"O taste and see that the Lord is Good"

"Open your mouth wide and I will fill it." 

"You will seek me and you will find me when you search for me with all your heart." 

"After you have delivered the children of Israel from Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain." 

In Romans 12, we are told first "to offer yourselves as a sacrifice, living and set apart for God." We are told to " keep letting yourselves be transformed by the renewing of your minds; so that you will know what God wants and will agree that what he wants is good, satisfying and able to succeed."  The key idea here is that first comes the commitment to doing God's will, then comes the understanding—"na'aseh v'nishma." 

People need much exposure and much experience before they will begin to understand what our faith walk is all about. Repeated experience and exposure first, explanations second.

Jethro and Moses' conversation in this week's parasha is my favorite description of how people come to faith in the God of Israel and/or His messiah [Shemot/Exodus 18:1-12].  What are the principles at work here?

People most often come to faith in the God of Israel and His Messiah when they share with one another a relationship of mutual regard.  Moses and Jethro already have this kind of relationship.  In his book Rhetoric, Aristotle reminded us of the importance of ethos—of the known credibility and character of the communicator, apart from which no persuasion can occur.  Moses had credibility with Jethro, he had proven character.  The relationship the two shared became the bridge over which Jethro walked toward the good news of Israel's God.  So shall it be for us.  And we must not miss the fact that Moses also had high regard for Jethro.  We must never play the role of benefactor to those with whom we seek to share our faith—there must be tangible ways in which we can acknowledge ourselves to beneficiaries of their relationship with us.

People most often come to faith through coming to know the story of our own encounters with God in Messiah through the grapevine, through observation, and/or because we tell them.  Jethro had heard reports of God's dealings through Tzipporah his daughter, and perhaps through his grandchildren, Gershom and Elieazer.  He had also heard the reports of God's goodness to Israel through travelers in the area.  People need to hear and see about the mighty works of God in OUR lives as they reflect upon the reality of the God of Israel and of Yeshua's claim to be Messiah.

People most often come to faith, and are able to make decisions concerning Yeshua-faith through developing confident knowledge of 1. the facts, 2. the power, and 3. the character of God.

People most often come to faith when they sense a need to acknowledge this truth and power and God they have encountered, resulting in some significant worshipful and symbolic, often ritual act.  We see this in Jethro's offering sacrifice in acknowledgment of the God of Israel.

People most often come to mature faith when they are received into the community of God's people through a rite of passage and reception by authoritative members of the community. We see this in this week's parasha as Jethro shares a meal with the elders of Israel—this was a sign of their receiving him as one of their own.  We misunderstand the nature of Yeshua-faith and of religious commitment when we imagine that it is about "my personal relationship with God."  Rather, this kind of faith life is a social reality—we become part of the people of God, or renew our identity as part of the people of God, when we come to Yeshua faith, so it has an inescapable social dimension.  People who say they have come into Yeshua faith who do not come into renewed/new relationship with the people of God are not speaking of a biblical reality.

In coming to Yeshua-faith, people experience three encounters.  We can see these encounters evident in Jethro's encounter with Moses. 

1. A truth encounter – "I now believe this to be essentially true." 
2. A power encounter –" I now believe that the power of God as revealed in this religious culture is supreme, real, tangible and adequate."  
3. An allegiance encounter
   

• "I now see something compelling about the character of G-d as you have encountered him and want to experience the impact of this truth and power in every aspect of my doing and being."
• "I want to know the personal Source behind this narrative, this community dynamic and this power," and
• "I am willing to walk through this doorway of new possibilities, trusting in God and submitting to His rule in my life."
• "I renounce all other spiritual allegiances in submission to this God."

These encounters take time to come together.  We need to give people

• lots of experiences,
• lots of exposure,
• lots of space and time.
• (But, as James Kugel says in an entirely different connection in his book "On Being a Jew"--"We need to create a space in our lives for God to fill.  And when God comes he always comes suddenly."

In discussing our Yeshua faith with Jewish people, sometimes we are asked "Why do I need Yeshua? What can I get from him that I don't get from Judaism as I know it?"  I suggest that part of our answer should be this: "Our encounter with Yeshua makes our Judaism work better--there is a dynamic empowerment here which ought not to be missed."  As Yeshua's first disciples said when they invited others to join them, "We have found him of whom Moses in the Torah and also the Prophets wrote, Yeshua the Messiah, the son of Joseph. Come and see."