April 26th 2007
Slippery Slope of Self-Determination
Read Exodus 1:2-10 (Can't hurt ya to read it again)
"Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people:
"Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live." v.22
Anger, malice, and contempt are a fertile soil for irrationality and self-destructive behavior. For the last couple days we have been looking at the various ironies found in the first two chapters of Exodus. One of the most profound ironies is located in the actions of Pharaoh. This national leader has determined, whatever the cost, to ensure that his throne is in no way threatened by the presence of the Israelite people. The problem is no matter how hard he works to oppress the people, God's abundance can't seemed to be stiffled. At this point, we encounter a battle of wills of cosmic proportion.
Pharaoh has determined in his mind to have it "his way." He initially attempts to coerce the Hebrew Midwives to kill all Hebrew boys as they are being delivered. What he fails to recognize in his anger and self-determination is that this manipulative tactic will eventually undermine his own entire economic system based upon the slave-labor of the Israelite men; no boys, no slaves. Unable to accomplish this plan (those darn midwives), he in essence loses his mind to his anger and control and issues a decree that all boys are to be thrown in the river Nile when they are born. Again, his self-determination has led him to issue a decree that will eventually threaten the stability of his entire nation, a stability that he sought to protect in the first place; no boys, no army...
When our lives have succumb to the pressures of control and anger we find ourselves on a very slippery slope. We begin to make decisions and take actions that are based on an entirely limited emotional perspective. We surrender our ability to examine situations logically and prayerfully. We are caught up in a whirlwind of chaotic behavior, oftentimes subverting our own hopes and plans. The lover spurned who has decided to get even, the bullied child who acts out in revenge, the co-worker who calls into question the integrity of someone in line for promotion...or whatever situation of self determination, these will eventually lead to one's own undoing. Peace comes only as we recognize that we are bound to lose all cosmic battles of will. Only as we surrender to God our need to control and relinquish our anger, malice, and contempt are we able to "find our way" (or perhaps led down the right way).
April 25th 2007
The Loss of Humanity
Read Exodus 1-2:10 (Yes Again)
"So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor,
and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. " v. 1:11
We look to the atrocities of the 20th Century and we ask ourselves questions like, "How could Hitler do what he did to other human beings?" "What would cause such agression between human beings in Rwanda?" For many of us, it seems nearly unfathomable to ever treat other humans with such indifference, violence or agression. What we fail to realize however is that in systems of dominance and oppression there is a distinct loss of humanity. The people brutalized are viewed as objects or commodities, helpful in some manner, a nuisance in others, but in most completely expendable. The people of Israel found themselves in such a brutal system of oppression in the beginning of the Exodus story. Mind you, it was from this system that God sought to liberate them.
Through dominance and oppression a person's dignity is stripped, their identity is redefined, and their worth is quantified. To Pharaoh, the people who would later become Israel had value only as slave labor--their numbers were a threat unless they could be manipulated to serve the economic system of the ruling class. In essence, these slaves had lost their "humanness." The ironic thing being, not only do the slaves lose their humanity but the oppressor is also stripped of his as well. In the eyes of the oppressed, the oppressor is seen as less than human...evil, an animal, an anomaly of sorts. That is why when the oppressed are liberated they often become the oppressor--for although freedom is given, humanity isn't restored.
It is easy for us to look to such situations as Nazi Germany, Pharaoh's Egypt, or Rwanda with great disdain and disgust. However, and rather unfortunately, we ignore the truth that many of us participate in systems of oppression and dominance that redefine the value of other human beings. In a consumer based society driven by the "almighty" dollar, workers in foreign countries are coerced and manipulated to work in slavelike conditions, swept away in systems determined to keep the wages as low as possible. Through our greed and over-consumption we prepare the shackles for those we strip of their humanity. Please understand, however, that despite our self-righteous egotism that defines our lives as civilized over and above the third world, because of our systems we have lost our humanity in their eyes as well. In Exodus we come to realize that both groups, the oppressed and the oppressor, are in need of God's liberating grace.
April 24th 2007

The Irony of Gender
Read Exodus 1-2:10
"Then Pharaoh's Daughter went down tot he Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it..." v. 2:5
Moses saves a nation, but some girls do so first? The first two chapters of Exodus is riddled with irony and perhaps we will spend the next couple days talking about the various ironies witnessed in these two chapters, but first we have to look to the irony of gender. For centuries the scriptures have been used to subjugate women to masculine systems of oppression. Men have been quick to run to the various one-liners scattered throughout the scriptures to voice our "divinely sanctioned" prejudice and egotism. Women have been viewed by a primarily patriarchial system as less than the man and we have used the bible to support that system.
Now please understand, I am not a feminist. Various "ism's" quickly become worship of individual causes. What I am is a Christian who is attempting to take seriously the scriptural story. Throughout the story, we encounter important, dare I say, essential women in the fulfillment of God's plan in this world. Exodus 1 and 2 are primarily such a place. Throughout two chapters, the main characters that are used as vessels of salvation are two midwives, a sister, a mother, the daughter of the Pharaoh, and her attendants. Notice that Moses isn't, if the women hadn't acted. Perhaps the entire story of Israel is delayed if these women hadn't acted. Under the nose of the supremely important male Pharaoh are some forgotten "less thans" that are used by God to offer to the people the hope that "The Man" was attempting to squash.
What might this mean? Perhaps each person and each community of faith need answer that question for themselves, but I am left asking the question..."Is the overarching story of the scriptures one of dominance and oppression?" Or "Does the story of God redefine our manipulative and egotistic systems and offer the hope that even "less thans" can be used in significant salvific ways. And if the latter question be answered to the affirmative, then in a mathematical formula do the <'s become = to.
April 23rd 2007
Jesus and Public Assistance
Read Acts 3:1-10
"Now a man crippled from birth was being caried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts." v. 2
When we read the story of Peter and John passing the beggar, we immediately turn toward the momentous healing and sing the song, "He went jumping and leaping and praising God..." But...before there is a healing, there is a disturbing verse. This man had spent his entire life placed in the predicament that he sat that day. He had been left by his family, friends, and the greater society to in many ways fend for himself. All that others could do for him was cart him to the place where he might find "public assistance."
Sitting amongst a group of pastors recently, I heard one pastor make the comment that many homeless people chose their circumstances. It was obvious from that comment that he had very few deep conversations with those that have no place to call home. In many ways their stories mimic the story of the crippled beggar. Many have grown up crippled by the circumstances of their lives from birth. They have grown up in homes destroyed by alcohol, drugs and abuse. Their lives have adapted very similar cycles of destructive behaviors that were modeled for them when they were young. Some lost a job and had no savings to fall back upon--or friends and family for that matter. Still others are sitting outside the temple due to the escalating costs of healthcare. Regardless, they have been carted to the same place day after day, no one really knowing how to deal with them...left fending for themselves without the emotional, mental, physical or vocational resources to do so. There they sit, hands extended hoping that some form of "public assistance" will get them through the day.
But the beauty of the story is that it is precisely at this point of desperation that the church enters. Peter and John refused to participate in the same cyclical system that would give this beggar a dime for a day and leave him hungry for tomorrow. Instead, their encounter with the risen Christ and their filling of the Holy Spirit had left them yearning for restoration--not simply hand outs. They recognized through the touch of the church and hope of Christ, that this man's life could be changed. That is what is offered. Today, the church must read afresh this story. We can't be satisfied with the giving of alms (tossing in some coins here and there). We must seek restoration. We must help those who can't help themselves (who haven't been trained to do so or have given up hope) by offering them holistic assistance. We must offer Jesus as long as He is accompanied by food, vocational training, rehab, housing assistance, intense discipleship, money management, and transportation. Like Peter and John, we reach down and lift them to their feet regardless the cost to ourselves, the inconvenience, or the level of involvement it will require. And oh by the way... we might just make a new friend in the process.
Welcome. You have entered Jeff's Blog. Many of you reading this attend our Saturday Night Worship Service @ the Naz. I will utilize this blog is one primary way. I will hopefully post nearly daily in order to spark some thought about how the Scriptures engage and challenge our lives. It is my belief that the Story of the Scriptures redefines our personal stories. I look forward to the ways in which you are challenged, encouraged, and disturbed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Happy Reading!

By the way, you might be wondering why it is called the community of hope Blog. Very simply stated, I believe that the one thing that unifies us at Clarksville First Church of the Nazarene is our comittement to the hope-filled message of Jesus Christ. As I consistently hear stories about the grace of God, I am utterly convinced that hope stands at the center of our community of faith and directs our actions in this world.