Presence Weekly 5/13/2024

35 And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? 36 David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared, 

“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord, 
“Sit at my right hand, 
until I put your enemies under your feet.” ’ 

37 David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?” And the great throng heard him gladly. (Mark 12:35-37)

There is often dissonance in discerning the difference between what we want and what we need. For Christians, seekers, and skeptics, that dissonance exists even with our understanding of Jesus. (Consider for example, the Ricky Bobby dinner table prayer discussion.) Who do you want Jesus to be? Thankfully, as we come to understand the gospel, the distance between the Jesus we want and the Jesus we need slowly diminishes. Not because the Jesus we need has changed but because we have come to want the Jesus we need. That matters to all of us, but in unique ways for those engaged with the public square. 

Initially, we see ourselves as really not needing that much from Jesus. This is an important starting place for correcting our dissonance, because the only way for us to come to embrace the Jesus we need is to understand what we need from him. 

Jesus is the prophet we need

“And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?

 Jesus gives them a riddle. A riddle is something that initially appears difficult to resolve, yet ultimately leads us to discover an important truth. Sometimes riddles are easy, and sometimes riddles are hard. But, when we solve the riddle, we often look back and wonder how we missed it. The point of this particular riddle is to get his skeptics to grasp something they have not yet grasped – who is the Messiah? More importantly, that Jesus is the Messiah. This is what Jesus is doing here in his role as a prophet. He is teaching them that they are in bondage and that he knows the way to freedom. He is teaching about the Kingdom of God, about God’s mission for restoring the broken, and God’s plan of redemption. This is what prophets do. The role of the prophet is to teach truth but also to bring repentance. We all have prophets in our lives.

Paul Simon poetically wrote in his song, The Sounds of Silence, 

“And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
Then the sign said, "The words on the prophets 
are written on the subway walls - 
In tenement halls"
And whispered in the sound of silence”

Who are our prophets? We have lots of them: parents, spouses, teachers, and bosses. Those are the obvious ones. But there are others: TV shows, magazines, music, and friends. But within the public square, we have other prophets: political leaders, political candidates, think-tank scholars, and Sunday morning talk-show pundits. Depending on their vision of flourishing and method of analysis, their message of peril and remedy are often vastly different from one another. Imagine three or four John the Baptists standing in the Jordan, each with a different message. 

How do we decide which prophets to listen to? That’s easy. We listen to the prophets that we believe will encourage us in our concept of flourishing. We listen to the prophets that give us what we want. And that is a problem because it’s not always what we need. 

What are our prophets telling us? 

Some prophets tell us “the good lie.” The good lie is encouraging but not entirely true. Perhaps they are telling you that you are “fine,” that you are sitting on top of the world. Perhaps they are telling you that you are the next big thing. Perhaps they are telling you they are counting on you to resolve this policy impasse. Perhaps you actually do have the skills to succeed. But what if you actually don’t? And, even if you do, is that really the end game?

Other prophets tell us “the bad lie.” Perhaps they are telling you that you are no good or will never fit in. Perhaps they are telling you that you are damaged goods. Perhaps they are telling you that to be accepted, you need to amend your position and get behind their leader. At times, hearing that we do not have what it takes is a painful kindness, but often it is a debilitating wound that sinks deep into our hearts. 

We need to realize that even our best prophets are broken. The scary thing is that, despite the multiplicity of prophets speaking into our lives, many of us are serving as someone else’s prophets right now. What are your words communicating to them? 

Jesus is the prophet who comes to give us the good news even when we don’t want to hear it. Jesus the prophet is telling us we need to be rescued because we are sinners who have wronged God. But Jesus the prophet is also telling us that we are made in the image of God and that in him we are a new creation in Christ. Jesus the prophet is telling you that you are more loved than you can possibly imagine. Jesus the prophet is telling you that obedience to the commands of God is better than obedience to cultural norms or party platforms because his way leads to real flourishing. Jesus is the prophet we need to not only correct our thinking about Jesus but also our thinking about ourselves. As N.T. Wright says, “Jesus is the prophet we need because he brings Good News, not good advice!” 

I am unsure if this is the easiest part of Jesus to desire or the most difficult. Perhaps it depends on how much of what Jesus the prophet says, that you decide you don’t want or need. Ultimately, Jesus is the prophet we need because, unlike some prophets who actually lead us into bondage, Jesus tells us that we need to be delivered and shows us the way to freedom.

Questions to ponder and apply

Who are the prophets speaking into your life? What are they saying? How do those words affect your flourishing? 

In whose lives are you seen as a prophet? What, honestly, do you imagine they are hearing from you? How does that resonate with what Jesus might want to say to them?

How is Jesus speaking prophetically into your life? Where is he pointing out beauty, goodness, and value? Where is he identifying areas of sin and struggle? 

What is the weight of Jesus the Prophet versus the “words of the prophets…written on the subway walls” imagined by Paul Simon?

• Monday: Morning: Micah 4:1-5:1, Matthew 9:1-17, Psalm 38, 39, 40 // Evening: Micah 5:2-15, Galatians 1, Psalm 38, 39, 40
• Tuesday: Morning: Micah 6, Matthew 9:18-34, Psalm 44, 45, 46 // Evening: Micah 7, Galatians 2, Psalm 44, 45, 46
• Wednesday: Morning: Hosea 1, Matthew 9:35-10:23, Psalm 50, 51, 52 // Evening: Hosea 2:1-13, Galatians 3, Psalm 50, 51, 52
• Thursday: Morning: Hosea 2:14-3:5, Matthew 10: 24-42, Psalm 56, 57, 58// Evening: Hosea 4:1-11, Galatians 4:1-5:1, Psalm 56, 57, 58
• Friday: Morning: Hosea 5:1-7, Matthew 11, Psalm 62, 63, 64// Evening: Hosea 7-8, Galatians 5:2-26, Psalm 62, 63, 64
• Saturday: Morning: Hosea 9, Matthew 12:1-21, Psalm 68 // Evening: Hosea 10, Galatians 6, Psalm 68
• Sunday: Morning: Amos 3, John 6:22-40, Psalm 71, 72 // Evening: Isaiah 44:6-23, Mark 1:35-45, Psalm 71, 72

• Cabinet Agency: The Office of Postsecondary Education (Department of Education) and its staff, which OPE works to strengthen the capacity of colleges and universities to promote reform, innovation, and improvement in postsecondary education, promote and expand access to postsecondary education and increase college completion rates for America’s students, and broaden global competencies that drive the economic success and competitiveness of our Nation. 
• Think Tank, Lobby group, NGO: The Council for Christian Colleges and Universities strives to work effectively with all political parties to advance the cause of Christ-centered education. 
• • A word about ideologies. The selection of these organizations is not based on mutual affinity but on the belief that prayer is the most we can ever do to participate in Christ’s mission of making all things new.
• Weekly Delegation: Members and staff of the Congressional delegation of Missouri. 
• News Events: For the staff of the Department of the Interior as they oversee the allocation of 60 million dollars from the Investing in America agenda for water conservation and drought resilience in the Rio Grande Basin. Staff at the Treasury Department as they work to make sense of the recent economic data and consider possible responses. For the Congressional delegations of states working to secure federal assistance from FEMA and the Small Business Administration in the aftermath of numerous tornadoes and flooding last week.
• Personal Requests: For someone getting ready to take a certification exam. For an individual dealing with some civil legal issues. For someone who is starting the clinical therapy process. For a healthy second pregnancy now underway. Praise for our son-in-law, who just graduated from medical school and is moving their family to Galveston for residency, and our second oldest daughter, who just graduated with a Master’s in Speech Pathology and is moving to Raleigh. Praise for 34 years of marriage to my wife this Sunday. 
• • A word about anonymity: Washington is a small town. To protect each individual’s identity yet facilitate prayer, details are intentionally vague. However, each represents specific people we are currently engaged with. 

• Instituto Acton has Michael Mattheson Miller’s fantastic piece, Against Anti-Human Philosophies of Despair. While written with an academic Roman Catholic voice and audience in mind, the article is well worth the effort and time.
• Christianity Today has an interesting and hopeful article on the growth of the Evangelical Alliance within the UK. 
• Comment Magazine, back in February, had a wonderful essay entitled, Mutual Endangerment Society, on why and how both sides in the public square debate feel threatened and why it matters. 
• Themelios (the theological journal of The Gospel Coalition) has a deep and rich piece on the “Republicanization” of American Christianity based on the period from the Declaration of Independence through the end of the Civil War.
• TED Talks has a short video by Pete Stavros on why giving ownership to employees is a model for private equity to bring profits for everyone. This is a wonderful take on stakeholder capitalism.
• The Economist has an outstanding article on why rookie WNBA superstar (and Iowa Hawkeye alum) Caitlyn Clark will always be underpaid.

• Thursday, May 16, from 9:00 am- 1:15 pm: The American Enterprise Institute will host “Bonds of Affection: Is Unity Possible in a Divided America?" 
• Friday, May 17, from 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm: The Trinity Forum is hosting an online event: “Practicing Civic Discipleship: an Online Conversation with Walter Kim and Adam Taylor”
• Friday, May 17, The National Museum of African American History and Culture celebrates the 70th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education with a special event that will examine the ruling’s profound impact on education and honor the Little Rock 9, the litigants of Brown and other champions who have made the continued pursuit of educational justice possible. Admission is free, but registration is required.
• Saturday and Sunday, May 18 and 19, is Dupont Kalorama Museum Walk Weekend, which includes free admission to Anderson House, Dumbarton House, Dupont Underground, the National Museum of American Jewish Military History, O Museum in The Mansion, The Phillips Collection and the Woodrow Wilson House. You will have access to new exhibits, fascinating stories and live music at each museum, an incredible free opportunity that comes only once a year.

Summer Interns!

Interns are the lifeblood of Washington - not only on the Hill but in think tanks, policy centers, and government agencies. Many of you reading this will soon be regularly engaged with this year’s summer crop of interns. These interns will answer phones, run errands, deal with prickly co-workers, and take piles of stuff off your desk. They will ask questions that, to many, are a bother but only because we learned from asking that exact question at some point. These interns will also learn new skills and offer new ideas as they discern if serving and leading in the public square is where God is calling them. This summer, take it upon yourself to invest in an intern and help them bloom where they are planted.