JESUS:THE NEW MOSES

If you’ve ever taken a look at both of the nativity accounts, you might have noticed something strange: they are quite different. Does that mean the Bible is contradictory or simply that Matthew and Luke didn’t talk it over when they were punching out their gospels? If those two stories don’t match up, what does this mean for Jesus? 

While there is absolutely no reason for you to lose sleep over this, it does raise the big question: why? Why would we get two different accounts of the same guy being born if they don’t match up? The answer to that question is a bit of a jab at our Western modernity. See, to us, we might see the nativity scene as this concrete historical moment; and while it definitely happened, we often fall into the trap of thinking that history is written with the intention of being a camera in the crowd. A sense of “this is what you would have seen if you were there.” One book (Kings) might tell you that Israel's exile was due to one king while another (Chronicles) might blame it on the people. And this is not okay to us.

But, think about it. When a biography is written, are all the details of a person’s life set to text? That sounds incredibly boring. Are all the events in chronological order? Sometimes, but many works organize them by theme - you might meet a famous individual’s spouse halfway through the story by jumping back to their youth. This is how we do history because we love a good story. We are kind of built that way - hence, the Bible. But it also teaches us that writers often have an agenda when they craft their work. Now, that sounds bad, but agenda here simply means writing to a specific audience or to convey a certain message. Check out Paul’s letters to the churches or the letter to the Hebrews. What’s important for us as modern readers is to consider that audience and message when we come to the Bible. It might make things a little less scary.

On to Matthew. 

A key theme throughout the book is Matthew’s portrayal of Jesus as Israel’s messiah. That may seem rather fundamental and perhaps simplistic in our 2000-years removed eyes, but try to zoom back into the minds of the Jews at the time:

• God has been essentially silent for about 400 years.

• Rome is the baddest kid on the block and is currently occupying your lands.

• You’ve seen several attempts at a “messiah” figure already, and some even got a book and holiday after them.

By all accounts, you are ripe and ready for a savior to come in on a white horse and save the day. Maybe put the powers under his feet. But, you’re not expecting someone like Jesus, a backwater kid from an out-of-the-way place. A nobody. So, in order to grab the attention of his Jewish readers, Matthew sets out to connect Jesus to Israel's history: the Davidic line, the new Moses-like teacher, and the one who would fulfill the prophecies written by the likes of Isaiah.

In everyone’s favorite part of Matthew, Chapter 1’s genealogy, the writer lays out the road to Jesus from Abraham. This section is more focused on how Jesus is connected to David, but we can zoom into verses 3 & 4 and assume that the Egyptian generations are found here. Genesis leaves off with Jacob’s kids going into Egypt, and we know that the story of Ruth is removed from that account. Thus, while not entirely certain, those generations of slavery are in there - Israel is keen on not forgetting it. 

Jumping down to verse 21, an angel tells Joseph what Jesus’s name will be “because he will save his people from their sins.” The funny bit here is that this could be seen as God repeating himself. He has already saved the people of Israel from their slavery through Moses, so Jesus coming to do the same is a rhythm of history. Now, sins and slavery are not exactly the same thing, but Paul talks about us being enslaved to sin, and Jesus does so as well in the Gospel of John:

When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness… But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God… - Romans 6:20, 22

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. - John 8:34

Sin is slavery, which is why we are redeemed, or bought, out of it. Here, and later on in the prophecy of Micah in chapter 2, Matthew is tying Jesus to the rescue from slavery and the shepard to watch over his sheep - or people - something closely aligned with another shepard turned deliverer.

But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for out of you will come a ruler

who will shepherd my people Israel. - Matthew 2:6 & Micah 5:2, 4

Next, the wise men. One could connect the wise men (or maji) of Herod to the sorcerers of Pharaoh, since Herod is acting as Pharaoh in this story. But, that doesn’t really make sense since the maji are on Jesus’s team, and their presence doesn’t count as a connection. However, their actions do connect them with a potentially forgotten character of the Moses story. Remember Moses’s sister? In a clever move, she uses her wit to save Moses from Pharoah’s murder decree, and a theme of “tricking or outwitting” can be seen in other episodes in the Old Testament. Back to the maji, they got a message from the angel and decided to use a little trickery of their own, sneaking in the backdoor to their home country. Matthew even explicitly states this and uses it as the catalyst for his comparison of Herod to Pharoah.

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. - Matthew 2:16

However, in an interesting subversion of this story, Jesus family flees to Egypt to escape the mass slaughter. 

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” 

So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” - Matthew 2:13-15

One last connection between Moses and Jesus is in regard to their returns. Both are told that those who were persecuting them had since died, and thus, it was safe to go back. The Moses story gets 269x more interesting if you keep reading a few verses down, but for brevity:

Now the Lord had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead.” So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand. - Exodus 4:19-20

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” - Matthew 2:19-20

So, what is the purpose of all of this? To Matthew, it is to paint Jesus as the figure that Israel has been waiting for, and that message applies to us, as well. But more importantly, I think this highlights the fact that our savior is multifaceted. To sum up Jesus in one story would make the world explode, to reference John (21:25). These gospels offer a perspective, and that shouldn’t bother anyone. Just because all of the four gospels don’t agree on aspects of Jesus’s life does not make them wrong or Jesus is a hoax. Use these perspectives to better understand who the Isrealites thought Jesus was, who the Gentiles thought he was, and who we believe that he is.

ADVENT:JOY

If faith is the foundation of our hope, then what is the outworking of this hope?

Lola and I have been in Portland for a little over 6 months now, and I have a confession to make: I’m finding it rather difficult to maintain high hopes. Don’t misunderstand me; we are doing well enough. We have a warm [and tiny] home to come to every day, jobs that keep us afloat, and cats to snuggle with (most crucially). By all functional measures, we made it, and life could continue at this pace until we retire or die. American success.

But most days, I would rather fight a cougar than work at a job that will never amount to anything, it seems. Portland can feel like this inescapable sprawl, especially being centrally located; sometimes [most of the time], I just want to be in a forest with no one around. Both of us are really struggling with being so far away from friends and family. 

Happy Holidays then can feel a bit of a misnomer when you’re feeling decidedly unhappy.

Once again, the Scriptures turn out to be a close friend. The Old Testament is packed with moments of sadness, depression, and dissatisfaction with the world. The Teacher in Ecclesiastes essentially fights back against the authors of the Proverbs, saying that this life is hevel, a vapor that vanishes. Some might even say meaningless. There’s an entire book dedicated to sorrow - Lamentations. It’s okay; I know you’re busy and haven’t gotten the chance to read it this year. If you want a bit of seemingly heretical catharsis, Psalm 88 is, in Lola’s words, a banger.

Lord, you are the God who saves me;

day and night I cry out to you.

May my prayer come before you;

turn your ear to my cry.

I am overwhelmed with troubles

and my life draws near to death.

I am counted among those who go down to the pit;

I am like one without strength.

I am set apart with the dead,

like the slain who lie in the grave,

whom you remember no more,

who are cut off from your care.

You have put me in the lowest pit,

in the darkest depths.

Your wrath lies heavily on me;

you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.

You have taken from me my closest friends

and have made me repulsive to them.

I am confined and cannot escape;

my eyes are dim with grief.

I call to you, Lord, every day;

I spread out my hands to you.

Do you show your wonders to the dead?

Do their spirits rise up and praise you?

Is your love declared in the grave,

your faithfulness in Destruction?

Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,

or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

But I cry to you for help, Lord;

in the morning my prayer comes before you.

Why, Lord, do you reject me

and hide your face from me?

From my youth I have suffered and been close to death;

I have borne your terrors and am in despair.

Your wrath has swept over me;

your terrors have destroyed me.

All day long they surround me like a flood;

they have completely engulfed me.

You have taken from me friend and neighbor—

darkness is my closest friend. - Psalms 88 (the whole thing - good job!)

The TL;DR version of that is “my life is terrible, and God, it’s your fault.”

Life is harsh most of the time for most of humanity. We live in an age with the common blessing of antibiotics and proper hygiene that have allowed us to escape many pains of the past. We live in the richest, most powerful country in the history of the world. But trials and suffering will still find us. And that makes smiling hard. It makes getting through the day a struggle. 

But God…

Reaching into our story, revealed himself so that we may have joy.

...“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” - Luke 2:10

Joy is a strange thing. Many things can bring us joy. A day of rest, an awesome vacation, a promotion at work, or even a glass of wine, according to the Bible (Psalms 104). Party animals, rejoice. But a lot of times, the negative can outweigh the positive, so joy can be something hard to muster up. 

The solution to this, if one could call it that, doesn’t rest in the special Greek or Hebrew words for joy. There are plenty, and they are each special, absolutely worth looking into. But what’s important is not necessarily what joy means rather where it comes from. 

Paul tells Philemon that their friendship have given him joy.

Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people. - Philemon 1:7

James thinks that trials and hardships can bring joy.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. - James 1:2-3

Peter describes trust in Jesus, who most people never got to meet, as great joy!

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. - 1 Peter 1:8-9

Sojourner, you church family can bring you joy in the middle of crisis. In those trials, you can count it as joy that you will come out closer to God than before. Above all, you can be joyful in the reality that Christ dwelt among up, revealing our God to us in the greatest display of love ever known. That is where you will find joy. 

Life is still hard. I (Nate) find it hard to be joyful at the moment. And I’m not saying that there isn’t room for sadness and mourning. Cry when it hurts. Be angry at injustice. It’s even okay to be confused by it all. But find joy in Christ. Grab on, and even if everything burns down, don’t let go. 

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. - Romans 15:13

Advent:FAITH

Why do we have hope?

When that theoretical person stops you on the street to ask you a random math problem - you know, the one your teacher always warned you about - what if they asked you why you have hope? What would you say? Or would you just do what most people do and ignore them, maybe putting your earbuds in for insurance?

… if someone asks you about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. - 1 Peter 3:15

So, what do we explain? Our modern society has so drastically compartmentalized our lives -  much like the Greek philosophers complaining about the clock carving up their days - that our racial, political, economical, and religious identities have been ripped apart. This has given rise to the meaningless disparities between religion and faith. We talk about our Christian faith (or Catholic faith for some) or the Islamic faith, but we aren’t referring to faith but to religion. A better way to phrase this might be “Christians, people of faith,’ rescuing the word from modernity and Enlightenment alterations. 

But what is faith?

Like hope, it functions as a good, Christian female name. Joy, too. Oh, wow. Back on topic, faith in English often refers to a confidence, hope, or as modernity has defined it, blind trust. Hope and faith are often tossed around, juggled in conversation to the point where is seems confusing to separate the two. We shouldn’t pull them apart by any means, but it could be helpful to better understand their relationship.

Looking to the Hebrew Scriptures, we find the word Emunah which could mean firmness, steadfastness, or fidelity. That seems a little strange, so how did this word come to be associated with faith? In the Exodus narrative, the writer speaks of Moses outstretched arms over a battle with the Amalekites.

… Thus, his arms were steady (enumah) until the sun set - Exodus 17:12

Interesting. The psalms speak to Yahweh’s faithfulness to Israel in response to the covenant made with Abraham. Psalms 89, in particular, is loaded.

I will make known Your faithfulness (emunateka) with my mouth - Psalms 89:1

To these writers, Yahweh is the faithful one. Thankfully for Israel, he was the only active party during the Abraham covenant, giving Israel hope that no matter what they did, Yahweh would remain steadfast in his love and commitment. Hosea speaks to this faithfulness language very explicitly in his writings, comparing Israel to an unfaithful partner. 

In steps Jesus, the awaited king to which we now put our faith in due to God’s own faithfulness to us. 

The unnamed writer of the letter to the Hebrews defines this faith for us at the beginning of the famous “hall of faith” passage.

Faith (pistis) is the confidence [or substance] of things hoped for; the conviction [or evidence] of things not seen. - Hebrews 11:1

Pistis is our Greek word for faith, and it comes loaded with meanings of trust, confidence, or belief. So here, the writer is giving us a multifaceted picture of faith, especially if you look across different Bible translations. Faith is a confidence in Jesus, not just a belief (thinking the proper thoughts) but a trust in who he said he was. We have seen the invisible God become visible (Col. 1:15) and this conviction drives us to trust in God and his rescue mission and to now take part in that mission. Ya know, thy kingdom come and all. But faith is more than just trust and the work that comes with it. 

Faith is the bedrock of our hope. The substance. Faith is the experience of our hope, both intellectual and emotional. We know that Jesus is who he says he was from testimony and history. We don’t blindly trust in a Hebrew teacher that just showed up on the scene 2000 years ago. We only know of most of the Greek and Roman world through a few medieval manuscripts. We know about Jesus and his radical new way to be human from hundreds of sources dating back to the 2nd century (some would even say the 1st). You aren’t stupid because you trust Jesus. You’re simply following the evidence. From that, we experience his love through the Spirit - you know that feeling. The spine tingle you get when your favorite worship song hits home. The joy of helping others in their time of need. Seeing the ocean or standing next to a mountain, knowing the one who made them. And this faith now brings us into a family:

The real children of Abraham, then, are the ones who put their faith (pistis) in God - Galatians 3:7

And so this Advent season, we delight in our faith. It’s nothing to be ashamed of or hide. It is the foundation on which our hope is built, and our faith is built on the promised one. Jesus - the result of God’s faithfulness to his people, to come and dwell among us. Trust him Lean into him. Not just with your mind; not just with your feelings. 

Rather, trust him,

… with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. - Deuteronomy 6:5

Advent:

Hope

What strange days we live in.

A billionaire reality TV star is in the White House; Kayne is making gospel music; and baby Yoda is Disney’s new Mickey Mouse in its conquest of the entertainment industry. There is still war in the Middle East; millions of Muslims are being “re-educated” in western China; and the Amazon rainforest is on fire by decree of the government. Some want to deregulate the market, and others want to deregulate identity. We live in a unique time, and for some, it may be hard to see a way forward. 

What good company we have.

Returning from exile only to have your home not what it used to be - and believing that it was all your fault or that one king’s fault. Being under the boot of the Roman Empire, wondering if your nation will ever be liberated (the last attempt didn’t last too long). Having the announcement that will change the world, and having your life threatened because of it. 

It’s hard to have hope in days such as these, but the Hebrew Scriptures and early church writings give us a picture of what our hope is and why we even have it. 

To the writers of the Old Testament, the concept of hope is connected to the concept of waiting. In ancient Hebrew, the word Yakhal is used as a direct correlation to our word “wait”. Another word used is Qavah, a derivative of Qav, the word for “cord”. Qavah has connotations of tension, like the pulling of a cord - the feeling of just before the string snapping i.e. satisfaction. 

For Israel, hope was found in the waiting for Yahweh to come and renew the kingdom, often to Davidic level since David is often used as a comparison piece. When the prophets were on the scene, they would speak of his coming and encourage the people to both repent and wait, all with the hope of a new age.

At this moment, the LORD is hiding his face from Israel, so I will wait (Qavah) for him. Isaiah 8:17

O Israel, hope (Yakhal) in the LORD; 

For with the LORD there is unfailing love.

His redemption overflows - Psalms 130:7

Depending on whether you ask the writer of the Annals of the Kings (1 + 2 Kings) or the writer of Chronicles (1 + 2), Israel’s downfall was either on the kings or on the people, but Chronicles, in particular, leaves the story open for a messiah to come and redeem Israel as a light to the nations, despite the failures of the previous generations and kings. 

And so they waited. For over 400 years.

Then, Jesus explodes onto the scene and out of the pages. His life, death, and resurrection generated a new hope. God’s Kingdom was now here, and one day, Jesus would return to bring it to its completeness. Jesus became the climax to Israel's story and the beginning of a brand new family that would span the nations. Greek has a the word Elpis, meaning hope, expectation, trust, or confidence. That’s quite a loaded word so let’s see how Paul uses it.

To whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope (Elpis) of glory. - Colossians 1:27

To Paul, the hope of God’s new kingdom is a present reality that is both experienced by Christians but is also made known through those Christians who have hope for a coming age. N.T. Wright has described history as a 5-act play, where we are in the 4 act waiting for the fifth and final one. The now and the not-yet. 

And so during the season of Advent, we wait - yakhal, qavah, elpis - for the Adventus (coming) of Christ. We recreate the anticipation of the nation of Israel waiting for their redeemer and continue in the Christian story of hope for his glorious return. 

O come, O come, Immanuel

And ransom captive Israel.

ADVENTUS

Oh come now, hail his arrival,

The God of Creation.

Royalty robed in the flesh he created.

Jesus the maker has made himself known.

All hail the infinite infant God!

These words, if put to papyrus in the first century, would encapsulate what John was expressing in the beginning of his Gospel account:

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

Jesus - the Maker- the Word. He came, he saw, he loved, he dwelt. As in pitched a tent and “tabernacled” among us. What’s more, one day he’s coming back, and instead of a tent, he’s bringing the whole of New Creation with him.

* * *

I’m not sure what “Advent” means to you. Perhaps it means nothing, a postscript between the two rich, thick chapters of Thanksgiving and Christmas. You might envision chocolates in 25 paper doors or the same old sermon series your pastor does every December. The word might be synonymous with Christmas for you. Even now, I can see my own experience unfold before my eyes - A reading every week from different families. The wreath and the candles, flickering and casting a soft glow throughout the service, snuffed out when we dismissed for lunch. It’s so easy to let Advent become a hum in the background of our lives. For many, the warmth of the holiday season dilutes the vibrancy of Advent, confining it to a mere few solemn moments on Sundays that swiftly leave us, awash in that soft glow of candles, but hardly ablaze.

If you’re wondering what Advent meant to the early church, it comes from the Latin adventus, meaning “a coming, approach, arrival.” Historically, if has been a time of waiting, fasting, trusting, and reflecting on the “coming of Christ” - past and future. Often, we relegate this celebration to the miraculous nativity of Christ - as well we should… to a degree. Even Mary models this healthy reflection for us upon the birth of her strangely foretold son:

“But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them.” Luke 2:19

The nativity of Christ should bring us to hope in God’s past promises, study the faithfulness of Mary and Joseph, share in the joy of the shepherds, and marvel at the angels’ declaration of peace. But as John (the disciple)’s account of John the Baptist shows later in chapter 1, the coming of Christ is much, much more consequential.

“He said, ‘I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord—just as Isaiah the prophet said.’” John 1:23

John faithfully awaits the coming of Jesus and rests on God’s prophecy and promises, but he’s not idle. He’s teaching repentance. He’s baptizing the faithful. He’s priming the hearts of those Jesus would later come and claim.

He remains active in the wait.

Appropriate remembrance of Jesus’s coming demands patient waiting and reflection, yes, but further, active participation. John was not lounging by the Jordan, fasting, praying, and lighting candles in a silent vigil, as if for the dead. He was not cooing over an infant lying eerily docile in his mother’s arms. Like a crier in the streets, John was engaging the people around him, announcing the impending arrival of the living KING.

Over the next couple of weeks, we will, as a people making the way for the Lord, have multiple opportunities to engage in active participation in Jesus’s second coming as King. During this time, we will explore the ways that the weeks of Advent, seemingly disparate, flow into a cohesive narrative that steadily points to the story of Jesus.

As movements in a symphony, we will reflect on the past as we look to the future to explore the hope of Jesus’s future arrival, the model of faith of his life, the joy of his (and our!) resurrection, and the peace of the coming new creation. All this, so we can say, “Yes! Come quickly, Lord Jesus, come!” knowing that when he comes to pitch his tent permanently, we have kept our hand to the plow and our eyes fixed ahead in expectation.

The Advent Wreath

The church maintains many methods to participate in the Advent season. One we have chosen for Sojourn is the Advent wreath. Familiar to many church traditions, the Advent wreath has persisted as an icon of the season. The wreath often features things like holly and pine woven in a circle. Another predominant element are the candles. Though many traditions ascribe different meanings to the candles and their colors, they all correlate to concepts related to Jesus’s first and second coming.

At Sojourn, our Advent wreath reflects the reality of our body of believers. The wreath is fashioned from our local spruce, not only a traditional Christmas tree option, but a mainstay of the beautiful Pacific Northwest we have come to call our home. Ever green, the cuttings and pine cones symbolize the undying faithfulness of God’s promises and the promise of eternal life and renewal “in the midst of winter and death”. The barberry, picked from one of our many local parks, features thorns, reminiscent of our Savior’s cruciform crown, and red berries, reminiscent of the blood he shed as a man. These subtle reminders weave the tradition of Advent into its rightful context - the death, resurrection, and return of Jesus. All the elements, with the exception of the candles, are all handmade or locally thrifted, reflecting the love and value that the people of Portland put into upcycled and locally sourced items.

Much consideration has gone into the selection and assembly of the Advent wreath, and we hope that you will connect with the beauty and imagery of its symbolism.

The Jesus Tree

Long ago, in the wilds and wastes of the chaotic waters, there was something hovering. A Spirit. Behold, a being brought order out of this chaos, creating a garden. And what is a garden without a gardener? So, this being put humans in the garden to be royal partners - representatives to turn a good garden into something complete. What was in this garden. Why, trees, of course.

So. Many. Trees.

Trees of fruit. Trees of beauty. Trees of potential. The tree of life and the tree of knowledge. 

Tree are incredible things. They are not simply brown posts in the ground with small, green fins. They are some of the oldest organisms on the planet, full of wonder and delight. Trees can provide us with food, shelter, or the best way to reuse an old tire. Trees even give us air to breathe. It’s no wonder humans have been hooked on trees for quite a while. Some cultures tell of a tree with a sapphire larger than someone could ever hold growing out of it, while others describe the layers of reality being held together by the branches of a tree.

One of the most pervasive connotations associated with a tree is that of a family. We spend hours digging through online records, hoping to piece together our familial past and gain a better picture of who we are and what connects us. 

We build our family tree. 

Perhaps, we even become part of another tree, joining two separate groups that may have never come to associate had it not been for a few movies, a few laughs, and one big promise.

We care a lot about trees, and it’s no surprise that Scripture is quite enamoured with them, as well. They literally show up on the first page:

Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.  - Genesis 1:11-12

Cool, trees seem important - but what does it matter?

In steps Isaiah, who tells of one who will grow…

up before him like a tender shoot,

and like a root out of dry ground. - Isaiah 53:2

If you run in Christian circles, you’ll probably be familiar with this prophecy of our Savior. You might even be aware of the pun/connection that Isaiah makes regarding Jesus’s home in Nazareth. 

So, Jesus is a tree, a tree of life. The tree of life. 

But this tree is different. Mighty, he may be, but he sure doesn’t seem like. Israel was looking for a California redwood to lead them into a new Davidic kingdom. But this “kingdom of heaven” seems to have been brought forth by simple fig tree. And who is this Paul character who write of us being “grafted” into the family? And could it be that this king’s throne is not plated in gold but is simply a crude tree itself? A device of murder? 

There’s a lot to unpack there that I’m not sure we have the time for in the not yet Kingdom. But I’m moved to tears when I think of my Savior, the Wisdom, the Word, the God who was there at the beginning. 

The one who gave us… trees.

What am I to do but maybe give a tree in return?

And so we do. Our tree is not large. Not fancy. Not particularly attractive. Just like our Maker incarnate. And though our God is rich with love, compassion, and life in such abundance that we could never comprehend - here is a small way in which we try.

A vessel for living water. Simple rocks of our cornerstone. Sticks for both an excellent pun and our tree of life. 

And a token. An ornament. A piece of you that reminds you of the one who has freed us - the moment when everything changed. We wait for our Savior to return just was we awaited his arrival some 2,000 years ago. His return which will heal this world. Build a new garden city. 

And at the center of it all: a tree.

1“Arrival” by Hillsong Worship

2 Holcomb, https://www.christianity.com/christian-life/christmas/what-is

For The City Recommend Resources

This past weekend we started our Fall series, “For the City,” where we are studying through the book of Nehemiah the next few months. Nehemiah is the story of God not only calling his people to a mission to rebuild a city that He loves, but also God using that mission to rebuild His people in the process. We are really looking forward to this series together, and wanted to provide a list of recommended resources for the church body.

God’s Word, Our Story: Learning from the Book of Nehemiah

edited by D.A. Carson and Kathleen Nelson

Exalting Jesus in Ezra-Nehemiah

by James M. Hamilton Jr.

A Passion for Faithfulness: Wisdom from the Book of Nehemiah

by J.I. Packer

Ezra-Nehemiah - the Bible Project

Nehemiah Study Guide - The Village Church Resources

DAY OF REST

Summer is one of our busiest times of year at Sojourn. It is for this reason that once a year, we are committed to practicing rest as a church family by breaking from our usual rhythms. This is an opportunity for us to spend a day resting alongside our community, whether that looks like spending the day hiking, setting aside time to fast and pray, or encouraging one another over brunch. However you choose to spend the Day of Rest, we hope it’s a gift that cultivates intimacy with Jesus and his church in a new and refreshing way. For ideas on how to spend this day resting with others in our church family, see the resources below.

*On Sunday, September 1st we will not gather for our regular gathering time, our normal scheduled gathering will resume on Sunday, September 8th.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:

How do we Rest as Disciples? | Table Network

Vacationing as Worship | Matt Boyd

Practicing Rest and Solitude | Jeff Vanderstelt

The Power of Deep Rest | Tim Keller

4 Steps to a Meaningful Sabbath | Emotionally Healthy Spirituality

Sabbath & Garden City | John Mark Comer

God Rested on the Seventh Day | Jon Bloom

Do You Fear a Day of Rest? | Adam Mabry

The Beauty of Rest | Rich McCaskill

To Rest is Human | Daniel Montgomery

SOMBER SATURDAY

I am sure that if we could experience this somber Saturday without the hope of Resurrection Sunday that we would sincerely be able to resonant with the followers of Christ in that day. We would be able to experience the doubts that they went through, the depression, and feeling of being wrong. 

But I would also like to point you to Luke 22:46, as J.D. Greear helped me see, that Jesus knew that his disciples would experience the temptation to disbelieve that even the cross of Christ took place and especially the resurrection. It is what we still experience today when people deny the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.

Today represents a day where we feel lonely, our skeptics appear right, everything we put our hope in appears to be maybe wrong... we have doubt as the disciples had doubts.

But the difficulty of this scenario is that we, as the disciples, know that Sunday exists and is coming. Everything changes tomorrow, whether I have doubt of it or not, it all changes.

Christ told his followers that the grave would not hold him in that he would raise again to life. It is the most important miracle that ever took place, which has huge implications for everyone everywhere in all of human history.

So continue to reflect and be somber today, but at the same time get ready for a celebration is coming tomorrow! Please celebrate with your local community of faith and create a space for those outside the church to hear the message of the gospel this Easter!

Cross - Jesus Dies

Today being Good Friday we wanted to share a summary of why the focus on the death of Christ.

"God shows his love for us in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

First, in essence, Jesus came into the world to die and cover sin.

How did Jesus die?

• On a cross through crucifixion.

• Crucifixion is the most excruciating form of death.

• It was designed for the worst of criminals in society.

• Jesus was crucified in order to bear our griefs and carry our sorrows (Isa. 53:3-4).

Second, Jesus death on the cross finished his purpose for coming.

• Jesus himself declared "It is Finished," referring to taking on the sin of the world (John 19:30).

• Jesus came as our atonement (Rom. 4:25).

• Jesus came and died in our place:

  • Living the life we were meant to live.

  • Dying the death we deserved to die.

  • Ultimately rising from the dead as a way to prove he conquered sin, death, and the grave.

How does the cross satisfy the wrath of God?

• The result of sin is death so in order for the wrath of God to be appeased someone has to die.

• In the Old Testament the wrath of God was appeased through an animal blood sacrifice.

• In the New Testament we see the ultimate and final blood sacrificed required in Jesus.

• Jesus, dying in our place, died the death that God revealed we deserved.

  • Hebrews 9:22

  • 1 Peter 1:18-19

• Jesus ended the need for a blood sacrifice.

How does the death of Christ justify us before God?

• God deserves justice and will get justice.

• Because we are not righteous we cannot justify God.

• Jesus alone, being the perfect man, could justify us before God (Rom. 1:37; 5:16-17).

How does God redeem us through the cross?

• Before the cross we were enslaved in our sin with no hope.

• Through Jesus alone we have been offered a way out to be redeemed.

  • Justified by his grace (Romans 3:24).

  • Jesus gave himself for us (Titus 2:13-14).

  • Christ became cursed for us (Galatians 3:13-14).

  • Redemption through the blood (Ephesians 1:7).

So whom did Jesus come to die for?

• Sinners, which includes all of us (1 Tim. 2:6).

• He came to be the Savior of all people, but only in a saving way for those that believe/are elect in him (1 Tim. 4:10).

How is God triumphant through the cross of Christ?

• Forgives us of all sin.

• Expiation

  • Our sin is taken away from us and we are made clean through Jesus.

• Our sin is taken away and put on Jesus.

At the cross of Christ we see the ultimate love sacrifice of God for us, which makes a way for reconciliation with God.

Good Friday is today, the day that we remember the reason that Jesus came to earth to die a bloody gruesome death on the cross in our place. At first look it appears that Christ death was nothing more than death in itself, appearing to some skeptics as proof against the claims of Jesus. But it is only friday, as we will see on Sunday, the resurrection comes and Jesus is Alive!

EASTER at SOJOURN

APRIL 20 @ 10:00AM: NEIGHBORHOOD EGG HUNT

WE'D LIKE TO INVITE THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY TO THE CONCORDIA NEIGHBORHOOD EGG HUNT! ALL CHILDREN ARE WELCOME WITH THEIR FAMILIES AND THERE WILL BE SEPARATE EGG HUNTS SET UP FOR DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS. WE ARE SERVING ALONGSIDE OTHER COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO PROVIDE FACE PAINTING AND OTHER FUN KID ACTIVITIES AT FERNHILL PARK.

Feel free to invite any families in the neighborhood to attend... the more the merrier! 

• Pack a lunch if you'd like to spend the afternoon at the park directly following the egg hunt! We'd love to hang out with you.

• If you want to help with the egg hunt, please show up at 8am to help set up and hide 10k+ eggs.

• Any questions can be sent to info@sojournpdx.org.

APRIL 21: SOJOURN EASTER GATHERING

WE WILL GATHER DURING OUR NORMAL WORSHIP GATHERING AT 5PM. AFTER THE GATHERING WE WILL HAVE A NEIGHBORHOOD COOKOUT, KIDS EGG HUNT, AND CELEBRATE WITH OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY.

Life on Mission: GenSend 2019

What would it look like for a generation of collegiate Christians to live their lives on mission? What would happen if this generation leveraged their careers, their majors and the places they live for the sake of the gospel and for the needs of their neighbors?

These are the years when students can see how their gifts and passions intersect with needs in North America. We can help students find opportunities in the urban core and connect them to needs in Portland. Ultimately, it is all about being the hands and feet of Christ and taking the gospel to those who need to hear the good news of a great Savior. If you know a college student that you think would be interested in working alongside of us in Summer 2019 please have them email our team at info@sojournpdx.org.

5 Ways to Be Present This Fall

Summer has drawn to a close and school is back in session. Some of us hate the heat of summer and excitedly embrace the new season. Others love the summer freedom and are sad to see it go. Either way it is happening, and while summer brings a unique opportunity to engage in mission so does Fall.

Fall is my personal favorite season as I love the crisper weather, colorful foliage, and I'm a sucker for anything pumpkin flavored. The opportunities to engage with your community are bountiful during the Fall. Life is busy enough and I'm not one to embrace a list of activities to add to my schedule to be a missionary in my culture, but I'll gladly embrace opportunities with things I'm naturally doing anyway.

These opportunities look different for everyone, but here are some ways that my family and our church are planning on engaging our city as missionaries during the Fall season:

1. FOOTBALL

This is arguably America's biggest and most popular sport. Hosting football watching parties for those in your community are a great way to engage with people in an activity they are likely already participating. It doesn't take much to pull this off other than a tv, some good food, and drinks. I'd encourage you to do this with some people from your church family as a way to be on mission together.

2. FESTIVALS

Every city has a number of festivals in the Fall that usually include games for children, pumpkins, and candy. Instead of only attending the festivals why not volunteer? You could volunteer to fill a need or you could set up a pop-up tent and host an art or activity as part of the overall festival. This is a great way to both love and serve the community. 

3. FARMS 

In Portland we have apple picking and pumpkin patches during the Fall. This is a fun activity to do with your family, your church or gospel community, and a great activity to invite others to do with you. 

4. SPORTS

Aside from the previously mentioned football, childrens soccer is a big Fall sport. My oldest son is currently playing soccer so I volunteered to coach a dozen 7 year olds. Our church family is also getting involved as we are planning an end of the season cookout at our house.

5. HOLIDAYS 

Fall kicks off the start of holiday season. Halloween, whether you hate it or love it is one of the easiest times to engage with neighbors in the entire year. It is the one day in the year all of your neighbors with children show up at your door. Be present, give out the best candy, and learn some neighbors names while you are at it. We typically add a fire pit and a hot chocolate station so people will stay and hang a while.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday in the year, but many people spend Thanksgiving lonely or hungry. Invite someone over from work or your street who you know is without family or host a neighborhood potluck for Thanksgiving to engage with those that may normally feel excluded. 

These may not all fit your context like they do mine, but figure out as any good missionary would what does fit your context. Every neighborhood, community, and city has new opportunities with each season where you can join in with ways to love and serve them without really adding anything to your already likely busy schedule. 

Northwest Impact - Church Planting

We are thankful to be part of the NWBC and for all of the churches that work together throughout the Pacific-Northwest to see more churches planted such as ours. 

WHY DO WE BELIEVE IN SIMPLICITY?

At the core of disciple-making movements seen throughout time we do not find specific programs for ministry, but rather we see a collection of beliefs and behaviors that shaped these movements of Jesus. We find ourselves today in the West with some startling stats in front of us:

• There are 200 million people who aren’t connected to a Church family.

• 43,000 people leave the church weekly.

• 35% of those ages 15 to 30 years old want nothing to with any form of spirituality.

• Upwards of 70% of those outside the Church aren’t interested in attending a Church service or gathering of any kind (this includes smalls group and missional communities).[1]

As we began to look at these statistics more and more, we knew that in order to see a true movement in the West, we could not continue doing what we have been doing for so long. The status quo in the ministry world would no longer suffice, as if it ever truly did.

These stats and numbers were headed in this direction for years, but I left the U.S. at the end of 2011 where I stepped out of a season of ministry that looked like me primarily inviting my friends, neighbors, and coworkers to come hear the professionals at my church on the weekend … and for the most part very few every actually showed up. I would spend the next two years of my life equipping everyday people to go and make disciples and see church families form along the way in South Asia.

My team placed our primary focus on everyday people, uneducated in many cases, but with a heart for their community to experience the freedom and family found only in Jesus. Essentially we “broke” many of the rules as the leaders we worked with were not trained in Bible College or Seminary, were not ordained, and many of them had just recently started following Jesus themselves.

The rules we broke were rules that have been placed by man and carried throughout centuries of the church losing its value in the world. We returned to a biblical approach and based everything off of it being simple and reproducible.

If you have studied the life of Jesus and the movement he started, he was not sitting around waiting for people to come to him, but he actively went to them. Jesus went to people who saw their need for him and in turn, the message of the gospel spread through these people. Perhaps what is remarkable is that Jesus started the movement, but designed it in such a way that it would get beyond his control and would leave it in the hands of everyday people.

It’s worth noting that perhaps the most obvious difference between the modern missions and church planting of today and that of Jesus is that there was no central organization in Jesus day, but only Jesus and his teaching. Jesus showed that everyday people were the key players in his movement, professionals need not apply.

In his book, What Jesus Started, Steve Addison points out that the purpose of a missionary movement is that people accept the message, begin to follow Jesus, share him with others, and form new communities of faith that become partners in the spread of the gospel. This is the story we long to see unfold throughout the city of Portland and all over the country.

The movements we’ve seen in other countries such as India, China, and what we are now seeing in Cuba through the hands of everyday people are what in many ways we desire to see. This is the reason we believe in simplicity.

A former professor of mine, Dave Black, said it perhaps best when he said, “Once the idea that every Christian is a full-time missionary is accepted, the work of missions will advance with much less hierarchy -- and much less wasted money. In time, I think we will see a new equilibrium emerge in which professionally-trained missionaries will work side-by-side with an army of volunteers in a low-friction environment that enhances cooperation.”

We intentionally keep our approach simple because the stats I cited at the beginning of this post are not going to change if we continue to make it about a certain type of leader, shuffling already followers from one new church to the next, or about how big you can launch a service to hit that magic moment of momentum to break the 200 barrier (because that is somehow how we have come to define movement now).

In a day where the gospel is not news for many and most have zero interest in attending a church service, we are reclaiming the simplicity of New Testament practices as the central focus of God’s family life. It’s an ancient, minimalist approach to forming and multiplying church families unique to each context. 

--------------

1. The numbers are based on information compiled from The Permanent Revolution (Hirsh & Catchim); Exponential (Ferguson & Ferguson); and Pew Research: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/05/12/millennials-increasingly- are-driving-growth-of-nones/

July 2018 Happenings

Summer time typically brings a change of rhythms as kids are out of school, the warmer and longer days, and neighbors are actually outside! As a church family we have a number of exciting things happening in July that we wanted to share with everyone!

1. Concordia Neighborhood Concerts in the Park - Every Friday night in the month of July there will be a neighborhood concert in Fern Hill Park. These are an annual tradition and a family friendly environment that is great to interact with others in our neighborhood. Sojourn is proud to be a sponsor of this years concerts and will have a booth set up at three of the concerts with games, face painting, and free bottles of water.

2. Outdoor Movie - We are throwing our first outdoor movie party on Saturday, July 7, at 7pm. We will be showing Kung Fu Panda 3 on the fields behind Alliance Meek, 4039 NE Alberta Ct. Bring your own blankets & chairs. We will provide games prior to the movie and popcorn during the movie.

3. Community BBQ - We are having a free Texas style bbq for the community on Sunday, July 15, at 5pm. We will serve Texas style bbq, sides, and drinks until we run out. We will be in Wilshire Park, NE 33rd Avenue.

4. Kids Camp - We are hosting our first ever Kids Camp July 23-27! The camp will consist of a variety of activities for kids to have fun and interact with others in the community. There will be sports, group games, and crafts. The camp is for ages 5+ and costs $25 for the first child; and $10 per additional child. All of the proceeds will go to benefit our neighborhood school, Vernon. To register click here.

5. Join Us - Starting in July we will gather weekly on Sundays at 5pm at 4828 NE 33rd Ave. Our church family gatherings are on Sunday evenings and consist of fellowship, prayer, worship, and teaching. We also gather weekly around tables to live out our core values. We typically share a meal together, celebrate stories, bear one another's burdens, pray for one another, and serve our city together. Our current Table meets on Thursday nights at 6:30pm near Alberta Arts District. For more information email info@sojournpdx.org.

ARE YOU A MISSIONARY OR AN IMPOSTER?

Lately I have been reading about disciple making movements that changed the world and have found some ideas very interesting. For example, in 1850 the Methodists had 4,000 itinerant preachers, 8,000 local preachers, and more than one million members, which made them the largest religious body in the nation and second largest national institution behind the government.

Steve Addison, on this movement, said, "This achievement would have been impossible without the mobilization of ordinary people-white and black, young and old, men and women-and the removal of artificial barriers to their engagement in significant leadership as class leaders, local workers, and itinerant preachers."

Addison is getting at something here that I don't want our church to miss. In many churches and denominations, it has become all about the "professional" Christian doing the work of ministry. Even in many of our local churches we will hear the pastors say, "You guys need to be involved with this, do ministry, etc." Then what is communicated through their actions is the attitude of, "I am the seminary trained one here, so allow me to be the face of everything in regards to ministry." It is also communicated through who serves the family meal (communion) and who baptizes, which neither has to be "professional ministers."

This kind of attitude communicated to the church is what has often stifled its growth at many times and in many ways. During the surge of growth in the Methodist denomination they had no college-educated people in ministry, sounds slightly similar to Jesus day to me. The decline of the Methodists church came during the time when the amateur people in ministry were replaced with the seminary educated professionals.

Now, let me clarify that I am not against seminary if you take that route as part of your equipping and I am seminary trained. However, I do believe that there has been too much emphasis put on seminary education and not enough on the local church equipping and training its members to go out to be ministers in their everyday lives. Until we as a church (universal) get back to the place where the Methodist were in 1850, we in many ways are the cause of stifling a movement that could change the world by not equipping every follower of Christ to take the message of freedom and family to those around them.

I leave you with this, as the planting pastor of Sojourn, I want to always be mindful that you are being equipped and mobilized to go out as missionaries in your everyday life. We are a church made up of ordinary people, my question is how are you intentionally being a missionary and making disciples in your everyday life? In the words of Charles Spurgeon, “Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter.” Which one are you?

Viewing Every Aspect of Life As Ministry

The act of disciple-making is the calling of every follower of Jesus. So do not make the mistake of thinking that if you are seminary trained or a leader in the church that you are serving God more faithfully than the stay at home mom, barista, bartender, or salesperson from your church. Each of us in Christ is called to live a life on mission that is about the business of disciple-making. 

Jeff Vanderstelt summed this up to the church he pastors by telling everyone at his church that they are paid full-time by their company in order to be a full-time minister at their job. By returning to this New Testament practice the people that make up the church will stop seeing the Sunday gathering as the primary connecting point for those outside the church, but as a way to connect with people in their rhythm of life. This allows one to naturally build community with the insiders of the culture, allowing them to express freedom (gospel) in a contextually appropriate manner. 

We look around and wonder with all of the church planting efforts available today, why 250 million people are still not connected to a church family, 43,000 leave weekly, and 35% of those 15-30 years old have no interest in any form of spirituality at all. A large reason for this is the divide between the professional/laity Christian. If we take a look back at early Christianity, we are reminded that they experienced explosive growth in large part by means of informal missionaries engaging the culture. Think early church. Think America in the 1700’s. Think of most of the church planting movements we are seeing globally today. 

There are numerous examples of seeing people embrace their everyday life as ministry seeing themselves as missionaries, but a couple of examples come to mind. In 1 Thessalonians 1 we see that the Thessalonians had so implemented gospel sharing and disciple-making into their everyday life that the Scriptures record it had gone forth everywhere around them and that there was no need for the Apostle Paul to go back behind them to these places.

In Acts 11:19-30 we see that it was unnamed believers who the took gospel to Antioch. These believers were simply living out their faith in midst of their daily existence. I love that Scripture includes pieces of information like that for us and I encourage you to start viewing every aspect of your life as ministry, as the mission field where God has placed you to proclaim his glory.