Monday morning staff meetings at SROM are quickly turning into some of my favorite times! We come together as a staff to pray for our students, our alumni, our staff and directors, and anything that the Lord has been laying on our hearts throughout the week. We take the time to really dive into the devotions that we lead students in throughout our courses, and we discuss the different needs we see in the generations we're serving.
This week we talked about the general shift from the Church as an institution to the Church as a Family. We drew on the concept of tribes in the Old Testament (Abraham, Israel, 12 tribes) and translated it to our lives today as covenantal church families. Though we are not necessarily related to one another by DNA, we are related to one another by the blood of Christ. We are all part of His Body; we belong to His Body. For me, it hit home the point that I am not my own. Because I have committed to Christ and have embraced His commitment to me, I am now part of a spiritual family that is significantly affected by my life. I don't have the luxury of keeping the consequences of my actions to myself; my actions, choices, decisions, etc. affect my ability to contribute to the growth of my spiritual family, whether positively or negatively! The effects of sin are communal, but the effects of blessing are generational (Deuteronomy 5:9-10).
In our individualistic society, this is a tough concept to wrestle with. I would like nothing more than to believe that my sin and messiness can stay locked up inside me with no one ever needing to know! But the grace of relationship is that my sin and messiness comes to the Light and is redeemed. The only way that redemption happens is in community, as I share my story with those around me and hear their stories in return. We belong to the Body of Christ, and it is through our being with others in this Body that we are challenged, changed, and sanctified.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Covenant
At our Monday morning staff meeting this week we focused on the concept of covenant, and explored biblical examples as well as how the true meaning of covenant has been lost in our society today. Covenant still carries with it connotations of a promise, maybe even a serious promise, but the deeper heart of a binding commitment is difficult to grasp. As I understand it, a covenant is made between two parties under the authority and accountability of a third outside party. (E.g., we often refer to marriage as a covenant between two people before God.) Both parties are bound to one another, and serious consequences are in store for whomever dares break covenant. In the Old Testament, covenant required a sacrifice because blood was a key part of covenant. Every covenant mentioned in the Old Testament involves a sacrifice of blood (Gen 8, 15, and 17, just to name a few). Blood is required to indicate how seriously both parties take the covenant; in essence, each is saying "Let this be done to me if I break covenant with you."
While there are grave consequences for breaking covenant, the trust that is displayed by both parties allows opportunity for incredible intimacy. Referring again to the example of marriage, when both people are truly and wholly committed to one another and to the success of the marriage, there is the freedom to give yourself fully to the other without the fear that they're going to run the opposite direction when your sinful nature surfaces. In covenant, there is a beautiful opportunity for growth and refining. Covenant is scary because it's a serious commitment! It requires intense vulnerability, and it continues to demand vulnerability of each party. It's not as if there's a plateau of vulnerability, and then you get to coast. Covenant fosters an ongoing bond between both parties, and there is the opportunity for healthy mutual dependency that promises to be there today, tomorrow, and each day after that.
In Jesus, we live in the New Covenant. Christ has fulfilled the Law and has fully taken on the consequences of our sinful nature and our inability to keep covenant with God. When God made covenant with Abram and chose the Israelites as His people, He did so with the full knowledge that they wouldn't be able to keep the Law and would break covenant again and again. Rather than destroying mankind every time we failed (because He promised never to do that again in Genesis 8, and He is faithful even though we are not!), God accepted animal sacrifices to fulfill the covenantal demand for the shedding of blood. When Jesus came, He came in the dual role of Sacrifice and Redeemer. He came not only to fully and completely pay the blood sacrifice demanded by the covenant, but also to initiate a New Covenant to bring all of Creation back to relationship with God.
Now, our view of covenant directly informs how seriously we understand what it means to submit our lives to Jesus. Do we truly understand what it means to be in covenant with the God of the Universe? When we tell kids in Sunday school about 'asking Jesus into their heart,' do we really understand what kind of commitment we're asking of kids who still think there are monsters under the bed? In giving our lives over to Jesus as King and Savior, we are entering into the New Covenant with Him. We submit to His authority and reign, and we actively choose to live as He commands us to. We refuse all other ways of living, and we obey what He asks of us. We are binding ourselves to Him, and giving our lives over for Jesus to bind Himself to us. That is incredible! Don't miss the beauty of the second part: God is committed to us. The more we understand the gravity of covenant and seek Jesus, the more we experience the love and freedom offered to us through trusting that God will not abandon us. We are faithless and sinful, but God is not. He holds up His end of the covenant and offers us unending grace when we fail. When we understand the kind of Love that is on the table, we can't help but be intrigued and want to know it more!
While there are grave consequences for breaking covenant, the trust that is displayed by both parties allows opportunity for incredible intimacy. Referring again to the example of marriage, when both people are truly and wholly committed to one another and to the success of the marriage, there is the freedom to give yourself fully to the other without the fear that they're going to run the opposite direction when your sinful nature surfaces. In covenant, there is a beautiful opportunity for growth and refining. Covenant is scary because it's a serious commitment! It requires intense vulnerability, and it continues to demand vulnerability of each party. It's not as if there's a plateau of vulnerability, and then you get to coast. Covenant fosters an ongoing bond between both parties, and there is the opportunity for healthy mutual dependency that promises to be there today, tomorrow, and each day after that.
In Jesus, we live in the New Covenant. Christ has fulfilled the Law and has fully taken on the consequences of our sinful nature and our inability to keep covenant with God. When God made covenant with Abram and chose the Israelites as His people, He did so with the full knowledge that they wouldn't be able to keep the Law and would break covenant again and again. Rather than destroying mankind every time we failed (because He promised never to do that again in Genesis 8, and He is faithful even though we are not!), God accepted animal sacrifices to fulfill the covenantal demand for the shedding of blood. When Jesus came, He came in the dual role of Sacrifice and Redeemer. He came not only to fully and completely pay the blood sacrifice demanded by the covenant, but also to initiate a New Covenant to bring all of Creation back to relationship with God.
Now, our view of covenant directly informs how seriously we understand what it means to submit our lives to Jesus. Do we truly understand what it means to be in covenant with the God of the Universe? When we tell kids in Sunday school about 'asking Jesus into their heart,' do we really understand what kind of commitment we're asking of kids who still think there are monsters under the bed? In giving our lives over to Jesus as King and Savior, we are entering into the New Covenant with Him. We submit to His authority and reign, and we actively choose to live as He commands us to. We refuse all other ways of living, and we obey what He asks of us. We are binding ourselves to Him, and giving our lives over for Jesus to bind Himself to us. That is incredible! Don't miss the beauty of the second part: God is committed to us. The more we understand the gravity of covenant and seek Jesus, the more we experience the love and freedom offered to us through trusting that God will not abandon us. We are faithless and sinful, but God is not. He holds up His end of the covenant and offers us unending grace when we fail. When we understand the kind of Love that is on the table, we can't help but be intrigued and want to know it more!
Thursday, November 7, 2013
First week in Laradise!
I don't even know where to begin! The incomparable Trudy and I left last week on Friday, drove straight through (Nebraska is still mind-numbingly long), and made it to Laramie in pretty incredible time. We spent Saturday and Sunday exploring Laramie and looking at potential apartments. Praise the Lord, I was able to find a studio apartment! I'll be going in this afternoon during my lunch break to officially take over the lease from the tenant living there now. I'm hoping to move in by the beginning of next week!
I started work at SROM on Monday morning, and I've been loving every moment of it! My coworkers are absolutely phenomenal, and I'm so excited to continue getting to know everyone. We're in the middle of a pretty huge transition right now, and a lot of the projects that we're working on will enable us to run courses much more effectively. Even though the summer is still quite a ways away, there is a LOT to do before courses start in May. It's an exciting time to jump in!
In the midst of all the transitioning, I'm realizing that I fooled myself into thinking that the hard part would be simply getting out here. I wasn't really preparing myself for the emotional side of the physical move. Packing and driving were the easy parts! I've felt a little blindsided by how much I miss those I left in Wheaton. I absolutely have seen the hand of the Lord in providing for me to be here, and I am astounded at how smoothly this transition has gone overall: I have an incredibly community that is welcoming me with open hearts and arms, and I have a job that I really love with amazing coworkers. But there are definitely hard parts about being away from family and friends that I love. Please be praying for wisdom for me as I try to find the balance of pouring in here and getting connected with community, and keeping in contact with loved ones back home. Forming deep relationships takes time, and I'm learning how to nurture the deep relationships I already have without using that as an excuse to avoid forming new relationships.
Sorry that this is more of an update and less of any meat to chew on! I just wanted to keep everyone in the loop as far as moving has gone!
Blessings!
I started work at SROM on Monday morning, and I've been loving every moment of it! My coworkers are absolutely phenomenal, and I'm so excited to continue getting to know everyone. We're in the middle of a pretty huge transition right now, and a lot of the projects that we're working on will enable us to run courses much more effectively. Even though the summer is still quite a ways away, there is a LOT to do before courses start in May. It's an exciting time to jump in!
In the midst of all the transitioning, I'm realizing that I fooled myself into thinking that the hard part would be simply getting out here. I wasn't really preparing myself for the emotional side of the physical move. Packing and driving were the easy parts! I've felt a little blindsided by how much I miss those I left in Wheaton. I absolutely have seen the hand of the Lord in providing for me to be here, and I am astounded at how smoothly this transition has gone overall: I have an incredibly community that is welcoming me with open hearts and arms, and I have a job that I really love with amazing coworkers. But there are definitely hard parts about being away from family and friends that I love. Please be praying for wisdom for me as I try to find the balance of pouring in here and getting connected with community, and keeping in contact with loved ones back home. Forming deep relationships takes time, and I'm learning how to nurture the deep relationships I already have without using that as an excuse to avoid forming new relationships.
Sorry that this is more of an update and less of any meat to chew on! I just wanted to keep everyone in the loop as far as moving has gone!
Blessings!
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