February 8, 2010

On Sundays right now I am teaching four lessons from some of the minor prophets in the Bible.  Each Sunday we who are in the Seekers Class at my church are exploring a different theme, guided by our lesson writers in the FORMATIONS study material. 

For years we have used the FORMATIONS study material, written by moderate Baptists across the country.  The lessons are edited and printed by the publisher Smyth and Helwys.  I have been so impressed by these current commentaries on the prophets,  written by Brett Younger, that I ordered copies for each member of the class.  Brett has an unusual ability to peer into the biblical material and connect it with contemporary culture.  He has made the ancient material in Malachi, Micah, Habbakkuk and Zephaniah come alive for us.

Biblical prophecy is about speaking the truth to people.  It is about looking deeply into the situation at hand and discerning the places where people have drifted into behavior that either has taken them to places where they don't want to go -- think:  bondage to a tyrant, oppression, suffering -- or into attitudes and actions will take them to those places if they do not wake up, see their wrongs and return to God.  The books of the prophets -- major and minor-- can be tough to take, but the truths contained within the toughness can be liberating.  Behind their tough love, the prophets speak for God's compassionate and tender love and his  longing for people to return to him, love him and love each other.

I've seen three movies since Christmas that I think hold prophetic messages.  Each one has stayed with me for days afterward, revealing insights and truths that are important for my own life.  It's a natural thing for me to weave what I see on the movie screen, read in a book or newspaper or see on the news into the lessons I'm preparing.

 Last weekend my husband and I saw "Up in the Air" and over our dinner conversation about it afterwards I began to see that movie was profoundly prophetic about our culture.  It is about some important ethical issues, but it isn't preachy.  In fact, it is far from it.   It speaks truth about morality but is not moralistic.  The movie holds up a mirror to our culture and says, "See, here's what happens to people who use other people as objects.  Here's the logical result when you put yourself at the center of the universe and when all that matters is matter -- material gain, personal gratification, corporate perks and the plastic you carry.  Here's what happens when you forget that you are supposed to love, respect and honor others."

I believe that God still speaks through various ways, inviting human beings to wake up and then wake up some more.

I believe that God still works through human instruments to accomplish divine purposes, to awaken compassion and to help us help each other.

Indeed, the lessons from the prophets are disturbing, but we Seekers are opening our hearts to hear each other and we are attempting to open our eyes and ears to see what we need to see and hear.  With open minds and open hearts, perhaps we can and will have the courage to do what we know we must do in order to walk our talk.  It is my intention -- and I believe it happens each week -- that our conversations about hard and disturbing things in the world and in the Bible somehow empower us to have more courage in our daily lives.

"Up in the Air" is disturbing, as well. 

Truth, when you see it, is disturbing.  It's meant to be.

It also has the power to set us free -- free from the things that bind us and free for the things that give us joy, fulfillment and purpose.

In the midst of your daily life on this Monday......Grace to you --
Jeanie

(This week's column, Growing Edges, can be found here:  http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2010/feb/05/helping-a-child-builds-security-for-adulthood/)

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