pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: retell


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Stories of God

Reading: Psalm 78:12-16

Psalm 78:13… 16 – “God spilt the sea… led them… split rocks… made streams flow.”

Photo credit: Felipe Correia

Today’s verses from Psalm 78 focus on some of God’s “wonders” that happened during Israel’s time in the wilderness. Yesterday’s call was to remember the stories of God and to tell and retell them so that the next generation will know the stories too. For the people of God, to know that “God spilt the sea… led them… split rocks… made streams flow” is to know God and to trust in God’s continuing presence, power, and provision. These miracles are evidence of God’s love for God’s people.

There are times in our lives when God works in miraculous ways. Sometimes we are aware of them in the moment and other times these are things we see when we are looking back. Both are ah-ha moments – moments when we feel and know God’s love for us.

The moments and miracles often come in times when things beyond our control are creating suffering, trial, and/or hardship. Because it is beyond our control, God becomes present and acts on our behalf. About seven years ago our denomination was filled with tension around the inclusion of LGBTQ+ folks. My personal understanding of the scriptures and of God’s love for all people did not align with a small but powerful group at the church I was serving. As meetings and events unfolded, I felt like Israel up against the sea. In the darkest moment, God parted the troubled waters and brought light and peace to my heart. God guided my prayers, thoughts, actions, and conversations. God provided hope and light and strength when I needed it most. And God’s blessings flowed as my appointment changed and ministry became a joy once again.

What stories of God splitting seas… do you have to tell? And who will you tell them to?

Prayer: Lord God, we read of rescue and provision and presence in the wilderness and throughout the scriptures. We also experience your presence and miracles in our lives. Lead and guide us to be good storytellers, helping others to know you and to see how you move and act in their lives too. Amen.


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Telling and Retelling

Reading: Psalm 78:1-4

Psalm 78:4b – “We’ll tell the next generation all about the praises due the Lord and his strength – the wondrous works God has done.”

Photo credit: Priscilla du Preez

Psalm 78 begins with words intended to draw readers into the Psalm and its teachings. It begins with “Listen, my people… tilt your ears…” This is a call to active and engaged listening. It says to us and to other readers, “Pay attention, I have a good story to tell.” The drawing in continues: “I’ll declare riddles from long ago.” The story itself is interesting, maybe even intriguing. It’ll draw readers in even deeper as it progresses. I wonder, do we tell others about our God with such energy and passion? Is there excitement generated in the ways that we share our stories of faith with others?

In verse 4 the psalmist leans into the importance of telling the next generations. We too are called to pass on the stories of faith to our children and to the children in our communities of faith. In the last part of this verse the author declares, “We’ll tell the next generation all about the praises due the Lord and his strength – the wondrous works God has done.” In the telling and retelling of God’s wondrous works we help those new to the faith to understand the power and might of God. Learning all about the things that God has done for Israel begins to build trust and faith in new believer’s hearts.

The telling and retelling also impacts the hearer in another important way. Hearing the stories of what God has done opens their eyes to see what God does in their lives. This step makes God personal and intimate – another wonderful side of God. This realization further moves trust and faith from head to heart. And let’s not forget the teller. We too are impacted. As we tell and retell God’s story and our story, our faith grows and deepens too. Our eyes and hearts become more aware of and sensitive to the God moments in our lives. And our story widens and deepens. May it be so for us all.

Prayer: Lord God, open our eyes – both to see your presence in our lives and to see the opportunities that we have to share these experiences. Open our hearts too, O God. Opened wide we can better take in your love and strength, and we can then pour these things out, building up others’ faith and trust in you. Thank you. Amen.


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Stories

Readings: Exodus 32: 1-6 and Psalm 106: 19-23

Key Verses:

Exodus 32:6 – He made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf.

Psalm 106:20 – They exchanged their Glory for the image of a bull.

In both passages, we have the story of the people departing from God to worship an idol made of gold.  True, Moses has been gone up the mountain a long time.  But the people did not worship Moses.  While Moses is up on the mountain, clearly the presence of God remains on the mountain.  The presence of God is right there in plain sight when the people and Aaron make another “god” to worship.

This is not a pretty story about what happened in the life of the chosen people and their relationship with God.  Yet it is recounted and retold over and over by these people and generations to follow.  Why?  For the same reason they tell and tell about the Passover, the parting of the sea, the fall of Jericho, the defeat of Goliath…  We remember and retell good and bad stories for the same reason: to remind us of God’s love and grace.  In the stories where we (corporate) are not faithful or where we have sinned, they remind us of God’s love in spite if our fleshy weakness.  In the stories where God provides or guides or redeems… we are reminded of God’s constant love and care for each of us.

There is great value in the telling and retelling of these stories where God is active and present in the lives of the people, always bringing comfort, guidance, peace, and, of course, love and grace.  But these stories are not just found in the pages of the Bible.  They are also found in the day to day living of our lives.  We each have stories to tell of when God rescued us, when God forgave us, when God redeemed us, when God loved us…  These too are powerful stories of God’s continuing presence and activity in the lives of His people.  They are stories we need to hear over and over.  They are also stories others need to hear.  Our faith is communal.  Our faith is a shared faith.  Today, who will we share our story with?


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Remember and Retell

Reading: Psalm 78: 1-4 and 12-16

Verse Four: We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord.

Today’s Psalm is about remembering and retelling.  It is about remembering the times of God’s presence and activity in the past and retelling it to others.  The Israelites are very good at doing this.  It keeps reminding them over and over of both God’s love and their status as the chosen people of God.  Remembering and retelling keeps them intimately connected to God and His love.

As Christians, we also are called to remember and retell.  We are first called to tell the good news of Jesus Christ.  The Great Commission charges all believers to tell of Jesus to all nations.  In doing do we help people to connect to the Savior.  In telling the story we also remind ourselves of how Jesus saves, loves, forgives, … each of us.  This personal story is the second calling we have to remember and retell.

Each of us has our own personal faith story.  It is the story of how Jesus Christ makes a difference in our lives.  It is the story of how Jesus is better – better than any other god we can chase after, be it money or power or some other religion.  It is the story of how Jesus walks with us through the joys and the trials, lifting us up at times and carrying us at others.  It is a deeply personal story because Jesus is a deeply personal Savior.  And it is a story that others need to hear.  We remember and retell our faith story so that others can see how the good news of Jesus Christ can be good news to them as well.

So what is your faith story?  Why Jesus?  Just as the Israelites pledged to “tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord”, we too are called to follow the same.  Jesus put it this way: “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19).  May we go and tell all we meet of our faith in the only one who can save.


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Present

Reading: Exodus 14: 19-31

Verse 31: When the people saw the great power the Lord displayed… the people put their trust in Him.

In today’s passage the Israelites experience the final detachment from Pharaoh and his army.  Fear and doubt has again suddenly consumed the Israelites.  They even uttered to Moses, “It would have been better for us to serve in Egypt than to die in the desert” (Exodus 14:12).  Moses told them to stand firm and see the deliverance of the Lord.  Trust – trust in God.

God does indeed deliver Israel!  The angel and pillar of cloud form a protective barrier and God parts the sea.  The Israelites cross over on dry land but when the Egyptians follow God stalls them out and the waters return.  Verse 21 records, “Not one of them survived”.  What the people saw as a huge situation that quickly led to doubt and fear, God saw as an opportunity to deliver His people.  God intervened on their behalf to save His chosen people, whom He dearly loves.

God had led them out of slavery and had even blessed their exit.  He had guided them to this point, yet fear and doubt rose up quickly.  God’s mighty act of deliverance in the Passover was still very fresh in their minds, yet they quickly abandoned their faith.  We too can be much like the Israelites.  We can walk in close connection with God for days and days or even for years and something arises that makes us question or doubt and our faith almost evaporates.  The doubt or fear or anxiety or whatever quickly dominates our thoughts.  And then God still steps in and begins to work in our situation and delivers us too.  We look back and wonder why we ever questioned, why we doubted, why we didn’t just continue to rely on God.

The Israelites are delivered!  It was a powerful experience of God’s might.  Verse 31 tells us, “When the people saw the great power the Lord displayed… the people put their trust in Him”.  This too is an experience like the Passover, one they will tell over and over down through the generations.  Our experiences with God delivering us can be such moments as well.  May we also remember when God was present and acted in our lives, so we can retell and retell the story so that our faith and trust grows and grows.  God is ever present in our lives.  May we live into this more and more each day.