Bad timing?

Hey Beloved…
 
This is probably a bad week to talk about this subject. But with notable precision, God knew the timing of our current teaching series months ago. Sometimes sticking with the sequential reading of scripture will lead us by God’s wisdom to explore something we would prefer not to think about. What we might perceive as bad timing may indeed be exactly what we need to hear. Are you curious? Let’s talk in Deeper Thoughts below.
 
But first, a few things going on:
                                                                                                                 
·      Did you miss last Sunday’s “big reveal” of our new (revised) building expansion plans? Our architects have reimagined our potential expansion—to include creating a symmetrical sanctuary—and we think you’re going to like it. If you missed the business meeting after church, click here to view the recorded livestream (fast forward to 34:05 for the facility portion of the meeting).
 
o   Also important is an update on where we are in funding the project. Your generosity as a congregation has been exceptional and has positioned us where this project is becoming more and more realistic. There are still opportunities and needs to see this through. Fast forward to 1:08:40 in the video to see those details.  
 
·      Teens:  Youth Group: this Sunday 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. with food, fun, and the Word. For more details, email Jessica Sauder: [email protected].
 
·      Ladies: Join us for Women’s Bowling at “The Branch,” TOMORROW, Saturday, September 13, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. Email Tracey Schlitzer for details [email protected].
 
·      Help spruce up Mt. Hope and make some new friends… Join us for our fall churchwide workday, NEXT Saturday, September 20, 9:00 p.m. – 12:30 p.m. We’ll have roles for all… easy lift, heavy lift, and more… fun, fellowship, and food!
 
·      Want to make HUGE a difference in people’s lives? Consider getting involved with our kids and teens… we have roles for teaching, assisting, and even helping behind the scenes. Join us for lunch NEXT Sunday, September 21, from 11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. to explore what helping might be like… no commitment implied by attending!
 
·      Join me for “The Daily Six” – six minutes each morning in the Word of God, Monday through Friday, on our YouTube channel. If you’d like to receive daily email reminders and you’re not already getting them, click here to sign up!
 
 
OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and you who prefer to avoid anything God might want to tell us. BUT…
 
 
Some Deeper Thoughts:
 
The news this week has been a little bleak. Correction: very bleak.
 
It started last weekend when a video I wish I didn’t see went viral of a young Ukrainian refugee being senselessly stabbed on a commuter train while several others around her did nothing to help. Then, on Wednesday, a political assassination of a popular right-wing commentator took place in front of hundreds (thousands?) of spectators—including his own wife and children. These are another pair of tragedies in a long line of violent acts that keep coming in wave after wave in our society.
 
I was up super-early on Thursday morning watching news coverage of the assassination when that morning’s preset Daily Six reminder email popped up on my notifications. “When I See the Blood” was the title of Thursday morning’s Daily Six and its promotional email. I cringed.
 
It’s a direct quote from one of the most sacred moments in biblical history. An annual celebration of God’s people started with that quote that is still carried on today. Jesus Christ celebrated this statement every year at the Passover Feast, eagerly desiring to share this with his disciples. It was during one of those holy dinners that Jesus revealed his own shed blood would become the most sacred remembrance for every Christ-follower to come.
 
But on Thursday morning, the phrase “when I see the blood” felt a little too close to home, the nation once again watching our fellow humans’ blood being spilled by senseless, evil brutes who took their political or cultural differences way, way, way too far.
 
Our staff received an electronically submitted prayer request shortly afterwards from a Mt. Hope mom. She was asking prayers for her teenager who is grappling with friends on social media posting hateful comments—I’m guessing either decrying the assassination and hating on the political adversaries whom Charlie Kirk opposed, or left-wing sympathizers celebrating his death as a victory over what they considered to be hateful speech of his. I’ve seen both types of comments from both sides on social media--and sadly even professional media—that I’ve watched this week.
 
This mom also acknowledged the pressure many of our teens are facing at school and among their peers for being open about their faith in Jesus. We will pray over this need and all our young people this Sunday during service. I’ll also share a few brief comments about this week’s events to call us to a Jesus-centric response to all the violence in our decaying culture.
 
But then we’re going to get back to the sequence of what God has been revealing in our study of the Old Testament. I’m trusting the timing of “the blood of the lamb” is exactly what God wants us to process this Sunday while we absorb another bloody week in our nation.
 
And… this is more relevant to our societal ills than we might imagine.
 
God’s judgment was coming upon Egypt for centuries of hate-filled injustice. Ancient antisemitism had taken root as the Egyptians feared the blessings and success God had poured upon His people even while they were mercilessly enslaved. The Israelite’s hardships were not unlike the many injustices and violent acts we have seen perpetrated in our society over and over again in recent years.
 
There is always a point where evil will reach a limit God cannot tolerate any longer. In our view, this limit is often far later than we wish it were—I’d say we Americans have long since crossed the line where God should step in. But God has a different economy of timing, rooted in his immeasurable mercy and His desire to give us a TON of time to fix things on our own.
 
When God steps in, it will be rough. For Egypt, it meant a wretched plague where every firstborn son in Egypt would face a death angel in a single night. God would spare the Israelites, but only if they sacrificed a lamb and placed its blood on the doorframes of their homes. “When I see the blood,” God said, “I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you…” (Exodus 12:13).
 
To us, the shedding of blood is barbaric. I felt that when I watched a Ukrainian girl get stabbed and a political activist get shot. Senseless. Brutal. Evil.
 
But there is another side to the shedding of blood. In the spiritual realm, a godly sacrifice carries with it a spiritual transformation. The Jews annually celebrate the Passover Feast as God passed over the sacrificed blood of a lamb. Jesus would be identified as the real and final sacrificial lamb whose blood empowers God to pass over our sins.
 
Friends, the blood of Jesus is the solution to all the ills of our society, our world, our humanity. Not shouting. Not arguing. Not shooting.
 
It’s a complicated tale, and one we need to wrestle with from our modern discomfort with sacrificial blood. Let’s meet this Sunday and explore it together in the scriptures. We will discover why we Christians are so celebratory of the blood of Jesus—a concept sure to sound foreign to those outside our faith.
 
In the meantime, to prepare yourself, would you take time to watch Thursday’s Daily Six if you have not already—or maybe watch it a second time to soak in God’s Word from Exodus 12? Click here for Thursday’s episode.
 
Then… come on out on Sunday to church… oh, and bring that physical Bible. Let’s dig in together!
 
Much love to you all in the peace of Jesus Christ…
 
Chris Eads
Mt. Hope Pastor
Friend