When the women are on their way to the tomb (in Mark’s account), they ask one another: “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”
Very next sentence: “But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.”
The thing about which they had been worried—the stone—was already taken care of. But—even better—God had done more with that moved stone than they could have ever imagined.
They wanted to move the stone to embalm a body.
God wanted to move the stone to raise the dead.
This is how God often works, both in the Bible and in our lives.
He is answering our prayer or addressing our concern—but he is doing so much more than we could ever know.
Ephesians 3:20: “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or *imagine*.”
God is almost always doing far more than we would ever guess.
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About to crash into post-church nap, BUT if you care, here’s my take on the Matthew 16 “you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church” after all the great discussion earlier this week. 🧵
As has been well-documented, Jesus refers Peter as “petros,” the Greek word for stone or rock. In John 1 Jesus calls him Cephas, the Aramaic word for rock. But let’s be honest: Peter ain’t a rock. Not by a long shot. He’s erratic.
He denies Jesus three times. He cuts off an ear of the servant of the high priest. He makes Jesus so made that he gets called Satan. He has great moments of promise and great moments of disappointment.
For those wanting some good news about churches, religion, and our fair city, wanted to share some fun things from my day:
In the wake of George Floyd, a small group of clergy (Xian, Jewish, and Muslim) convened to brainstorm ideas about policing in our city.
We each wanted to talk through practical steps that could be taken to support LEOs, improve community relations, and take some steps towards reform.
We met a number of times across 2020 for hours at a time.
After a *lot* of meetings, we sent some recommendations to the city.
The city put together a task force and brought recommendation to the mayor on steps they wanted to take—and included our suggestions. @SylvesterTurner’s office took the task force report, appointed an independent oversight board, and they began implementation.
May the Lord judge between me and you, may the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you.—1 Sam 24:12
David refused to participate in vengeance towards Saul. He trusted God’s justice.
Hard as it is, let us actively love and entrust vengeance to God.
In those moments when I want to lash out, to go after the jugular of the one I perceive to be my enemy, I remember:
When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.—1 Peter 2:23
I am sometimes surprised, as someone who despises conflict and actively works to avoid it, how easy it is to end up in a heart posture of wanting to lash out at someone who has hurt me personally.
Love, a 🧵: I can’t speak for other religions, but, when it comes to Christianity, those who describe themselves as theologically “orthodox” (creedal? conservative?) ought to be among the most loving people in the world and should increase in said love across their—er, our—lives.
Christians in this theological vein believe that we have been given the greatest gift imaginable—we were due to receive condemnation but through the miraculous grace of God, we were rescued through the interposition of Jesus. Through Jesus we get a new life! This is the gospel.
This means that I love everyone. And I mean EVERYONE. I’m friends with Jews and Muslims and atheists. I’m friends with gay and lesbian and trans and straight. I’m friends with folks on the far left and the far right. I love them all. Because that’s the love given to me by God.
🧵I hold to what some might call a “traditional” biblical sexual ethic. I’ve come to this conclusion after reading multiple sources (across disciplines and decades), doing the work in the biblical languages/culture, etc.
I also understand that others think I am completely wrong.
I know Western culture outside the church broadly disagrees with my position. I understand the reasoning (usually based on the inherent right of individual actualization).
And, in a pluralistic society, I can understand why such a position should be allowed and protected.
I also understand that many *within* the church would disagree with me. Most of them would argue my hermeneutics are either a) obsolete due to culture or b) misreadings of the biblical text.
This is (and has been) playing out in multiple denominations and traditions.