2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14

Summary: Elijah the prophet and his pupil, Elisha, know that the former's time on earth is almost up. (The skipped passage is a little funny, with Elisha twice saying the already part out loud and Elijah twice replying curtly, "I know. Shut up.") Elijah wants to go alone, but Elisha is having none of it. Elijah asks what Elisha wants before he goes; Elisha wants twice the prophetic power as Elijah, which the teacher thinks is a big ask. Eventually, after splitting and crossing a river, a supernatural chariot of fire sweeps Elijah off, and he is gone. Elisha picks up his cloak, does the same action with the river, and carries on. 

Response: As stated before, I do not have a call to full time pastoral ministry. But I feel like the things I'm seeing, of these two men just being human, are struggles of any leader in ministry. The pull to go it alone instead of training up a new generation. At the same time, the thought that Elijah could give Elisha any power. Or Elisha calling on "the God of Elijah," having not yet claimed God as his own. Lord, search my heart and help me in my own ministries. May You be found, honored, and glorified in my work for You. 

Galatians 3:23-29

Summary: Paul views trying to live correctly before Christ as full-on prison. But Jesus, he argues, breaks down the rigidity of the law because we're not obeying a prison warden, we're joining with a Leader. 

Response: To bend the phrase, we had a legal system, now we strive for justice. Jesus doesn't offer less grace to different groups of people. To be fair, the passage here doesn't mention standards of behavior. But it's not our place to give those tests. If we're working with Jesus, we offer His grace and let Him convict hearts.

Lord, help me be an instrument of Your grace today and every day. 

Psalm 22:19-28

Summary: The psalmist asks for God's help. And he gets it! He's so excited, he tells everyone he can find about God and His faithfulness. 

Response: I am blessed, far beyond privileged and teetering towards spoiled. When I'm reading the Bible, I'm often looking for self-inserts that are The Rich Young Ruler or The Prodigal Son (who gets a fortune to squander). I don't often try to empathize with the leper, the beggar, or in this case the persecuted. Because I'm not harried for my faith, it's a stretch for me. I often accuse Psalms of just being whiny. 

But! I'm going to try to believe it a bit more. It might not be David himself going through this, but what about other marginalized groups? I think they could feel a kinship with this so long as privileged people like me can affirm that. Lord, help me to see my blessings not for me but for those around me. 

Isaiah 65:1-9

Summary: God, speaking to His chosen people the Israelites, condemns both their worship of everything but Him but also their insistence that they are better than others. 

Response: Like smoke in my nose. I know I've been there, worshipping other things with my time and attention and money as well; I've been there, dismissing others as less than when I myself am just completely unworthy. Lord, help me to be humble, and help me to seek You. 

Psalm 42 and 43

Summary: The psalmist is in a period of waiting: he wants to be next to God, he feels like God is far away, and that others keep him from God and mock him while doing so.

Response: Yes, it's my lesson of Psalms to learn over again: it's okay that the psalmist regularly voices his honest opinion, even if it's a bit malicious, God is big enough to take it. 

That out of the way... I totally understand that feeling of being between things. I can only hope to seek God in the waiting as well. 

1 Kings 19:1-15a

Summary: Having just witnessed/collaborated on the biggest miracle in generations, Elijah hears that the Queen Jezebel wants to kill him. Elijah is immediately afraid and seeks an audience with God. He is supernaturally whisked away and sees both God's power and His peaceful guidance. 

Response: I'll be honest, I relate to Elijah here. It sounds right that I would have a hard left turn after such a spiritual experience. I'm not sure we're built to be showmen or soldiers for God, but I'm absolutely sure we're created to fellowship with Him. Lord, help me to continue finding you throughout each day. 

John 16:12-15

Summary: Jesus is talking to His disciples as part of His farewell before getting arrested (, tried, tortured, crucified, buried, resurrected, ascended... it's a whole thing). He says that the Holy Spirit will come to:

- guide them into what is true

- pass on what He hears from Jesus about past, present and future things

- bring Jesus glory through the passing on

Response: I often hear (and talk!) about the Spirit being a guide, like an autopilot. This talks more like an advisor, like the little talking heads in Civilization games. However He shows up, Lord, help me to listen to the Spirit today and every day, and to act on His Word. 

Romans 5:1-5

Summary: it's Paul, speaking to the Romans, and I need to chart this a bit: 

- we have peace with God through Jesus because He is our Lord

- we have grace with God through Jesus because we have faith in Him

- we rejoice in both hope and suffering, because suffering eventually produces hope

- finally, the hope lives up to the hype because the Holy Spirit fills in the gap

Response: Sometimes reading Paul sounds like trying to articulate a feeling to someone who's never had it, done by a college professor. It's very thorough, but they pull from so many dense sources that it's hard to keep up without some study. I can understand, though, that he would want to get this kind of thing right as can be. 

The thought is helpful for me to see where I fit in relationship to the Trinity. There is relationship with each part; it is different for each, but the end goal is still the same. Lord, help me to praise You for who You are in all the ways You are, well, You to me. 

Psalm 8 (redux)

Summary: The psalmist praises God and does some perspective taking: man above most of creation, but God way, way up above. 

Response: In the same way that I couldn't conceive of ants having a society in the same way we do, I know that God has ways far beyond what I can understand. 

Last time I read through Psalms was just that, read straight through Psalms. Getting some lectionary context, I might be able to read around my usual irk with the bloodlust in the poems. It often seems like the psalmist says, "God you made all the pretty plants and animals, and you cuddle up with me, and the people I don't like should die die die." I hope you can see how it is difficult to relate to that! 

This one feels a bit different in context. I'm able to read it less as "put my enemy out of their misery" and more of "since you're so much bigger than this, why are we even fighting at all?" Lord, help me to see my problems in Your bigger picture. 

Proverbs 8:22-31

Summary: Wisdom, still speaking anthropomorphically, makes the claim that she was created before Creation and helped with its founding. 

Response: I often miss this point of view when we get to the Genesis creation stories. It always seems like, before the Seven Days, there is not order but chaos. How does perspective change when, instead of God coming and fixing up a mess, He has an order already established and changes it to create us?

Jonathan Colton has a song he wrote for his daughter. He admits that his life seemed put together before she was born; that change was necessary from the life that he had before that and now with her; and that it's impossible to go back, but he doesn't really want to. "You ruined everything, in the nicest way."

Lord, we really did ruin everything. You chose to remake the order to make and fellowship with us. Thank You for this sacrifice among others. Help me to appreciate and emulate. 

Proverbs 8:1-4

Summary: Wisdom is personified as a woman garnering attention at a very public crossroads.

Response: it's hard to put this in a modern context. There is no attention at our crossroads! Either it's literal, and we're driving in cars to get whenever we need to go, or it's social media, and we have so many voices screaming at us and so much dopamine flying around that's it's difficult to focus on anything for too long. Lord, slow me down and focus me on what is important. You have not made me to solve the world, but to worship and commune with You.