Texts: Exodus 21:1-32; 22:16-23:33; 2 Kings 19:35; Matthew 5:38-48; 16:27; Romans 12:19

“I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils.”

This quote from the 1998 movie, “You’ve Got Mail,” evokes memories of the beginnings of a new school year.

The smell of freshly sharpened pencils, the feel of new shoes, the bright colors of notebooks and school supplies fill store shelves as parents and teachers stock up for the school year. Along with gathering supplies, teachers have been planning lessons, and schools have been evaluating policies to provide an even more meaningful and engaging educational environment.

And encouraging engagement within the school walls often entails disengaging with distractions.

One aspect of student life that schools wrestle with is cell phone use. More districts are making the ‘no cell phones allowed in the classroom’ decision. Alabama is one state that made the decision to keep cell phones out of the classroom. Jonathan Buchwalter, an 11th grade history teacher, shares his experience with the newly enacted law. “Today, all of my students, 100 percent of them, took notes in my class, did their assignment, asked for help when they got stuck and turned it in, and then when they were done, they talked to each other.”

Engagement and relationships, two important components of learning, can be missing if students  focus their attention on phones rather than what is happening in the classroom. A number of schools where this decision has already been made have found the pronouncement often has the same effect as quickly pulling off a bandage. It can be painful, but necessary. Laws can have that impact.

When God gave laws to the multitude that left Egypt, the laws were to provide engagement and relationship: engagement in God’s way of living, and relationships with God and with the people around them.

Throughout 400 years the focus had been grueling. Living as slaves, some people had forgotten how God had promised a land to Abraham. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was many generations ago and the years had been difficult; now, God was preparing them for a new way of life, for a life with freedom. They were being prepared to live in the land of promise. God was the One who would prepare the land for them, the One who would go before them.

Giving up what one has been familiar, or the status quo, can be tough. God knew that. The laws were given out of love as a way for them to fully engage in the life God had planned, the life they had been promised for generations.

Living the Law was not only for the people of Exodus. Neither were laws merely for the people living in New Testament times. The laws are for God’s people. They are for us today. While some of the specifics have changed with years and cultures, the principles of God’s law, of God’s love remain (Matthew 5:17-20, Colossians 2:13-23, Galatians 3:1-4:7).

“The Son of Man will soon come in the glory of his Father, and with his angels to reward all people for what they have done.” (Matthew 16:27 CEV)

 

For Reflection

Sharing: The Bible passages in this lesson might lead one to make assumptions about God. What do the laws stipulated in Exodus 21, 22, and 23 reveal about God?

1. The instructions God gives provide specific directions to assure that in all situations people are treated fairly.
2. God’s instructions show that slavery is, or can be, appropriate in all cultures.
3. In all matters, God is concerned that God’s children act with kindness toward others.
4. The Sabbath is yet one more example of how much God cares about the well-being of those who are followers of God.
5. Living with God’s law provides freedom in life rather than restrictions.
6. Other:

Applying: Exodus 23:25-33 and Romans 12:19 both reveal plans to provide for those who follow God. These passages make it plain that God’s method in providing was to work things out. We know that was not the route people always chose. In your life, are there situations, people, concerns that you could turn over to God rather than trying to work them out on your own?

~ Joy Veverka

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Center for Creative Ministry Update

 

Let me start by thanking Stefani Leeper for coordinating and editing this newsletter single-handedly these past three years while I was a pastor at the Walla Walla University Church. Stefani has done an amazing job and I know you join me in offering to her our heart-felt thanks.

Stefani will still be actively involved in the ministry of the Center, but now she will have my help since I retired from full-time employment. We are both trying to adjust to not having Monte Sahlin’s participation in our content creation since he passed away in March, 2025. We share in the Sahlin family loss and wish them the abundant comfort of Heaven as they (and we) grieve his loss.

To that point, I met a colleague in Ohio last month and with Monte’s family we packed up over 100 boxes of his library that will become a lending library for theology and sociology students at Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, Maryland. We also curated Monte’s papers and e-files, including several unfinished book manuscripts, that we will be prepared for publishing in keeping with the way he wrote and lived his life of compassionate service.

Monte guided the Center for Creative Ministry as its board chair for 38 years and we are honored to have as part of our mission to keep his legacy alive through the media resources we have available and will develop in the future. There will be more information to come, but for now, we want you to know we will not forget Monte and the legacy he left.

Paul Richardson | Executive Director

The Center for Creative Ministry is fully recognized by the North American Division (NAD) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church; it is also a 501c3 nonprofit organization which makes donations tax deductible in the U.S.