Post by melinky on Mar 30, 2005 23:43:37 GMT -5
My dear friend and mentor, Spencer, periodically sends out emails with his "Verses and Prayers." This is the one that he sent out today and I thought it would fit nicely here. I'm also hoping that he might drop by and post every now and then. 
Meanwhile, I am posting this with his permission.
There are life events that every human goes through - birth, love, death... and, in an amazingly large percentage of people I talk to, one of the life events is "the snipe hunt".
From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snipe_hunt: "Inexperienced campers or hunters are told about a bird or animal called the snipe as well as a (usually ridiculous) method of catching it, such as running around the woods carrying a bag or making strange noises. Since the supposed snipe doesn't exist, the hunt never succeeds, no matter how foolishly the newcomer acts."
I remember my own first snipe hunt experience, from one of my first Boy Scout camping trips. Wait until dark, gather everyone with flashlights and bags at one end of an open field, and move across the field, as a group, hunting snipe. Ah, the thrill of the chase, but we did not actually catch a snipe.
Why not? From the same article: "To extend the joke, there actually is a species of bird called a snipe, but it is found primarily in wetlands and the joke is invariably played in wooded areas."
If you find yourself in a field with a flashlight and a bag, the person who sent you did it to tease you.
As they were approaching Yerushalayim, they came to Beit-Pagei on the Mount of Olives.
They brought the donkey and the colt and put their robes on them,
and Yeshua sat on them.[/ul]The thing that strikes me as I read this passage is that when Yeshua/Jesus sends his two talmidim/students on what sounds like a snipe hunt, they don't argue and they don't ask questions, they just go. This is how Yeshua/Jesus ends up on a donkey on Palm Sunday - he sends his talmudim/disciples on a snipe hunt, but THEY bring back a snipe!
Jesus is a snipe hunt kind of a guy, in the Gospels - a little later, Mark's gospel tells us
... but this is how Yeshua/Jesus and his talmudim/students end up at the Last Supper. He sends them on a snipe hunt - and they bring back a snipe that time, too!
The Gospels are full of stories about Jesus sending people on what might be a snipe hunt - to do something implausible. Great things happen when the people Jesus sends don't hold back, but gather up their flashlights and bags and go.
Untrained fishermen teach, preach, and heal. Wealthy tax collectors give up everything to follow Jesus. Pharisees travel hundreds of miles to talk with pagans at mealtimes.
This week, I'm inviting you to consider the snipe hunt invitation that Jesus may be extending to you, and to remember that the Holy Spirit will be standing in the field next to you, even if it takes all night. Just say "yes", go, and be ready to bring home the snipes.
Â
Please pray this week, for
Christ lives in you,
 Spencer the wonder hamster, with thanks to Chelsea
Â
p.s. In another life, I earned two degrees in economics. As part of my M.S. program, I was reading works by David Stern, with no idea that David Stern was a Jew who was, at that time, accepting Jesus as his lord and savior, and beginning work on an English-language Bible translation that was published, about fifteen years later, as the "Complete Jewish Bible".
I've always enjoyed reading this translation for a bunch of reasons, and chose it for this week's Verses and Prayers. Stern's translation uses Hebrew forms of names - so that is why Jesus is Yeshua in this passage.
Meanwhile, I am posting this with his permission.Verses and Prayers
There are life events that every human goes through - birth, love, death... and, in an amazingly large percentage of people I talk to, one of the life events is "the snipe hunt".
From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snipe_hunt: "Inexperienced campers or hunters are told about a bird or animal called the snipe as well as a (usually ridiculous) method of catching it, such as running around the woods carrying a bag or making strange noises. Since the supposed snipe doesn't exist, the hunt never succeeds, no matter how foolishly the newcomer acts."
I remember my own first snipe hunt experience, from one of my first Boy Scout camping trips. Wait until dark, gather everyone with flashlights and bags at one end of an open field, and move across the field, as a group, hunting snipe. Ah, the thrill of the chase, but we did not actually catch a snipe.
Why not? From the same article: "To extend the joke, there actually is a species of bird called a snipe, but it is found primarily in wetlands and the joke is invariably played in wooded areas."
If you find yourself in a field with a flashlight and a bag, the person who sent you did it to tease you.
As they were approaching Yerushalayim, they came to Beit-Pagei on the Mount of Olives.
They brought the donkey and the colt and put their robes on them,
and Yeshua sat on them.[/ul]The thing that strikes me as I read this passage is that when Yeshua/Jesus sends his two talmidim/students on what sounds like a snipe hunt, they don't argue and they don't ask questions, they just go. This is how Yeshua/Jesus ends up on a donkey on Palm Sunday - he sends his talmudim/disciples on a snipe hunt, but THEY bring back a snipe!
Jesus is a snipe hunt kind of a guy, in the Gospels - a little later, Mark's gospel tells us
... but this is how Yeshua/Jesus and his talmudim/students end up at the Last Supper. He sends them on a snipe hunt - and they bring back a snipe that time, too!
The Gospels are full of stories about Jesus sending people on what might be a snipe hunt - to do something implausible. Great things happen when the people Jesus sends don't hold back, but gather up their flashlights and bags and go.
Untrained fishermen teach, preach, and heal. Wealthy tax collectors give up everything to follow Jesus. Pharisees travel hundreds of miles to talk with pagans at mealtimes.
This week, I'm inviting you to consider the snipe hunt invitation that Jesus may be extending to you, and to remember that the Holy Spirit will be standing in the field next to you, even if it takes all night. Just say "yes", go, and be ready to bring home the snipes.
Â
Please pray this week, for
- Confirmands
- Youth Lay Speakers
- Those seeking employment
- The deployed military, and their families
- Church staff, recovering from Holy Week services
Christ lives in you,
 Spencer the wonder hamster, with thanks to Chelsea
Â
p.s. In another life, I earned two degrees in economics. As part of my M.S. program, I was reading works by David Stern, with no idea that David Stern was a Jew who was, at that time, accepting Jesus as his lord and savior, and beginning work on an English-language Bible translation that was published, about fifteen years later, as the "Complete Jewish Bible".
I've always enjoyed reading this translation for a bunch of reasons, and chose it for this week's Verses and Prayers. Stern's translation uses Hebrew forms of names - so that is why Jesus is Yeshua in this passage.
