Metaphors: GPS ("the Way")
July 21, 2024Pastor Lavon Coles presented today's message, "Metaphors: GPS ("the Way")." Here's a video of the message.
As usual, the messages at Timbercreek Church stand perfectly well on their own. I simply look for tangents to take in order to share some Torah-related material.
This series of messages have been about the "I am" statements Jesus makes. As you might have guessed already, these statements have a clear connection to the Old Testament. And rather than try to run that all down myself, I thought I'd share a webpage that does that for us: "Connecting the ‘I Am’s of Jesus to Old Testament Scriptures." Enjoy!
The only addition I'll make (for now) is to mention that the Bonus below about Abraham was written before I heard today's message. It's clear to me that "the way" the Torah instructs for proper living and perpetuation of Man's adherence to it is related to "the way" Jesus refers to when He says, "I am the way."
Bonus
Godwink
I stumbled onto a Hallmark Christmas movie the other day (yes, I watch Christmas movies all year long). The 2018 movie was originally titled "A Godwink Christmas" but apparently has since been re-titled "A Christmas Coincidence." I found it under the original title and was immediately intrigued. What's a Godwink?
Turns out that an author, Squire D. Rushnell, coined the term Godwink (or God Wink, or God-wink) in his 2006 book entitled "When God Winks at You: How God Speaks Directly to You Through the Power of Coincidence."
You all understand the notion or feeling of a wink, right. It's a quick, fleeting gesture of the eye that imparts a message to the recipient that someone is thinking of you, that something is a good thing, a right thing, that you're on the right path. A Godwink has been described as a coincidence, an aligning of the stars, or when you say, "what are the odds of that?!" - all of which seem to have a divine nature to it. It's also described as "an answer to prayer." A Godwink can also be some sort of sign for hope.
There's a Godwinks website by the author mentioned above.
Being in a playful mood (or mode), let's look for all kinds of Godwinks in the Bible stories. Everyone has seen something burn, including burning bushes, but God tossed in the "wasn't consumed" part as a Godwink to Moses. Can you imagine Joseph's surprise when he was pulled up out of the pit not by his brothers but by traveling salesmen; a Godwink. Sarah actually laughed when she heard the Godwink about having a baby at her age. I could go on and on. Let me know your favorites...
You might watch for God winking at you.
Bonus2
Abraham: Action Summary
Here's an interesting chart I found in Kass' book, The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis (for the Abraham story, see pp. 247-351).
Up until this point in Genesis, the focus has been universal. With Abraham's story, the focus narrows down to the development of one nation "to be a light unto the world." Now the lessons begin for this new nation - lessons about "the way" God wants Man to live and how to perpetuate that way. Key issues include Man's free choice to be obedient, a concern for justice, and how to be holy. There are also lessons about what family means and how to be a good parent. Furthermore, there are bigger-picture lessons about society and how to get along with other nations. These latter two areas go together: decent family behavior, honor, and reverence lead to better societal and political situations as well.
Kass suggests, "It is not much of an exaggeration to suggest that the primary, not the last but the first, innovation of the Israelite new way is nothing other than patriarchy itself." That's where it starts. And this, too, like many other topics, is a whole new way of life introduced by the Torah.
By the way, I'm teaching a class at PILLAR Institute this Wednesday (7/24/24), 10am-Noon, on Abraham. There is a fee, $25 PILLAR Members and $40 Nonmembers, all of which stay with PILLAR.