For Such A Time as This – June 3, 2021 – Ryan Cooper

 

To the Good Folk of the Palmyra Church of the Brethren,

Joys and Concerns

If you have a joy or concern you would like us to share and pray about, please call, text, or email it to me.  If you would like it included in our Sunday Worship sharing and prayer time, please share it with Pastor Bill that week by Thursday evening. 

See this Saturday’s “Weekly Update” email for any new prayer concerns.

Thank You:

To all who call others to check in on them and to share our emails and devotions.

Today’s Devotion:

“Compelling Vision” is our denomination's effort to identify a shared vision that can foster unity in the midst of great diversity and dividing differences.  A thirteen session Bible Study has been developed to undergird this statement.  We are using pieces of the Bible Study in our weekly devotion email.

Today’s reflection was written by Ryan Cooper, who is pastor of Beaver Creek Church of the Brethren in Rockingham County, Virginia. He serves as chair of the Ministerial Leadership Team for Shenandoah District, on Standing Committee, and as Vice-Chair of the Christian Growth Institute executive team, teaching both Old Testament and Biblical Interpretation.

Shalom, Dennis

Compelling Visions Statement
Together, as the Church of the Brethren, we will passionately live and share the radical transformation and holistic peace of Jesus Christ through relationship-based neighborhood engagement. To move us forward, we will develop a culture of calling and equipping disciples who are innovative, adaptable, and fearless.
 
Session 9 – Jesus Christ, Our Lord

How do we understand Jesus as Lord?

Scriptures - Exodus 20:1-6, Matthew 16:21-24

Reflection – Ryan Cooper

When the Ten Commandments were dictated to the nation of Israel, they were grounded in response to Israel’s unique relationship with God compared to the nations that surrounded them. While other cultures and religions worshipped many gods and goddesses, Judaism worshiped only one deity. This one they declared as Lord freed Israel from the slavery and bondage of Egypt. Each one of the ten plagues demonstrated superiority over a deity that Egypt worshipped (i.e., plague of darkness = Ra, deity of light; plague of firstborn = Osiris, deity of death). The nation’s freedom culminated with the parting of the sea and safe passage on dry ground. For the nation, it was unmistakably clear that God was to be respected, honored, and revered. Israel was set free by God’s mighty hand; God is superior to all other deities!

The first two commandments focus on the place of God as Lord. God is the one who led Israel from the land of Egypt. Therefore, there should be no other gods before God, or literally, before the face of God. Moses even confirmed this when he sang: “Who is like you, O Lord, among all the gods? (Exodus 15:11)” The second commandment prohibits the creation and worship of an idol, for “the LORD is a jealous God.” The phrase here is El Qanah or El, the Jealous One. Why is this significant? Ancient texts suggest that El Qanah, linked here with YHWH and other texts in Exodus, was exiled and replaced by Ba’al in the land of Canaan (Prichard, 1978, pp. 145-158). In the historical context, these first two commandments then truly become a declaration of loyalty and a pledge for faithfulness above all others.

With this revelation comes a deep truth–the nation of Israel should not bring any other deity before the face of God! The nation delivered by YHWH should remain wholly faithful and not split their loyalty with other gods as they interact with the surrounding cultures. The allegiance of the people of God should be centered in God and God alone. Anything else that competed with the place of God, whether an object, a deity of another culture, material possessions, etc., is evidence of divided loyalty. That is why many historical Brethren believed in simple living and the refusal to swear an oath–to have many possessions or swear an oath, our loyalty must be to someone other than God!

Jesus himself affirms this understanding in the Matthew text. Shortly after Peter confessed that Jesus was the Messiah, he tried to stop Jesus from going to the cross. Jesus rebuked Peter and then challenged all of his disciples to pick up their own cross and follow. For whoever tries to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for God will find it. To take up a cross is the ultimate declaration of surrender; one must completely surrender identity, objectives, goals, and agendas and take up the agenda of the kingdom of God solely! But we do not aimlessly take up the cross; we willingly do so and follow Jesus. If Jesus is truly Lord, then every priority should be about faithful discipleship. Anything else that we pursue is a rival. Jesus is jealous for our time and wholehearted devotion. Will we follow?

Sending

Loving Lord, I offer up today all that I am, all that I have, all that I do, and all that I suffer, to be Yours today and Yours forever. Give me grace, Lord, to do all that I know of Your holy will. Purify my heart, sanctify my thinking, correct my desires. Teach me, in all of today’s work and trouble and joy, to respond with honest praise, simple trust, and instant obedience, that my life may be in truth a living sacrifice, by the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ, my Master and my all. Amen