Episode 11: Luke 4:14-21

Translation: Common English Bible (CEB)

3 Questions:
What word, phrase or image strikes you in this text?
Toward what is God calling you in this text?
What role has God given you in fulfilling holy things?

Additional texts:
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
Psalm 19
1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

Transcript

00:03.53
Nathan Pile
Welcome back to Tend. It is great to be together. ah This week, we are going to be looking at Luke the fourth chapter, verses 14 through 21. Kevin and I are going to be looking at it through the translation of the common English Bible. ah You can follow along with whatever text you, or translation you have close at hand, or you can look it up on a Bible Gateway.

00:33.42
Nathan Pile
dot com or the app This week, as we look at Luke, we're going to ask these three questions. What word, phrase, or image strikes you in this text? Toward what is God calling you in this text? And what role has God given you in fulfilling holy things?

00:51.56
Nathan Pile
um I already feel uncomfortable with that question. so ah

00:58.64
Kevin Shock
Oh, why, why?

01:00.89
Nathan Pile
I don't know. I don't like it. I'd like to think of but the things that I'm doing as holy things. I guess I, I know that they are to be, I know we use specific language as the church.

01:07.12
Kevin Shock
Oh.

01:14.58
Nathan Pile
Um, that holy is, you know, that idea of being set apart. And so, uh, yeah, yeah.

01:24.01
Kevin Shock
Yeah, yeah, yeah. i I struggled with how to word that question, honestly. um

01:29.97
Nathan Pile
So.

01:30.18
Kevin Shock
I don't think I'm not, I didn't intend that question to be.

01:33.52
Nathan Pile
um' I'm pretty sure every week you try to write a question that makes me uncomfortable. um

01:39.53
Kevin Shock
That's not true. That's not true, but I want to write engaging questions. I don't want to write, I don't want to.

01:44.37
Nathan Pile
i I would agree with it. Like you want to get us thinking and thought provoking and and and and I get that and so that's why I i

01:48.73
Kevin Shock
Yeah. Yeah.

01:53.31
Kevin Shock
So i i guess I guess the caveat I'll give for that question is that I'm not saying that the things that we do are holy on their own, but um but God has called us into the fulfilling of all things. So it's it's God's work that God has called us into.

02:14.49
Nathan Pile
Yeah, I'm I'm a okay with what you're saying there that feels it's just the idea Makes me feel a little uncomfortable I'm not gonna lie that there's there is you know as as little old Nathan sinful Nathan broken Nathan um the idea that God is using

02:25.22
Kevin Shock
Okay. All right.

02:37.10
Nathan Pile
me and us as God's people to fulfill holy things.

02:48.41
Nathan Pile
Again, it's ah that part of it is always shocking. That part of the gospel is always um just makes me kind of like i I want to.

02:51.94
Kevin Shock
Yeah. Yeah.

02:56.60
Nathan Pile
It's not that I don't want to be a part of that because I do. It's just the idea of it. um

03:02.18
Kevin Shock
Mm hmm.

03:03.55
Nathan Pile
Kind of makes me like, oh, oh really? ah surely there's Surely there's someone better. A little bit of Moses there, a little little bit of, can't you get somebody else to go do it here for you, God?

03:11.44
Kevin Shock
Well, yeah.

03:17.12
Kevin Shock
Yeah. Well, um, sal-, I'm trying to think of the best way to put this salvation does not depend on you, Nathan.

03:27.92
Nathan Pile
I know, ah yep.

03:29.01
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

03:29.57
Nathan Pile
Yep.

03:29.73
Kevin Shock
um But I think

03:30.66
Nathan Pile
And I'm very grateful for that. Very thankful. Very thankful that that is the case.

03:34.38
Kevin Shock
um But I think that salvation becomes more evident if you're participating in it.

03:41.89
Nathan Pile
Again, wholly agree. and And wholly not in H-O-L-Y, but W-H-O-L-L-Y.

03:45.92
Kevin Shock
Yeah. Right, right. Yeah. Yeah, I think I'm I think I'm just trying to find, trying to find ah Statements to clarify what i'm getting at there.

03:59.31
Kevin Shock
Well I'm sure I'm sure we'll end up talking about this once we get into the uh, yeah, yeah

03:59.58
Nathan Pile
Oh, I don't, we'll get there. Yeah, we'll get there. We'll get there. Yeah. Yeah. I just, I'm wondering if there are other readers or other listeners, not readers that you might be a reader to, um, but other listeners like that that, that idea of like, when, when the question is posed the way that you've posed it there, my first reaction was, oh crap, I'm a part of doing holy things, which I know is absolutely the case because God sends us to do things.

04:24.70
Kevin Shock
right

04:27.28
Nathan Pile
God, God, you know.

04:29.72
Kevin Shock
Yeah, yeah.

04:30.17
Nathan Pile
that's a part of our relationship but they're still a level of uncomfortable with it and obviously I keep doing it I keep I know of these things and I keep trying to live into that but so

04:32.45
Kevin Shock
Well, yeah.

04:45.95
Kevin Shock
Yeah, yeah. um i I think that, I mean, we'll talk about this more as we get into the reading, but one thing that was that I was struggling with in the reading is that jesus Jesus fulfills all things.

05:02.59
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

05:03.45
Kevin Shock
jesus i i And I know that, I know that. that's That's not what I struggle with. What I struggle with is that I look around me and all things are not are obviously not fulfilled.

05:14.54
Nathan Pile
Yes.

05:15.59
Kevin Shock
Jesus has done everything necessary in order for all things to be fulfilled. And yet Jesus is calling all of humanity into it to to being part a part of that fulfillment.

05:30.46
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

05:31.40
Kevin Shock
So, yeah, um and I think that I think that the reading we're about to read, we can fall into the trap of, oh, well, Jesus does everything, so I can just sit there and be a recipient of it.

05:44.38
Kevin Shock
but ah I mean, you you you you can just be a recipient of it, um but the holy things that Jesus is handing over to us are not things that necessarily ah allow for us

05:46.09
Nathan Pile
sure

05:58.98
Kevin Shock
to be passive about them.

06:02.34
Nathan Pile
Well, the way the the way that the question makes me feel is I'm going to put it into context of a movie.

06:03.82
Kevin Shock
And and yeah, we'll we'll talk more about that. let's but

06:13.34
Nathan Pile
um So have you ever watched the movie, Notting Hill?

06:18.23
Kevin Shock
oh I mean, I think I have years ago, but

06:20.19
Nathan Pile
So Julia Roberts is a famous movie star and she, um and the love interest is um Hugh Grant.

06:29.29
Kevin Shock
Mm hmm.

06:29.57
Nathan Pile
And he's like a bookstore owner, but he's just like supposed to be this regular bloke kind of a thing.

06:34.50
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

06:34.65
Nathan Pile
He like, he like spills his orange juice on her or something. That's how they, the cute meet, you know, kind of thing. Anyway, it's romantic comedy.

06:41.24
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

06:42.32
Nathan Pile
um Somewhere towards the end of the movie, um he takes her to eventually um meet his friends, like the friends friends are having a dinner party and he doesn't tell anybody that he's bringing her, right?

06:55.48
Nathan Pile
And so Hugh Grant's sister walks in the door and she's like, like he introduces his sister to Julia Roberts. And she's like, you know, this is one of those really important moments. Like she's holding on to Julia Roberts hands and like, like that I know is really important and I am just going to screw it up, but I'm so glad to meet you.

07:17.62
Nathan Pile
Like that's pretty much how I'm feeling right now. Like your question makes me feel like like I know this is a really big moment and this is really amazing. And I know I am not going to live into it fully enough. And therefore I'm still really glad to meet you.

07:36.73
Kevin Shock
Yeah, yeah. Well, okay.

07:38.65
Nathan Pile
that's That's why I feel. That's the way the question makes me feel.

07:40.22
Kevin Shock
I'll ah i'll just i'll just say, since we haven't since we're seven minutes into this, almost eight minutes into this, and we haven't even said they're done the reading yet, I'll leave you with this assurance, Nathan.

07:40.89
Nathan Pile
like

07:49.21
Kevin Shock
You're not gonna screw it up as badly as Jesus's townsfolk do.

07:56.67
Kevin Shock
I can assure you of that. I feel pretty confident in saying that.

07:59.40
Nathan Pile
All right. All right.

08:00.29
Kevin Shock
So here here is some here's some information about your ah hosts as imperfect and unholy as we feel like we are sometimes.

08:00.82
Nathan Pile
That's good to know.

08:08.28
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

08:08.55
Kevin Shock
ah We are men married to women in financially stable households, white in our late 40s, college and seminary educated. We work in the Lutheran church and we're born and raised in Western Pennsylvania. All of this affects how we read scripture and discuss it, but none of this makes us better able to read and discuss scripture than anyone else.

08:26.02
Kevin Shock
We believe that the wisdom of scripture is the whole community's compiled interpretation for life with God and with one another. So we wanna know what you hear and think from your life experience. And this is a reading from the gospel according to Luke, the fourth chapter, verses 14 through 21. Jesus returned in the power of the spirit to Galilee and news about him spread throughout the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

08:54.87
Kevin Shock
Jesus went to Nazareth where he had been raised. On the Sabbath, he went to the synagogue as he normally did and stood up to read. The synagogue assistant gave him the scroll from the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

09:24.57
Kevin Shock
He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the synagogue assistant and sat down. Every eye in the synagogue was fixed on him. He began to explain to them, today, this scripture has been fulfilled just as you heard it. If you are meeting with a group or with another person, we encourage you to pause the podcast now, ah read the reading with each other and engage the questions on your own. Nathan, ah what word phrase or image strikes you in this text?

09:56.08
Nathan Pile
I'll be honest, I got fascinated by the assistant. um

10:00.62
Kevin Shock
oh Tell me about that because I think of mine as a similar answer

10:04.63
Nathan Pile
Um, like I, like I've read this before and and I know that the person is there, but this translation using the word assistant is that different for me than what I would have heard, I believe. And so this word assistant, um, it just sticks out to me that, um, the synagogue assistant is takes, you know, gives the scroll and then takes, you know,

10:34.06
Nathan Pile
takes the scroll back. um And so I'm I'm interested in, what does a synagogue assistant do besides taking hand scrolls?

10:46.70
Kevin Shock
Mm-hmm.

10:47.26
Nathan Pile
Seems like a sweet gig. um like Now I know, like we don't really have a, I don't have a clear understanding of exactly how big and burdensome the scrolls might have been um you know every every any kind of video um

11:13.35
Nathan Pile
image of the scrolls depends on you know the director's desire of how big the scrolls are or aren't or so forth and so but like this this idea of i'm I'm intrigued by what what does uh like what like did you have to do some body building to be an assistant or did you have to really have you know are you assistant because you didn't do something well enough you're not a full rabbi so you're just the assistant

11:40.12
Kevin Shock
Oh, I don't think that's the case.

11:41.86
Nathan Pile
Well, I, I'm it's just it's very it was the thing that stuck out to me was this assistant and what's the assistance duties and um like I think I have some ideas of what those are, but um it was just that word assisted.

11:48.57
Kevin Shock
Mhm.

11:58.83
Nathan Pile
ah That kind of struck me as. um

12:05.05
Nathan Pile
What are you assisting me with?

12:07.27
Kevin Shock
Mhm.

12:09.01
Nathan Pile
kind of a thing, so yeah.

12:10.10
Kevin Shock
yeah yeah

12:11.31
Nathan Pile
That was the, it brought it brought questions and images to mind of, again, what I think would be said, but also um the assistant is there usually to support the teacher, and Jesus is seen as the teacher in this text.

12:31.33
Kevin Shock
Yeah. yeah Yeah. Yep.

12:32.22
Nathan Pile
And so there's, there's, um

12:32.83
Kevin Shock
Yep.

12:37.33
Nathan Pile
he's back home and they see him as teacher.

12:45.62
Nathan Pile
So interesting.

12:46.05
Kevin Shock
Yeah, yeah.

12:46.76
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

12:47.74
Kevin Shock
um Yeah, I I wonder if I wonder if assistant, I'm I'm curious what the what the Hebrew word is there.

12:48.11
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

12:55.69
Kevin Shock
I didn't look in the Hebrew, I did look in another, I looked at the NRSV updated edition to see what word they use there.

12:56.45
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

13:03.15
Kevin Shock
First of all, in verse 17, the assistant isn't even present in NRSV.

13:07.47
Nathan Pile
Right.

13:07.59
Kevin Shock
It just says that it just says that the the scroll from the prophet Isaiah was given to Jesus.

13:13.51
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

13:13.75
Kevin Shock
it doesn't It doesn't say that someone gave it to him. And then in verse 20, Jesus gives it back to the attendant. ah But when you think about, ah just i i I said, I wonder what the Hebrew word is ah because I think assistant is is automatically put someone like in second position.

13:37.30
Kevin Shock
And and I and I don't I don't get the sense that this is a person who's in second position.

13:37.37
Nathan Pile
Yes. Yeah. Yep.

13:43.30
Kevin Shock
This is a person whose role it is to maintain and care for the things that are in the Senate. If this is the person who takes the scroll out of the ah place where the the scrolls are kept, this is a very important person.

14:02.63
Nathan Pile
Right.

14:03.38
Kevin Shock
this this person is given permission, or not even given permission, this person is appointed to oversee the handling of the scrolls, which is a, and has been instructed in it as well.

14:03.44
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

14:12.09
Nathan Pile
and has been instructed in that.

14:15.57
Kevin Shock
Yeah, right, right. I think um last week we didn't talk about it, but it was one of the readings, so the wedding of Cana. the The important person in that reading is the steward.

14:25.62
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

14:26.18
Kevin Shock
ah the this the one who The one who's in charge of watching the wine, the levels of the wine, knowing what vintage the wine is, ah making sure that there's enough that everyone is having a good time at the wedding all throughout the multi-day event. um It's easy for us to assume that the person in charge is ah is the one who owns the wine, the one who's throwing the party.

14:55.63
Kevin Shock
but But really the steward is the most important one, ensuring that everything happens the way it's supposed to happen.

15:02.32
Nathan Pile
No.

15:02.55
Kevin Shock
And the wine is handled and everyone gets the wine like they're supposed to. And you know if if people aren't having a good time, the host blames the steward, not not not himself.

15:13.86
Nathan Pile
Sure.

15:15.66
Kevin Shock
So I think of it similar here is that this is,

15:16.06
Nathan Pile
Right.

15:19.92
Kevin Shock
um the rabbi, the ah the the people who are reading, they can't do their work without the attendant. And and so i yeah I think of this person not as like a second banana, but more like a steward. This is the person who makes who makes the things that are supposed to happen there happen, takes care of the logistics of it all. So anyway.

15:47.12
Nathan Pile
Well, Scrolls would have been much more delicate than most of our books, right?

15:52.63
Kevin Shock
Books. Yeah. Yeah.

15:54.78
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

15:55.22
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

15:56.33
Nathan Pile
You know, depending on what was yeah heavier and depending on what was, what it was written on, like, like, is it animal skin that's tied together?

15:56.45
Kevin Shock
And also heavier.

16:04.88
Nathan Pile
Is it, is this, is this a scroll of, of, um, papyrus, um, that has been put together somehow?

16:11.54
Kevin Shock
Yeah. I don't know.

16:13.41
Nathan Pile
Like, I don't, you know, all of those pieces. So there definitely would have been rules of how to care for this puppy to make sure that it, because it's the only thing, way the community has the word of God is, is this.

16:19.15
Kevin Shock
Sure.

16:23.69
Kevin Shock
Right. Right.

16:25.48
Nathan Pile
Because to me, it would have been one of those things of this would have been the price, one of the priceless, most valued things in the community. Because of how long it took to, you know, write them, transcribe them.

16:35.13
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

16:42.07
Kevin Shock
Right. Right.

16:42.85
Nathan Pile
um And so this would have been a very, very, very um important thing.

16:43.19
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

16:49.88
Nathan Pile
So.

16:50.21
Kevin Shock
Yeah, you don't like just go out and buy a new set of scrolls if ah if these ones get damaged or something like that, yeah.

16:55.58
Nathan Pile
right

16:57.49
Kevin Shock
um Yeah, so my answer to that first question actually is I was just, I was intrigued that um that there seemed to be people with certain responsibilities there.

17:09.64
Nathan Pile
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

17:12.49
Kevin Shock
and And the assistant, I was actually, I was focused more on Jesus in the sense that ah what it says in this reading, Jesus, on the Sabbath, he went to the synagogue as he normally did. ah there's There's something about that. like this is a I don't know if they mean because he had been out go I don't know if Luke means because he had been out going to different synagogues, or if it means that like he's in his hometown on a Sabbath day, of course he's gonna go to synagogue.

17:46.43
Kevin Shock
this is the place where he's known. And I just got this image in my head, you know, a lot of times you you go to a church and you look at the bulletin and it says something in the back, like serving this week.

17:57.01
Kevin Shock
And it has, you know, like all of the people who are the readers, the communion assistants, the alter guild, the, you know, all the people and the various responsibilities they have.

18:04.58
Nathan Pile
Yeah

18:07.07
Kevin Shock
And I, and then, you know, a lot of times it'll say serving next week so that the people who, are scheduled to do those things and know what they're doing. I just had this, you know, like, got this image in my head of a bulletin from the synagogue in Nazareth and, ah you know, serving next week, Lecter, Jesus Bar Joseph.

18:25.92
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

18:26.64
Kevin Shock
Like, like it was it was it was his day to read in the synagogue.

18:26.83
Nathan Pile
um

18:30.96
Nathan Pile
It's his day to show up and read, right?

18:32.98
Kevin Shock
It was his day to show up and read in the synagogue. Yeah, I I so I I think what I think what intrigues me about that and and what would have been reflecting on this reading about a little bit is that um is Jesus the most important person there? Yes, absolutely. ah He's the savior of the world.

18:56.33
Kevin Shock
um Is he the only important person there? No. ah there's There are other people who are doing things that are vital to the work that Jesus is doing and going to do.

19:11.01
Kevin Shock
And in the following week, Jesus isn't going to be there and someone else will be reading from the scrolls.

19:19.87
Kevin Shock
um and And it's not to it's not to minimize what Jesus is doing, but it is also to, I like I I don't want the idea to be that I'm minimizing in any way what Jesus is doing, but I also want to recognize that um Jesus is not the only person that God uses.

19:43.58
Kevin Shock
and um And I think, like I said, before we read this, I I worry that we sometimes fall into the trap of

19:45.57
Nathan Pile
Hmm.

19:55.66
Kevin Shock
Jesus is the only person that God uses, that God works through. And so we just sit around and do nothing.

20:04.45
Kevin Shock
And I don't think that's i don't think that's i don't think that's who we're called to be.

20:08.44
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

20:09.03
Kevin Shock
I don't think that that was God's intent.

20:09.45
Nathan Pile
that's not That's not God's intent.

20:11.67
Kevin Shock
No, yeah. So anyway, um I was I was intrigued that Jesus was, but whether he was the appointed reader or he stood up spontaneously to read,

20:24.85
Kevin Shock
and took the job away from someone else. I don't know, but, but there were people there who had different responsibilities and, and his responsibility, whether it was given to him or he took it on himself that day was, was to read the prophet.

20:39.11
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

20:39.54
Kevin Shock
And, and then of course he also teaches on the prophet.

20:41.45
Nathan Pile
I was gonna say, and then teach.

20:43.61
Kevin Shock
Yeah. Yeah.

20:45.11
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

20:46.46
Kevin Shock
Um, okay.

20:47.27
Nathan Pile
No.

20:49.63
Kevin Shock
Well, a second time, why don't you go ahead and read it?

20:52.23
Nathan Pile
Yep. Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee. and news about him spread throughout the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by every everyone. Jesus went to Nazareth where he had been raised. On the Sabbath he went to the synagogue as he normally did and stood up to read. The synagogue assistant gave him the scroll from the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me.

21:28.37
Nathan Pile
He has set sent to me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

21:41.83
Nathan Pile
He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the synagogue assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the synagogue was fixed on him. He began to explain to them,

21:54.78
Nathan Pile
Today, this scripture has been fulfilled just as you heard it.

22:05.02
Nathan Pile
Kevin, toward what is God calling you in this text? And I think you should allow for a dramatic pause, just like Jesus did, just like Jesus did, and then teach us.

22:15.70
Kevin Shock
Why?

22:21.36
Kevin Shock
I don't think I'm teaching you. I just realized in in your reading of that question, um maybe question two and three are the same question this week. Honestly, what does what does question three say exactly?

22:36.08
Kevin Shock
I have the I have the other tab pulled up.

22:37.43
Nathan Pile
What role what role has God given you in fulfilling?

22:38.22
Kevin Shock
ah What I've given you is fulfilling holy things. Yeah, I think it's the same. I think that maybe they're the same question, Nathan. I don't know.

22:47.90
Kevin Shock
I'll answer them differently. um I think that God is, ah I think God's calling me to know my role. ah

22:58.01
Nathan Pile
Hmm

22:59.83
Kevin Shock
Um, and that obviously has two, there are two sides of that coin. One is to figure out, um, and this is a theme in my life, figure out what God is calling me to do. Um, when it comes to the work of salvation, when it comes to the proclamation of the good news, when it when it comes to somehow having dogs, you don't freak out at every little person outside.

23:29.67
Kevin Shock
I heard, yeah, I heard kids running through the snow and then I knew that that bark was coming. I don't know how well that comes through on the microphone because he's ah away, but yes. Anyway, I yeah, figure out what what role God is calling me into when it comes to participating in salvation. um But also when I say, know my role, ah remember time and time again that I am not Jesus.

23:57.86
Nathan Pile
Hmm.

23:58.68
Kevin Shock
that salvation does not depend on me, um that I'm I'm called to be a participant in it, but Jesus is the one in charge of it. Jesus is the one doing the...

24:10.98
Kevin Shock
He's not just doing the heavy lifting, he's doing all the work. ah And I'm I'm I'm called to so work right alongside him, but but he's the he's the one doing all the work.

24:19.12
Nathan Pile
Hmm.

24:24.55
Kevin Shock
Yeah. I can't I I can't do all all of those things that the prophet Isaiah um names there. i I can't do those on my own.

24:38.64
Nathan Pile
Right.

24:39.84
Kevin Shock
So, so that they're, those are, those are, I think you said a few episodes ago, um, you were talking about Jesus sized issues versus us sized issues or something like that.

24:40.37
Nathan Pile
Sure.

24:53.75
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

24:53.99
Kevin Shock
And, uh, those are all, those are all Jesus sized things to fulfill. Yeah.

25:00.16
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

25:03.08
Kevin Shock
What about you, Nathan toward what is God calling you in this text?

25:06.31
Nathan Pile
um I think I think a part of what I hear in this passage is to be paying attention because um because God's in front of me.

25:21.10
Kevin Shock
Mm.

25:21.32
Nathan Pile
um And so that idea of that good news, because God is who God is, good news is happening. um And God is working in front of me. And so how am I How am I listening? How am I paying attention um to the good news as it is as it is unfolding before me? um And in this instance, it seems very clear the Son of God is is is proclaiming, i am the one you know I am the one who is going to accomplish God's ways.

26:02.94
Nathan Pile
um But ah a reminder that I need a reminder that God is always doing that. God is god is constantly working in the world to bring about ah justice and to um to proclaim good news, to feed the hungry, to liberate the those who are bound up. um

26:30.51
Nathan Pile
And so recognizing that God is at work in it and here it is Jesus Christ in this passage but recognizing that even today God continues to work in the Holy Spirit through the Holy Spirit and that that that God is continuing to reveal God's self um in our world and um

26:55.94
Nathan Pile
And sometimes it would be helpful. you know I have said this um in much of my um adult life. Sometimes it would be it'd be great God if you could just give me a big flashing sign and say, this is the right way to go.

27:11.25
Nathan Pile
Well, here's a big flashing sign for the community. um And yet I still need to be, I still need to be paying attention because God is continuing to reveal God's self.

27:19.08
Kevin Shock
Hmm.

27:22.26
Nathan Pile
Like I want it to be simple. Help me know that this is the way to go. Give me the big flashing sign, God. um

27:31.76
Nathan Pile
But as you share. um this community is going to fail at this in a big way.

27:40.40
Kevin Shock
Oh, in a big, big, big way. Oh. Oh, boy.

27:44.85
Nathan Pile
And we can take some, ah shouldn't take some solace in it, but yeah, at the same time we can. um Because God is still going to continue to reveal God's self in the world.

27:55.96
Nathan Pile
God is continuing ah to do that even today in 2025. um And so to know

28:02.82
Kevin Shock
yeah

28:05.12
Nathan Pile
um that that God is doing that and to be watching for it um and listening for it, being proclaimed wherever I'm standing in whatever those whatever moment,

28:24.42
Nathan Pile
God reveals it again to me today, tomorrow, the next day, a week from now, a month from now, a year from now.

28:29.04
Kevin Shock
Yeah, yeah.

28:31.16
Nathan Pile
So, yeah.

28:32.90
Kevin Shock
Yeah, I yeah, I yeah, before before I once again, throw the people of Nazareth under the bus. um I I don't know, I'm I'm reminded of the what I my answer to the question about knowing my role.

28:50.97
Kevin Shock
And yeah, did I try to force Jesus off of a cliff? um so that he died? ah No, I didn't do that personally.

29:01.71
Kevin Shock
Di- Did I personally ham hammer a nail into his body on the cross? No, I didn't do that personally. Have I ever done things that get in the way of his salvation being known among people?

29:12.33
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

29:13.49
Kevin Shock
Yes, absolutely. Yeah, yeah.

29:16.55
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

29:17.08
Kevin Shock
So, right, no know my role in the sense that I'm not only am I not Jesus, but I have been um an adversary of Jesus.

29:28.00
Nathan Pile
Yeah, I've been a part of the the people of Nazareth.

29:28.74
Kevin Shock
I've been an um an enemy of Jesus. Yeah, right, right. i've i've been I've been part of the crowd calling for his crucifixion. um and and And again, it's not, I haven't done that specifically.

29:44.79
Kevin Shock
But there have been ways that I have been a barrier to salvation for the people who needed salvation to come. um Probably both knowingly and unknowingly, I have contributed to that. And so part of part of what Jesus is calling me into is to no longer be a barrier.

30:08.59
Kevin Shock
Uh, and of course I know that that will always be a part of who I am, but when I'm, when I'm done not being a barrier to be a, uh, to be our participant in, in making his salvation. No. So yeah, it's easy to ah yeah where I can't remember. Is it in the gospel of Luke? I think it is where Jesus says, you know, um,

30:34.53
Kevin Shock
He says to the crowds, do you think you're better off than any of these, and he names a couple of events that have happened. um you know like people who had been People who had been hurt or killed, and the assumption was that they that that had been done because that they were they were sinful. That was God's punishment on them. and And Jesus's question to the people is, do you think that you're any better than these people?

31:01.46
Kevin Shock
No, you're in the same boat. Uh and And unfortunately, I'm in the same boat as the people of Nazareth. I'm in the same boat as the Roman soldiers who nail who hammered in the nails.

31:14.24
Kevin Shock
um But I'm also in the same boat that Jesus freely gives his salvation to me and and wants me to come and and live into it.

31:26.27
Nathan Pile
Yeah, yeah.

31:27.00
Kevin Shock
So, yeah.

31:29.08
Nathan Pile
The dog squeaky toy, Kevin, was just the dog saying, preach it, preach it, Kevin, preach it.

31:31.63
Kevin Shock
Oh my gosh. I know it it adds, it adds such a, such a reverent air of wisdom to the to things I'm saying. I can tell. Oh my gosh.

31:41.70
Kevin Shock
I, um, I apologize. I don't have much of a choice, uh, being confined to where I am right now. And the dogs having actually them playing with toys is what I've been urging them to do.

31:51.74
Kevin Shock
I just wish they would do it with quieter ones, but anyway, yeah.

31:54.34
Nathan Pile
That's fine. That's fine. It's just them saying, preach it, Kevin, preach it.

31:59.68
Kevin Shock
Well, it's it's them engaging with each other and not me, which is what I want them to be doing right now.

32:07.15
Kevin Shock
All right. Should we hear this a third time?

32:08.78
Nathan Pile
Let's do it a third time.

32:10.88
Kevin Shock
All right. From ah Luke chapter four, Jesus returned in the power of the spirit to Galilee and news about him spread throughout the whole countryside.

32:21.50
Kevin Shock
He taught in their synagogues and was praised by every everyone. Jesus went to Nazareth where he had been raised. On the Sabbath, he went to the synagogue as he normally did and stood up to read. The synagogue assistant gave him the the scroll from the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

32:54.48
Kevin Shock
He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the synagogue assistant and sat down. Every eye in the synagogue was fixed on him. He began to explain to them, today the scripture has been fulfilled just as you heard it. Nathan, ah what role has God given you in fulfilling holy things?

33:20.59
Nathan Pile
Um, I will allow my obituary to cover that. um

33:30.41
Nathan Pile
Well, I think part of the the part of this question that is uncomfortable, part of the question is uncomfortable is like, like i don't I'm not exactly sure if I know, you know, because God's using me to accomplish something.

33:31.54
Kevin Shock
Wow. Wow. Okay.

33:44.43
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

33:45.35
Nathan Pile
And though I might think I know what that is,

33:45.38
Kevin Shock
are Are you?

33:48.96
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

33:49.62
Nathan Pile
Again, I go back to my the actress who says, I'm going to completely fail at this. um But God is still going to accomplish something from my my work in the midst of holy things.

33:57.18
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

34:05.36
Nathan Pile
And so it would be better for those that have 20/20 vision to articulate that. um Now, that being said, I've obviously chosen in my life to go to seminary.

34:12.52
Kevin Shock
Hm.

34:19.76
Nathan Pile
to do the whole seminary thing, to become a pastor, and to try and be a leader in the midst of the Lutheran Christian Church to lead others in um into fulfilling God's holy things. So um i feel I continue to feel called into my role of of being a pastor, whether it be in a congregation or in this setting at the camp, um and feel um public um public support for that and in my ministry um from time to time. I wish I could say that it feels that way all of the time.

35:10.48
Nathan Pile
But that is not the case. um As as it as um we all have self-doubt, we all have that like, am I doing the right thing? Am I leading the right way? You know, we all have that. We all experience that. So there's definitely all I have those emotions as well in the midst of what this um call is.

35:32.04
Nathan Pile
um And so I the easiest way for me to answer is that I I do feel called to be a leader in the midst of what God is doing to fulfill holy things.

35:37.35
Kevin Shock
Mm hmm, mm hmm.

35:43.80
Nathan Pile
um My hope would be that those who have walked with me in that journey, when my life is over, might be able to say, these were the things that Nathan did for us. Maybe it wouldn't be in an obituary, because those are usually kind of short.

36:02.23
Nathan Pile
but

36:06.54
Nathan Pile
But, you know, that I think in my whole life, I've always kind of said, you know, I want to be all used up when it's when my time is on walking the earth is here. I would like I would you know I would hope that God has used me and my gifts in ways that accomplishes God's pieces um in no way um

36:32.17
Nathan Pile
Like I would want, you know, I'm I'm a bit of a perfectionist. um' As I lead, I you know, I'm driven to to kind of do those pieces. And so I want things to go perfectly. I recognize that I myself get in the way of making that happen sometimes.

36:46.56
Kevin Shock
Mm.

36:46.80
Nathan Pile
That it be, you know, my drive for it to be perfect gets in the way of whatever God is trying to accomplish. And so um again, that part of me, that brokenness of me,

36:57.88
Nathan Pile
um gets in the way of whatever it is God is trying to accomplish. um But i do I feel called to be a leader in the midst of God fulfilling holy things. And so right or wrong, I guess I would say, um that i i fee that you know that's what I feel God is has um

37:28.07
Nathan Pile
a role that I have felt called into. And right now, as as the human church, as God's people, we've said, well, going to seminary is a way to be that leader. And so to me, it made sense to follow in those,

37:45.60
Nathan Pile
um

37:48.89
Nathan Pile
in the structure of the church. two be to become a leader within the church to do that.

38:00.72
Nathan Pile
ah like you know I believe it is God and the church that has um empowered me to do this. um It's not just that Nathan wanted to be a pastor, so Nathan went and did this thing. um we were from We're from a tradition that that people walk alongside us in those in that discernment time, in that time during seminary, in that time after seminary, um and and being ordained and and then continue to even walk with us for the first couple of years of being an ordained leader in the church.

38:36.31
Nathan Pile
So there so i in no way do I feel like this is just something that I got to pick and do. um Because in our tradition, we need a community to kind of say, yes, we also see these gifts there. And so we also support you in that. And so there's ah that part of if the community sees it, we also believe then that that God is a part of helping us in that journey.

39:02.79
Nathan Pile
so

39:08.56
Nathan Pile
So, I guess that's my long complicated version of my answer to your what roll the role, the role is the simple answer is some, some kind of a leader, you know, obviously, as pastor, it is a theologically trained leader.

39:22.36
Kevin Shock
Mm hmm.

39:25.96
Nathan Pile
um

39:29.90
Nathan Pile
that would be the role that I have felt called to continue to feel called to in accomplishing the holy things of God. But ah I also that seems like just because you've become a pastor doesn't I think you and I are um I grew up as a pastor son and so like generations ago, I think sometimes we gave the respect of um to pastors in that that you know was due them, but at the same time, sometimes we felt like that they they weren't, we didn't treat them in the same way that they were just a human being.

40:09.62
Nathan Pile
And I very much live into my call is I'm very much a human and um I'm gonna make mistakes and and there's gonna be, you know my idea may not be the best idea that's out there.

40:15.42
Kevin Shock
Mm hmm. Mm hmm.

40:20.98
Nathan Pile
um kind of thing, and so I'm willing to, you know, that that is a part of me trying to live into what it means to be a pastor leader in the church today.

40:37.52
Nathan Pile
But, i you know, as I shared at the very beginning of this, there is an uncomfortableness for me in recognizing that God is going to use me and us to accomplish holy things.

40:51.88
Nathan Pile
I'm not sure not sure how that's possible, but I trust that it is.

41:04.82
Kevin Shock
Well, you said a lot there, a lot that it has me thinking about things. ah First of all, I think it's a very wise observation that maybe we're not the ones who best articulate what role we've been called to or what role we've been given, but maybe it's the people around us.

41:22.04
Kevin Shock
who know who know us who know better what our role is than what we do. um ah But you also what you were talking about there at the end of your reflection ah really speaks to me one if part of my.

41:38.76
Kevin Shock
Part of my reading of this, you know, we ah you and I always talk about how each one of us reads scripture through our own perspective, our own lens. um How much of this, ah my interpretation of this reading or my desire for this reading comes from me being a pastor and um and having not always, but sometimes ah having been, having had the expectation thrust upon me that I have to be all things for all people.

42:05.69
Kevin Shock
ah Or that that I'm the one who's best suited to serve every role in the church in the congregation um ah Yeah, ah ah only Jesus has that ability um the the church requires that people um That people take on various responsibilities and the in the pastor has a specific responsibility but just like the the synagogue attendant ah ah assists the rabbi with what the rabbi is doing, that work can't be done without other people fulfilling the roles and responsibilities that they are called to as well.

42:47.91
Nathan Pile
Mm hmm.

42:49.23
Kevin Shock
um the The church requires that a whole body works together, not just one person working on behalf of the body, but

42:53.77
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

42:58.63
Kevin Shock
um or even two people or three people together working on behalf of the body, but the whole body works together. And and people have different levels of responsibility um because they have different levels of ability. And um yeah, I think this is a little unfair to you, but um some of how I answer this third question relies on another reading.

43:25.78
Kevin Shock
one that we haven't read, but one that's one that's appointed for the same week. And you'll mention it again at the end, but as we read from...

43:31.87
Nathan Pile
Mm.

43:35.11
Kevin Shock
ah Also alongside this reading from Luke, we read it from 1 Corinthians 12, where Paul talks about, ah you all are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And he goes through a list of different roles and responsibilities that exist in the body and and makes it um makes it clear that not everyone can do all of these things.

44:04.88
Kevin Shock
um but that certain people are called to do these certain things um in order for the whole body to work together and ah and live into the salvation that God has given us through Jesus Christ.

44:18.43
Kevin Shock
um So, I mean, two things that Paul does in that reading, one is that he you know he essentially says that there's no one person who's less important than any other person in the body.

44:32.19
Kevin Shock
and um and even the ones who seem to be less respectable or less important are given an equal measure, if not more of the grace and the love that has been given us so to to lift them up and help them to live into the responsibilities that God has given them. um but there's But the thing that Paul says right at the end of this reading that actually goes into a different section of his letter, and then we wait we hear the great love soliloquy um is what he says right at the end of this the reading in verse 31a, but strive for the greater gifts.

45:19.61
Kevin Shock
He lists all of these roles and responsibilities, but then makes it clear that there's something greater than just fulfilling these things that all of the people are called to live into.

45:25.92
Nathan Pile
Mm.

45:27.89
Kevin Shock
And that is and and then he goes into the love soliloquy. um

45:32.87
Nathan Pile
right

45:33.63
Kevin Shock
that that there are that there are things like faith, hope, and love that we all have the ability to live into and to express and to proclaim and to even in our in in small measure fulfill.

45:49.40
Kevin Shock
um and

45:54.24
Kevin Shock
striving for those things, and this is at least for me, for me, striving for those things is more important than any logistical or board concrete role or responsibility I have in the church.

46:09.31
Kevin Shock
it It's more important for me to ah live into the gift of love than it is for me to be a pastor of the church.

46:14.44
Nathan Pile
Hmm. Hmm.

46:21.81
Kevin Shock
I mean, I do I feel that, I feel that.

46:21.90
Nathan Pile
Hmm.

46:24.34
Kevin Shock
If if i ever if I ever fail at being or cease to be a pastor of the church, as long as I have the gift of love and I'm still living into that, then I'm fulfilling the role that God has given me.

46:40.11
Kevin Shock
Well, maybe I'm not, I don't know. I don't wanna say that definitively, but I feel like I feel like that's that's the more important thing. um Let me say this, if I'm if I'm being a pastor of the church but not living into the love that has been given to me, I'm probably not fulfilling my role.

46:57.24
Nathan Pile
Yeah, yeah.

46:58.25
Kevin Shock
Yeah, that's probably a better way to say it.

47:00.17
Nathan Pile
That's an easier way to to know the the truth that you're naming.

47:07.08
Kevin Shock
Yeah, I think, I think so. Yeah. So yeah, I um ah like you. And I mean, what you said made a whole lot of sense to me. ah The specifics of the role, I don't always know.

47:17.86
Kevin Shock
And I'm and I'm constantly wondering about what the specifics are.

47:18.15
Nathan Pile
Yeah. Yeah.

47:21.63
Kevin Shock
um even Even when I feel called to something, I'm I'm still wondering about the specifics of it. ah but But one thing I don't ever wonder about is that I feel pretty confident that God has called me to proclaim and express and live into love for the sake of others.

47:29.19
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

47:43.16
Kevin Shock
And and again, I can live into love in a Kevin-sized way, not in a Jesus-sized way.

47:54.27
Kevin Shock
Jesus has lived into love in a way that I I can never do. um And in a way it has fulfilled love and salvation in a way that I on my own never can. But what I can do is follow in his footsteps and fulfill those things within the realm of my ability. Yeah.

48:22.47
Nathan Pile
Well, I think that's the the

48:23.06
Kevin Shock
Yeah, so that's that's that's my answer, I think.

48:35.70
Nathan Pile
Again, the the part one of the gifts that you bring always, um not just to this podcast, but in in your and your calling and leadership within the church, is is that goal of trying to live into love. um you know And those of us that are around you,

49:00.50
Nathan Pile
that that know you that that that um get to hear you preach or get to see you lead. um

49:13.18
Nathan Pile
That foundational piece of living into love, like that rings true. And so, you know, I think that's a, it makes

49:27.91
Nathan Pile
It's clear to us that it is a part of who you are are living in living to be.

49:38.86
Nathan Pile
Now, you know I'm also your friend who sees that side of you. I'm not the ah council member sitting across the table that they're in the middle of their own conflict and so they don't see and experience that. But ah yet at the same time, I have a pretty strong sense that that you sitting on the other side of the table you're not attempting to be unloving.

50:00.02
Nathan Pile
You know, you might be annoyed, depending what they've said to you. um But I could still see you striving to say, how do I love this person on the other side of the table?

50:04.75
Kevin Shock
Yeah. yeah

50:10.93
Nathan Pile
um Because it's a part of who, it's a part of who you are. um And it's a part of the role that you try to live into. um And I think that's one of the strengths of our church is that we that we do ask for outside help.

50:32.43
Nathan Pile
in in in Because I think when we're in the middle of something, it's hard for us to be able to see, am I doing what I'm trying to do, what I'm trying to accomplish? It's hard to see ourselves and our own actions and what that role is. And so again, a part of the of the Lutheran Christian um church's tradition of of of of call and and of all of that is that others get to weigh in on it to kind of say, yeah, I can see that happening in your life.

51:03.82
Nathan Pile
Now, I think we probably all need it.

51:06.89
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

51:07.01
Nathan Pile
Like it's not just the leaders of the church that need it. I think all of us need people kind of watching and saying, um and and in it and it and I'm saying, I'm not saying that it only happens in the Lutheran chri- Christian tradition.

51:20.77
Nathan Pile
I think it happens probably in all traditions, but you know thinking about thinking about ah ah Pat, in my life, a Pat Huffman or a Esther Mishler, who are those wise sages of our of of congregations that I was a part of who kind of said,

51:25.01
Kevin Shock
Mm hmm.

51:42.35
Nathan Pile
Hey, I see you for who you are, and um and I celebrate that um you know that. That's part of who these um these women were in my life.

51:54.56
Nathan Pile
They were people that kind of could kind of say, what you what you do has meaning for me, and thank you and a thank you of that, an appreciation for that.

52:04.82
Kevin Shock
Mm hmm.

52:06.65
Nathan Pile
and so um just by however they did that. you know It wasn't that they oftentimes came up and said, oh, so and know I see you living out God's love, Nathan. But it was their way of of showing appreciation, not just to me, but to... you know hundreds of kids in our parishes, in both of those parishes, that they did that for over the the time that they served as greeter in the narthex hallway after church was over and Kim running up and giving you a newspaper scrap because your name was in the newspaper.

52:27.59
Kevin Shock
Sure.

52:42.64
Nathan Pile
um you know When that was a big thing, it probably doesn't happen as much anymore. But when I was a kid, like if your name got in the newspaper, it was kind of a big deal.

52:46.66
Kevin Shock
That was a big thing, yeah.

52:50.06
Nathan Pile
you know and Then to have somebody notice it and then cut it out of the newspaper and bring it to church and give it to you Not that you didn't already have a copy of it somewhere probably but you know, there was oh you noticed you noticed me, you know, so again, I think um You know that those were there that was just a part of their way of living into love um But it was there there, you know, they lived into that role of of of coming and saying I See you

53:02.59
Kevin Shock
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

53:10.97
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

53:20.77
Nathan Pile
you and and and ah and the other young adults youth of the congregation that got seen in the same way by this by these women um as they lifted us up, as we grew up in that and that congregational space.

53:39.49
Nathan Pile
So yeah, no, I think it's, i know I know I gave you a rough time for the question at the beginning, but I think it's a, a

53:41.52
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

53:48.69
Nathan Pile
interesting to kind of think about how God is calling us individually and as community, especially in this time when the church feels like it's so up and down.

54:02.93
Kevin Shock
Yeah. Mhm. Mhm.

54:05.72
Nathan Pile
and recognizing that God is still working in and through us. And so, as you said, so articulately and so well, how do we how how do we make our role about living in love?

54:23.55
Kevin Shock
Yeah, yeah. And maybe maybe this question also calls us to look at look at the role that God has given others and encourage them in that way too. If we if we if we can't see that role so clearly ourselves, then maybe a away as we point out there the way we see um God fulfilling holy things through other people.

54:52.35
Kevin Shock
Yeah, and and i think I think that we often discount ah the things, or or we name as small the things that are important, um because we don't think that they're such a big deal, but obviously ah someone cutting out a newspaper clipping with your name in it and handing it to you to church on Sunday morning had a had a profound impact on you.

55:18.73
Nathan Pile
Sure.

55:20.63
Kevin Shock
I mean, you remember it all these years later.

55:23.25
Nathan Pile
Yeah. Yeah.

55:24.57
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

55:24.55
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

55:25.80
Kevin Shock
So those are the things that I think a lot of people would say, Oh, it's not, you know, it's not a big deal or, but it, but, but apparently it is a big deal.

55:37.61
Nathan Pile
Sure. Yeah.

55:39.23
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

55:40.83
Nathan Pile
help halle how do we How do we take notice? How do we keep inviting? How do we um keep embracing?

55:45.63
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

55:48.01
Nathan Pile
ah you know all like As you said those words, I was thinking about all of the different, because it wasn't just estimation. I can go through a list of you know more than a ah ah dozen people that did different things that did the same thing, but they were all small little things.

56:04.83
Nathan Pile
You know, and so inviting inviting you to be included or inviting you to share um a story or a song or music in some way, inviting you to, or when you walked in the door, a big bear hug from, you know, one of the guys of the church who always used to give you a rough time, but like you'd been away at college and you walk in the door and they're like, oh, you're home for Christmas.

56:06.13
Kevin Shock
yeah

56:23.50
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

56:28.51
Nathan Pile
And, you know, the way it made you feel like This is still home, you know, even though I've been away.

56:33.26
Kevin Shock
Yeah, yeah.

56:34.39
Nathan Pile
And so, you know, all of those individuals, again, that role, you know, it would be very easy to put underneath that arc of love, that that that theme of, you know, all of the things that they were doing are them living into that role of love.

56:46.41
Kevin Shock
Mm hmm.

56:52.78
Kevin Shock
Yeah, yeah.

56:55.94
Kevin Shock
Yeah, like like Jesus becoming home for the Sabbath day on you know, all all the eyes were fixed on him.

57:02.21
Nathan Pile
Well, well and we and and we stop before it goes but yeah anyway make make just our stop at it at the stop at it verse 21 and not at 30.

57:03.67
Kevin Shock
Just just just be careful you're not taking so much notice of someone that you want to end up pushing them off a cliff. Just the yeah.

57:22.51
Kevin Shock
I think the rest of the story is important to hear too, but not not for the ah not for the um but for the needs of this conversation right here.

57:24.81
Nathan Pile
It is, it is.

57:29.74
Nathan Pile
Yeah, yeah. Well, other readings that we have, additional texts, Nehemiah chapter eight, verses one through three, verses five and six, and verses eight through 10.

57:32.58
Kevin Shock
All right. What other readings do we have, Nathan?

57:44.74
Nathan Pile
Here Ezra reads the law of Moses before the people. Again, that idea of um reading in community, sharing God's word in the midst of community.

57:56.15
Nathan Pile
Psalm 19, the teaching of the Lord revives the soul. And then um the text i Kevin alluded to and really made his answer about, even though we didn't read it, 1 Corinthians 12, verses 12 through verse 31a. And this, again, as he articulated so well, um this is the text that talks about, ah for Paul, talking about that you are the body of Christ and and that we are individually

58:27.28
Nathan Pile
individually together we make up the body of Christ and so um but I again I think it was a rich reflection so I thank you for that even though I I uh poke you for it it's like poking the bear everybody as he gets every day as he gets healthier it's like the bear is coming back to life um yeah you're the bear is coming so

58:44.45
Kevin Shock
Oh, is this is this what it is? Okay. Thanks.

58:48.63
Nathan Pile
But as always, my friend, I appreciate your reflections and um those that you are listening, ah we would appreciate some of you have have shared in emails, short and long, um ah you some of your reflections.

59:02.20
Nathan Pile
And so again, Kevin and I deeply appreciate those gifts, because they that's what they feel like to me, a gift of um of of you engaging with us in this conversation um about scripture that we

59:10.51
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

59:20.05
Nathan Pile
that we hold as a holy thing. um And so God revealing God's self to us. So ah we hope to tend our faith with you again soon. Grace to you.

59:31.35
Kevin Shock
And peace.