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Tuesday, August 3, 2021

Provoked


8-4-2021

 

            I pray you will be provoked.  Wait!  What?  That’s right, I pray you be provoked!  Doesn’t provocation lead to conflict?  Maybe.  Stay with me here.

            A few weeks ago, a friend strongly recommended I spend significant time in the New Testament book of Jude.  Jude only has 25 verses in total.  Because I greatly respect the friend who recommended Jude and because it is so short, I decided to go through Jude praying each verse, phrase-by-phrase, in the manner of Lectio Divina.  I read a phrase out loud, take several deep breaths, read it again, and then read it one more time.  I let the sound of the words settle on me.  Then, I write in my journal what I hear.  It took me a week just to get through Jude 1:3, but that’s the whole point.  I am taking my time; and being provoked.

            Verse 1 includes the phrase “… kept safe for Jesus Christ.”  I wondered if Jude was writing to a persecuted church.  He said they were “kept safe,” but I had to ask did they feel safe?

            In verse 3, Jude feels he has to “contend for the faith.”  I was provoked to ask, where do we, in Hillside Church, have to “contend for the faith?”  And, when we identify where that is, are we doing it

            Verse 3 records Jude referring to “intruders.”  Have I confronted intruders at Hillside?  Or, have intruders intruded, and when they did, did I fail to recognize them?  Or, did I confront someone as an intruder who was actually a brother or sister in Christ and was not actually intruding?

            Do you see?  Simply reading and praying over 4 verses in Jude provoked me to a number of questions.  Obviously, some of the questions with which I wrestle are specific to my role as the pastor.  You, though, can read in the same way.  Read scripture slowly, thoughtfully, and prayerfully.  Read with your life wide open before you, before the Bible, and before God.  When the word prods you, respond in humble, confessional faith.  Be vulnerable and moldable, so through the Bible, God can shape you. 

            I pray you will be provoked.

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