February 14, 2012

Week 6- Reading the Stories of the New Testament
Day 1- We Need the Cultural Context

Our study takes a 400-year leap from the Old Testament to the New Testament.  Moving the focus to the New Testament is a two-edged sword.

One one hand, the majority of the N.T. stories are easier to understand and apply than many of the O.T. narratives.  The Good Samaritan story has a clearer application than the prohibition against tattoos and shellfish.

On the other hand, the New Testament stories have been so oft repeated in VBS lessons, S.S. quarterlies and pulpit sermons that it will be easy to surface read the lessons thinking there are no new nuggets to be mined.

Day 1 focused on Matthew 9:9-13 where Jesus eats with the tax collector, Matthew.  The background was presented about how tax collectors were social outcasts due to their real or perceived dishonesty, their position as a Roman lackey and being considered ceremonially unclean.  While most of the cultural and background information were not new to me, two things did start to roll around in my head.

The first was a question posed by the author.  That was "in what ways can modern religious people put up barriers between themselves and those who do not follow Christ?".   At first I approached this question from the viewpoint of how the church might not welcome nonbelievers and create barriers.  After a bit of research I discovered that church attendance in America over the past 50 years has remained fairly stable.

Then I examined the question on a more personal level.  What as an individual Christian do I do that might create a barrier?  This tack was more in-line with how Christ interacted.  His connections were personal, not corporate.  Jesus broke bread as opposed to leaving Bilyeu Family Concert tickets on the break room table. (This is not to disparage the BFC.  However, what if two of those tickets were accompanied with a let's- grab-a-bite-before-or-coffee-after-offer?)

The other new learning I took away from today's lesson was that Jesus quoted scripture much more often that I had realized.  The time when He was tempted in the desert is a well-known scripture quoting story from Jesus' life.  However, in Matthew 9, Jesus goes to the O.T. book of Hosea to challenge the Pharisee's condemnation of His dinner companion choices.

My memorized scripture arsenal is woefully lacking.  Scripture memorization has so many benefits, both spiritual and secular.
1.  The Word is the sword of our spiritual armor.  It allows us to directly confront and deflect Satan's attacks.
2.  The discipline required to memorize scripture can assist in the development of all spiritual disciplines.
3.  When the brain is focused on one task, such as scripture memorization, it cannot worry about deadlines, the economy or health concerns.
4.  More and more brain research confirms that memorization of text not only helps delay/avoid Alzheimer's and dementia, but can actually increase a person's I.Q.  

Today's reading showed me that if I will enter into God's presence with an open mind, an expectant heart and a hungry soul, He will reward my faithfulness.