Zachor: Purim, Women's Day and Remembering

 

Zachor: Shabbat and command

i.                           Introduction

Shabbat shalom to each of you here in Perth and those of you watching and listening to this talk from somewhere else around the globe. 

Today is International Women’s day and that in itself is likely a highlight for half of you. We here at the Perth Messianic Assembly are part of a global Jewish movement and thus the national and dare I say international pandemic of antisemitism is also front and centre in our concerns. Antisemitism is racism. And it’s advancing in Australia and globally in unprecedented and almost unbridled strength since 7 October 2023. 

ii.                       Antisemitism abounds

The news media reports it. The government decries it and dances around avoiding taking a significant stand lest some of their constituents vote them out in the next election which here in WA is happening just now. Universities around the globe advance the notion of free speech and then get caught with tent cities of opposition to the very institution that grants them alleged freedoms. Heads roll as public outcry demands leadership do something or be stood down. Racism is a violent reality with no apparent end in sight.

On 9 October 18 months ago, the organization “Never Again is Now” was launched by my friend, Anglican minister and Jewish believer Mark Leach in Sydney. Some of you might have been involved in his new organization here in Perth rallies even a fortnight ago, as they are seeking to change all that. More associations are also speaking out. An institute in the US is dedicated to stamping out antisemitism. Zachor Legal Institute, is one such agency. It is a legal think tank and advocacy organization, taking the lead in the legal battle against antisemitism and the delegitimization of Israel, including the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS). It is based in Bozeman, Montana in the US. Their main staff are three: Marc Greendorfer, (Yeshiva Law 1996), Ron Machol, the head of all non-legal issues and a high-tech leader, and Vanessa Hites, (School of Law, University of Chile, NYU.) 

iii.                  Zachor now and in the Older Testament

Their organization is named Zachor. The Hebrew word, ‘zachor’ means ‘remember.’ This group caught my eye this week, since today in synagogues worldwide the ordinary readings in Torah are supplemented by an additional reading. This supplementing happens during all 6 weeks before Passover every year. How long is that? Think about this, 6 weeks x 7 days is 42 days, and whether the Jews had this in place, or more likely we borrowed this countdown from the Church in its 40+ days Lenten expression which begins annually with Ash Wednesday (in 2025 a few days ago), it’s unclear. What we have is the first bonus reading today. The parsha is renamed “Zachor” and begins with the citation from Deuteronomy chapter 25. There we read: “Remember what Amalek did to you along the way when you came out from Egypt” (.17)

זָכ֕וֹר אֵ֛ת אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֥ה לְךָ֖ עֲמָלֵ֑ק

Then the text continues, 

¹⁸ how Amalek met you along the way and attacked among you all the stragglers at your rear when you were faint and weary; and he did not fear God. Therefore it shall come about when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your surrounding enemies, in the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you must not forget.” (Dt. 25:18-19)

The quick story is bracketed with these words, “remember” and “don’t forget.”   

זָכ֕וֹר and לֹ֖א תִּשְׁכָּֽח

That sounds like the same thing, doesn’t it? If I forget I’m not remembering and if I remember, I’m not forgetting. But listen, each of us responds to commands differently. Some of you need to hear “Don’t covet” while others of you need to hear “Be content with what you have.” Some need to hear “Don’t commit adultery” and others require “Love your spouse.” Both are accurate; both teach us. Both are mandates, but depending on your personality, we often either choose to hear, or dare I say, only hear things in the positive or the negative. Either way, the result is the same. Make it happen. Don’t do the wrong. Make it happen.

OK, that sounds situational and a matter of compliance. And today’s command to remember and not forget has to do with this particular enemy of the Jewish people, Amalek. 

iv.          Amalek and Purim

Who was he? The leader of an ancient people who lived in the south of Canaan, in the Negev, a fierce and warlike Bedouin people, who made themselves foes of Israel during the Exodus. Then later they were marauders in Israeli territory who were defeated both by Saul (1 Sam. 15) and by David (1 Chr. 18). The head of the people of course was a grandson of Esau (Gen. 36.12) who apparently was later connected with Ephraim’s territory (Jg. 5.14)

OK, so today we remember Amalek and we don’t forget him. Oh, this coming week we celebrate Purim, the festival of lots, and eat certain foods, as almost always happens on a Jewish holiday. Do you remember that story, too? A quick retelling is warranted today on International Women’s Day.

You see, the Jewish people were in trouble in Shushan and all the 127 provinces of the Persian empire. The king’s prime minister was evil and had made the king to make declarations against the Jewish people. We had to bow to the king and his images or face the consequences. A young Jewish beauty named Hadassah (renamed to be Esther) stood up to the challenge and she helped save our people. That should make the Top Ten on International Women’s Day, don’t you reckon?

The prime minister was named Haman and you know what to do when you hear his name, right? Stomp it out, grogger over it, get his name out of the house. In Scripture he is called an Agagite (Esther 8.3). That’s his people’s identity. Who was Agag? He was once the king of the Amalekites (1 Sam 15). So Haman is from the people whom we are to remember and not forget today. No wonder next week’s story will feature this episode in Israel’s history.

V. Beyond the victim

But here’s a nuance that today I want to highlight, so that when we are long separated from one another, you will benefit greatly from this d’rash even more.

You see, simply remembering the enemies of our Jewish people often makes us ever the victims. Psychologically, a victim who perpetuates the wrongs done to him will remain a victim and live to reference the Star Wars classic ‘on the dark side.’

Now I don’t want to diminish the remembrance of Haman, Agag, Amalek and all the enemies of the Jewish people, lest we forget that we must be ever vigilant in response. Think of Pharaoh or Hitler. We remember Hamas in our day and we must be aware and decry. We must not forget. Don’t get me wrong. But where else is our vigilance?\

vi.          Zachor the Almighty and his deeds

Let me see if I can put this in perspective. 

We as Jews are also mandated to remember who God is, what he did for us in various times of our history. If we forget, we will be punished or go into exile or lose our way. Remembrance is key to any highlight reel of Jewish story.

Think back to Gideon (Judges 8) and let it sink in.

“Then it came about, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the sons of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals, and made Baal-berith their god. Thus the sons of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side; nor did they show kindness to the household of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in accord with all the good that he had done to Israel.” (.33-35)

If we don’t remember, we lose. Captivity happens. Failure attends us. Life leaves us. We lose.

Zachor Haman. Zachor Amalek. AND Zachor GOD. Zachor what God did and Zachor WHO HE IS. Zachor Hashem! Zachor.

Listen to these words in Torah. 

“Take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren” (Dt. 4.9)

פֶּן־תִּשְׁכַּ֨ח

Later in chapter 4, again, “Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the LORD your God has forbidden you.”(4.23)

And again Moses said, “beware, lest you forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. (6.12)

Get it? Remember, zachor God! One more from Moses, “And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.” (Dt. 8.2)

Isaiah even joins the chorus with “Remember the former things” (Isaiah 46:9)

Asaph, the music director under King David wrote, “I will remember the deeds of the Lord, yes, I will remember your wonders of old.” (Ps. 77.11)

David wrote, “I remember the days of old, I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.” (Ps. 143.5)

vii.               A counsellor speaks

Sarah Puebla is a biblical counsellor in the USA. She’s part of the Association of Biblical Counsellors (https://biblicalcounseling.com/) I found her article entitled, “The Power of God and The Power of Remembering” extremely helpful. (https://bit.ly/RememberingPuebla)

She cites a couple of biblical texts, especially Psalm 77 where the psalmist is despairing and then says, “When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate my spirit faints. 

You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.” (77.1-4)

That doesn’t sound like she wins, does it? In fact, Puebla says, “These four verses are the perfect description of the body, mind, and spirit of one who is suffering and is spiralling down into hopelessness. We feel no comfort. Sleep leaves us and refuses to ease our eyelids shut. We feel faint, dry-mouthed and lacking in any words. As troubling and difficult these verses may be to read, just seeing them written in God’s Word should bring about a small amount of hope that the Lord recognizes these are real and tangible. But we must not stop there. We must seek and remember.”

Then the psalm reads as follows:

“I consider the days of old, the years long ago. I said ‘Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart. Then my spirit made a diligent search. I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work and meditate on your mighty deeds.” (77.5-6, 11-12)

She asks, “how do we do this?” Her dual answer is: “First, we turn to the written Word of God. “

Then, “Secondly, an important discipline in remembering is to think back on our own lives. As I have engaged counselees in this discipline, I have encouraged them to not only start in their trial now but also think back to what God has done in the past and journal about it. It can be a list form or prayer form, or journal form. It can even be a wall set aside in one’s home to display front and centre what God has done in the days, months, and years past. This practice has been invaluable in my own life as I have encountered tremendously difficult trials.”

 

viii.     Zachor in the Newer Testament

I would be remiss if we only looked at the Tenach today. We must hear the words of Messiah himself. He taught so much and lived so much. He accomplished so much. What are we to remember from Yeshua?

For that, we look to the end of this forty-day “Jewish Lenten” expression of time. You see, Yeshua gathered again with his disciples, his apprentices in Jerusalem on Passover. He had likely done so for several years, but on this occasion, we in history title it “The Last Supper.” That seder gave us what many in churches take today as the eucharist, the communion, the bread and wine, and they even use some of the words from that sacred memorial evening. 

What is Passover? It’s a Zikaron. Yes, same root, zachor. A memorial. Exodus 12 says, “Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance.” (12.14)

The Passover meal was to be zachored. It was to be a memorial of what God did. He saved us from Pharaoh. He took us out of Egypt. He marched with us through the Red Sea. Eventually he took us into our promised land. Zachor God!

So on this night, in Jerusalem, when Yeshua was celebrating the memorial of that deliverance and the Exodus itself, Yeshua instituted another memorial. Luke records it for us. “And when He had taken bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” And in the same way the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.” (Luke 22.19-20)

Another memorial within the former memorial. A subroutine of memorials. A wheel within a wheel. Remember. Don’t forget. 

Paul the Apostle told us nearly a generation later, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” (1 Cor. 11.26)

         Zachor Yeshua. His death and resurrection. His soon coming again. Zachor to proclaim him. Get your eyes off yourself, o victim. Get your eyes on the One who is our life. Yeshua our Messiah and ultimate Deliverer. 

ix.                   Conclusion: Remember and proclaim

Sarah Puebla’s entire article is worth a read. 

The entire Book of Psalms is worth a read.

The entire Bible is worth a read. 

God is worthy of our attention today. 

Please don’t only Zachor Amalek.  Please don’t live in a victim state. Please remember and don’t forget all the Lord has done for you. Remember Yeshua and his ultimate love for you and for all yours. 

Yes, there will be tough times and times when we are deep in sorrow. Yes, we will remember 7 October and 1 September 1939. Our people were evicted in1492 from Granada, Spain and in 1290 when we Jews were evicted out of England. We won’t forget Babi Yar. We will remember the evils done to us, even here in Australia in Melbourne and Sydney as we’ve seen on the television news recently. AND we will remember that were the Lord not on our side, we would have fallen again and again; we would be no more. We would have perished along with the Hivites and the Agagites and the Canaanites. 

But now, go beyond that. Remember God and his mercy. Remember his covenants, that he made with our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with David and the ultimate new covenant, not like the covenant he made with Moses when we left Egypt (Jeremiah 31.31), but the new covenant Yeshua instituted that Pesach night in Jerusalem.  Remember the death and resurrection of our Messiah and love him with all your heart and soul. Proclaim the Lord’s death until he returns. 

The days are dark and evil. 

I close with these words from the Brit Hadasha, Jude verses 17 and following:

“But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Messiah Jesus to eternal life. And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.” (Jude 17-23)

Thank you Ross and Mei. Thank you to each of you who keeps making PMA such a light on a hill here in Perth. Thanks for standing with us as we make the name of Yeshua known near and far in these troubled and troubling times. Zachor Messiah. 

Thank you and Shabbat shalom.

 

 

Homeward Bound, and homeless

Driving past the houses in a wealthy suburb of Chicago, on our way to visit a church there, we saw mansion after mansion and thought to ourselves, what are we doing here? The folks who live here are not in our league, that is, we are not in their league. I’m sure they are nice people, but my wife said it best, “We can visit today, but we don’t want to represent another socio-economic class at this church.”  Surprises abounded however, as this became our home church for the next two years while we lived in town. Castes might matter to nouveau riche, but not to these people. They welcomed us and made us feel right at home. We never left. 

I thought of that memory in the air while returning to Sydney after a very useful quick trip to the USA recently. We have been renting since we moved to Sydney many years ago, and our landlord decided to sell our residence, so we had to move out. Since I’ve now been splitting time between the US (Nashville, Tennessee) and Sydney with a half year commitment in each, we elected to put all our household goods into storage at the end of our rental period. As a result, when I returned to Sydney, I was homeless, and thus, I had mixed feelings; homeward bound, but homeless. 

 

“A house is not a home, if there’s no one there,” says the old song. And making this short stopover into Sydney that much more difficult was that my wife had already gone to Nashville the week before to help with our children and grandchildren there. That meant I was homeward bound, homeless, and alone. And a double feeling of sadness swept over me and stayed washing over me for a tangible length of time. 

 

A home is a goal, the historic Aussie dream, to own a house, safe as houses, they used to say. And with property values skyrocketing in most capital cities, the safety does not appear as sure as it was in times past. And yet, there is a safe haven, and while pondering this season of our lives, I gave my mind over to the phrase, “House of the Lord.” 

 

You might remember Psalm 23, the shepherd’s song of King David, who ended that prayer with “I shall dwell in the House of the Lord forever.” I suppose if there is any safe place in the universe, it’s where God is, and where he dwells, that is, in his house. The sons of Korah wrote this as a prayer, “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” (Psalm 84.10)

 

Last year, I was visiting Queensland and participated in a synagogue service held on the Gold Coast. The rabbi had a small gathering that evening and set the session in motion with a question. “What is the one thing you would ask of God if he were listening to you just now?” Each person in turn answered mostly hoping that circumstances would tilt in their favour, whether health or finances or such.

 

I was visiting, so I hoped to remain quiet and observe, but an urgency came over me, and I found myself saying the ancient prayer of King David 

 

אַחַ֤ת ׀ שָׁאַ֣לְתִּי מֵֽאֵת־יְהוָה֮ אוֹתָ֪הּ אֲבַ֫קֵּ֥שׁ שִׁבְתִּ֣י בְּבֵית־יְ֭הוָה כָּל־יְמֵ֣י חַיַּ֑י לַחֲז֥וֹת בְּנֹֽעַם־יְ֝הוָ֗ה וּלְבַקֵּ֥ר בְּהֵיכָלֽוֹ׃

 

“One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, 

to behold the beauty of the LORD and to meditate in His temple.” (Psalm 27.4)

 

What is the one thing I’ve asked? The rabbi smiled and agreed with me; that itself made me smile as well. 

 

Today the question remains as I return to my homelessness and my aloneness. Do I still want to be in God’s house today? Is he my chief joy? Are other things crimping my relationship with him or threatening my connection to him? 

 

One thing I have asked… today I’m asking again. To dwell in the house of the Lord today. For my wife to dwell in the house of the Lord. For my children and grandchildren and for all my extended family and for all my friends and contacts. May you who are reading this find the house of the Lord, living in his kingdom, in his presence, to be the most satisfying and most rewarding place to be. Home is where the heart is. Where your heart is, there will your treasure be. Our soul knows no rest until we find our rest in him. 

Lesson in Discipleship at C3

 

                         Lessons in Discipleship

 

A sermon given at C3 Prospect 

Sydney, Australia

Sunday 9 February 2025

By Bob Mendelsohn

  

Introduction

Shalom, Pastor Ian, Arlene, these wonderful musos and all the folks here at C3. Thanks for being partners with Jews for Jesus over many years, since 2008, and thanks for being here and listening to a messianic Jew talk to you about what might be a fairly heavy topic as we move closer to the return of Jesus.  Before we get there, let’s talk about another gift God wants you to have.

Today, I want to talk about discipleship.

Let me ask: what comes to mind when I mention that word?  What do you think of discipleship itself?  Here are some questions to consider. Are there hindrances or things that would prevent you from saying of yourself that you are a disciple of Jesus or of another person? Have you had a bad experience with a previous mentor or an authority whom you considered manipulating? Does the idea of discipleship seem out-of-bounds to you because your trust was previously broken?

These all may be real experiences, and I don’t want to demean them at all. Hurts happen, and often are launchpads for continuing in the individualistic mindset of the ordinary 21st-century Christian.

Discipleship is not a solo sport

But here’s the problem: God calls us into community. The church is not simply a working group of separate solo artists; we are, according to Ephesians, any one of these metaphors at the same time. We are the church (1.22), the body of Christ (1.23), his workmanship or poem (2.10), the holy Temple (2.21), God’s family (2.19), his bride (5.25), and an army (6.10-17) For none of these could an individual be the representative; they are all corporate identities. The question we have to ponder today is “How, then, can we be disciples together?”

Since the Enlightenment, and most notably in the 20^th Century, the Western Protestant church has become very individualistic. We would say, “God and me is a majority.”  We get saved alone and have faith alone, and we are taught to be holy alone.

But if I understand the charismatic culture, especially C3 culture, you certainly line up with the culture of the Kingdom Jesus taught. We are a community, and this strikes in the face of this ‘alone’ religion that is so popularly taught.

Be with him, be like him, do what he does

A disciple, or in Hebrew, a Talmid, is more than a student. Back in the Bible days, a disciple could be found walking with his master. He would observe and listen, watch and then practice the actions of the master or rabbi, learn, even obey, and imitate what he saw. Of note, the scene would not feature one rabbi and one disciple. There would be several, even upwards of 30-50 disciples on occasion. It was a roving corporate classroom.

The first thing a disciple or student wanted was to be with the master. A personal relationship is always central to the situation. When we in these days think about what we want in our Christian religion, the best answer you can ever give is you ‘want to be with Jesus.” Remember in the book of Acts chapter 4, when the Jewish leadership called Peter and John on the carpet for preaching about Jesus, when the authorities were trying to stop this new movement before it got going, the Scripture says, “As they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognise them as having been with Jesus.” (Acts 4.13) We want to be known as those who have been with Jesus, amen?

We not only want to be with Jesus, but we also want to be like him. I believe that takes an apprenticeship. 

Apprentice with the rabbi

Listen, the word “Christian” is only used 3 times in the Newer Testament. In contrast, the word Talmid or apprentice/disciple is used over 250 times in the same book. I’d say that’s significant, wouldn’t you? It might be a new thought, but I hope it stays with you as we talk about this today. 

Being with Jesus is our first concern, and then he wants to make us into his followers, people who represent him in this dark world. That means we must change to be like him. This may sound strange, and I would tell Jesus that he should choose others who would do much better than I can, but he has chosen us. Each of us. One by one, to be sure, but then he makes us walk with him in his army/bride/community to represent him. To do that, we must become like him. We get to learn of him; he is gentle and lowly. We get to see how he responds to beggars. How did he deal with opponents? How did he process rejection? All these lessons are learned in the community.

Back in the Bible days, other rabbis recruited followers and taught them about life, not only academics. Jesus wasn’t the only rabbi wandering and recruiting people around what we today call the land of Israel. Back in his day, it was common for rabbis to travel, gather disciples or apprentices and teach. We even have biblical evidence of some of these other rabbis. Remember what Gamaliel said in Acts 5 about other messianic candidates?

“And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men. For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined up with him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census and drew away some people after him; he too perished, and all those who followed him were scattered.” (Acts 5.35-37)

Each school was wherever the rabbi was. No wonder Jesus used the phrase ‘follow me’ throughout his ministry, from the beginning (Matt.4.19, Luke 5.27) to the end (Jn. 13.36, Jn. 21.22). His call was for the apprentices to walk with him wherever he went. How else would we learn to be like him if we were away from him?

But you might protest that any church you have visited was not a good fit. You might have said, “We are just too different from one another to get along in the community.” You might say, “It’s impossible.” I don’t think that can be used as an excuse when you take a good look at the group Jesus called his first disciples. Do you remember that he had Matthew, who was a tax collector and Simon, who was a zealot in his crew? His team/ his entourage/ his students were sometimes opposed in their politics. 

It would be like choosing a Trumper and a never-Trumper to walk with him and learn his ways. Imagine if he would choose a Palestinian activist and a modern Israeli who has served in the Israeli Defence Force? That’s how extreme some of the previous opinions of the 12 apostles were in their walk with Jesus. 

Interestingly, Matthew the tax collector emphasizes this difference more than any of the other Gospel writers (Mt 10:3-4). This is significant because Zealots worked against the government and tax collectors worked for the government. You might say that Simon was a right-wing “small government” proponent who thought the State should keep out of people’s business, whereas Matthew was a left-wing “big government” proponent who made a career out of collecting taxes for the Roman State.

Despite opposing political viewpoints, Matthew and Simon became friends and brothers in Christ, and Matthew especially wanted us to know this. They were part of the apprentices Jesus chose, and each had to learn how to be like their rabbi.

Jesus called them to follow him, and they did. No matter who else came along in the class. The point of following is not to get an academic degree but to learn wisdom in life. The Hebrew word for life is chaim. And it’s a plural word, like sheep or heavens. We note that our life combines all our lives, our whole life as a collection. Our economic, social, academic, private, and corporate lives … all of our lives together compose our single life. And the master rabbi, Jesus, wants to give us life as we learn of him. He is the One who said, I am the way, the truth and the life.” All our distinct lives should represent the Messiah in our lives today.

Of note, the word ‘disciple’ is never used as a verb in the Scripture. No human can disciple you. You accept the invitation of the master and follow him in the School of Life. And it’s done in a community. 

Maybe a communal understanding of discipleship will help you with spiritual disciplines.   Let me explain.    

 

Spiritual disciplines: Doing what Jesus did

Take prayer for instance. We are often taught that to be like Jesus we should pray. And pray a lot. The apostle Paul said we are to pray without ceasing. How does that work? You might be thinking, “I don’t do that very often, and certainly not at all times. I’m not very good at prayer. I’m distracted and bored and tired of this prayer thing.” Especially when you read that Jesus went to pray ‘as was his custom.’ And he went to the secret place. But did you see how often he went to pray WITH others? We read in Luke “And it happened that while He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the ¹people say that I am?” (9.18)

That’s an odd sentence, no? He was praying alone but the disciples were with him! I believe that’s the secret to prayer. And really, the secret of any spiritual discipline. Do it with others.

The rabbis have come up with a system to make this happen. They require a quorum, in Hebrew a minyan. Certain prayers require a quorum of 10 men to be prayed in the synagogue. Does that mean God won’t hear private prayers? That’s not what they are saying. But if a prayer service is to be communal, they came up with a threshold of 10 men to represent. What if you only have 8 men? I like what Jesus did with that problem.

When Jesus said, “Where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” Jesus lowered the threshold requirement of the minyan from 10 to 2 or 3. In other words, if you are praying communally, a community can be two or three. You don’t need large numbers; you do need at least one other person. 

Is Jesus saying you cannot pray alone? NO, what he is saying is that a community can be ANY number of folks who pray and I will be there. That’s designed for comfort!

And let me tell you, there are times when I don’t feel like praying. And when a member of my community initiates a prayer time or asks me to join them in praying, no matter how I feel at that moment, after joining them, 99% of the time, it’s a joy to participate; it’s real and wonderful. I’m doing what Jesus did!

How about Bible reading? Bible reading is another discipline of a disciple. And it’s what Jesus did. We read, “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read.” (Luke 4.16). The public reading of Scripture is common even to this day in synagogues, and most churches in our day continue some semblance of that on Sundays. Paul wrote to Timothy to “give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.” (1 Tim. 4.13)

We hear about the discipline of Bible reading and think, “I’m not very disciplined at this” or “I’m a little distracted with other things” or “I don’t get much out of it” and such excuses. But please hear me, if you join a Bible reading GROUP you will be able to do this much more easily. That’s why it’s good to know that disciples are communal and not solo artists. 

I have two groups with which I’m associated in this discipline. First, I have joined an online Zoom Public Reading of Scripture group that meets up to three times a week for an hour. In only 98 hours I can read along with them the entire Bible. Imagine! The other group I joined is at a US church with a Bible reading plan, on cards, and sermons. Home groups, podcasts, and Sunday school classes all continue to discuss the weekly readings. Either or both methods could work for you, don’t you imagine? These are communal; that way we can do what our rabbi wants us to do. 

Each discipline, like fasting or early morning rising or generous financial giving, works when we do it with our rabbi AND his people. We today have gathered as a church. Corporate gatherings help us be with him, be like him and do what he did. Does that make sense?  

We are reinforcing the idea that discipleship is communal. If you want to read more on this subject, find Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s classic Life Together or another of his that informed me about this deeply, called The Cost of Discipleship. It will challenge you AND help you be communal. But with the cost comes the benefits that can only come through living life the way we were meant to. Jesus said when you find the pearl of great price, buy it! (Matthew 13.45) 

Here’s one more. Jesus called the 12, and the 70, and the crowds. And like most rabbis with disciples, he wanted us to bring others along as well. But that’s not a new idea either.

Bring others along

Abraham is the father of our faith. He was called to follow the Lord in Genesis 12. What did he do? He got up and left! But don’t miss this. In verse 5, we read that Abraham took with him “Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan.”

Abraham took his family and his slaves and all his possessions of gold and such, and, did you hear it, “the persons they had acquired” Who are those? Not slaves or family. The rabbis teach that these were converts to the Abrahamic religion. In other words, Abraham preached to others and brought them to God. For us a disciple gathers souls to be with their rabbi. If you have found someone, in fact, THE someone for whom you have waited all your life, you want others to know him also. Amen?

This activity is found throughout the Bible. In Exodus 19, God tells Israel, gathered at the foot of Mt Sinai, that they are to be a ‘kingdom of priests.’ Priests as you know, don’t serve themselves. They serve others. Who are the others for Israel? It’s the nations around them, that’s who. 

Solomon prayed at the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem, “May the LORD our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us or forsake us…so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no one else.”  (1 Kings 8.57ff) For Solomon the nations were ever in view. For God, all the peoples of the earth are his heart. He wants us apprentices to bring others along. 

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not opposed to evangelism at all. I’ve been an evangelist for 50 years. But we limit God if all we think is bringing others along means getting them inside the door. Jesus said this, “Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28.18-20) Yes, it starts with evangelism, but our aim is not to make converts, but rather to make disciples, together. It’s not my job; it’s our job. See how this works?

Preventions/ objections

Now again, you might still be thinking that you are not qualified to be a disciple. You might be saying…

I’m not Bible-trained enough

I’m not holy enough

I’m not loving enough

What is the answer to this? It’s actually two answers. 

He is and… don’t miss this…we are!

Yes, God is able to be enough for us IN THE BODY OF HIS CHURCH. Together we are a disciplined community; we are learning together, we are learning how to love and how to be holy, together. 70 times in the Newer Testament, the phrase ‘one another’ is used. We are called to live out our discipleship together.

Conclusion (takeaways)

If you have heard me today, then I hope you agree with these takeaways from this talk.

1.                           God calls us personally

2.                           God calls us to be with him

3.                           God wants us to become like him

4.                           God wants us to do what he did

To make disciples who heal, who feed people, who love and care for others, and we can do these things if we walk together.

What is your response? A challenge

Are you ready to sign up to be an apprentice of Rabbi Jesus? What will you do differently as a result of this talk today? Are you going to join with others and trust God that he will keep you together with his family? 

Will you bring others along and make disciples yourself?

Now a moment of information about the organization Jews for Jesus.

What is JFJ?

With the understanding that each of us disciples, followers of Jesus, are called to bring others into the fold, that may help you understand my calling as a Jew for Jesus, and our organisation itself. We relentlessly pursue the salvation of the Jewish people worldwide, even here in Sydney, as well as Israel, in the UK and around the globe.  

 Shalom!

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For further study, please read the book Practising the Way by John Mark Comer, or the books cited by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together or The Cost of Discipleship. And in the spirit of this lesson, why not read these with others in a book club format? You will all be the better for it.

And for Public Reading of Scripture, why not join the Zoom calls with me? Check it out at https://bit.ly/PRSOz     See you there and we will hear the Word… together!

Hanukkah and Christmas.... similar but oh so different

What a great season it has been to remember what God did for us in this season so long ago. He spared the Jewish people at Hanukkah, allowing us to gain a military victory over the Syrian Greeks in 165 BCE after a three-year struggle against King Antiochus. The war had raged so severely that we had not been able to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for three months. So when the Temple was rededicated back to God, we celebrated the Feast. That feast is the only 8-day holiday in the Scripture, so that's why Hanukkah is an 8-day holiday in our calendars.

The story (myth, legend, tale) of the 'miracle of the oil' is great, whether it did or didn't happen.

As a result of the dedication (the Hebrew word is Hanukkah), the Jews were allowed to practice our religion both privately and publicly. Again. Praise the Lord.

Then 160 years later, an angel came to Miriam and Yosef in what we now call Israel and brought them startling news that they were going to be part of the Greatest Story ever told. Miriam was to be the mother of the Son of God, and they were to call their new baby Yeshua, which means "God saves." The couple travelled from the Galilee region to Bethlehem in Judea for the census and the birth of the baby.

Unusual guests came to visit during their sojourn there including shepherds and angels and mysterious astronomers from far distant lands east of Judea. All came to hear, to see, to adore, to help announce the Birth of the Jewish Messiah.

Hanukkah is a story of survival, success and salvation for the Jewish people.

Christmas is a story of salvation for all people.

Both are great stories, because they are both stories of the God of the universe who loves all people and wants us to know him personally and is willing to condescend to be among us, to become one of us, to show us the way to relationship with him. Praise the Lord.

Happy (last day of) Hanukkah.

Happy 9th day of Christmas.

Happy New Year 2025.

Enjoy the Lord of life today. Praise the Lord.

They call it Mahomes magic

Over the 7 full years of the artistry that is the work of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, I have heard the phrase Mahomes Magic over and over from commentators and pundits. And I appreciate their descriptions of the left-handed sideline pass or the final run into the end zone in the Titans game or... and the list goes on.

Last week on Christmas Day I saw something that could only be described as artistry. The Chiefss were playing the Steelers and were succeeding in situational football. But one particular play characterised the artistry of the young man Mahomes and this photo shot by someone, maybe even there at the stadium showcases what I mean.

Patrick scrambled to his left and saw his running back, third down specialist Samaje Perine on the ground in Pittsburgh. He saw what no one else would ever see, a receiver looking away from the play, on the ground, and Patrick threw him the ball. And Perine looked up while the ball was in the air and reached out and caught it for a first down. 

I call it artistry because only an artist could see this. Imagine Michelangelo in Italy looking at a block of marble. And he sees inside that block the statue of King David. He begins chipping away at the marble and eventually, you and I can see only one thing, and we could never see it when it was a block; only when he stripped away the dross, the excess, did the artist reveal to us what he saw all along. That's art. That's the Michelangelo Magic. (I prefer to label it artistry)

Seeing what no one else sees is the work of an artist and a work of faith. In fact, the writer of the letter labelled in the Bible as the "Book of Hebrews" says, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

So yes, Mahomes is a man of faith. And Perine is a man of faith who cooperated with Mahomes on that play and many others in this season. 

When God says of you that he loves you and wants you to know him personally. When he seeks you and brings light to your darkness. When he sent his only son to bear your sins and to die to bring you to himself. When God does all this, you are like Perine, lying on the ground, eyes away from the play, eyes and hands and feet failing you, unable to get up, unable to carry on. When all this happens, what do you think God is trying to do with you? Is God looking at the block of marble and seeing only stone? Or is he looking underneath, seeing what he wants to make of you? 

Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 

Look up and live. 

Look up; the play isn't over.

Look up and see the hand of the Master Playmaker who wants to make us and our lives in his image. 

That's not magic; it's artistry by the Master Artist of Eternity.