Global Week - Part 1
Readings for this week September 2 - 6
Click here for a pdf of this week’s readings
Day 1 – From the Palace to the Desert
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Exodus 2:1-14
Moses’ first attempt to lead the people was a failure. He had the position and the power of a member of the royal household, and tried to use his authority and privileged status but it seems even his fellow Israelites rejected his leadership (“who made you a prince and judge over us?”). Although Moses may have been correct in trying to save his fellow Israelite, the manner in which he went about it was perhaps not the best way to do it. He was trying to accomplish things under his own steam. He saw himself as Israel’s deliverer. But God was calling him to something simpler, more basic. He ended up leading but he did so because he was called to follow – and obey – first.
God wanted his people freed, and Moses was to play a key part in bringing their freedom about. But it wasn’t going to happen through human effort and agency. Moses needed to learn humility and he needed to learn to trust God enough to let God lead the way. God actually called Moses away from the comfort and influence of the royal palace, away from a life of privilege and called him out into the desert. Moses needed to be prepared and the desert is a great place for divine preparation. There was a lot that Moses didn’t need and had to let go of. After 40 years of perfect palatial preparation, Moses wasn’t ready. Perhaps a further 40 years in the wilderness of Midian would get him ready. God called him to where God wanted him, rather than to where (and how) Moses thought best.
Question to Consider
Have there been times when you’ve tried your way and ignored God’s?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, your ways are not our ways and what seems good to us is often not the way you want us to act. Help me offer myself into your hands every day. Your will, not mine, be done Father. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 2 – The Call of Samuel
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – 1 Samuel 3:1-10
Samuel was a great man of God. Prophet, statesman, anointer of kings, he was God’s main man in Israel, particularly in the time leading up to the establishment of the monarchy. But he wasn’t always so. In fact, as today’s passage records, there was a time early on in his youth when he didn’t even know God. But that was no impediment to God, or Samuel. He responded immediately. No questions asked. Not “What do you want?” or “What is it that you want me to do?” – as if his acceptance was dependant on what the task may have been. Samuel was ready and willing to answer God’s call, whatever that call was – and for Samuel, that call was to be a momentous, nation-changing call. When God called, he was ready, responding immediately to God’s voice, even though he didn’t know the voice at first.
With how much more readiness should we who already know his voice respond to his call? And with just as much willingness as Samuel showed? He didn’t ask a multitude of questions (at least not straight away! – plenty of time for that once the call has been answered). He simply answered and obeyed. We are called – all of us – to follow God into the world, to bend towards his voice, to join with the poor and oppressed, so that he may bend our hearts towards his. To be ready for his call – his call to carry on, or to something new, or something next, or somewhere or someone else – and to answer with Samuel-like trust and speed.
Questions to Consider
Why do we fail to heed the call? What holds us back? What if Samuel had held himself back? What happens if we hold back?
Prayer
Loving Father, may I always answer your call like Samuel did, with a child-like faith and obedience, and deep trust in you. May I always be ready and willing, always prepared to hear you calling me. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 3 – Calling the Disciples
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Mark 1:14-20
The calling of the disciples is not presented with all the grandeur and portent you might expect when the incarnate God gathers disciples to join themselves to him, to learn from him and follow him. Three simple words were all that Jesus needed to say to call the others to follow him. It almost seems like something he did as an afterthought. Jesus happens to see some men fishing with their nets and he calls them to follow him, and they do. And that’s it. No great encounter scene, no ‘magical’ revelation of who Jesus is, no promises to the fishermen of great learning and power if they follow. Just a simple, ordinary, everyday encounter. Jesus calls them and they follow, no questions asked.
Jesus still says those same simple three words to us today. And, again, there may not be anything particularly momentous about the setting in which we hear them, or the places and times and peoples that Jesus calls us to. But the relationship he calls us to have with him is an active one, it is mobile, it requires us to follow, to go where he goes and do what he did. Something new was happening, a new way of life. A new community was being established. Jesus immediately called others to follow him into this new, transforming way of life – a way of life that wasn’t necessarily apparent in the calling of the first disciples, but would transform them – and us, and the world.
Questions to Consider
What was it like when you heard God’s call? How did you respond? What was the immediate aftermath?
Prayer
Sovereign Lord, thank you for calling me even as I wandered far from you. Help me remember why you have called me and what your purpose for my life is. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 4 – The Call of Paul
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Acts 26
This is the third time the book of Acts describes the story of Paul’s encounter with the risen Lord on the road to Damascus, and the second time he has told the story himself. (See Acts 9 for the first account of the story and Acts 22 for Paul’s first retelling.) Why are we reading this third version of Paul’s call, and not the first iteration of it? There are subtle differences in what Paul says each time but these differences are minor (for example, this time everyone falls to the ground; the bright light is mentioned, but not the resultant blindness), and are more to do with Luke’s compositional purposes than in any historical discrepancies.
Reading this third version focuses attention on what Jesus is saying and the heavenly command he gives to Paul, the command that had led to the way of life on account of which he now stands trial – the command to follow. In this retelling Paul thus highlights the command of the Lord (appointing Paul as a servant and witness, and sending him to the Gentiles), and his (Paul’s) obedience to that command. He challenges his audience (Agrippa and the Jews in particular) with the fact of Jesus as the Messiah, with his own change of heart after this encounter, and his subsequent obedience. Paul will gladly, proudly be accused of being loyal and obedient to his new Lord and master. Anything else is unimportant. He was called, he responded, his life changed completely. It was vital that he did this, just as it is vital that he share the one who called him.
Questions to Consider
Of the three versions of Paul’s encounter, which one speaks to you the most? Why? How has Paul’s story influenced the telling of yours?
Prayer
Lord God, may I be obedient in all you have called me to. Keep me listening for your voice, keep guiding me to who and to where you long for me to be to share you with others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 5 – Answering the Call
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Hebrews 13:20-21
What has God been saying to you about how he wants you to serve the poor and unreached? What will you do about it?
How is what you do missionally in your local context connected to what God is doing globally?
Of the work South West Baptist Church is involved in globally, and of the people – workers, missionaries and otherwise – that we are supporting and partnering with overseas, who and what are you connected with? Who and what are you actively supporting? How?
If God is asking you to go and serve the poor overseas, how would you know? How actively are you seeking to hear God’s voice over this?
How has God been bringing your daily life and work more in line with His mission to the world?
How is your daily life in your neighbourhood lived in solidarity with the global poor?
What could you do to show greater solidarity with the poor of the world?
How will you contribute to the global work of South West Baptist Church over the next twelve months?
Prayer
Sovereign Lord, make me an ambassador of your love to the whole world. You have a plan for me and a place for me, and wherever that place is and whatever your plan for my life involves, may my life be one lived in the service of your kingdom, for the benefit of the poor, lost and alone. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)