Jim Preisig

Guest Post by Stacy Guerrero

We have a new member in our Children’s Sunday programming.  Her name is Haley. She is as sweet as can be; all the children love her; she has beautiful brown eyes, a great attitude and her coat is soft and golden!  Haley is an Autism Service Dog and she accompanies one of our young students to class.

 

This is my first exposure to an Autism Service Dog and I must tell you I am in awe of her.  Let me briefly explain what Haley does:
• She provides a physical and emotional anchor for her child
• She provides deep pressure to reduce behavioral or emotional outbursts
• She helps reduce the stress and anxiety of her child and everyone around her
• She facilitates and encourages communication
• She is a calming presence and helps her child focus and transition through activities

 

Haley is amazing. As I reflected on Haley’s purpose for her child, it dawned on me that this is exactly what we have done by redesigning our space and programming for your child on a Sunday morning.  At the Summit, we want your children to find the Way to God by experiencing His love. We want them to understand the Truth’s of God’s Word.  And, as they grow in their relationship with God, we want to help them learn to use their God-given gifts and talents to share this Life. 

The changes we made this past summer are instrumental in accomplishing these goals.  We designed very intentional worship spaces (in what was formerly known as Rainbowland or the Old Sanctuary) for kindergarten thru 6th grade and in former classroom space on the upper level of the Education Building. Additionally, Soxman Hall was divided into creative small group space. These spaces, in conjunction with our large group/small group programming, are designed to help bring God into focus for our children in a way that is relevant to their lives. 

By being very intentional about what we do we want children to know that God is their Haley and can be the anchor in their lives.  We are deliberate about being relevant to facilitate and encourage children to communicate with God. We select our curriculum so that children can best experience God and learn His truths.  We want children to feel God’s deep love in their hearts to help keep them calm and focused in those difficult transitions of life.

If you and your children have not yet experienced The Summit Children’s Programming I invite you to do so. While I don’t know for sure that God has beautiful brown eyes or a shiny golden coat, I can promise that your child will be introduced to a God that loves them deeply and can be their anchor for life.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I am the way and the truth and the life.” John 14:6

Happy Birthday Lori Webster!

Yes – today is Lori Webster’s birthday! You know her as our Director of Worship, I know her as a woman of incredible faith and courage who has been winning her battle with cancer for the last year & a half.

You could send her a text, give her a call, you could spring for a Hallmark card that expresses your sentiments…

OR you can do something that will really make a difference for Lori and those like her battling this dreaded disease. In the past month, Lori has received several transfusions of whole blood and she has had at least weekly transfusions of platelets – sometimes twice a week.

If you would like to show your love and support for Lori join in the celebration and donate blood! We have been in contact with the Community Blood Center of Kansas City and have declared February We Love Lori Webster Month. This is my challenge to you: if you are able, I am challenging you to give blood through the Community Blood Center – here is a link to their website that shows all their locations.

Did you know that for every pint of blood donated, two lives are saved?

Even if you personally cannot give blood – for whatever reason, you can still contribute to the overall success of the event. For example, you can volunteer at the Blood Bank, you can bake cookies for donors, you can recruit your friends, family, coworkers, & neighbors that are able to give blood to do so on Lori’s behalf & the list goes on & on. Me? I cannot give blood, so this blog post is the first of my efforts that I am going to make in the month of February to help this very important cause. So, PRAY, ask God what you can do to help make this drive a success & join me in praying for those who will be making donations and for those who will receive this much needed gift. Let’s make a difference in someone’s life!
 
PS I didn’t forget all of our out of town readers & Lori’s friends & family from all over the country. If you would like to be counted among those who have donated blood in Lori’s honor, you may donate at your local blood bank and then email Lisa & let us know that you have donated. We will add you to the list of donors that will be given to Lori at the end of February!

 

A Final Look at the Woman at the Well

Yesterday, noted biblical scholar, teaching pastor at The Summit, and my beloved brother in Christ, Israel Kamudzandu, debated with me the character of the woman at the well. He contends that she was an innocent soul; I contend that she literally had 5 husbands and was living with a man that was not her husband.

 

His rebuttal was lengthy, but the salient point is summarized this statement:

“Read in this context the discussion about five husbands takes on a completely different cast from the mildly salacious one usually evoked by commentators. I therefore suggests, to my big brother and pastor, that the dialogue on five husbands is integral to the discussion of Samaritan faith and theology, and the five "husbands" are clearly symbolic rather than literal.”

 

I agree broadly, with my learned brother, but on this point I differ emphatically! If he was in my office I would pound the desk and declare, “You are wrong, Little Brother!” He would laugh at my theatrics; but allow me to explain:

 

Matthew was a tax collector, not symbolically so, but literally. The woman who was caught in adultery was actually committing the act. Hosea married a prostitute who actually was a prostitute. Nicodemus was a clueless religious authority. Each and every one named served a symbolic purpose in the scripture – but they were literally who they were described to be!

 

The woman actually had 5 husbands and was living with a man who was not her husband. If you make her a mere symbol of sin you rob the text of its true power! Christ reaches to the margins, to the periphery of life and offers redemption, literally and figuratively! To make the woman merely symbolic is to deprive the text from its relevance for today to all of us.

 

So the woman certainly represented the nation of Samaria (which is why Jesus tarried 2 days with them to share the truth), but she was also a sinner – just like me. Which is why the story speaks to the soul and offers hope for the heart – to all of us!

 

The Debate Continues!

My beloved little brother, Israel, is continuing to debate with me regarding the woman at the well! I thought you might like to eavesdrop on the conversation! My retort will be printed tomorrow, so do check back!

 

Here we Go Again with the Misinterpreted, Misunderstood, and Misread Samaritan Woman!!!

 

I need to make my case point by point and hope, my brother and pastor Jim, will get the theological meaning and depth of this story.

 

First, the basic purpose of the story of the Samaritan Woman in the Gospel itself is to legitimate the Samaritan mission and establish the full equality in the community between Samaritan Christians and Jewish Christians.

 

Having said that, I need to underscore the fact that the story takes place at a well, and the well in Hebrew culture was a meeting place of future spouses who then play a central role in salvation history. The pattern is found in the scenes of Abraham's servant finding Rebekah, the future wife of Isaac, at the well of Nahor (Gen.24:10-61); Jacob meeting Rachael at the well in Haran (Gen.29:1-20) and Moses receiving Zippoarah as wife after his rescue of the daughters of Reuel at the well in Midian(Exodus 2:16-22).

 

Jesus meets the woman at the famous well of all, Jacob's well in Samaria that is ancient Israel. In 2:9-10, Jesus is identified as the true Bridegroom to whom God has given the new Israel as Bride (see 3:27-30). Now, the new Bridegroom, who assumes the role of God, bridegroom of ancient Israel, comes to claim Samaria as an integral part of the new Israel, namely the Christian community and specifically the Johannine community.

 

Point 3: The Samaritan woman is clearly contrasted with Nicodemus (3:1-15) who came to Jesus by night, does that make Nicodemus an immoral man? I leave that to preachers and commentators to fathom!!! What I read is that Nicodemus disappears into the shadows, confused by Jesus' revelation, the Samaritan woman encountered Jesus at noon, accepted Jesus' revelation, and brings others to him by her testimony.

 

Still on the same point, Nicodimus is named and the woman is not named. In reading the Gospel of John, preachers and commentators like my brother and preacher have failed to see that John is a gospel of a different kind - it is a narrative with an unfolding plot. The plot has got characters, images, metaphors, ambiguities and conflicts. The woman, like Nicodemus, is what New Testament scholars like Raymond Collins and I call "representative figures," that is, a symbolic character. The symbolic characters in John (e.g., the mother of Jesus, the Beloved Disciple, the royal official, the paralytic at the pool, the man born blind) are nameless, which enhances their power to represent collectives without losing their particularity.

 

This is the case with the Samaritan woman, the most misread, misunderstood and misinterpreted character in the Gospel of John.

 

Now to the most crucial point: The woman has a sharp intuition and Jesus confirms her intuition and reveals himself to her as not only the prophetic Messiah of Samaritan expectation but as ego eimi - which in Greek means "I AM," of the Mosaic revelation (see Exodus 3:14). This is the first use of "I AM" revelation in John and is said to a woman.

 

Read in this context the discussion about five husbands takes on a completely different cast from the mildly salacious one usually evoked by commentators. I therefore suggests, to my big brother and pastor, that the dialogue on five husbands is integral to the discussion of Samaritan faith and theology, and the five "husbands" are clearly symbolic rather than literal. Jesus' revelation to the woman, who symbolizes Samaria, of her infidelity is not a display of preternatural knowledge that convinces the woman of Jesus' power. Rather, it is what the woman acknowledges it to be when she says in response to his revelation, "Sir I perceive that you are prophet," (verse 19).

 

Jesus's declaration that Samaria "has no husband" is a classic prophetic denunciation of false worship, like Hosea's oracle in which the prophet, expressing God's sentiments toward unfaithful Israel, says, "Plead with your mother, pleading - for she is not my wife and I am not her husband.......(Ho.2:2).

 

In brief summary, the entire dialogue between Jesus and the woman is the "wooing" of Samaria to full covenant fidelity in the new Israel by Jesus, the new Bridegroom. The story has nothing, nothing to do what so ever, with the woman's private moral life but with the covenant life of the community. The woman is a genuine dialogue partner gradually experiencing Jesus' self-revelation even as she reveals herself to him. Like other apostle-disciples in the Synoptic Gospels, whose leaving of nets, boats, parents, or tax stall symbolized their abandonment of ordinary life to follow Jesus and become apostles, this woman abandons her daily concerns and goes off to evangelize the town. She drops her bucket and she tells her story to others.

 

Thanks much for the opportunity to dialogue and debate, I look forward to the next sermon. So please read again the symbolism of this woman!!!

 

Phone Stacking

Have you heard about the latest digital lunch game?

 

It’s called Phone Stacking, and it really is quite simple.

 

When you go to lunch with friends, co-workers or others, everyone stacks up their cell phones in the middle of the table. If anyone picks up or checks their phone before the delivery of the check – they pay for lunch for everyone. If no one checks a phone or answers their cell, everyone pays for their own lunch. In that scenario, everyone wins.

 

What’s the point?

 

If we are distracted by texts, emails and phone calls, we are prevented from connecting deeply with the people we are with. The result: Short attention spans, surface relationships and the loss of true depth in life.

 

Last weekend in worship I likened life to a bucket. If we fill ours with distractions, we have no time nor energy left for what truly matters.