Speaking Truth

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever been in a situation where you suddenly had a deep conviction that you needed to stand up and say something? Have you ever experienced a time when the urge to speak out was so overwhelming that you couldn’t stop yourself? Maybe it happened in the middle of an argument, or at the discovery of an injustice or betrayal. Sometimes it happens in the least likely of places, like the ball field or the grocery story or a church administrative meeting.

Hopefully your word is received well after people have a minute to consider what you are saying. I once had an irresistible urge to interrupt a preacher in a church I was visiting. At the end of his sermon, he announced that he had been diagnosed with cancer that Thursday. As I heard the audible gasps around me, I felt compelled to step out into the aisle and call the congregation to lay hands on him and pray for him as he was about to give the benediction.

I knew that I had been prepared for this by the Holy Spirit. Before the service began, I had spotted a decorative jar of anointing oil on top of an unused piano at the side of the sanctuary. So when this moment came, I walked right over to it as I called the people to come out of the pews to pray for their pastor. We had just done a healing service at my church at home, so the scriptures, instructions, and prayers for this were very fresh in my mind.

In other words, God set me up.

If you have ever found yourself speaking a word of truth to a crowd who is startled to hear what you are saying, you’re in good company.

Jeremiah 20 (Contemporary English Version)

You tricked me, Lord,
    and I was really fooled.
You are stronger than I am,
    and you have defeated me.
People never stop sneering
    and insulting me.
8 You have let me announce
    only destruction and death.
Your message has brought me
nothing but insults
    and trouble.
9 Sometimes I tell myself
not to think about you, Lord,
    or even mention your name.
But your message burns
in my heart and bones,
    and I cannot keep silent.

In Jeremiah’s situation, his words of prophecy and condemnation of sin were not well received by the people. Go figure. He, too, was set up by God, and he suffered for the words he was compelled to speak. But his faithfulness to the Lord made it impossible to keep silent. In the choice between pleasing people or pleasing God, he chose to please God.

10 I heard the crowds whisper,
    “Everyone is afraid.
Now’s our chance
    to accuse Jeremiah!”
All of my so-called friends
are just waiting
    for me to make a mistake.
They say, “Maybe Jeremiah
    can be tricked.
Then we can overpower him
    and get even at last.”

Choosing to please God is always the right choice. Even when the message is extremely difficult to say, and even harder for others to hear, pleasing God is the only thing that matters. God always stands by those who speak his truth.

11 But you, Lord,
are a mighty soldier,
    standing at my side.
Those troublemakers
will fall down and fail—
    terribly embarrassed,
    forever ashamed.

12 Lord All-Powerful,
    you test those who do right,
and you know every heart
    and mind.
I have told you my complaints,
so let me watch you
    take revenge on my enemies.
13 I sing praises to you, Lord.
You rescue the oppressed
    from the wicked.

Where is God calling you to speak an uncomfortable truth into a situation today? Where is he compelling you to speak a word to someone who is not ready to hear what you need to say? Where do you need to stop pleasing people and choose to please God instead?

I am glad I overcame the awkwardness of taking over the church service that morning many decades ago. As it turned out, that pastor retired and began to attend the church I have served for over ten years now, and he just celebrated his 100th birthday. PRAYER WORKS, PEOPLE!

Whatever you are burning to say, know that if it is God’s truth, he will stand by you. Don’t let fear of reprisal keep you silent any longer. God is with you.

Speaking Truth Shall Set You Free By Carson Creef

Perseverance

Posted on by Betsy

Batman and Robin decided to go camping. They set up their tent and went to sleep. A couple of hours later, Batman wakes his faithful friend. “Robin, look up at the sky and tell me what you see.”

Robin, who is used to these midnight lessons, replies, “I see millions of stars.”

“What does that tell you?” asks Batman.

Robin ponders for a minute. “Well, astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Chronologically, it appears to be about 3:15AM. Theologically, it’s evident that God is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant.”

“Why?” continued Robin. “What does it tell you, Batman?”

Batman is silent for a moment, then speaks. “Robin, you’re an idiot. It means somebody stole our tent while we were sleeping.”

How many of you grew up watching the television show “Batman?” Batman began as a comic book, evolved to TV, and is the recent subject of several new movies.

His story is first told in a twelve-frame comic strip in 1939 in issue #27 of Detective Comics. He and his parents are walking home from the theater when an armed robber accosts them. His father steps in front of his mother and takes a bullet. Then the gunman turns the gun on his mother while he watches. The robber runs away, leaving him standing over his dead parents. His guilt over standing by helplessly while his parents were murdered turns the boy Bruce Wayne into the superhero crime-fighter Batman. He dedicates his life to stopping criminals and defending the helpless.

Batman embodies the notion found in verse 3 in our scripture this morning:

Romans 5:1
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Suffering produces perseverance. Perseverance produces character. Character produces hope. Lord knows, we are in a season that requires a lot of perseverance right now.

Can you recall a time in your life when you had to persevere through something? Maybe it was as transient as enduring the awkwardness of Middle School, or as life-changing as the kind of perseverance that families learn when they are battling cancer. Some are dealing with the challenges of raising a special needs child or a rebellious teenager, while others are honing their character by being caregivers to a parent who is struggling with dementia. Suffering that produces character that teaches us perseverance takes many forms. As this pandemic continues without an end in sight, we are all learning perseverance.

Many of you know that our family learned about perseverance when our daughter was diagnosed with cancer. It truly is in these moments that God teaches us so much about himself. Even the worst of times can be a blessing in the end, for it is often in those seasons that you learn who you are, and WHOSE you are.

I say this to everyone today who is enduring something: God is with you. Even in your darkest moments, God’s light can be found if you look up and study the heavens.

Robin was right: the bright, shining stars and the vastness of the universe remind us that God is all-powerful and we, and our troubles, are small and insignificant by comparison.

5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

May you persevere through whatever it is you are suffering through right now, and find the hope that comes from God. Hang in there. God is with us.

Moonlit Night

526 Seconds

Posted on by Betsy

I had an extraordinary opportunity this week to attend a protest in my community. It was coordinated by the county Minority Coalition, and was held on the campus of our local community college. People carried signs that read “Black Lives Matter,” “I Can’t Breathe,” “Say Their Names,” etc. It is estimated that close to 500 local citizens attended, and we were moved and uplifted by speakers, singers, clergy people, and the feeling that we were collectively hearing a raw truth that was spoken in voices pleading to be heard and understood. This truth, so beautifully and passionately articulated, was heard by many for the first time. It is a truth that has endured for many generations.

In the wake of the George Floyd murder, the world is beginning to wake up to a reality that our brothers and sisters have been enduring for centuries. Statues are coming down, aggressive force practices and chokehold policies are being rescinded, the NFL has apologized, and NASCAR has outlawed the Confederate flag.

Our local chief of police and the county sheriff spoke at the demonstration. The sheriff spoke compassionately about the injustices that have brought us to this point, and emphasized the need for community policing. He described the death of George Floyd as a criminal act.

The sheriff remarked, “One thing you can be sure of, that it is not the badge you wear that makes you the officer. It is the heart behind this badge.”

One of the most powerful moments of the evening came when we were invited to stand or kneel in silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. That was the length of time it took for one officer’s knee to shut off the life from another man’s neck. 526 seconds that changed the world.

Maybe it took a pandemic to get our attention. Black men and women have been killed by racial injustice and prejudice for decades…maybe it took the world literally stopping for people to focus long enough to really see this issue and begin to understand all that has been happening for generations. In the absence of life’s normal busyness and frantic pace, we have paused long enough to see. To hear. To listen. And eventually, to change.

“Together we have the power for change,” the president of the Minority Coalition said. “It is it now at this moment that we summon the powers to right the wrongs that have happened all throughout history from ancient to more recent times. We must use these powers for the good of all of us, especially the least among us. We must inspire change in the world with hopes that injustice will fail, and justice shall prevail…We will fear the darkness no more.”

Amos 5 (New Revised Standard Edition)

Seek good and not evil,
    that you may live;
and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you,
    just as you have said.
15 Hate evil and love good,
    and establish justice in the gate;
it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
    will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

24 But let justice roll down like waters,
    and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

With God’s help, we shall overcome. Today is the day.

Overcome by Shena Twitty

Commissioned

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever heard the phrase, “That’s the tail wagging the dog?” You will hear that used in the context of an institution or group that is allowing a minor part of the system or body to set forward an agenda at the expense of the larger whole. Obviously a dog is supposed to wag its tail, not the other way around.

It happens when the vision is too micro-focused on one certain aspect of the overall mission. It happens when one person or group has too much power and uses it at the expense of the whole. It is painstakingly transplanting a single tree when the entire forest is on fire.

I walked with a clergy friend last week who had just finished a webinar on the mission of the church. Her take-away from it was wrapped up in one incredible thought: God’s church doesn’t have a mission; God’s mission has a church! But sometimes we get that wrong, and put our mission before God’s vision. We try to wag him with the power of our planning.

Let that roll around in your brain as we take a look at the great commission Jesus gave all his disciples, just in case we have lost sight of God’s mission for his followers:

Matthew 28

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.“

Let’s look at the trees for a moment before we get to the forest.

There were eleven disciples there, as this occurs after the crucifixion. It is the resurrected Jesus who is speaking, and all but Judas are present. And did you catch the part where “all worshiped, but some doubted.” Can you imagine being Jesus in that moment? Come on, guys! What does a savior have to do to gain respect, already?? If Jesus was a southern lady in that moment, he would have thought, “Well, bless your hearts.”

So he asserts God’s authority once again, and then gives them their life-long commission.

GO

MAKE

BAPTIZE

TEACH

Notice that there are things that churches sometimes do that are NOT listed in that commission. Things like judge, condemn, alienate, or rebuke. The forest-view of these four charges reminds us that God’s mission has a church. And the church is the thing he is counting on to forward his mission on the earth. It is only by his authority that we do this. And the best news of all? We don’t do it alone:

“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Remember that without vision, the people perish. Jesus was very clear about his vision for his followers when he departed for the last time. Go to the people where they are; bring them into a discipled life; baptize them as part of their initiation into the Body of Christ; teach them everything you know about my kingdom and its commandments.

How are you living out the great commission in your life? Are you inviting others to a relationship with Christ? Are you telling your truth in a way that people can hear Jesus? You’re the only Jesus some will ever see. Will they see him in you? God calls everyone into his mission today and invites each one to join him in this great undertaking.

So go. Make. Initiate. Enlighten.
Be Jesus to someone today, and watch the forest grow.

Kitty Hawk Bay Tree by Michelle Robertson

And That’s About It

Posted on by Betsy

In the typical order of worship, there is one moment we all look forward to: the benediction. Come on, you know you do! It means the service has been completed, the message has been delivered, the songs have been sung, and the prayers faithfully prayed. It signals that the irritation of 1. trying to keep your kids quiet; 2. sitting next to someone who put on WAAAY too much perfume or aftershave; or 3. the loud whisperer behind you catching up on gossip is finally over and you can go home. Even pastors like the benediction. Trust me, we look forward to it, too. It means our week’s work is finished and for better or worse, we have offered our labor to the Lord and now get to catch our breath before starting all over again.

You know that in pastor-time, Sunday comes every 4 1/2 days, right?

Today we are reading Paul’s benediction to the people in Corinth. I love his happy goodbye as he is leaving people whom he loves:

2 Corinthians 13 (The Message)

11-13 And that’s about it, friends. Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure.

That is a sermon in itself.

Be cheerful. No matter what your daily trials are, we all have eternity to look forward to at the benediction of our lives.

Keep things in good repair such as your house, your family, and especially your soul.

Keep your spirit up! Don’t let the small stuff get you down. By the way, it’s all small stuff.

Think in harmony. This one sentence is a whole sermon series. It is a great reinforcement of the fact that God desires unity in the body of Christ. That can only happen when we lay down our individuality, our differences, and we work to THINK in harmony.

Be agreeable. If you do these things, you will experience the peace and love of God all week. Sermon done, right there in the benediction.

Then comes this little challenge:

Greet one another with a holy embrace. All the brothers and sisters here say hello.

Reading this verse in a pandemic, or in flu season, or when people are doused in too much perfume, presents a bit of a stumbling block for us. Other translations go even farther and translate this as “greet each other with a holy kiss.” The lack of social cheek-kissing in America as you might experience in other countries makes this even more alarming for American readers.

This way of salutation was practiced in eastern countries during Paul’s time. Paul was encouraging them to greet one another in an affectionate manner, and treat each other with kindness and love. The use of the word “holy” here serves to remind us that Paul intended it as an expression of Christian affection and not as an improper contact.

While we probably won’t adopt a practice of kissing per se, it would serve us well to be holy in our approach to each other, and greet each other with the kindness and love befitting a Christian community…and not just at church.

When we do that, it will be easier to be cheerful, keep our spirits up, and keep our souls in good repair. And when that happens, the love and the peace of God will be with us for sure.

Moon Benediction by Alice Rogers

Crowned with Glory

Posted on by Betsy

Most of us are familiar with the beautiful images of the earth from the photographs taken on the various Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space missions of the 1960’s and ‘70’s. To see our beautiful blue planet from such a perspective is breathtaking. Oh, how I envy the angels their view!

The first photo of the earth was actually taken many years earlier.

On Oct. 24, 1946, soldiers and scientists at White Sands Missile Range launched a V-2 missile carrying a 35-millimeter motion picture camera which took the first shots of Earth from space. These images were taken at an altitude of 65 miles, just above the accepted beginning of outer space. The film survived the crash landing because it was encased in a steel cassette. (Spacecenter.org)

Seriously, thank God somebody thought about a steel cassette.

In Psalm 8, we get a word-picture of the majesty of the earth from the Psalmist’s perspective. Imagine how he stood on the desert sands of Israel and looked up at the sky every night, contemplating the nature of God. This is what he was inspired to write:

Psalm 8 (Common English Bible)

Lord, our Lord, how majestic
    is your name throughout the earth!
    You made your glory higher than heaven!
2 From the mouths of nursing babies
    you have laid a strong foundation
    because of your foes,
    in order to stop vengeful enemies.
3 When I look up at your skies,
    at what your fingers made—
    the moon and the stars
    that you set firmly in place—
4         what are human beings
            that you think about them;
        what are human beings
            that you pay attention to them?

Ah, the question. With all that you have created, what are we, that you would even pay attention to us? With all the violence and hatred in the world today, how have you not given up on us?

God’s love for humanity in that regard is nothing less than stunning. That God could spin all the universes into place and still care about where you left your car keys is nothing short of unfathomable.

5 You’ve made them only slightly less than divine,
    crowning them with glory and grandeur.
6 You’ve let them rule over your handiwork,
    putting everything under their feet—
7         all sheep and all cattle,
        the wild animals too,
8         the birds in the sky,
        the fish of the ocean,
        everything that travels the pathways of the sea.

So the next time you are feeling down about yourself, having a rough day, and questioning your self-worth, consider with what high regard God holds YOU. You are his beloved! He crowns you with glory and grandeur. He imparts his majesty to you, and thinks about you all the time. Someone once said that if God had a refrigerator, your school picture would be on it. Imagine that!

Ponder all this next time you look up at the stars.

9 Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name throughout the earth!

Photo Credit: NASA’s Earth Observatory

It was Good

Posted on by Betsy

To return to the very beginning of scripture and the first moment of time is a jolt in the midst of so much civil unrest and a global pandemic. Perhaps that is the best reason to do it today. When everything around you seems to be crashing in, it helps to remember that God’s plan was that all the things he created would be good, and when we return to the Eden of his making, it will be good again. It’s just this stuff in the meantime that can be so challenging and exhausting.

So let us remember how we started.

Genesis 1 (Contemporary English Version)

 In the beginning God
created the heavens
    and the earth.
2 The earth was barren,
    with no form of life;
it was under a roaring ocean
    covered with darkness.
But the Spirit of God
    was moving over the water.

Imagine the earth in its barren state. That is a hard image to conjure up. I live in a community that was developed in the ‘60’s by dredging out canals and then slowly building houses on the fingers of land that remained. When we spot old photos of Colington Island, it is amazing to see how pristine it all was, and then experience it now in its fully built-out state. While it is still quite beautiful, Colington has certainly changed since it was chartered in the late 1600’s.

In the beginning, it was good.

3 God said, “I command light to shine!” And light started shining. 4 God looked at the light and saw that it was good. He separated light from darkness 5 and named the light “Day” and the darkness “Night.” Evening came and then morning—that was the first day.

The creation narrative continues through each day with plants, animals, and eventually humans being added. Each time, God stops and declares the day’s work to be “good.”

When was the last time you completed a day’s work and declared it to be good? I can’t ever remember going to bed with a feeling that I had actually finished something, much less declared it to be good. That is the nature of life. That is the nature of ministry. It is messy. It can be unforgiving. And it is always filled with unfinished business. Things get moved from today’s to-do list to tomorrow’s to-do list and so forth and so on. If we were honest, we would write out a to-don’t list and call it a day.

I don’t think God wants us to feel this way. I think Genesis is written to teach us about the work-sabbath relationship, and to set an example of working hard, realizing the value of your day’s effort, marking it good, and then ending the week with an appropriate sabbath rest.

Genesis 2

 1 So the heavens and the earth and everything else were created.

2 By the seventh day God had finished his work, and so he rested. 3 God blessed the seventh day and made it special because on that day he rested from his work.

Maybe there is a connection here. When was the last time you had a bonafide, honest to GOODness rest? When have you fully and completely allowed yourself a day of sabbath, with no work, no chores, no projects, no running errands….have you ever?

God’s work ended with a full day of rest. This was after six days of creating the entire known world.

Take a break, people. If the creator of the universe can carve out a day of downtime, so can you.

And THAT will be good.

It’s All Good by Michelle Robertson

Slaying the Leviathan

Posted on by Betsy

I have been fascinated by the word Leviathan ever since I was a child in Sunday School and heard it for the first time. According to Merriam-Webster, a Leviathan is defined as a sea monster defeated by Yahweh in various scriptures; a large sea animal; a totalitarian state having a vast bureaucracy; or something large and formidable.

Formidable, like a two-year-old having a tantrum. Or a pandemic. Or a terminal diagnosis. Or an angry church member.

I was surprised to see the way Leviathan is used in this Psalm. Here we see a playful image of a sea creature splashing around and romping among the ships. What a delightful picture!

Psalm 104 (Common English Bible)

Lord, you have done so many things!
    You made them all so wisely!
The earth is full of your creations!
25 And then there’s the sea, wide and deep,
    with its countless creatures—
    living things both small and large.
26 There go the ships on it,
    and Leviathan, which you made, plays in it!

I love this twist of meaning. It serves to remind us today that no matter what large and formidable thing is confronting us, it is all under God’s command, and he can turn something threatening into something placid in an instant. Indeed, everything and everyone waits for God for sustenance, fulfillment, and even life itself.

27 All your creations wait for you
    to give them their food on time.
28 When you give it to them, they gather it up;
    when you open your hand, they are filled completely full!
29 But when you hide your face, they are terrified;
    when you take away their breath,
    they die and return to dust.
30 When you let loose your breath, they are created,
    and you make the surface of the ground brand-new again.

Did you need to be reminded today that God is in control of his creation, even when everything you see seems to be saying otherwise? I did. Viruses, riots, protests, fear, violence, hatred, judgment, slander…all of it falls under his power and purview. Yes, it seems large and formidable to us. But God touches the mountains and they smoke.

31 Let the Lord’s glory last forever!
    Let the Lord rejoice in all he has made!
32 He has only to look at the earth, and it shakes.
    God just touches the mountains, and they erupt in smoke.

So let us sing to the Lord and be pleasing to him, and him alone. And may he slay the Leviathan in your life, whatever that may be. Rejoice in the Lord, always.

33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
    I will sing praises to my God while I’m still alive.
34 Let my praise be pleasing to him;
    I’m rejoicing in the Lord!

Spouting Leviathan by Karen McCauley

Essential Work

Posted on by Betsy

I have complete and total admiration for the parents who became overnight homeschool teachers when schools were closed all over the world due to the pandemic. My hat is off to you. To quote the Brits, I am gobsmacked! I can’t begin to fathom what it is like to sit at your dining room table, trying to complete your own work from home, and teach your children coursework that normally requires well-educated, highly trained professionals. My kids are grown now, but they would have been LOST. Not so much with the English, history, and social studies classes, but can we talk about math? Good Lord. Today’s math would have toppled me. I don’t think I could get past about 2nd grade math with a child. And I am being generous with myself.

Each of us has different gifts, given to us by God at our conception. I do well with words. My friend Greta is an amazing painter. Wende is a math wizard. (I would have needed her to FaceTime with my kids every day if she ever wanted to see me alive again.) Carol is a suburb musician. Everybody has something they are good at doing. We call these abilities spiritual gifts.

What are you good at doing? Do you use that ability to serve God in some way? What is your special spiritual gift?

1 Corinthians 12 (Contemporary English Version)

3 Now I want you to know that if you are led by God’s Spirit, you will say that Jesus is Lord, and you will never curse Jesus.

4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but they all come from the same Spirit. 5 There are different ways to serve the same Lord, 6 and we can each do different things. Yet the same God works in all of us and helps us in everything we do.

Many of you have a gift of giving. You are the ones taking casseroles around to people who need help. Others have a listening ear and offer compassion easily. Some build, some plan, some speak, some heal. When we pool our gifts together, we make our community stronger.

7 The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others. 8 Some of us can speak with wisdom, while others can speak with knowledge, but these gifts come from the same Spirit. 9 To others the Spirit has given great faith or the power to heal the sick 10 or the power to work mighty miracles. Some of us are prophets, and some of us recognize when God’s Spirit is present. Others can speak different kinds of languages, and still others can tell what these languages mean. 11 But it is the Spirit who does all this and decides which gifts to give to each of us.

The pandemic has brought a new phrase to our society. We all know what it means to be an ”essential worker.“

Did you realize that in the Body of Christ, YOU are an essential worker? We can’t do this without you.

12 The body of Christ has many different parts, just as any other body does. 13 Some of us are Jews, and others are Gentiles. Some of us are slaves, and others are free. But God’s Spirit baptized each of us and made us part of the body of Christ. Now we each drink from that same Spirit.

Take what you are good at doing and offer it in God’s service today. When we drink from that same Spirit of God, all are refreshed and renewed. God has already equipped you to employ your gift in his service. What are you waiting for? Somebody out there needs help with their math.

School’s Out for Summer by Carol Riggin

Would that….

Posted on by Betsy

Do you ever get weary of people who simply refuse to bend to your point of view? Are you flat worn out with those who show blatant disregard for your political perspective? How about the ones who are on the opposite side of your stand on everything that is happening in America right now? Tired of it?

Oh, would that everybody might think just like me!

You are in good company. Consider Moses. His task was to lead his people out of slavery to a free and promised land. He was handed a set of behavioral guidelines that were intended to be nothing less than a blessing of protection to the community. Had the people simply bent to his perspective, taken the stand that he took, and shown respect and regard for the ways he was leading them, they all would have gotten along and even prospered.

But no.

People are people are people, and there will always be division, polarization of thought, obstinance, and downright pig-headedness. The freedom they received the moment they emerged from Pharaoh’s tyranny went straight to their heads, and straight through their hearts. The end result was disobedience.

Numbers 11:24-30 (The Message)

24-25 So Moses went out and told the people what God had said. He called together seventy of the leaders and had them stand around the Tent. God came down in a cloud and spoke to Moses and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy leaders. When the Spirit rested on them they prophesied. But they didn’t continue; it was a onetime event.

26 Meanwhile two men, Eldad and Medad, had stayed in the camp. They were listed as leaders but they didn’t leave camp to go to the Tent. Still, the Spirit also rested on them and they prophesied in the camp.

God sent his Spirit from Moses to the others in order for their leadership to be spirit-filled and shared. Shared leadership that is unified should be the goal of every organization, administration, church, ecclesiastical body, and institution. When leadership and vision are shared, the entire structure is strengthened. One message emerges, unifying the community in purpose and mission.

27 A young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!”

28 Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ right-hand man since his youth, said, “Moses, master! Stop them!”

The two who were given the gift of prophesy from God had not been with the original seventy. This instantly became an us-verses-them situation for some. But Moses saw it differently. Moses was keenly aware that the Spirit came from God, and its power was not predicated on who the recipients were or where they were located.

29 But Moses said, “Are you jealous for me? Would that all God’s people were prophets. Would that God would put his Spirit on all of them.”

Would that all God’s people were prophets.

Would that all people might have the Spirit and thereby be unified.

Would that all leaders would lead.

Would that all Christians would speak against injustice and inequality with one voice.

Would that…

But people are people are people.

And so we pray and actively seek God and his Spirit to come upon us as we gather and wait. When people who are called by God’s name humble themselves and pray, God will heal our land.

May we act justly, love mercy, walk humbly, and be healed.

We need another Pentecost.

Mountain Serenity by Scott Brown