it means we’ll be rejected and despised by those God sends us to?

Friday: 1:1-3; 1:1-3 Today’s Scriptures are two very short passages introducing the calls of two other of Israel’s prophets – Hosea and Jonah. The story of Jonah takes place prior to the time of Isaiah, when Assyria was growing in power and beginning to threaten its neighbors, while Hosea was a contemporary of Isaiah, prophesying prior to the fall of Israel to Assyria.

Two things should be noted in today’s readings. First, God told BOTH Hosea and Jonah to GO to do something that they, like Jeremiah later, would not have wanted to do. As bizarre as it sounds to us, God commanded Hosea to go and marry an adulterous wife. Such an action would cause Hosea to lose his reputation and any ounce of respect he may have had in his community. But God wanted to use Hosea as a visual demonstration of exactly what Israel was doing to God by turning to worship the gods of the surrounding nations. Hosea’s life itself was to be a parable of social commentary, with Hosea in the part of God, his unfaithful wife Gomer in the part of Israel, and her lovers in the part of the foreign gods Israel had turned to. God had been nothing but a faithful “husband” to Israel, and yet Israel had turned from God and “prostituted” herself with other “men”. God asked Hosea to surrender his reputation, and go and show the people of Israel how God felt. Jonah, on the other hand, was called by God to GO to Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria, the hated foreign enemy threatening to destroy the nation, and call them to repentance. Jonah did not want to go – he wanted God to wreak his vengeance against Assyria.

The second thing to notice in these readings is the hugely contrasting responses of Hosea and Jonah to go and do what God had required them to do. Hosea immediately married Gomer as God had commanded, while Jonah immediately got on a ship and sailed off in the opposite direction from where God told him to go. Hosea is a positive portrayal of obedience to God, even in the face of potential humiliation and disgrace, while Jonah is a negative portrayal of disobedience, of not wanting to go against the flow and do something the whole nation would see as a humiliating and disgraceful act of fraternizing with the enemy. The story of Hosea goes on to show us that God cannot stop loving Israel, in spite of her disobedience, and the story of Jonah goes on to show us that God cannot stop loving Jonah, in spite of his disobedience. God will save a remnant of Israel after God’s judgment against her so that Israel can accomplish what God created Israel to do, and God saves Jonah from death in the sea so that he can accomplish what God had called him to do.

• What is the role of fear of humiliation in the stories of Hosea and Jonah? What do you think might account for their contrasting responses to God? • Have you ever considered that where God is asking you to go, and what God is asking you to do, may be something that you alone are uniquely capable of doing? • How much humiliation or disgrace would you be willing to suffer if you truly believed you were the only one God was asking to do what He is asking of you? Are you ever guilty of thinking “I know it’s important, but surely someone else could do it”? Why, in all of our readings this week, does God never give up on getting people to follow through on what He has called them to do? • What IS God trying to accomplish? How is that related to evangelism?

Saturday: 2:28-33; Acts 2:1-41 The first of our final readings this week is from the prophet Joel. Joel is a bit of an enigma as far as dating is concerned – there is very little in the text to let us know for sure which time period Joel is writing from. Some think it is from very early in Israel’s history, others from much later. For our purposes this week, the date is irrelevant – because Joel prophesies that in the “day of the Lord”, a common way of referring to a new age in which God will act in history in new and profound ways, EVERYONE will have the Spirit of prophecy poured out upon them. In other words, a day will come when ALL the people of God will be able to speak God’s Word to those who are far from God, just as God had put his Spirit on selected individuals to do so in Joel’s day.

The second reading, from Acts, is on the day of following Jesus Christ’s from the dead. Peter, one of Jesus’ closest disciples, interprets the events that occurred on that Pentecost day as the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy about the last days. God has poured out the Holy Spirit on each of the disciples gathered in that room on Pentecost, and now every one of them has the ability to speak for God, to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ, as boldly as any prophet of the past could speak for God. Peter goes on to preach the basic gospel message about Jesus Christ, with such confidence and assurance that verse 41 tells us that three thousand people believed his words and were baptized into the faith. But don’t miss the important words in verses 38 and 39! Peter tells the people that when they repent and are baptized, they TOO will receive the same gift of the Holy Spirit that the disciples had received that had enabled them to speak as God’s representatives. What’s more, “the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.” In other words, for us. When we accept the Word of Christ and are baptized, we too receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift that, through the prophet Joel, God said would enable US to speak the Word of God – to prophesy – to the world.

• Do you believe that you are called by God to speak His Word? Or do you believe that that is a gift reserved for clergy and certain individuals who have received that ability? • How do the words of Joel and of Peter in Acts affect your belief? • If Peter refers to future baptized believers as “all those the Lord our God will call”, then each one of us in the church today is “called by God”. The biblical witness is that those called by God are called to a unique role in proclaiming God’s Word to an unbelieving, and sometimes hostile, world. That is what evangelism is all about. End this week’s study by praying and asking God to show you where He wants you to GO.

Also available at livingwordumc.org