I AM who I AM: What is God's name?

So a child walks up to you after church and asks you: "What is God's name?" What do you say? "God" was the answer I most typically got. And that worked for me. It probably works for you, too. However, God does have a name, we just don't get to use it too often. Page through the Old Testament, and you will see the Lord and the LORD. Lord is a title that goes back through the centuries. LORD, however, is a coding for the name of God. The name of the Lord is inscribed in the Old Testament as YHWH. However, Jews never pronounce this name, instead saying "Adonai" (meaning lord or Lord, hence the translation of LORD in most English Bibles) or "Hashem" (meaning "The Name," as in "call upon The Name of the Lord"). In Jewish tradition, even around the time of Jesus, to pronounce the actual name of God (except in some circumstances) was equivalent to blasphemy. The Bible itself is a little more ambivalent on using the divine name. The biggest warning we get is to not use the name of the Lord in vain, which is one of the 10 commandments. What's the point? It is awesome that God lets us know God's name. In the ancient world, it was only the high priests and powerful who knew the "secret" names of the gods, and we don't know them today because the priests have all died out. But God does not save His own name for only a few- God desires the name-by-name connection with all. Thinking about this changes the way I think about prayer, and I hope it helps you as well.

"I AM who I AM" - God as present.

http://pubtheologian.wordpress.com/2010/09/30/the-divine-present/ We are people of the past. We never experience the right now, only the past. Sitting in Kenya, we watched the stars every night. Those stars were millions of years old, and we were only seeing them now. We watch "live TV," knowing that there is a delay of a few minutes between the event and the moment we see them. God is not stuck seconds or years in the past. God is present. Check out the link above to read a commentary from JTS posted by a friend of mine- Bryan Berghoef (pastor at Watershed in TC). Comment below.

A New Direction for "A Moment With Andy"

Let's be honest. On Sunday morning, I speak for 20-30 minutes on a Scriptural passage and barely can scratch the surface. Many times, people come to me with things they've heard while reading that I couldn't touch on. So... to keep the learning going, "A Moment With Andy" will now focus on other aspects (or "going deeper") on things I couldn't touch on in the morning service because of other constraints (sometimes, something is really powerful but must wait because it isn't part of the thrust of the message). As we experience on a regular basis, Scripture is deep and the aspects of God and humanity that are contained in Scripture are multiplied. Hopefully, this blog will offer an opportunity to readers and church members alike additional insight into our passages on Sunday morning. We are going to try it out, starting next week with Moses and the burning bush - "The God who is."

John 6:25-29

The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent." - John 6:29 As I write this, I am listening to the song "Expectations" by Caedmon's Call. It describes someone going to a church worship gathering for the first time, expecting to find Jesus and to be made whole. What they find, according to the song, is "An expensive ad for something cheap." Jesus isn't cheap. Grace isn't cheap. The Kingdom isn't cheap. The Kingdom of God is abundant and whole, filling and challenging, a hospital for the sick and sacred. So why would someone walk away with the idea that a church is an expensive ad for something cheap? Here's a couple theories. And they come from believing in the One God sent. 1) Human beings have a struggle trusting in God, believing in the words of Jesus. While we want to believe that the Kingdom God's salvation effort received by faith, we kinda want a backup plan. We want signs, just like the people in John 6 wanted more bread- you know, just to make sure Jesus wasn't using smoke and mirrors the first time. We also have a backup plan of works. There is a line in "Expectations" that talks about a man dressing up on Sunday to blend in so that he won't be "found out." Do we trust that God will accept us as we are? And if we do truly trust in that, what is the fear in vulnerability? Trust is a difficult thing. 2) We equate belief with our brains, when belief in Jesus exercises itself in obedience. In the Kingdom (ushered in by Jesus), we see a new way of living. Jesus commands us to live that way, not to gain access to the Kingdom, but as a result of drawing near to the Kingdom. The problem is, living a Jesus way of life doesn't make sense. Loving your enemies and praying for the people who persecute you is not logical. Another song just came onto my iPod- "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley. The chorus asks "Does that make me crazy?" Loving your enemies makes you crazy. There's the trust. Do you trust that this alternate way of living might actually be a better way of living? Tough questions, I know. But here's the good news- you don't need to worry about being obedient yesterday, or tomorrow, only today.

John 6:1-24

Jesus' ministry is often a series of events creating tension and release.

For the people of Jesus' day, it is often a series of events creating hope and disappointment.

Jesus performs a tremendous miracle, transforming scarcity to abundance. This is no small thing.

Then Jesus, sensing the will of the crowd to make Him king, disappears. He even leaves the disciples, who just decide to take off because of His disappearance. Jesus goes up into a mountain, just to be alone. What Jesus is doing there, we don't know. But one thing is for sure- that was a disappointing end for the people and the disciples.

Sometimes, we can't be sure what God is up to or why. Sometimes, we as Christians have to face our disappointment. It's never fun, it isn't romantic, and it just plain hurts sometimes. Even the disciples could be seen as giving up.

However, Jesus approaches us in the storms of disappointment and frustration. Notice that in this story, Jesus does not rebuke the wind and the waves, but gets in the boat with the disciples and sits with them until they get to the other shore (it is pretty immediate). The only thing Jesus tells the disciples is to not be afraid.

Sometimes, Jesus gets us immediately through the storms. Other times, Jesus sits in the boat and reminds us to not be afraid. Either way, I am grateful that Jesus joins me in my frustration and disappointment.

John 5:31-47

What is the source of life?

One would think that, given the healing Jesus just performed, the answer would be obvious. And given what we know about Jesus' death and resurrection, we would be better equipped for the answer than the people of Jesus' day. Yet, when I carefully examine my life, I wonder what the source is.

Sometimes, it is myself. I place a lot of trust in my ability to work and produce the means for life. I am conscious about my health (moreso than I once was), and do everything from regular chiropractic care to watching how I eat to exercising 4-6 days per week. I place a lot of trust in my strength. Sometimes, though, my strength fails me. At seemingly random times, my muscles will not do as they are intended.

My trust flows out into money. We place a lot of trust in money. We even call them "trusts" sometimes. Our money buys the necessities of life- food, shelter, clothes, etc. And I spend devotional time with my money- checking accounts, meditating on how to better use the money I have. It's a spiritual experience.

Jesus is the true source of life. Jesus, far more than health or money or relationships, is the One in whom I live and move and have my being. It is possible to master Biblical knowledge and not know Jesus. It is possible to be in top physical shape and not know Jesus. It is possible to be filthy rich and not know Jesus. However, it is not possible to live or have the abundant life without Jesus desiring it for me. So today, as I move toward the weekend, my hope is that I will continue to take strides toward Jesus.

John 5:16-30

So... from the last story, I bet you thought that Jesus got away with healing on the Sabbath, didn't you?

Wrong.

Jesus begins to raise a little controversy regarding His role with the Father. Not only does Jesus play fast and loose with Sabbath regulations, but He also draws from His union with the Father in ways that make people uncomfortable. When Jesus is http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifrebuked for equating Himself with God, Jesus gets people even more uncomfortable. Most striking is that Jesus suddenly places Himself as the standard for loving God. If people do not honor Jesus, they do not honor God the Father.

How is that? Is Jesus so radically changing things that the Old Testament isn't good enough anymore?

Not necessarily. Certainly, the Incarnation of the Son is a pretty significant event that changes a lot. Hebrews certainly makes it clear that beyond Jesus, there is no sacrifice for sin. But what I think is even more striking is the reality that Jesus is the perfect picture of God. If God could ever be contained in human flesh, it would be Jesus. Colossians 1:15-20 makes a pretty clear statement about Jesus being who we look to in order to see God.

So today, let's look toward Jesus. Let's consider who Jesus is and how Jesus lived, in hope that we would grow into the likeness of Jesus Christ.