Well, it's been a while since I've entered any comments here. I'm not sure if anyone is reading these comments on our Bible 365 readings but as is usually the case with exercises like this, I'm sure I benefit the most anyway so I'm back. If you are part of the Christ Church family you probably had access to my travel log from Kenya.

Our reading for Sunday May 2 included chapter 19 in the Gospel of Matthew. That chapter includes what is at the same time one of my most favorite and yet one of my least favorite passages. I love the fact that Jesus wanted to have the children close to him. I loathe the fact that his disciples wanted to keep them away. As I read that passage yesterday with members of our Evangelism Team, I got to wondering just how we disciples might be keeping people of all ages away from Jesus. Seems to me that the work of the disciple is to get people closer to Jesus.

Today's reading from Matthew 6 dovetails right in with our current sermon series at Christ Church: Praying the Scriptures. When we examine prayers recorded for us in the Bible, we often discover that they are not long or complicated. The prayer that Jesus gave his followers (what we call The Lord's Prayer) was not long or complicated either. With the example of that prayer, Jesus basically taught us to pray directly and simply. Perhaps we would find ourselves praying more often if we put this teaching into practice. Let's work on that this week.

Yesterday the daily reading in I Samuel described that moment when the people asked Samuel (and God) to give them a king. Up until this time, Israel had been governed by judges. Samuel is the last of these charismatic leaders who were really a combination of judge, priest, and ruler. The really telling words appear after Samuel warns them of all the negative aspects of having a king. They do not heed his warnings. I Samuel 8:19-20 "We want a king over us.

Joshua 20 recounts for us an action that speaks to a shift in the understanding of justice for the Hebrew people. Originally the basic eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, life for a life was the guiding principle in all matters. Here we see that God distinguishes a killing that was intentional from one that was accidental. For us, that seems to be an obvious distinction but in that culture, the oldest male relative was bound by law to seek out lifeblood for lifeblood.

Happy St. Patrick's Day. In today's readings from 2 Corinthians chapter 2, we see the far from humble Paul attempting to be humble -- to step aside and give God and Jesus the spotlight. That's not easy to do --- especially in a church that is as full of talent, potential, creativity, and leadership skills as Christ Church. That's why I think verse 5 has a very special message for the people of our church. ... so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom but on God's power. You see, no matter how great human wisdom and ability may be, there is always a limit to what we can do on our own.

Today we begin reading in one of the New Testament Epistles or Letters. This form is very different from a Gospel. It was written to a specific group of people at a specific time in a specific context. Reading a New Testament Letter is kind of like listening to one side of a telephone conversation. We don't know exactly what has preceded the conversation or what will follow and we don't know what the other side would say in response.

In Numbers 14, we read about the Back to Egypt Committee. Already the Israelites had forgotten how terrible life had been as slaves in Egypt. They complain to Moses and Aaron and say to one another: "we should choose a leader and go back to Egypt." (Numbers:14:4They said one to another, "Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt."). When God is at work among people doing a new thing, you can pretty much count on there being a "Back to Egypt Committee" appearing somewhere along the way. The unknown is so difficult for some people that they would prefer a "terrible known" over a potentially good unknown.

You thought you wanted to get through with Exodus and then you hit Leviticus. You thought you wanted to get through Leviticus and then, you hit Numbers. They call these books The Law for a reason. They are filled with do's and don'ts. But remember, these people had been slaves for generations. They did not know how to be a people. They needed lots of guidance and God gave it to them. Here in Numbers, God begins by telling them to count the people. Next he tells them how to set up camp. Lots of logistics to be taken care of. It made me reflect upon the way we manage things here at the Church.