Dr. William H. Smith is President of the John Leland Center for Theological Studies. He taught—as an adjunct professor of Old Testament—the first class at Leland. He has been a pastor in San Francisco, Wash., D. C. and Arlington, Virginia.

Guest Preacher Daniel Cotter

Dan and his wife Laura enjoy serving the Lord together in church planting

in Arlington, VA and in Clarksburg, MD, through missions work with students

and professionals in Chiapas and Puebla, Mexico for a number of years, and

currently with in a unique kind of outreach small groups ministry for the

spiritually curious. Dan was ordained by First Baptist Church of

Alexandria.

Listen as we dove even deeper into Jonah for week 3 in our Jonah Series!

Today we continue with the second week in the book of Jonah. There is a

theme that arises in the first chapter that might be easy to miss if you’re

not looking for it: FEAR. The fear comes in different forms. Fear of the

storm. Fear of the situation that Jonah has created. And, most importantly,

fear of God. Scripture says quite a lot about the fear of God. It is

typically encouraged as a path to wisdom, but why and what that looks like

is not always clear. There are certainly healthy and unhealthy fears. Let’s

spend some time today thinking about how to cultivate a healthy fear of

God.

The story of Jonah is perplexing. He is a prophet, but he does not act like

a prophet. He hears the Word of the Lord, but he is reluctant to share it.

He experiences God, but at every turn he is pushing away from this

experience. After his famous near-death-experience, he gets himself back

“on track.” But when he watches God demonstrate mercy on the city of

Nineveh after the people repent, instead of rejoicing, he complains. The

story of Jonah is indeed perplexing, but it is also compelling, and what it

can teach us about God is illuminating. Let’s dive in.

In our reading from Matthew today, we see two stories that are clearly

connected. The first is what looks to be a simple, one-verse, narration of

Matthew’s own call to discipleship. The second is the Pharisees’

questioning of Jesus over who he chooses to surround himself with. By

choosing Matthew, a tax collector and therefore a sellout to the Romans,

Jesus demonstrates that he can see what others cannot see. When Jesus looks

at Matthew, he does not see a sellout. His eyes of mercy allow him to see

beyond the faults and the failures into the heart of someone who needs

healing. But even beyond that, he sees a heart that—once healed—will write

the story of Jesus that will bring untold healing in Jesus’ name.

Our guest speaker, ulia (Wallace) Butler, is a current missionary in

Beirut, Lebanon. She and her husband, Michael, are volunteers supported

through BGAV Venturer program, and work with the LSESD (Lebanese Society

for Educational and Social Development) - a faith-based non-profit that

seeks to equip the local church and serve the community. Julia helps with

grants and project management while Michael will be teaching English, Bible

and Philosophy at their K-12 Christian School. Julia considers South Run

one of her church homes and served as summer intern for 2 years (2015 and

2016).

It’s Labor Day weekend, and I want to spend a little time thinking about

labor. Not so much the labor you do at your job. Or that other kind of

labor. I’m talking about kingdom work. This summer we spent a good deal of

time on “sanctuary” and what that means for our church. One theme that

arose again and again, for me, was the relationship between resting and

working. It’s something I’ve continued to wrestle with, and as we head into

a new church year, I want to return to it one more time.

Jesus tells Martha that she’s doing many things, and it is causing anxiety

and worry. But he praises Mary for doing one thing, because she has chosen

the one necessary thing. One necessary thing. What is it? What has Mary

figured out that Martha has not? It is the same thing that the psalmist has

figured out when he says, “One thing have I asked of the Lord . . . that I

may dwell in the house of the Lord."

Life can be hard. For many of us, this week has been hard. News from

Afghanistan and the increased spread of the Delta variant has many of us

saddened about our past, confused about the present, and worried about the

future. Add to this, we all have personal trials and fears that are too

deep to mention aloud. Keeping faith in the middle of life’s storms can be

difficult, but we are not left to our own devices. When belief and unbelief

rise up side-by-side within us as the storm clouds surround us, let us

continue to walk step-by-step together in the grace God has given us,

trusting that our affliction is momentary and God’s goodness is infinite.