Daily Liturgy and Scripture

The Ethiopian eunuch had been to Jerusalem, but he may have actually been denied entrance to the temple. Deut. 23:1 forbids eunuchs from entering, and it's likely that he could have taken his trip there in vain. But he was seeking, and God will not leave those who seek him behind.

What makes a disciple of Jesus? It is not a quality that can be purchased, as Simon discovered. He had come to follow a different path, but he did not want to do the work of transformation before he started being a miracle worker. The Apostles certainly did their time in transformation, and the struggles they had suffered made them ready for the job.

Stephen is definitely stoking a fire. Talking about rebellion among the people, he now turns to the Jewish leaders and says, "you did this too, to Jesus." They respond with violence, the opposite of the message of Jesus. As Martin Luther King said, "The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy."

The story of Moses and the patriarchs is prelude to the story of Jesus, which is why Stephen includes it. Not only was Moses an outcast as Jesus was, but he was also revered, and trying to separate the New and Old Testaments would have lost his Jewish audience. Indeed, the new covenant is a fulfillment of the promises being made through Jewish history.

As the gospel came into conflict with the old system of Law, Stephen becomes the person who works out the differences in public. God was doing a new thing, a continuation of the work that had been going on since creation, and Stephen opens with showing how many twists and turns had happened in that story up to now, when the twist of Jesus came into reality.

The measure of success in the early church was measured by Gamaliel, one of the most revered teachers of the day: "If their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God." A good reminder that the establishment of the church was. not only a place for people to learn behavior modification, it was also a partnership with the author of life.

Sharing of possessions was necessary in the early church for both practical and spiritual reasons. As people came into this new community of Christ, many were poor, and the gospel was one of loving others. Working that out in life, meeting needs was also living up to promise of the gospel message.

This is a pivotal moment in the history of the Church. Peter and John and standing before the very people who were instrumental in Jesus's death, and they are standing beside a man who has been given back his life. The unveiling of what God is doing could not be more perfectly illustrated than that.

It's a fun comparison between these Old and New Testament passages. Ecclesiastes talks about making investments, and it seems that Peter makes a New Testament-style one: investing in the lame man, giving him back a life. That investment is what Jesus also made in us, giving us the ability to be whole and at one with God.

In the second section of the sermon from Peter, it's an interesting exercise to remember that this is the same man who denied Jesus three times. When he talks about the importance of the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the need for repentance, this isn't just a story. This is what brought him to this sermon.

Pentecost Sunday is just behind us, but we find ourselves back here in the regular flow of the reading plan! Perhaps this quick reminder is a good one: the Gospel has been brought to all people, not to just a select few. God is the God of all, and the Son died for all.

Interesting that even the actions of Judas are tied to the work of God. This moment in the history of Jesus's kingdom could have been devastating, he has left the work to a group of men who almost universally deserted him. Luckily, God allows comebacks.

It's interesting that, even at Jesus's ascension, the apostles still don't understand what power really is. They are looking for a restoration of their nation, but Jesus is offering them a new Kingdom. Perhaps discipleship is a journey that never ends until we live in that newly established Kingdom.

Theology, humility, and hospitality are all hallmarks of the body of Christ, and especially for us to show to one another. In this little pastoral letter, a selfish person who denies fellow believers, choosing instead to promote himself. This should not be our way.

The spreading of the Gospel is the work of God, and Pentecost is one of the events that sound the great work of God. The message is God's, and we are carriers. The future we have in Jesus is indeed good news, and it was very much worth getting to everyone.

This is a pretty important foundation, though in current times it is less disputed: Jesus is God, and our life is grounded in him. In the first century, when the reality of Jesus coming, dying, and rising from the dead was a little more debated, this would have been critical for the young church to know. It remains as important to our reality today.

Love and fear cannot coexist. Loving others means we do not fear them, and we have no reason to. God has sealed us eternally as his own, so we are free to love as only Jesus could.

The trademarks of love and of the Spirit are shared with our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. This is both because we should share that love with our spiritual family, but also because that shared loves gives our family the kind of attraction that makes others want to be part of it.

The children of God, living in the Kingdom of Jesus, look different than those around them. The undercurrent of love and the work of the Spirit holds us together, but our lives also show the important of things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. The way we treat one another, and the attention we give to following Jesus ourselves, is important.

Loving like Jesus is hard to do, but it is one of the most important things that sets apart followers of Jesus. We need our spiritual families to learn it better, and those families need to listen to one another, listen to the Spirit, to learn how to do it better. This is discipleship.

What brings us together in the community of Christ is not our own perfection, but our following of Jesus. Of course, we are not Jesus, so we are not without mistakes. When we fail, it is the redemption of Jesus that also binds us together.

Condemnation is plentiful for religious leaders who use their position to exploit others. In the early church, while the full reality of Jesus was still being realized, this would have been an easy for smooth-talking charlatans capable of swaying others. Perhaps that is why mercy is emphasized for the doubters: in this landscape, it can sometimes be difficult to know who to follow.

Wholeness is God's design; following Jesus produces this. God is planning a new Heaven and a new earth in our future, the redemption of creation is his to produce. In the meantime, we are living in a preview of that Kingdom, bringing about the rule of Jesus in our present world.

God has judgement for those who claim his name but use that name for their own gain. These false teachers will be subject to the same fierce judgement that was recorded in the Old Testament for those who weren't believers, because of course, this is itself unbelief.

"He ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father." This is part of the Creed we recite, and today we commemorate that portion. Jesus ascended into Heaven, not to escape us, but to become our High Priest at the right hand of the Father, the position of favor. He remains our advocate and the member of the Trinity who knows our experience directly.

Humility is a characteristic of Christ himself, and Christian leaders must be careful that it is one of their own chief qualities. Using our own power is our first response when we're stressed, but Peter recommends instead that we also remember that God is our help, and turning to him in times of trouble is our best option.

The bit of Job today that says, "If you are righteous, what do you give to him, or what does he receive from your hand?
Your wickedness only affects humans like yourself, and your righteousness only other people." This is an interesting idea to bridge both our Old and New Testament readings today, because indeed our goodness is not to flatter God, but to obey God and bring goodness to the humanity God has made.

Discipleship is an upside down world. We do not repay evil with evil, but we seek good as Jesus did, forgiving even those who crucified him. His model of suffering though innocent is a tough road to follow, but it it the thing that makes the path narrow.

The voluntary humility Christ showed is an important characteristic in followers of Christ. Peter uses it as a way that a believer married to an unbeliever might help them understand the way Jesus taught, in lessons that speak louder than words.

The foundation that has been built by Christ and forms our spiritual house makes the place where we continue building by love and obedience. We are building it too, because we are partners with God in the building of the Kingdom of Jesus.

Another letter for the Jews, the apostle Peter addressed those who were scattered by the many factors of the ancient world. Though they were separated, they were brought back together under the same promise of Jesus, the High Priest who unifies all of God's people.

The power that we have is not money, that is to be shared. It is not in oaths, because we have the bond of the Spirit. Our power is in prayer and coming into the throneroom of God, where our true power and identity lie.

For the Feast of Phillip and James, we are focusing in the book of John on a scene with Phillip, bringing other apostles to Jesus. This is basic apostolic work: to follow Jesus and help others do the same. This line of followers ends with Jesus, but it is still our responsibility to follow well.

What we say matters, and we can use our words to either build up or tear down. James isn't writing about the things that give us Salvation (that's God's work, not ours), but he's reminding the young church that the love they should show one another is important, and it plays out in many ways.

It's not the purpose of growing in faith to keep it to ourselves. The faith we have is for bringing wholeness to to the world and the lives of others. This is the life of the Kingdom of Jesus.

Working out the love that flows between God and his people, and also between the people themselves, can take some work. Some things that might flatter our own ego, like catering to the wealthy, work against the intention of the Kingdom of Jesus.

The book of James is sort of the Proverbs of the New Testament talking about a way to conduct ourselves. This isn't a new attempt to create a Law that brings back the old covenant, but rather shows us what lives transformed by Christ should look like.

The new priest and the new covenant are close fellowship with God, and God will not leave his people. There are leaders within the Kingdom, but Christ is our ultimate head and guide. The fruit of whole lives, helping others to live a whole life, is the abundant gift we are given from our Lord.

The priesthood of Christ seems to come now to something VERY sacred in the Jewish history books: the mountain of God. This was the place where God instituted his sovereignty, where Moses brought the Law to them. Now Jesus brings a new covenant, and a new Kingdom.

The Jewish audience had heard about the new High Priest, the new sacrifice, and the new temple. Now the writer of Hebrews brings it together: because Jesus fills the role of High Priest, we are sons and daughters, but this also means we are held accountable when we hold that honor. We have been made whole, and wholeness should be something we give to others.

Not to separate the new priesthood of Christ away from the tradition of the Jews, the writer of Hebrews now brings the narrative back to Jewish history, but with an emphasis on faith. This is not a reliance on the Law of old, but on the way of new believers and previous believers alike, united with a history of the faithful established by God.

The end result of this reframing of Jesus as both sacrifice and high priest is this: we have great hope in the future with a God who is near, and enduring persecution cannot remove us from him. This was important to the early church, and it remains our promise.

The sacrifice offered by the priest was also a central tenet of Jewish belief, and that comes to the forefront in this section. Not only is Christ's sacrifice the final sacrifice because it satisfies the full offering forever, it is also the dawn of a new covenant in the Sprit, where God's Word is written on our heart as his people.

Christ is the high priest and the fulfiller of the covenant, which was put into effect at his death. That death was also the final sacrifice which ended sin's bondage.

With Jesus as the High Priest, a re-imaginging of the temple is also necessary. The holy place where the high priest once entered required the transporting of the sacrificial blood as well, but Christ is both priest and the carrier of the sacrifice. We are freed by his sacrifice to enter the presence of God boldly.

Jesus is established as a high priest in an order that precedes Aaron, and his priesthood includes a new covenant that establishes a new fellowship with God. Through our connection to Christ, we are part of the work of that priesthood and heirs of his promise.

To trace Jesus as a priest in the order of Melchizedek is to connect him with more than the line of Abraham. The Abraham line establishes the Jewish people, but being a priest before that line existed makes the priesthood for all people. This was important because Jesus as a priest doesn't come away from the Jewish people to join the rest of the world, but he is part of a priesthood that already existed for the world.

The writer of Hebrews has covered Jesus's status as a high priest, but here we return, confirming the salvation that Jesus truly brings. His assurance is our motivation to love and serve the body of Christ, and imitating those already at work is how our faith is passed on.

A Jewish audience would have been very intrigued by this description of Jesus, their new high priest. Sacrifice and priest come together in him, and God's covenant is fulfilled in that sacrifice.

The writer of Hebrews brings another important factor in Jewish life into the discussion: Sabbath. Resting is an act of God, and it should be a time of true renewal. Making things new again is God's ultimate goal, and refreshing creation starts from a place of renewed people.