A Pastor’s Prayer Journey
Two Preachers Sharing Prayers & ScriptureArchive for worship
Guest Post: The Incarnate Tongue, by Chad Holtz
Friends, I’m reposting this (with permission of Chad, the author who is a friend of mine). I’m hoping he will be writing some more prayer thoughts for the Journal in the future. In the meantime, visit his blog when you get the chance: Dancing on Saturday–jerry
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Last Saturday night our family had the opportunity to go to a church in Raleigh to listen to an Ethiopian Gospel choir. I wasn’t expecting to get much out of this concert personally other than to enjoy the enjoyment of Sophie and Eli, our two adopted children from Ethiopia. A few minutes into the first song I realized I was in for more than I expected.
Even though the songs were sung in Amharic, a tongue I do not know, I found myself strangely drawn into their music. While I did not know what was being said I knew that these people were praising and worshipping God. They were full of joy and thanksgiving. The language they praised God in may have been foreign to me but their posture towards God I recognized and even admired. Before the first song was even half way through my eyes welled up with tears and like Wesley I felt my heart strangely warmed.
Atop a mountain in the middle of a wilderness a group of people were given a new tongue. God gave Moses the Ten Words, an ethic these Hebrew people were to live by that would display for the world around them what a life in relationship to their Creator ought to look like. Israel was learning, slowly but surely, what it meant to be a people whose sole identity was given to them as Gift. They were not a people who seized identity for themselves like the nations around them but were always in a posture of receiving from God what other peoples sought to grasp. The Ten Words Yahweh gave to them on Mount Sinai further articulated what it meant to live as the people of a God whose name could not yet be pronounced (YHWH in Hebrew has no vowel points). Israel was indeed a strange tongue in the land, embodying a mode of being that marked them as peculiar. It was promised that through them all the nations of the world would be blessed but at this point in the story it is hard to imagine. Israel stops and stutters. They speak unintelligibly much of the time. Amazingly, unlike other national histories that scrub questionable behavior, Israel does not hide her poor speech – She does not hide her failure to speak well the words God has gifted her. But if Israel continues to stutter how will all the nations hear?
In a little town called Bethlehem a group of very peculiar people gathered in a stable. Like Moses before them a word from God was received as gift, this time not ten but One: The Word made flesh. The angel would announce this One’s name as Immanuel, or God with us, and in some way the promises of old will be fulfilled here, in this most peculiar place in the midst of this most peculiar people. Jesus the Jew, born in Bethlehem, will speak perfectly in word and deed what Israel before had stuttered. Jesus is the Incarnate Tongue, the Word of God perfectly spoken, scandalously peculiar and miraculously present – Immanuel. As wonderful as this Good News is we find that it is only the beginning.
It was Passover and Jerusalem was swamped. Both Jew and Gentile from nations far and wide converged to reenact the only words they knew. A peculiar band of Israel was gathered together in a room, praying, all in one accord. They had learned to speak a word that trumped the penultimate word the Passover guests have long spoken. But would the rest of the world understand? A flash. A clap of thunder. Tongues of fire. Doors crash open and out spill a people no longer speaking for themselves, no longer stuttering, but speaking the mysteries and promises of God in a tongue they do not possess as their own. It is gift. But it is a gift they cannot hoard. The nations gathered hear this strange tongue and miraculously understand. They can hear the vowel points being placed on God’s name. They, like Israel, are invited to speak a new and peculiar tongue in the world. They, like Jesus, are invited to now be God’s incarnate tongue to all the nations, announcing the Good News that indeed, God is still Immanuel.
Sitting in that church, listening to an Ethiopian Gospel Choir sing praises to God in a tongue I did not know made me think of our task as the ecclesia of God – God’s church – God’s called-out ones. Standing before my congregation the next morning I asked them, “Why do you come to church?” I offered them this answer for consideration: We come to church to be given a new tongue to speak. We come to church to learn how to speak well this language that has been given to us so that the world who does not yet know it might be attracted to it in the same way I was attracted to the Ethiopian choir. We come to church to further carry out the gesture begun in Bethlehem and fulfilled at Pentecost in hopes of becoming a people who do not speak from the nothingness within us but from the abundance God gives us. If we did only that it may well be enough. If we sing God’s tongue well we will no doubt cause people on the streets to stop and take notice – perhaps even asking if we are drunk. Some may even well up in tears and feel their hearts strangely warmed as they witness God’s incarnate tongue singing in tune.
God, help us sing well.
Prayer Thoughts for September 8, 2008
Prayer Thoughts for September 8, 2008
Friends,
This will be my third installment of ‘prayer thoughts’. I’m glad to share them with you and encourage you, if you wish, to leave a thought and share your own. Replies are easily accomplished here at WordPress. This week’s prayer Scriptures came from 1 Samuel, Joshua, Isaiah, and Matthew–all chapter 7s. Pray well, friends.
Invocation: Lord, God, Thous has given me another day, a day to live in Thy service and for the good of my fellow-men. I am indeed a poor tool in Thy hand and deserving to be cast aside. Forgive me all my sins for Jesus’ sake, and by Thy Spirit grant me the fitness to work for Thee this day. I beseech Thee to make me mindful, dear Lord, that I am but a stranger and a pilgrim in this world. Let me not devote my efforts today to purposes that are unworthy; let me not merely gather treasures for this world; let me not serve Mammon. This life is but a vain show; let me not search for an abiding city here. But, Lord, fasten my heart and hope on the life that is in Thee and let my striving and my desires be directed to the treasures of Thy love. As long as I am in the land of my pilgrimage, hold Thou my hand; keep me from every false path. If I should stumble in sinful weakness, grant me repentance and faith. For Jesus’ sake. Amen. (From Lutheran Book of Prayer, prayer for Wednesday Morning, page 31, Concordia Publishing House, 4th ed. 1941)
Adoration
2 Samuel 7:1-29 The hardest thing about this passage is that God told David ‘no.’ David wants to build a ‘house’ for God—that is, a temple. First Nathan tells David to go ahead; then Nathan has to go back and tell David ‘no.’ I imagine this was difficult for the prophet. It’s almost like Nathan didn’t really feel like dealing with this issue so he just presumed upon the Lord and told David to do whatever he wanted. God rebuked Nathan in a dream and he had to go back to David the next day. But the thing that is most difficult is that God told David ‘no.’ The answer to David’s prayer was ‘no.’ The movement of David’s heart was stilled when the Lord told David, through the prophet, that someone else would have the honor of building His house. Instead, in a great ironic twist, the Lord tells David, “The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you” (v 11). Kind of makes one wonder what is more important, doesn’t it? Is it more important for us to build a house for God or for God to build a house for us? (See Psalm 127; 1 Peter 2). I also found interesting the comment in verse 18: “Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said.” I wondered: “where did David go in to?” What about his posture? Does this in any way relate to what the Hebrew writer wrote, “ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we might receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” The short and long of this is that David was told ‘no’ by God, and yet David’s response was one of worship. The question for our prayers is thus: How do we respond when God tells us ‘no’? (I will explore this a little more deeply when I write about last week’s prayer thoughts from Psalm 40.)
Confession
Joshua 7:1-26 This is another troubling story because it just doesn’t seem to fit well with our modern sensibilities: why was Achan’s entire family destroyed when it was, apparently, only Achan who sinned? Worse, perhaps, is that author begins this way, ‘But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things’ (things under the ban, 7:1). The Lord’s anger burned against the people who, with the very tiny exception of Achan, had no idea why they were being punished, why God was angry, or even that God was angry. First, however, is that Joshua confessed, and the Lord rebukes Joshua essentially saying, “This is not a time for confession or repentance; that time has passed. Get up!” It was time to root out the sin from Israel. I find it amazing that Achan hid the things under his tent—as if he were trying to lay a new foundation for his family built on the banned wealth of the heathen. Not only that, but Achan was trying to keep all this a secret, hidden. I wonder if things would have gone differently for Achan if Achan had confessed. I can’t believe that Achan didn’t feel the heat after Joshua announced that Israel would present themselves the next day. He had to tell the people, “Go, consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says, ‘There are devoted things among you, Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies unless you remove them.” I think Achan had a chance—and he did not take the opportunity to do what was right. Even the next day he had every opportunity: Tribe by tribe, clan by clan, family by family, man by man. He made all those people go through this project and, I suspect, confessed only because he was caught at the end. I think he showed disdain for the Lord’s Word by refusing to come forward sooner. His sin was not just coveting, but also idolatry and disdain for the Lord. Confession is a significant aspect of our prayer life both positively and negatively. The short and long of this is is simply this: We may hide our sin for a while, but it will eventually be revealed.
Thanksgiving
Isaiah 7:1-17 Key to these verses is verse 9: “If you will not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” But this was not the way of Ahaz. Ahaz demonstrates that he did not want the Lord’s deliverance. He did not want the protection of God, so he rejected the Lord; he disobeyed. The Lord told him to ask for a sign and Ahaz steadfastly refused and, thus, announced his own rebellion against the Lord. The fearless king was a shaking man. The Lord promised deliverance, but Ahaz did not believe the word of the Lord nor did he take YHWH at His word. What is worse than rejecting the word of the Lord? How many times have any of us prayed for the Lord to give us a sign of his will, his intentions, his desires only to be rejected? Here is Ahaz—with the power to ask for anything he wants and he rejects the opportunity to see the Lord’s deliverance. So that is how Ahaz thanked God. I wonder: How do we thank God when he promises deliverance? Did Ahaz not hear: The Lord had promised a Deliverer! A Deliverer! And Ahaz could only reject the Lord’s offer and the Lord’s word and the Lord’s command. But in typical the Lord type fashion this Deliverer will be nothing like what anyone of them expected: A child, the Deliverer would be. The Lord will deliver Israel with a child?! It’s rather absurd—but this boy will be a sign of the Lord’s Deliverance: “God is with us.” We can be thankful that ultimately it is Jesus of Nazareth who is Immanuel. Ahaz may have seen a temporary deliverance, but the prophecy here fully anticipates a fuller, more complete deliverance. The New Testament declares that it is in Jesus that this is true. So we walk by faith even though things may seem a bit upside down and backward and less than encouraging. We can be thankful that God has asked us to walk in faith instead of in strength. In strength we would surely fail; in faith we surely fail, but in faith we stand because there is no other way to stand. We are thankful for God’s deliverer.
Supplication
Matthew 7:1-29 So we are not to judge or at least we are to be generous in the way we judge. That is, careful; gracious. It has been pointed out elsewhere that even the generous must decide who the ‘pigs’ are when we are sowing pearls. Discerning, yes; overly judgmental and haughty, no. We must, before we discern, judge ourselves. We must be harder on ourselves than we are on others. In a sense we must be our own worst critic. I ere on the side of caution here, or at least I try. Perhaps Paul’s dictum would suit all of us well: “It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of people’s hearts. At that time each will receive their praise from God” (1 Cor 4:4b-5). Yet, still we pray that God strengthen us and enable us to discern the ones before whom we should and should not cast our pearls. Verse 12 says: “In everything do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Well, what would we have others to do us? Would we have them judge us, reject us, turn us away? Or would we have others love us? Interestingly enough Jesus says that this ‘golden rule’ sums up the Law and the Prophets and yet later he also says that to Love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…and to love our neighbor as ourselves, these also sum up the Law and the Prophets: “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commands” (22:37-40) So we pray: Lord help us to be ones who fulfill the Law and Prophets in perfect Love: Love for you, love for others. There must be a connection between these two verses (7:12 & 22:40) that is deeper than mere coincidence. How shall we fulfill these thing? How shall we love? Lord help us love! But Jesus goes on, too, and says that we should be mindful of the road we are traveling. It is a narrow road we travel, one that we could easily fall off of if we are not careful to mind our own steps. He says we should be mindful of those who are false prophets: By their fruit you will recognize them. He doesn’t say that we should go around pointing them out to others; he says by their fruit we ourselves will be warned and we should take precautions. We should pay attention, yes, but it seems that we are to be mindful of our own walk and our own salvation lest we get sidetracked. So we pray: Lord help us to be discerning about who we follow. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear because indeed, as Jesus said, there will be many who are not true. Finally, we end right back where we started: House building. The Lord told David, “I will build your house.” Now here Jesus warns us about the foundation of the house we will build, “Don’t be stupid. Don’t build on a bad foundation. If you build on my word, you will have a house built by the Lord. If you don’t, your house cannot possibly stand.” So we pray: Lord may we be attentive to your Word. Lord, we pray that you build our house according to your plans and your blueprints. Incline our hearts to your Word. We bless you, our Father.
Benediction: Lord we bless you and thank you for you Word which builds our house, narrows our walk, promises us a Deliverer, searches us and reveals our secrets, teaches us how to worship. Lord, teach us to love like you.
Semper Deo Gloria!
Technorati Tags: Confession, prayer, Matthew 7, Isaiah 7, Joshua 7, 2 Samuel 7, Supplication, Thanksgiving
Prayer Thoughts September 5, 2008
Prayer Thoughts for September 5, 2008
Friends,
Continuing my series of prayer thoughts following the ACTS outline, I offer up these prayer thoughts from four new passages of Scripture: Revelation 18-19, Psalm 38, Psalm 95 & 100, Ephesians 6:10-20. Please remember these are not deeply exegetical studies. They are prayer thoughts on Scripture in the early morning hours. Pray well!
Adoration
Revelation 18-19 For a praise section, these verses are rather, well, odd. They speak primarily of Babylon. Babylon is the epitome of all that is dark, wrong, and unholy about the world. But I think here that Babylon is more than a small locality; that is, I don’t think we can pin down Babylon and say, ‘here it is’ or ‘there it is’. Babylon is all around us. It is everywhere. This is why early on, we hear, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.” Isaiah said, “Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds” (3:10). There will be protection for the righteous which means that the righteous need not fear the devastation that falls upon the earth, that crushes Babylon. It will not go well for the unrighteous-they have nothing to look forward to; sadly. But the righteous must live in that place-even as Lot lived among those of Sodom and Gomorrah, even as Israel lived among the Egyptians, even as Christians lived among the Romans. “Come out of her, my people.” God will remember the crimes of Babylon, but better he will remember his people and He will bring them out safely. He will call them out by name. And they will go out to be with Him. Those who are called out of Babylon will rejoice mightily. The people of God are not entirely unscathed: There will be casualties, “In her was found the blood of prophets and of God’s people, of all who have been slaughtered on earth.” (18:24) But God will be the vindication for those who have lost their lives. And even so, ‘after this’ (19:1), John hears ‘Hallelujah!’, what sounded like ‘the roar of a great multitude.’ This song is much like the song sung in Revelation 4-5: “Salvation and glory and power belong to our God.” Well, how can we not worship? This is true worship: In the midst of grief, devastation, sadness-we can still worship God because he has not forgotten us or the wrong done to us by those who belong to Babylon. Yes Lord we worship you for you have not forgotten us!
ConfessionPsalm 38 I ask: Is there some connection between his sin he confesses at the beginning (4) and the hardship that he recounts for the reader all throughout the Psalm? Well, there is, at least, a connection between his physical unrest and his sin: “Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin.” By the time we read the mid-point (verse 13) David has simply run out of words. Before the Lord he has become silent, unable or unwilling to speak or say anything else. Before God we are without excuse. Before God we are without answer and all we can do is wait: “Lord, I wait for you; you will answer, Lord my God.” Confession must recognize this powerlessness before God. We stand, if we stand at all, by his mercy and grace. We are without excuse and yet here is the Prophet still putting his trust in God and having faith that God will indeed rescue him. David minces no words. He lays his life bare before God knowing that there is no way to hide anything from God: “All my longings lie open before you Lord, my sighing is not hidden from you.” Open book before the Lord. Lord, I confess my iniquity trusting that my advocate, the Lord Jesus, will speak on my behalf.
Thanksgiving
Psalm 95 & 100 (100) We thank the Lord because we know the Lord. We come before the Lord in a spirit of thanksgiving. We enter his presence with all sorts of offerings of praise of thanksgiving and thanksgiving becomes our worship. But how can our worship be anything less than an offering of praise? An offering of thanks? Thanksgiving is the offering of humility. It is the acknowledgement that what we have and are has not come from within or of ourselves: Thanksgiving is the offering of humility because ‘it is He who made us, and we are his, we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.’ (95) How does one sing for joy and give thanks to God when one knows at the end of the Psalm: ‘they shall never enter my rest.’ It scarcely makes sense to give thanks when one knows that the end is not at all pleasant. So how does this Psalm begin the way it does, ‘Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song’ and end with, ‘So I declared oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ What is the lesson here with respect to thanksgiving? Do not harden your hearts. Lord, we give thanks. Soften our hearts that we might not grow weary and, bickering with and jealous of one another, fail to give you thanks.
SupplicationEphesians 6:10-20 What strikes me about this passage is this: There is a battle going on all around us; there are weapons to be wielded; and, more, we are on the front lines. But sometimes it appears that we do not even have to attack-not necessarily as much as we might think. Instead we need to stand (13-14) or kneel (18-20). But if we do charge we charge forward. There is no protection for the back, only for the front. And when we charge headlong into the front-lines we pray and that sword out of the mouth (Revelation 19) becomes a weapon by which the Lord conquers through us. Our petition, Lord, is that you would give us the courage to fight this battle. That you would give us the courage to stand, to kneel, but never to run. Our supplication is that we will discern the nature of the true battle. Lord may we properly use the weapons you yourself have armed us with against the enemy and not against one another.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)
Stop back again for more prayer thoughts.
Semper Deo Gloria!
Prayer Thoughts September 2, 2008
Prayer Thoughts for September 2, 2008
Friends,
I mentioned I would be doing these posts. Here is the first. These will be brief prayer thoughts from selected passages. I will follow the ACTS format and use a different passage for each letter. I typically read the same four passages of Scripture for 7 days and write new thoughts each day that I read from them. I don’t limit myself to these passages nor do I feel particularly compelled to write on each one every day. I let the Spirit lead as He will.
Adoration
Habakkuk 1-3 This is a book of lament and complaint. It is styled as prayers to God with answers. Habakkuk gets the first and last word in this short book. I noticed when I was reading through the book that Habakkuk, for all his complaints, does end with a high note of praise. I think it takes quite a lot of courage to continue to worship and praise the Lord even when the Lord says, “I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe even if you were told…I am raising up the Babylonians!” That had to be a shock: “Lord, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, you will never die. You, Lord, have appointed them to execute judgment?” that would be hard to swallow. The question is how will we respond when such things confront us? Can we respond with worship and praise as did Habakkuk? Can we ‘resign’ ourselves to faith? Can we, along with the prophet, say, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen, and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior”? Can we say that? Shouldn’t we?
Confession
Daniel 9:1-21 What struck me about Daniel’s confession is that it is firmly rooted in Scripture. He examined Scripture and Scripture examined him. He knew about the 70 years from reading Jeremiah, but he also knew of the sins of the people from reading the Law. “Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth.” Daniel spends a lot of time being examined by the Scripture (Law, Law of Moses, etc.) in this long prayer he prays. Not only does the Scripture prompt Daniel’s prayer, but he prayers the Scripture too. What happens to us when we read Scripture? Do we allow Scripture to scrutinize us? Do we put ourselves under its judgment and allow ourselves to be corrected by it? This is a serious aspect of our confession before God both positively and negatively.
Thanksgiving
Revelation 4-5 There are three important things to notice about Revelation 4-5. First, the throne dominates the scene. It is the first thing John sees and everything he speaks of in these two chapters is spoken of in relation to the throne. Things are in front of, around, on, or beside the throne. Second, the Lamb receives the same praise as the ‘someone’ (4:2) on the throne. They are worthy of worship, both, equally. In chapter 4 the Creator is worshiped and in chapter 5 the Redeemer is worshiped. But they are worshiped with similar words and phrases and songs. Finally, I noticed that everyone is ‘busy’ in this scene. The four living Creatures, the 24 elders, the people from every nation and tribe and language, the myriads upon myriads of angels. Everyone is doing something. And what is that ‘something’ they are doing? They are giving thanks to the one who sits on the throne: “Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever.” (4:9-10) Thanksgiving in the throne room is first nature.
Supplication
Acts 4 23-31 There is one main supplication in these verses that I think should dominate our prayers: “Now Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” How much more do we need such prayers now? “Stretch out your hand” is Exodus language. It’s the same thing Daniel prayed, “Now, Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a might hand…” (9:15). How much more do we need such prayers now? How much more do we need this sort of boldness of Moses to march into Pharaoh’s court and speak the Word of God? How much more do we need the courage of the early Christians to stand in Roman Colosseum’s and proclaim the Gospel? How much more do we need the boldness of Habakkuk to preach the unpopular message that we will probably not be altogether happy with the way God is going to ‘solve our problems’? How much more do we need the boldness of John who declares that ‘on earth as it is in heaven’ means God’s throne will dominate our vision and everything else will be spoken of in relationship to that throne? How much more do we need that sort of courage now? This is our prayer.
Stop back again for more prayer thoughts.
Semper Deo Gloria!
“It is Finished” & Pastoral Visits
Friends,
I have been working on my 90 Days with Jesus series at my other blog. I have 5 more to go. I have been thinking about Jesus’ words: “It is Finished!” in John 19.
It seems that our life goes from one ache to the next. My brother in law has a brain tumor and we have no idea what will be the outcome of that. He’s taking treatments, but who knows how those will end. Strangely enough, he called us last night to see how we were doing. Doesn’t make sense to me; but it does. You see, the Lord Jesus got a hold of Bob the first time around with brain tumors. I remember baptizing Bob and his wife and later conducting their wedding. Bob realizes that Jesus has finished the work, begun something new, and that He will not fail to bring to completion that which he began in us. Bob can call us (my wife and me) for precisely that reason.
And I complain about my aches and pains! The weather in NE Ohio changed again: We went from walking around with no coats in the 60′s to full blown blizzard the last two days. So of course my sinuses are clogged, draining, clogged, draining. And all the while I am complaining! Bobby called us to see how we were doing.
I went to visit a member last week. Her son was there. We were talking and having a nice conversation. He said he had a beef with me. He came to church one Sunday last year or the year before and it happened to be a day when I was asking my congregation to pray for me because I had been having some difficulties with my health. He launched into a rant about how I ‘don’t know what pain is’ how he’s ‘on morphine.’ I didn’t disagree, but I did tell him it wasn’t a contest. I thought of several other things I would like to have said–I did say, “Well, if you had been in worship on the other 51 Sundays you wouldn’t have heard a word from me about my pain.” He was quiet afterwards. I left 2 minutes later. I somewhat regretted the conversation.
A member of the Church recently had surgery to replace a hip. She’s already turning summer-saults and kart-wheels down main street! She hasn’t complained a bit and was happy to see me when I went to visit her. She didn’t accuse me of not knowing pain. She and her husband were glad to see me after her surgery too and when I went to their house: You guessed it, tea and donuts. They served me!
I’m not very good at the pastoral aspect of my work. Sometimes it is so frustrating I don’t even try. But I know that in the midst of all this complaining about sermons we don’t listen to, and all this surgery, and all this cancer there is work being done–not at all by me. No I see in all these things the different ways that people respond to the grace of God. I hear all the ways that people accept the words of Jesus, “It is finished.” I think this strong sense of completion is exactly what makes Christians different. We know what does and does not matter. We not only can serve when we are dying, but we will serve even though we are hobbled by this life’s pains and aches.
For Bobby–done deal! For the member with hip surgery–done deal! For others, Christ hasn’t suffered enough yet; his work is not yet done because theyare not satisfied. Those who understand, serve. Those who don’t, complain. I have found this to be true in nearly every visit I have ever made pastorally. Some people really understand what Jesus meant when he said: “It is finished!” and they live their lives accordingly. They are joyful servants. There is a profound difference between Christians who understand that ‘it is finished,’ and those who do not.
I told the story this past Sunday about a woman who belonged to the last church I served. I’ll never forget this woman, dying of cancer. Couldn’t even get out of bed and had to be cared for around the clock. I’ll never forget the day that she, for all intents and purposes dead already, had her husband and son roll her into the church building so she could worship the Lord before she died. I’ll never forget it.
She got it. She understood, “It is finished.”
Lord, I thank you for finishing the work on the Cross. I’m glad that I don’t need to perform to the end that I add something to your work. I’m glad that you have accomplished all that needs to be done. I’m thankful for your grace. I’m thankful that even though our bodies and lives fall apart, yet because of your work we are being renewed day by day. I pray that more and more and more will understand that the end was merely the beginning. Lord I pray you have mercy on us all as we learn to live, as we learn to accept that “It is Finished!”
jerry
PS–I just started reading Jesus’ Blood and Righteousness by Brian Vickers. I can’t believe I read this not two hours after making this post. He wrote of his father who had been diagnosed with cancer: “Yet he did not fight in desperation, even though the prognosis never got better than a hope of a slight prolonging of weeks, perhaps months. After the initial shock, he faced cancer with confidence–not confidence that he would ‘beat it,’ but confidence that came from resting, as he put it, ‘only in Jesus and all he has done for me.’ My dad was resting in the imputation of Christ’s righteousness in the face of a disease that was quickly ending his life…I was working on the topic that sustained him and gave him hope and confidence in the face of the last enemy; the defeated enemy.” (14) That’s exactly what I am talking about in this post.
Post-Christmas Prayers
Friends,
I am glad Christmas is over this year. It has been a very long season. I’m glad there was no snow and that the Christmas Eve worship was well attended. We had a great variety of participants this year: A family of bell ringers, a guitar soloist, a young female vocalist, a poet read her original work, one young man (my son) played The First Noel on the piano, one woman read a short work by Peter Marshall and another read the story of Christmas Bells. The congregation sang just about every Christmas hymn in our hymn books (and we did not even have to turn on the video projector!) We lit our candles near the end from the Advent wreath Christ candle. We read Scripture. And we prayed. It was one of my favorite Christmas eve worship services ever. It was sort of strange, however, reading Scripture that evening. One of our regular worshipers is married to a Jewish man who was in attendance. I wondered, as we read from Scripture–especially Isaiah, how those Scriptures sounded to him. I wondered how he felt hearing Christians claim the promises that God made to Israel as their own. Later on that evening I prayed, “Father, I want you to be glorified through the events of this evening.”
Yesterday, we visited with my in-laws. It was a nice afternoon. I was blessed near the end of the day to pray with my brother in law, Bob, who is now going through a second round of chemotherapy to treat a tumor. I was ashamed of myself. I prayed with him, his wife, and my wife in a quiet room in the house before he left. He is about seven years my junior. I don’t normally pray for miracles, but yesterday I did. I felt sort of strange praying for such intervention, but I don’t regret doing so. Then when I finished he said he wanted to add something, so he prayed: “Lord, I want my life to glorify you.” That’s what he said. Bob is a special man. I just don’t have words to describe the change that has taken place in his life since his baptism several years ago. You wouldn’t know that Bob has a tumor growing in his body and that the experimental treatments he is receiving may or may not work. He really is only concerned with God’s glory.
Christmas is a difficult time of year. I have been struggling mightily with the idea of God’s blessing. I’m trying to understand how to receive all things with thanksgiving and, at the same time, give everything away so that I don’t have to feel guilty for enjoying with thanksgiving all that God gives to us. In other words, I don’t want to give away just so that I won’t feel guilty. I want to give away because I want to give away. I don’t even want to give away because someone needs something. I just want to give away regardless of the person receiving. I don’t want to do so because I feel guilty. I do not want to do so because it does something for me. I want to give away because I can.
I prayed at the end of the worship Christmas Eve: “Lord, remind us that Christmas doesn’t end tomorrow. Help us remember that the work of Jesus didn’t end in the manger any more than it began in the manger. Lord let us always keep before us the cross whence comes the victory. Lord teach us that Christmas doesn’t end in a manger.” I’m glad the season is over–the holiday aspect of Christmas. I’m also glad that I have today to enjoy every blessing that comes from the Father.
Father, my prayer is simple, but not easy. Lord, I want to be the type of Christian who blesses others. I don’t just mean with money. Instead, I want to be one who blesses others with my actions, my words, my writing, my kindness, my faith–indeed Lord, I want my entire life to be a blessing to someone, given in faith and hope and expectation that I am pleasing You and Bringing glory to Your Name. As we passed the light from the Christ Candle on Christmas Eve so enable us and strengthen us to pass on that same light to others the other 364 days that will exist between this year’s Christmas eve and next year’s. Lord, I give myself to you; make me an offering acceptable and pleasing in Thy sight. Amen. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!
jerry
