Your Humble Servant...

The Corps' bible study group spent a while this past Wednesday looking at 1 Peter 5:6-7. I've been mulling over the passage since then. Here are the verses in the two translations that I use most frequently:

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." (NIV)

"So be content with who you are, and don't put on airs. God's strong hand is on you; he'll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you." (The Message)

I appreciate the need to have a servant mentality in all that we do as Christians, however humility needs to be included into the mix if it's all going to work. The aim is not trying to be something that you're not. It's not about fame, or glory. It's about acknowledging who you are; about how this can be developed.

The two verses mentioned are shown as separate sentences in the translations above, however it's clear there is a connection; they need to be considered as one. One scholar I read said that the Greek word for casting (ejpirivyantes) directly refers back to the previous verse, and to the command to 'humble yourself'. In fact, the study group did find one translation that effectively combined both verses into one sentence:

"And God will exalt you in due time, if you humble yourselves under his mighty hand by casting all your cares on him because he cares for you." (NET Bible)

Shaking the Dust Off Your Feet

Back to our regularly scheduled blogs now, with a whole host of subjects to tell you about; plenty has happened over the summer period! Let's kick off with this one...

There's some really great phrases hidden away in scripture. Or, as Paul has it, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

I sit and ponder these phrases, roll them around in my head. It's not quite as structured as 'Lectio Divina', but the method seems to work for me. Like with the phrase mentioned in the heading above, which has particularly helped me over the last month...

When Jesus sent out his twelve disciples to preach, one of the things he told them was that if people didn’t want to hear what they had to say they were to leave and "shake the dust off your feet." Now, in our modern-day way of thinking, this sounds a little odd. Does this mean that you should literally do that?

Looking a little closer at this phrase we discover that this is an Eastern idiom, meaning you need to shake off any animosity or bitterness that you may have toward someone, so that when you leave, you leave in peace and with no regrets, anger, blame or hurt. When people do not respond, you might well be upset with them. You may even be self-critical; what did I do wrong? "Shaking the dust off your feet" means that you don’t carry any of that with you. You leave it all there and go on your way. It's not your fault - you are simply a messenger, like the disciples were. You are not responsible for their response, merely to be obedient and to convey the message.

Shake the dust from your feet, and move on.

Matthew 10:14
"If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet."

Mark 6:11
"And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them."

Luke 9:5
"If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them."

Acts 13:51
So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium.

(All quotations from NIV)

Wait Upon The Lord

Isaiah 40:31 (The Message)
But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles,
They run and don't get tired,
they walk and don't lag behind.

My family and I went along to the Divisional Fiesta today. And I came back with plenty to blog about! The theme of the day was 'strength', so I wasn't surprised to see many references to strength throughout the day. However, it was the study on another aspect of the verse that has got me thinking...

We all get weary and need to renew our strength from time to time, but Christians are encouraged to do this by waiting on the Lord.

The word "wait" used in this passage is the Hebrew word "קוה" (qavah). Literally the word means to "gather together" or "bind together", in the same way that many strands are bound together to form a rope. The more strands that you use, the stronger the rope. No one strand does all the work. The rope's strength comes from combining with others.

So - those who "wait" on the Lord - that is, are bound tightly together with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - will have strength far beyond those of a single strand.

Hmmm...

Going Round In Circles

It would seem that today is a day that I'm cheerfully spending going around in circles.

Just when I think I am achieving something, all of a sudden I am back to square one and starting out again. How frustrating!

And then it struck me. Isn't that the way that we work through a problem spiritually? Doesn't that explain why we seem to tread over the same ground, again and again?

Theologians apparently call this 'the hermeneutical spiral' -
going round and round in a cycle, working out theology and reading the Bible. You are constantly checking with scripture to ensure you are working to a sound theology, ensuring also that you're not going off on your own hobby horse of your own. As you keep doing round the cycle, the theory says that you should get closer and closer to the thing you are searching for. The answer!

I'm told it's a good thing to do – but I'm getting rather dizzy today!