"You have said, 'It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the LORD Almighty? – Malachi 3:14

 Today's Scripture Reading (October 14, 2020): Malachi 3 & 4

Here is a truth that you don't want to hear. Ready. It's not about you. It might be one of the questions that I hear asked more than any other, "What about me? Don't I deserve …?" But the answer remains the same. It is just not about you. And you have a choice. You can fight against that truth and live a miserable life, or you can deal with it and figure out what it is that you need to do to make the most out of this life. It is up to you, but your reaction to the truth won't change the fact. And the truth is that it is not about you.

It is about each other. Life works best when we concentrate more on the other person than we do on ourselves. We look out for each other. In the midst of a pandemic, I don't wear a mask so that I won't get sick; the purpose of my mask is to make sure that you don't get sick. And I know that is a hard fact to get our heads around, but it is how our world was created work and how it has to be if we are to build community around us.

Malachi says that the people are complaining that "it is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements?" The focus is inward. It is all about me except that it isn't about me. It is always about the other person. And most of what God has to say is about our responsibility to each other.

Consider the last six of the Ten Commandments. I might be able to get ahead by taking advantage of my parents and grandparents, except that God says, "Honor your father and your mother" (Exodus 20:12). Taking the lives of those who oppose you makes sense. After all, an obstacle to your happiness has been removed, especially if you are a mob boss, except that God says, "You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13). Cheating on your spouse might feel good at the moment, except that God says, "You shall not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14). Just taking whatever you want will fulfill your desires except that God says, "You shall not steal" (Exodus 20:15). Lying might get you where you want to go except that God says, "You shall not give false testimony" (Exodus 20:16). Being jealous of what your friend has might make you feel justified in whatever course of action it is that you want to take, except that God says, "You shall not covet" (Exodus 20:17). At each step, God reminds us that our responsibility is not toward furthering our own desires and expectations, and it is all about taking care of each other.

And that is something that we should want to do. I shouldn't need a pat on the back for caring for my neighbor. We live in a global community, and one of our society's expectations, regardless of our religious beliefs or lack thereof, is that we covenant to care for each other. And caring for each other is never futile, no matter how we might feel about God.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Luke 1

For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth. – Malachi 2:7

 Today's Scripture Reading (October 13, 2020): Malachi 2

Puppeteer and Muppet Creator Jim Henson argued that "Kids don't remember what you try to teach them. They remember what you are." And it isn't just kids. One of the biggest obstacles that I watch people struggle through has nothing to do with what they know, but everything to do with who they are. Admittedly, it has even been an obstacle that I have had to overcome in my relationships with people. Sometimes the way people see you overshadows the message that you are trying to send.

It is a prevalent problem for politicians. It is impossible to obfuscate or outright lie and then hope that your audience will accept your words as truth when that is what you need them to do. If that is what you aspire to be, the best liars are those who spin their mistruths occasionally, but who typically tell the truth. Sometimes, they can get away with their lies for a time. But those who continually lie are often not believed, even when they tell the truth.

The priesthood during the days of Malachi seems to be in disarray. The priests were defiled, and they were not trusted by the very people they had been called to serve. That was a problem; the priests were the same people, commissioned by God, to give the people truth about the nature of their faith journey. The message that was coming from the mouth of Malachi should have been coming from the priests. The Prophet's name meant "The Messenger," but Malachi argues that the priests were the ones designed by God to be "The Messengers" who spoke to Israel, but they were failing at their tasks. The message from the priests was either contradictory or simply not believed by the people.

But it might not have been that the priests didn't know. The problem was that the priests' character did not allow the people to believe anything that they said. And so, God had commissioned another "Messenger" to come to the people, Malachi. This messenger's character was such that the people could believe him. And he would tell the people the truth about God.

It is a principle that we need to remember in our world. Our character matters and impacts every truth that we try to tell. And if we ignore that reality, we can never be the truth-tellers that this world needs. Matters of faith will end up being just another thing thrown onto the trash heap along with all of the other lies that people tell. People won't believe us when it comes to what we know about God, because we have never been truthful about the little things of life. Because, when it comes to the knowledge we would like to share, who we are matters more than what we know.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Malachi 3 & 4

A prophecy: The word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi. – Malachi 1:1

 Today's Scripture Reading (October 12, 2020): Malachi 1

Time passes. It just does, and there is nothing that we can do about it. What happens at this moment will soon exist only in the past. And the unknowable future will quickly become the overwhelming now. The greatest pain and worst problem is not the one that exists in either the past or the future. It is the one that exists at this moment that we call "now." And often, the pain of the now leaves us paralyzed, thinking that we cannot move into the future, that this is the way that it is always going to be. Pain in the now often removes hope for the future. Everything seems to be desperate and dark, and we begin to believe the no one cares

The opening words of this prophecy give us the only biblical mention of the Prophet Malachi. We are not sure if "Malachi" is a name, or just the nickname of some unknown prophet, or even the anonymous writings of someone more prominent. The problem comes from the name itself. Malachi means "The Messenger" or "My Messenger," rendering these opening words of the writing as "A prophecy: The word of the Lord to Israel through "My Messenger." But the most common form of the name would have added "yah" or even "ah," resulting in the name Malachiah, meaning "The Messenger of God." The Prophet is missing that typical addition.

Adding to the mystery is the fact that Malachi is not mentioned by any of his contemporaries or near contemporaries. But that just might be because he was the last of the prophets; the other prophecies had already been closed before "The Messenger" makes his pronouncement.

By the time of Malachi, the Temple had been rebuilt, the Temple Sacrifice and feasts had resumed, but these practices were already in decline. The people felt that God was not keeping his promises to the nation, and wondered if God really cared for them. The people were overwhelmed in the eternal now, and they could no longer see a path into the future.

And so, God sends his messenger to minister in Israel's painful now. Malachi intends to reassure the people of God's love for them and remind them of their failure and their responsibility for their own behavior as they move into the future. Because what we do now sets up everything that we will experience tomorrow, and the lessons we learned from yesterday should influence our behavior in the now.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Malachi 2

Personal Note: Happy Birthday, Mom.

On that day the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people and there it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be admitted into the assembly of God … Nehemiah 13:1

 Today's Scripture Reading (October 11, 2020): Nehemiah 13

Do you know what it is like to be an outsider? Author Jean Webster argues that "Half of the time I don't know what they're talking about; their jokes seem to relate to a past that everyone but me has shared. I'm a foreigner in the world and I don't understand the language." I am not sure if Webster was talking about her own experience or whether she placed herself in one of her characters' shoes. But I understand the words. Often, her words accurately describe exactly how I feel. I often feel like an outsider that doesn't belong. I can sit in a room full of people and feel like I don't understand the language or the jokes, and the things that are being said relate to a history of which I am ignorant.

I don't think that I am alone. In fact, I think what I feel might be more common than we might believe. Maybe we are all still living in Junior High, trying to live up to the image projected by the cool kids without realizing that no one is sure who the cool kids are or what the rules might be that we are all desperately trying to follow.

I have to admit that it is comments, like this one that Nehemiah makes about the Ammonites and Moabites, that I struggle within the Tanakh or the Hebrew Bible. I am bothered by the declaration that no (fill in the blank) should ever be admitted to the assembly of God. These people are and always will be excluded. Christian scholars tend to add a phrase to the prohibition that says, "unless they convert to Judaism." But that "exception to the rule" is not found in the text. Here the blanket statement is that no Ammonite or Moabite should be admitted into the Assembly of God, ever. It is a law that is found in the beginning, back in the nation's infancy, written during the days of Moses.

Except that there are exceptions. Ruth was a Moabite, and also the great-grandmother David. Ruth was an outsider, and yet became an essential character in the history of the nation. 

And that might be the real story, especially within the Christian tradition. We are all "the excluded." Luke, in Acts, tells the story of an Ethiopian eunuch, another person who, according to the Book of Moses, is to be forever excluded from the Assembly of God. Deuteronomy says, "No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 23:1). What is excluded in the Book of Moses, Luke makes clear, is included in Christ.

This is good news for me, and maybe for you as well, because I am an outsider who never seemed quite able to find his place at the cool kid's table. But even though the world might want to exclude me, in Christ, I am included. And I always will be.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Malachi 1

And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away. – Nehemiah 12:43

 Today's Scripture Reading (October 10, 2020): Nehemiah 12

When my wife and I were starting out together, I remember an apartment we rented for one whole month. It was the month of February, and it just might have been the longest month of our marriage up until that point. Where we lived, February was a frigid month. Snow sat on the ground, building up into heaps. The temperature never even got close to freezing, let alone venture above it. But our apartment was hot. And we had no control over the heat. That cold February, I remember opening up our windows at night, trying desperately to cool the apartment down just a little bit.

But the apartment's temperature was far from the only thing wrong with the place where we were trying to live. The apartment was on the building's ground floor, which meant that we had a patio door that led out into an open green space of the complex. One of our neighbors drove a Harley Davidson motorbike. It was his pride and joy, and of course, being an apartment, the only available parking was outside. So, every night he would drive his bike through the patio window of the apartment into his living room. And every morning, he would reverse the process, starting his Harley up in his living room before driving it out the patio door, which meant that every morning and night, the smell of the exhaust drifted into our apartment. Our neighbor’s revving the Harley sitting in his living room became our morning wake-up call during the week.

On the weekends, the problem came from the other side of our apartment. During the week, our neighbors were quiet, but they started to drink on Friday night. And it didn’t take long for the fight to start. For the length of the weekend, they yelled at each other, they screamed at neighbors who might dare to complain about the noise, and they bellowed at friends who had come over to visit. By Sunday night, they were worn out, the apartment grew quiet, and we restarted the process all over again.

Between the heat and the noise, we found a different place to live in March. But not all noise is equal. While the heat, fumes, and noise can drive us away, other times, they can draw us in. I have paused to listen to the fans screaming at a Football Game, wishing that I was inside the stadium watching the game or stopped at a car rally to listen to the roar of the hot rods. I have heard the band's music performing at an outdoor concert and wished that I had a ticket to sit and watch the musicians play. I have sat and listened to one of my current neighbors play his guitar in his garage during the warm summer months, marveling at the sound of his fingers brushing over the strings. I have been drawn toward the loud sounds of a block party happening just a short distance away. Some sounds might drive us away from our homes or cause us to complain, but other noises draw us in, making us wish to be part of the celebration.

As the people gathered at Jerusalem, Nehemiah organized them to make a loud and joyful noise. You could hear the choirs and the singing of the people a distance away, not chasing you away from the party at the ruins of the city, but drawing you in and making you a part. Amid significant opposition and many problems, the people celebrated because God had given them great joy. And as those in Jerusalem celebrated, those outside of the city wished that they had been invited to the party.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Nehemiah 13

These are the provincial leaders who settled in Jerusalem (now some Israelites, priests, Levites, temple servants and descendants of Solomon's servants lived in the towns of Judah, each on their own property in the various towns, while other people from both Judah and Benjamin lived in Jerusalem) … Nehemiah 11:3-4a

Today's Scripture Reading (October 9, 2020): Nehemiah 11

Novelist Marty Rubin argued that "Appreciation, not possession, makes a thing ours." There are many things that we possess that, in reality, we do not understand. Appreciating something means that we will do whatever we can to understand it, and in the process, we make it ours. And yet, Rubin's comment remains idealistic. The reality is that we can appreciate something from afar without it ever becoming ours. Maybe the real tragedy of life is in possessing something without ever really understanding it, or learning to appreciate what it is that we have. We are like the owner of a home built on a beautiful vista, who lives in the house without ever looking at the beautiful scenery that exists just beyond the window.

In exile, at least some of those who had been stolen from the land of Israel learned to appreciate what it was that they had lost. They longed for this place nostalgically known as home. The appreciated what they could not possess. Maybe the land, in some strange way, was still theirs. They belonged to the land they remembered in the stories told by their parents and grandparents, the territory that had been given to their ancestors, but a land that they no longer possessed. In a very real way, Palestine used to be theirs, but it was theirs no more. At times, it must have seemed that the very thing that they appreciated, they could never possess.

And over time, the dream began to die. Fewer and fewer believed that they would ever go home or have the land their parents and grandparents had been given and appreciated. The people began to enjoy other things, things that were closer to them and part of their current reality. Something that they were able to possess in the now.

But a few, about two percent of the ones who were taken from Judah, did return. They still held a thankfulness for the home of their ancestors, and as they arrived, they began to take possession of the land that they appreciated. And they spread out throughout the land. Those in rural areas probably had an easier task. But some set a good example and returned to the more difficult task of living in Jerusalem. The city was essential to the ultimate goal of repossessing the land. But the defenseless city was also a critical target of those who opposed the returning exiles from re-establishing themselves in the land they once called home. Because it is one thing to appreciate the land, but sometimes possession is necessary if you really want to make something yours.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Nehemiah 12

Those who sealed it were: Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hakaliah, Zedekiah … Nehemiah 10:1

 Today's Scripture Reading (October 8, 2020): Nehemiah 10

Names and positions mean something. It doesn’t matter whether you agree with the person presented; the name carries weight. When George W. Bush comments, that comment gets more of a reaction then the quote of someone named Peter Bush, sorry Peter. Donald Trump’s words make more of an impact than the beliefs of Jimmy Trump, with all of my apologies to Jim. Oh, Jim might try to make the most of his Trump name, even if he is not in the slightest way related to the Donald, but the name means something.

Israel has decided to “cut a covenant” with God. Covenant cutting had been a tradition for Israel since the inception of the nation, and even in the days before the country existed. God decided to “cut a covenant” with Noah, and in that covenant promises not to destroy the whole world ever again with a flood. He cuts a covenant with Abraham, promising that both the nation of Israel and the eventual Messiah would descend from him. He made a covenant with Moses, and in the process of that contract handed down the law, a declaration of what God expected from Israel. God cut another covenant with David, once again promising that the Messiah would come to power among his descendants.

The people hoped that maybe there was one more covenant left in God. This would be the covenant of Nehemiah. The priests, the Levites, and the leaders of the people gathered together to sign one more contract with God. They would promise to keep the nation pure of foreign influences, and in turn, they hoped that God would protect them.

Nehemiah proceeds to give us an extensive list of names. Most would have been important at the time, but are now lost to antiquity. Even in the opening verse, we find a name that we really can’t identify; we aren’t sure who this Zedekiah was. Even the familiar names that follow are only echoes of other names that had preceded them, like a Peter Bush or a Jimmy Trump. They are not the famous Zedekiah’s and Zadok’s of history.

But what might be even more important is the names that are missing from the document. Ezra is not mentioned, despite the lead role that he took in the rebuilding of the nation. Eliashib, the high priest of Israel, is also absent in what follows, as are all of the prophets of the day, even though some of them must have been present in the city at the time. Their absence might represent that there was not a consensus that had been formed around the cutting of the covenant and that these leaders opposed the sacred contract making at this time, thinking that the nation needed to live out its commitment before making a promise with God. But it might also mean that these leaders remained active behind the scenes, but that they wanted the covenant to belong to the people. They didn’t need the religious elite to decide for the nation. The people needed to commit their own accord and concerning their own future.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Nehemiah 11