Marc Gellman on The Ten Commandments

Link: MSNBC – ‘We Hold These Truths to Be Sacred’.

"What Thomas Jefferson would say about the Ten Commandments today"

Web-Exclusive Commentary @ NEWSWEEK by Marc Gellman

March 2 – The Supreme Court is hearing arguments this week about whether public displays of the Ten Commandments violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the American Constitution. I wish Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the amendment, were able to testify from Heaven or Boca Raton, whichever happens to be our appointed destination after death. (I’m betting on Boca.) I think he would have a few things to say.

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4.1 Fill My Cup, Lord

Read Matthew chapter 13. In this chapter we see Jesus talking about little things in his stories. Seeds are featured in the parables of “the sower,” “the mustard seed,” and the “weeds among the wheat.” Jesus told a parable about yeast (You can’t get much smaller than that), about a pearl, and about a small box of treasure hidden in a big ield. Jesus is trying to tell us that little things matter. We cannot by ourselves eliminate suffering, but we can plant seeds, do small things. We can feed one person, give an offering to help house and educate a child, and we can pray. Like the seeds in which God calls forth life, if we do our small part, God will expand our service.

Go to Your Room – Why Solitude?

Just a word of relief as we begin today’s devotions. Father Killian McDonnell, a monk of St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville (MN), offers the following on the notion of perfection:

Perfection, Perfection
I have had it with perfection. I have packed my bags,
I am out of here. Gone.
As certain as rain will make you wet, perfection will do you in.
It droppeth not as dew upon the summer grass
to give liberty and green joy.
Perfection straineth out the quality of mercy,
withers rapture at its birth.
Before the battle is half begun,
cold probity thinks it can’t be won, concedes the war.
I’ve handed in my notice, give back my keys,
signed my severance check, I quit.
Hints I could have taken:
Even the perfect chiseled form
of Michelangelo’s radiant David squints,
the Venus de Milo has no arms,
the Liberty Bell is cracked.

Last week we talked about Sabbath … wasting time with God. We are products of the Protestant Reformation and its accompanying "work ethic" so we find it hard to waste time. I suggest that today’s lesson will be even harder as I suggest that we need to be alone with God.

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4.4 – Assurance of Strength – 2 Peter 1:3

Memorize 2 Peter 1:3

His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness (NRSV).

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness (NIV).

Reflect on 2 Peter 1:3

Read Peter's charge to the Christians in 2 Peter 1:3-15 from the NRSV, NIV, or The MESSAGE.
The section title for this passage in the NRSV is "The Christian's Call and Election." State Peter's description of that calling in your own words.
God's power conveys to us all we need for life and godliness. Are there areas of your life that you still rely on your own "power" rather than allowing God to lead you?
What knowledge do you have of God's glory and goodness in your life? Look for those moments when God's goodness and glory are made known in your life.

4.3 – Assurance of Strength – John 10:10

Memorize John 10:10

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly (NRSV).

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (NIV).

Reflect on John 10:10

Read Jesus' description of himself as the good shepherd in John 10:1-18 from the NRSV, NIV, or The MESSAGE.
What is the audience (congregation) for the telling of this parable?
Who do the thief, the hired hand, and the sheep represent?
Jesus says boldly, "I am the good shepherd." What implications does that have for us?

Core Values Tentative Report

Thanks to all who attended the Core Values Workshop (just over 60 attended the session). The following were the word fields that we began to consense around at the close of our time together. This is a work in progress and we will want to clarify and narrow our sense of each group of words.

Loving Church Family
Teaching
Fellowship
Singing
Worship
Trying New Things
Caring for Others
Caring for God
Valuing Others
Faith
Passion
Humility
Reaching Out
Discipleship
Learning
Using Our Gifts
Tolerance
Love
Replenishment

To derive this short list we asked persons to consider answering the following questions using a shortened list of 33 value words from Tom Bandy's Vision Discernment Workbook (a shortened form of Moving Off the Map).

Value Words: productivity, strength, trying new things, using one's gifts, singing, teaching, thinking, worship, passion, reaching out, purpose-driven, purposefulness, tolerance, sensitivity, morality, valuing others, fellowship, harmony, loving church family, generous, replenishment, hope, faith, loved by God, caring for God, humility, caring for people, God's grace, love, peace, futuring, leading.

What have you always found of value in the church?
What do you personally admire most about any church?
What do you love to do the most when attending church?
What legacy do you want to leave your children and grandchildren?
What do you most want to be remembered for at church?
What value would you state would be found when PUMC reaches God's promised land?

Core Values – Group Answers

The following are summaries of group answers to the following questions:

What have you always found of value in the church? caring for others (4), caring for people, faith (3), fellowship (9), fellowship/worship with other believers, God's grace (4), hope, love (2), loving church family (4), passion for teaching, replenishment (2), singing, teaching (2), worship (6), worship leading to accepting God's grace, using one's gifts, valuing others.
What do you personally admire most about any church? caring for God (2), caring for others, caring for people (4), faith (2), faith/passion, fellowship (2), following God's will, generous, hope (2), love, loving church family (4), mission, morality, reaching out (5), sharing God's grace (2), singing, teaching (2), teaching God's word, tolerance, trying new things, using one's gifts, worship (2).
What do you love to do the most when attending church? caring for God, fellowship (6), learning (3), learning about God, listening to music, preaching, reaching out, replenishment (5), singing (7), thinking (5), using one's gifts, valuing others, worship (5), worship/singing.
What legacy do you want to leave your children and grandchildren? caring for God (7), caring for people (5), faith (5), God's grace, humility (6), know they are loved by God (2), knowledge and love of God, morality (2), passion, purposefulness (2), peace, sensitivity, strength (2), tolerance (2), tolerance/ valuing others, valuing others (2).
What do you most want to be remembered for at church? caring, caring for God (4), caring for others, caring for people (5), faith (2), faithfulness, fellowship, generous (2), harmony, humility (2), love (2), morality, purpose-driven (2), reaching out to others (5), tolerance/harmony/sensitivity, using one's gifts (4), valuing others (5).
What value would you state would be found when PUMC reaches God's Promised Land? caring for God, caring for God's people, caring for others (2), caring for people, faith (2), God's grace (3), God's glory, grace, love, loved by God (2), loving church family (5), passion peace (3), purpose-driven (3), purposefulness (2), reaching out (2), tolerance, valuing others, using one's gifts.

Overall the following core values were lifted up.

Alphabetical order: caring, caring for God (15), caring for God's people, caring for others (8), caring for people (16), faith (13), faith/passion, faithfulness, fellowship (18), fellowship/worship with other believers, following God's will, generous (3), God's glory, God's grace (8), grace, harmony, hope (2), humility (8), know they are loved by God (4), knowledge and love of God, learning (3), learning about God, listening to music, love (6), loving church family (13), mission, morality (4), passion (2), passion for teaching, peace (4), purpose-driven (5), purposefulness (4), reaching out (8), reaching out to others (5), replenishment (7), sensitivity, sharing God's grace (2), singing (9), strength (2), teaching (5), teaching God's word, thinking (5), tolerance (4), tolerance/valuing others, tolerance/harmony/sensitivity, trying new things, worship (8), worship leading to accepting God's grace, using one's gifts (8), valuing others (10), worship (5), worship/singing.

Incidence of Recurrence Order: fellowship (18), caring for people (16), caring for God (15), faith
(13), loving church family (13),
valuing others
(10), singing (9), caring for others (8), God's grace (8), humility (8), reaching out (8), worship (8), using one's gifts (8), replenishment (7), love (6), purpose-driven (5), reaching out
to others (5), teaching (5), thinking
(5), worship (5), know they are
loved by God (4), morality (4), peace (4),
purposefulness (4), tolerance (4), generous (3), learning (3), hope (2), passion (2), sharing God's grace (2),
strength (2), caring, caring
for God's people, faith/passion, faithfulness, fellowship/worship
with other believers, following God's will, God's glory,
grace, harmony, knowledge and love of God, learning
about God, listening to music, mission, passion for teaching, sensitivity, teaching God's word, tolerance/valuing others,
tolerance/harmony/sensitivity, trying new things, worship
leading to accepting God's grace, worship/singing.

The work of the visioning team will be to begin forming word groupings and seek clarity on ambiguous terms. We will then carry those to various formal and informal groups for reflection and interpretation.

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Core Values – Individual Answers

The following are summaries of individual answers to the following questions:

What have you always found of value in the church?
What do you personally admire most about any church?
What do you love to do the most when attending church?
What legacy do you want to leave your children and grandchildren?
What do you most want to be remembered for at church?
What value would you state would be found when PUMC reaches God's promised land?

SOAP on Matthew 10:8b – Love Held Hostage

Scripture: "Freely you have received, freely give" (Matthew 10:8b, NIV).

Observing the Context: In the tenth chapter of Matthew’s gospel we find Jesus sending his disciples out on their first mission. He charges them "to cure the sick, raise the dead, and cleanse the lepers" while receiving no payment, carrying no bag for the journey (no change of clothes) and trusting in "the kindness of strangers" (see Matthew chapter 10). This seems like a huge charge to the neophyte followers of Jesus who have only recently come down from the Sermon on the Mount. Buried in the middle of Jesus’ charge is the motto of my Seminary (Drew University School of Theology) the Greek phrase: "dorean elabote, dorean dote." This translates literally as "freely received, freely give," but more accurately is translated "given gifts, give gifts" according to then Dean of the Theological School, Thomas W. Ogletree (1981-1990). One of my mentors, Robert Jehu Bull, translated this little piece as "those to whom much is given, much is expected." As I heard these words I was sitting in a class of high-powered Greek and Latin graduate students who were being challenged to read Tertullian in the original languages. Since I was the lone student from the seminary I just whispered "thank you Jesus" that I was allowed to read this church father in English and I plunged into the semester.

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3.4 Fill My Cup, Lord

Read Matthew chapter 12. “A tree is recognized by its fruit.” It seems all too often that charges can be
leveled against church members that we don’ bear much fruit. We diligently try hard not to bear bad fruit;
but unfortunately, we put little energy into producing good fruit. Most of us simply bear very little fruit. As you consider this passage today ask yourself the following, “If I were accused of being a Christian would
there be enough evidence to convict me?”