Our moments are busy.
God is with you in all of them.

These stories are sometimes pulled out to be examples of how a strong faith can result in either ourselves or someone we love being healed. These stories end up getting used as motivation to just believe more, pray more, go to church more, and stop asking so many questions. But here’s the thing: healing and being restored into community doesn’t depend on how strong or fragile someone’s faith is at any given point. Think about how cruel that system would be. I only prayed for my friend 7 times that day, but the healing required for me to pray 8 times so now all hope is lost for their healing. Or, my mind wandered while I was in prayer so therefore that prayer doesn’t count. Or, I read this really weird story from the Bible and I have a lot of questions about what it means for us today, so that means my time reading scripture didn’t count because questions bubbled up alongside my faith. That isn’t how it works. And, the fact that some people receive healing and others don’t doesn’t make sense, so we want to try to make a system or a formula that will guarantee success every time. And, that’s not how that works either.

I wish I had the kind of good news that could tell you exactly how to ensure that you or someone you love will be healed from an illness, or, at the very least, to be able to know if it isn’t going to happen. But that knowledge remains God’s and God’s alone.

What we do know is that in the midst of illness, God is present with us and gives us the gift of support through caregivers, family, friends, medical professionals, support staff, social networks, and social services that help ease the pain and burden. Through living and serving one another, restoration happens and connections are made and remade even if healing isn’t possible. Loving, caring for, and serving our neighbor is how God’s shalom and restoration become tangible in our world.

CW: ableism

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In this episode, we are focusing on several different people, all of whom were also early followers of Jesus, who are listed as being present at the end of Jesus’ life. This is an episode focusing on what we know about the women who wept and sat vigil during Jesus’ death, were charged with caring for his body after his death, and who were the first to tell the world that Jesus had risen and conquered death, even before the disciples had left their hiding place.

As soon as they share this news, they pretty well disappear from the story. In the book of Acts, the disciples are mentioned as continuing to live lives of prayer “together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus.” None of the other women we had met up to this point are named in the book of Acts; not even Mary Magdalene is named. But, we give thanks for how they followed Jesus’ ministry and how their presence and naming within that story helps shape our faith today.

CW: death

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We're back!

Join us for a quick episode to fill you in on the TONS of opportunities we have to gather together over the next few weeks. Some are old favorites of our community and some are brand new!

We'll be back in our next episode to pick up with the Reading between the Lines series!

Martha and Mary show up in the Gospels in a few short scenes, that show us Jesus’ ministry and continuing to grow and expand and that the care supporters are showing him is mutual. Jesus’ heartbreak at Lazarus’ death is real. The network of safety is strengthening as Jesus is beginning to return to supporters’ homes multiple times; this network of care and safety will be especially important as the religious and political leaders continue their plotting for Jesus’ arrest and trial. We don’t learn exactly how Martha and Mary supported Jesus’ followers after his death, but what we know from scripture indicates that would have been part of that network.

These two women also show us that Jesus is able to be present in the midst of a faith that is scrappy and vulnerable. They did not hide their sibling disagreements when they hosted Jesus at Martha’s home. They did not hide their grief and anger when Jesus didn’t show up in the time between Lazarus’ illness and his death. And, not only did they not hide it, they broadcast it in front of the entire crowd, trusting that Jesus’ love and care for them could handle a public accusation and that it would not waver.

CW: death

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Remembering that both Mary and Elizabeth are integral to the stories of Jesus and John the Baptist, helps to shed some light on how important community and relationship is to God. Neither Jesus nor John the Baptist came into existence completely on their own. They came into existence through the limitations and wonder of very human bodies, relying on families and larger communities to raise and form them into the people they were called to be, who would disrupt the religious and political systems of that time. Communities of support have the blessing and burden of helping to form each member of the community - we see this in our world now, through families, chosen families, faith communities, service organizations, schools, and every group that we join. I wonder what lessons or phrases echoed in Jesus’ and John the Baptist’s minds as they began and led their ministries. And, which of those did they learn from their mothers? Which of those were recorded and continue to nurture our faith development today?

CW: infertility, pregnancy, childbirth

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Each of these stories shows how the definition of who is included as part of God’s people continues to expand throughout the generations, pointing us ahead to the New Testament where people across the world are included in God’s people. Including these women in the genealogy of Jesus means that their entire identities and story is included, even the parts that make our stomachs churn. This points to God’s presence in the midst of hard and awful things and in the events that follow. It reminds us that there is nothing God’s people can do that will sever the relationship between God and God’s people. Their stories invite us into a practice of remembering the history of our ancestors of faith, locating ourselves and the events of our time within these ancient stories, and discerning how God is calling us to be faithful in loving, caring for, and serving our neighbors now.

CW: genocide, sex trafficking, rape, and child loss

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This entire book uses the marriage between Hosea and Gomer as an extended metaphor for God’s relationship with God’s people. This doesn’t mean that we strive for infidelity in our relationships or that we force ourselves to stay in relationships where infidelity is happening.

This is a book that draws out the reality that God’s people, even today, continue to be unfaithful in how we tend our side of our relationship with God, how we worship, how we live with one another, and how we care for and serve our neighbors. Absolutely none of us get it right all of the time.

Using this as a metaphor I think does point to the persistent and relentless love of God, that seeks us out no matter how far we move away from or try to move away from God.

Gomer is a reminder that there is no place we can go where God’s love will not find us and call us back; that there is no amount we can mess up that will fully sever God’s love and relationship with us. It is never ending and irrevocable.

CW: infidelity in marriage, sexual shaming

Sharing these stories together highlights several things:

the necessity of consent in relationships,

the importance of voices from the margin having access to individuals in power,

the reality of treating humans as resources and commodities, a practice that continues today,

the power of using your influence to advocate for marginalized people, and

the importance of honesty and truth-telling in the face of abuses of power.

This isn’t a story of two meek women, pushed to the side. In this book, they are lifted up for their uses of power, one met with hostility and one met with acceptance. There are themes that are still prevalent in our world today, which means these ancient stories are still relevant, helping guide us in how we interact with and treat one another.

CW: sex trafficking, slavery

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This week on Reading between the Lines, we are learning more about the story of Hannah.

Hannah’s story is a brief one, but an important part of the story of God’s people. Samuel was integral in spiritual leadership as God’s people transitioned from being led by judges to being governed by a monarchy. Her faithfulness in prayer and in honoring commitments and promises to God had used to point to God’s faithfulness even when it seems like hope should not exist. Hannah shows up in congregations and hearts across the world, through those who are bearing things that are simply too heavy to be spoken out loud, but they have the ability to show up in spaces and offer silent prayers. These are the people who appear as though they are put together, but who do not speak during worship services; it’s too hard. This is where the gift of a community steps in - the community participates in worship and prays the words out loud on behalf of the ones who simply CANNOT, until the day comes when they are able to rejoin. Hannah is a reminder that all prayer is valid and every person is welcome in God’s presence, even when religious leaders may think or say otherwise. Hannah is proof that when it feels like God is absent, God is still present.

CW: infertility

This week on Reading between the Lines, we are learning more about the stories of Jael, Deborah, and Huldah.

Each of these women show up in the story of God’s people in surprising ways: Deborah as the only female judge recorded in scripture, Jael as an unexpected warrior and hero, Huldah as a female prophet within the temple. All of their stories, when added together, only make up a very small portion of the story of God’s people. And yet, their stories are included; without them the story of how God acted in the world and was present with God’s people would look different. They are reminders that even if their stories take up less space on the printed page than their male contemporaries, God will call and work through anyone, regardless of their gender and entirely because God has given them the gifts needed to lead in that particular moment.

CW: war, murder

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