Earworms & 24/7 Prayer

“Pray without ceasing.” --I Thessalonians 5:17

Brother Lawrence, a 17^th-century monk, wrote a book about continual prayer called “Practicing the Presence of God.”  Challenged by Brother Lawrence and Paul’s words to the Thessalonians, I have often asked God to help me to be more prayerful throughout the day—to take my praying beyond my daily prayer time in the morning, at bedtime, and before meals.  I have often chided myself for my failure to accomplish this attitude of continual prayer.  But it occurred to me today that I may be closer to this than I realize.

I’m not fond of the term “earworm” because I think it has a negative connotation and reminds me of a super creepy scene from Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan (2013), but I’m using it here because it communicates a concept.  I frequently—almost daily—have earworms.  Earworms are those melodies that get stuck in your head and keep repeating.  I have long referred to them as my soundtrack for life.  Sometimes there is a whole song, and sometimes just one phrase repeating over and over. Sometimes I recognize the song, and sometimes I have to hunt it down (yay for Google!).  These melodies in my mind are so common that I can go hours without paying much attention to them.  Sometimes I can even go several days hearing the same song before I realize what I’ve been singing.  Frequently once I finally pay attention to the song I will find that the words connect to some concept I’ve been mulling over.  When I’m preparing a sermon, the song sometimes turns out to be integral to the sermon’s theme.

I don’t always know how the song got in my brain in the first place.  Sometimes I’ll remember that we sang it at church recently, or that it was on the radio or in the soundtrack for a TV commercial.  But sometimes the song will be one I haven’t heard in months or even years.  Because of this, and because the songs so often connect with what’s going on in my life, I’m certain that the Holy Spirit works in me through these songs, just as he works in me bringing scripture to mind that applies to my current situation.  Frequently song and scripture connect because so many hymns and contemporary worship songs are scripture set to music, and I love how these tie together and increase their resonance in me.

Our PC(USA) constitution says that “song is a response which engages the whole self in prayer.”[1]  I think this is true, and it’s especially true for me when I’m physically engaged in the song beyond my mouth, lungs and vocal chords by playing the piano or keyboard, or by clapping or raising my hands, tapping my foot, and swaying to the music.  On the other hand, when the song is just an earworm, I’m fairly disengaged.  And yet the song persists.

What I think I’ve been failing to realize is that through those songs I am walking through the day much more prayerfully than I’d realized.  I’m not consciously talking directly to God every moment, but I do sometimes stop and ask him about those songs.  And I’ll find myself singing along here and there, sometimes consciously and sometimes absent-mindedly, and those songs are often written as prayers.

Psalm 16:11 says “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”  I’ve come to realize that those songs repeatedly running through my mind are part of how God helps me to be aware of his presence.  So I wish you “the song that never ends” and a blessed life full of meaningful earworms and the fullness of joy.

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[1] Book of Order W-2.1003

 I originally published this blog in April 2013 on a now-defunct worship blog site.

Solitude

It isn’t good for the man to be alone.  –Genesis 2:18

God said these words about Adam, and proceeded to create Eve.  Thus began the first family, and just like any time there are people together, there was trouble.  Maybe that’s why God had to keep promising—to Jacob, to Moses, to Joshua, to the disciples—to be with them, to never leave them alone[1]--to help them as he helps us to get through our troubles.[2] 

God also promised that whenever we are gathered together in his name that he would be among us.[3]  Sometimes there’s nothing quite like the beauty of people working together in Jesus’ name.  And there’s nothing quite as ugly as people being ugly to each other.  We are people who need people, but we don’t like to need each other too much, so we are like the push-me-pull-you (pushmi-pullyu) from Doctor Dolittle,[4] each trying to go our own way while at the same time inexplicably connected with each other.

Why can’t we all just get along?[5]  I suppose that’s a question for the ages.  We could blame it on that first family or the serpent or even on God,[6] or maybe it’s just human nature.  Thinking like a writer, I would say that something always has to go wrong to make the story work, to keep us interested, to draw us along through the plot and wanting to see how it all works out.  It always works out in the end, though, doesn’t it?  Even the Bible, in the end, has us all in heaven singing praises to God and to the lamb with the entire host of heaven and people from every tribe and nation.[7]

We live in a world full of people.  Maybe that’s why we crave solitude sometimes, and yet God said it’s not our permanent state.  It’s not good for man to be alone.  Maybe God was the first parent to realize the difficulties of having an only child?  When there are two or more children, they can play together, but when there is only one, the parent must also be the playmate.

For whatever reason, it seems we are stuck with each other, and so we have a choice:  we can make it work and enjoy the beauty of helping and encouraging one another, or we can make it ugly and deal with the consequences.  The beauty of being together is that when there are two or more there is the potential for love.  A person who is alone can only love his or herself, and we can thank the Greeks for the story of Narcissus so that we can see how badly that can turn out.[8] 

But wherever God is, there is redemption.  The person alone who is looking at God instead of the mirror becomes someone who then reflects God to other people.[9]  Jesus spent time alone in prayer, and we need that kind of alone time, too.  Jesus also brought us the living example of grace.  His message to the disciples, the message he told them to tell the world, is that we are forgiven.[10]  And Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians that we are to be ambassadors of reconciliation.[11]  No matter how ugly we are, or how ugly somebody else is, there is forgiveness, made possible by God through Jesus Christ.  Even when forgiveness seems impossible, it is possible.  We can get along if we let God into the equation, and somehow we are best equipped for this possibility if we’ve had some solitude with God first.

The goal is to get along.  Is this what we’re teaching?  In some ways yes and in other ways no.  American individualism isn’t quite the recipe for harmonious community, depending on how we approach it.  Self-care is important, but self-esteem may be leading us down a dead-end road.[12]  As much as we are quick to claim the right to be our own people and make our own decisions, we are not alone in the world and everything we decide for ourselves has the potential to impact someone else.  The more we take that into consideration, the more we grow and the better we get along with the world.

Plays nice with others – This was what our kindergarten teachers hoped to write on our report cards.  As we got older, our successes were measured differently.  Knowledge was rewarded with good letters.  Initiative was rewarded with dollar signs.  Persistence and creativity and hard work were rewarded.  But in the end what will last beyond the schooling and the jobs and the bank accounts are our relationships with people.  In the end we will need people to care for us just as much as we did when we were first born. 

We are people who need people.  May we learn to live together in beautiful, harmonious peace.

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[1] Genesis 28:15, Exodus 33:14 , Joshua 1:9, Matthew 28:20, Hebrews 13:5

[2] See Isaiah 43

[3] Matthew 18:20

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Doctor_Dolittle_characters#The_pushmi-pullyu

[5] Paraphrase of Rodney King in 1992 about the riots in Los Angeles http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_King

[6] See Genesis 3

[7] Revelation 7:9

[8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissus_(mythology)

[9] 2 Corinthians 3:16-18

[10] John 20:23, Matthew 6:12,14-15

[11] 2 Corinthians 5:17-19

[12] https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-brain-work/200910/status-more-accurate-way-understanding-self-esteem

Prayer Matters

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”  (2 Chronicles 7:14)

* * *

I keep saying it and I keep hearing it but today I am seeing it even more clearly—prayer is important.  Talking to God is important.  Even though we don’t all pray the same way, even though we can’t really explain everything that happens when we pray, it’s important.

Case in point: Judges 10.  Like just about every chapter of Judges, the people of Israel have turned away from God and are worshipping other gods.  The Philistines and Amorites attack.  The people in desperation cry out to God. 

But God says no! 

We can see his point.  “Didn’t I already rescue you many times before?  And still you forsake me.  So I’m not rescuing you anymore.  Go to those other gods you’ve been worshipping and let them rescue you.” (Judges 10:11-14 Krabbe paraphrase)

I found these verses to be scary.  God says no!?!  But I thought if we turned to God, he was always there, always waiting for us with open arms?  Yes, that’s what the Bible says…but with a bit of a caveat.  “If you seek God with all your heart you will find him” (Jer. 29:13, Deut. 4:29).  

How do we get our whole hearts involved?  That’s a big question, and I don’t think I know the whole answer, but part of the answer comes in Judges 10:15-16:  The people pleaded with God, admitted their sin, and got rid of those other gods. They made a change in their attitude and their actions, and got rid of something that was getting in the way of putting their whole focus on God.  They got rid of their back-up plan.  Well, actually, I think God was their back-up plan, so they got rid of their main plan and made God their main plan.  “A house divided cannot stand” (Mark 3:25).  A heart divided isn’t a whole heart.  A halfway prayer isn’t a whole-hearted prayer.  "When you pray you must believe and not doubt" (James 1:6).  God's got to be the main plan.

So the people confessed their error, got rid of the bad stuff, and pleaded with God.  “Punish us as you see fit, but deliver us from our enemies” (10:15)….PLEASE!!! 

I think what impresses me most here is that they had already prayed once and God had already said no, and they could have given up at that point and accepted God’s answer, but they didn’t.  They persisted.

I can’t help but think of all the times my kids would ask for something and I would say no, and it was curious to me that sometimes, instead of pleading and cajoling and whining until I gave in, they would say, “Ok.  Nevermind.”  What?!?  So you didn’t really want that?  “Not really.  Just thought I’d ask in case you’d say yes.”  Argh!!!!!!

As a parent, my psychic powers are not always sufficient to know when the request is just a halfhearted request.  But God knows.  And I think God knows that if something is really important to us we will keep asking.  That doesn’t always mean he will say yes, just like pleading and cajoling and whining didn’t always work for my kids.  But sometimes it will, and the point is that that we need to ask.  And keep asking. 

Jesus told us to.  No, really, he did.  He told a story about a widow who kept bugging a judge for justice against her enemy until he finally answered her and gave her what she was asking for (Luke 18:1-8).  Luke introduces the parable by telling us that it’s a story that Jesus told in order to show us that we should keep praying and not give up (18:1).

Prayer matters.  Prayer is important.  Talking to God is important.  Putting our whole hearts into praying is important.

So let’s pray and keep on praying!

 

*P.S. I don't know about you, but sometimes physical actions help me pray more completely. "With all my heart, mind, soul and strength" (Matthew 22:37 et al) sometimes needs to be "with all my body" and that's why I like the picture above.  What helps you?

 

Inconceivable

Inconceivable

This is the word that comes to mind this morning as I think about God.  And in my mind it sounds just like this running bit from the movie The Princess Bride:

It also sounds like this verse from Corinthians:

As it is written:  “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
    the things God has prepared for those who love him— (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Inconceivable.

I think this is why sometimes it seems like a poem or a song speaks better than a sermon, and why sometimes I think the scripture itself speaks more eloquently than my analysis or explanation of it. There is beauty and mystery about God that requires the eloquence of poetry and music, and maybe that's why some of the scriptures in the Bible are poetry and music.

In the same way, actions can also sometimes speak louder than words about the things of God.  Kindness and generosity can make the inconceivable conceivable as they demonstrate love that crosses boundaries and forgiveness that defies expectations.  The greatest example of this is Jesus’ death on the cross that demonstrates God’s love for us in the most dramatic way possible.

Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other;

let us show the truth by our actions. (1 John 3:19)

Actions do speak, and music and poetry speak eloquently.  Words sometimes seem so inadequate.  And yet at times nothing but words can make things clear.  There are many ways to say “I love you” but sometimes saying the actual words is necessary to fully convey the meaning behind the actions.   Would we fully understand what happened on the cross without the words of the Bible to explain it?

It seems inconceivable to me sometimes that God can work through the words in the Bible or the words of a sermon or a prayer to touch hearts so deeply, but he does.  Paul explains this in his letter to the Corinthians with these words:

These are the things revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 2:10)

This is why prayer is so vital. 

This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. (1 Corinthians 2:13)

The things of God, the beauty and mystery of God, are inconceivable . . . and yet somehow conceivable as the Holy Spirit speaks to us.

May the Spirit speak to you today of the beauty and mystery of God.

Here are two pieces that speak that way to me.  What expresses the beauty and mystery of God for you?

 

A Time for Wrestling and A Time for Peace

Jacob Wrestling with the Angel by Leon Bonnat

The sermon last Sunday was based on the story of Jacob wrestling with God in Genesis 32.  Jacob refuses to let go until he gets a blessing.  He wrestles for a blessing.  Which stands in stark contrast to the first sentence of the JesusCalling reading for today:  “Sit quietly in My Presence while I bless you.”  In both cases the idea is that we receive from God.  And yet I think I often miss the blessing because I am too busy giving—giving God my list of requests, my list of issues.  Maybe that’s what’s happening in this story:

A journalist was assigned to the Jerusalem bureau of his newspaper. He gets an apartment overlooking the Wailing Wall. After several weeks he realizes that whenever he looks at the wall he sees an old Jewish man praying vigorously.

The journalist wondered whether there was a publishable story here. He goes down to the wall, introduces himself and says: "You come every day to the wall. What are you praying for?"

The old man replies: "What am I praying for? In the morning I pray for world peace, then I pray for the brotherhood of man. I go home, have a glass of tea, and I come back to the wall to pray for the eradication of illness and disease from the earth."

The journalist is taken by the old man's sincerity and persistence. "You mean you have been coming to the wall to pray every day for these things?"

The old man nods.

"How long have you been coming to the wall to pray for these things?"

The old man becomes reflective and then replies: "How long? Maybe twenty, twenty-five years."

The amazed journalist finally asks: "How does it feel to come and pray every day for over 20 years for these things?"

"How does it feel?" the old man replies. "It feels like I'm talking to a wall."[1]

Sometimes it does feel like that, but we have to keep on asking anyway.  Jesus encourages us to keep on asking in his story about the persistent widow. (Luke 18)  And I admire the diligence of the man in the story above.  20 years is a long time.

I just wonder if sometimes those lists of requests get in the way.  The chorus of this song has been running in my head for hours https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vzMyIzkyD4 .  “Jesus I don’t want anything coming between us.”   I wonder how much what comes between me and Jesus is myself…me.

I think there is a time for both—a time for wrestling, and a time for being still. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)  How do we know what time it is?  I guess we have to trust the Holy Spirit to guide us on that one.  And remember that underlying all of time is the fact that it all comes from God.  Which is why being still for me is kind of like what happened with Job at the end of all his questioning—he was reminded that God is God and Job is not. (Job 42)

May there always be time to be still and know that he is God.

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[1] From http://www.v1fun.com/pages/clean_jokes.htm (accessed August 2, 2014)

 

A Tale of Two Movies

I saw two movies this weekend.  Noah (2014) and The Princess Bride (1987).  Noah is serious and dark, The Princess Bride is funny and light.  One professes to be about how God deals with the world, the other professes to be a fairy tale. These movies are about as different as night and day…and yet maybe not so much as I first thought. 

When I read this statement from a devotional this morning, it reminded me of The Princess Bride and of Buttercup’s unwavering faith that Westley would come rescue her:

"Take the risk that your prayers might be powerful,
That love may in fact be the strongest thing of all,
Worth giving all you have that it might be known."[1]

The strength and worth of taking a risk for love is not an unusual plot or an unusual message. This is what we grow up believing, that true love exists and we will find it and everything will work out in the end.  The darkness of Noah seemed to say the opposite of The Princess Bride’s “all will be well in the end” message.  In Noah life is excruciatingly difficult, love is brutal, and God seems not to hear or answer prayer.  As I think about the devotional statement, though, I wonder if Noah does ultimately have the same message, just in a darker package.  Buttercup’s faith in love holds strong throughout The Princess Bride, and Noah’s wife’s faith in love does the same throughout Noah.

Although Noah is based on the Bible, God is barely more explicitly present in Noah than he is in The Princess Bride.  In Noah, the characters may be talking to God, but they just as easily might not be.  Grandfather Methuselah could represent God.  In The Princess Bride, Miracle Max is a bit like God, and a bit like Methuselah.  But providence is evident in both movies.  In The Princess Bride Fezzik and Inigo decide to act at just the right time to find and save Westley.  In Noah the boat strikes a rock at just the right moment to end the fight between Noah and the stowaway.  We tend not to talk about providence much anymore, but it still means God’s hand at work.

In the end, of course Westley and Buttercup are reunited and live happily ever after.  Noah and his wife and their children do the same.  Although the consequences and outcomes are dramatically different, both movies show the ideas from that devotional statement—risks taken based on faith, and that love is what triumphs.

We know from the Bible that God is love and God is all powerful.  Powerful love is evident in both movies, although expressed in tremendously different ways.  So although I don’t like the grittiness of Noah, I can see how it really does have the same message, whether the filmmakers intended it or not.

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[1] http://d365.org/devotions/glorified-april-7-2014/

Holding Hands with God

For I hold you by your right hand--I, the LORD your God. And I say to you, 'Don't be afraid. I am here to help you. (Isaiah 41:13)

As I read this verse from Isaiah I find myself looking at my right hand and imagining what it would be like to truly have God in the flesh…Jesus…literally holding my right hand.  Would I be like the star-struck fan who gets a kiss or a handshake from their favorite singer or actor and then says with a dreamy look in their eyes, “I’ll never wash this hand again?”

Was this what the woman felt like who was in the midst of the crowd trying to reach Jesus?  She only managed to touch the hem of his robe—she didn’t even touch his flesh—but still that was enough to heal her of the bleeding that she’d had for years. I can imagine her sense of wonder and accomplishment.  “I did it!  I touched him!  And I’m healed!”

For I hold you by your right hand…

I cannot see or feel anyone holding my hand at this moment.  But this verse says “I hold you…” in present tense.  This very moment God is holding my right hand…even as I type this.  And he was holding it already before I read this, and he will continue holding it even though I stop thinking about it and move on to other things.

How would life be different if I could always remember that God is always holding my hand?

* * *

My soul follows hard after you: your right hand upholds me. (Psalm 63:8)

Nevertheless I am continually with you: you have held me by my right hand. (Psalm 73:23)

Lent, Lending and Living Lean

What Twitters gave up for Lent in 2011

Looking up the word lent on the internet brings a curious collection of information.  It is the 40-day season prior to Easter in the church calendar.  It is the past tense of lend.  It is the Hebrew word nashak which means the bite of a snake or to lend upon usury.  It is the “power and possibility of the paschal mystery…that the way of the cross, the way to Easter, is through death.”  It is a germanic word meaning “spring.”  Hmmm….a curious collection indeed.  What to make of this?

Maybe nothing.  But then I wonder.

The Bible speaks against lent, in the lending and charging usury sense:  “You shall not charge interest on loans to another Israelite, interest on money, interest on provisions, interest on anything that is lent.” (Deuteronomy 23:19)  But Jesus says to be generous about lending: “Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you” (Matthew 5:42).

Although technically that’s not what is meant in our church use of the word lent, maybe it ought to be.  After all, Hannah lent her son to God: “For this child I prayed; and the Lord has granted me the petition that I made to him.  Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.” (1 Samuel 1:27-28)  And since our season of Lent in the church is about Jesus, I wonder if we aren’t missing the boat if we don’t consider that God lent us his son for 33 years.

For that matter, it seems that Lent is actually about considering how everything we have and everything we are is lent to us by God.  “At the beginning of Lent, we are reminded that our possessions, our rulers, our empires, our projects, our families and even our lives do not last forever. “You are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). The liturgies throughout Lent try to pry loose our fingers, one by one, from presumed securities…” (Companion to the Book of Common Worship).

Even our very lives are lent to us, just like Hannah lent her son.

Lent with no strings attached, however.  How curious that the Hebrew word that is lent in Deuteronomy 23:19 means to lend with usury, but also the bite of a snake.  So lending with interest, with strings attached, leaves us vulnerable to attack?  But the word for lent in 1 Samuel 1:28 is another thing entirely.  It means to ask.  Jesus says to give to everyone who asks.  Hannah asked for a son and that’s what she got, so she lent (asked) him back to God. 

Ok, now you’re confused and so am I.

Lent sounds a lot like leant which is, for the British, the past tense of lean.  Proverbs tells us to lean not on our own understanding, but instead to lean on God. (Proverbs 3:5-6)  And if we’re to be learning to “pry loose our fingers” from the things we rely on other than God, we are, in a sense learning to live lean.  No wonder lent is, in many traditions, a season of fasting.

And so it seems that all these disparate meanings work together after all. 

Coincidence?  I think not.

 

The Curious Collection of Lent Googling  (otherwise known as references)

“You shall not charge interest on loans to another Israelite, interest on money, interest on provisions, interest on anything that is lent.” (Deuteronomy 23:19)

“For this child I prayed; and the Lord has granted me the petition that I made to him.  Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.” (1 Samuel 1:27-28)

Nashak A primitive root; to strike with a sting (as a serpent); figuratively, to oppress with interest on a loan -- bite, lend upon usury. (Strong’s Concordance)

Lent - a period of 40 days before Easter during which many Christians do not eat certain foods or do certain pleasurable activities as a way of remembering the suffering of Jesus Christ

Origin: Middle English lente springtime, Lent, from Old English lencten; akin to Old High German lenzin spring   First Known Use: 13th century  (Miriam Webster)

Lent - In the Christian church, a period of penitential preparation for Easter, observed since apostolic times. Western churches once provided for a 40-day fast (excluding Sundays), in imitation of Jesus' fasting in the wilderness; one meal a day was allowed in the evening, and meat, fish, eggs, and butter were forbidden. These rules have gradually been relaxed, and only Ash Wednesday—the first day of Lent in Western Christianity, when the penitent traditionally have their foreheads marked with ashes—and Good Friday are now kept as Lenten fast days. Rules of fasting are stricter in the Eastern churches. (Concise Encyclopedia)

Lent – the past tense of lend. (Dictionary.com)

Lend - to give to another for temporary use with the understanding that it or a like thing will be returned lend you my copy of the textbook until the weekend> lend me five dollars?> (Miriam Webster)

Leant – chiefly British past tense of lean

Etymology - In Latin the term quadragesima (translation of the original Greek Τεσσαρακοστή, Tessarakostē, the "fortieth" day before Easter) is used. This nomenclature is preserved in Romance, Slavic and Celtic languages (for example, Spanish cuaresma, Portuguese quaresma, French carême, Italian quaresima, Romanian păresimi, Croatian korizma, Irish Carghas, and Welsh C(a)rawys).

In most Slavic languages the common name is simply a phrase meaning "fasting time" (as Czech postní doba) or "great fast" (as Russian великий пост vyeliki post). In Tagalog, the name retains from its Spanish wording Cuaresma while the local wording uses "Mahal na Araw" or "Beloved Days".

In the late Middle Ages, as sermons began to be given in the vernacular instead of Latin, the English word lent was adopted. This word initially simply meant spring (as in the German language Lenz and Dutch lente) and derives from the Germanic root for long because in the spring the days visibly lengthen. (Wikipedia)

The Paschal mystery = An excerpt from the Companion to the Book of Common Worship (Geneva Press, 2003 110-111)

What we hear during Lent is the power and possibility of the paschal mystery, and that the way of the cross, the way to Easter, is through death. To appropriate the new life that is beyond the power of death means we must die with Christ who was raised for us. To live for Christ, we must die with him. New life requires a daily surrendering of the old life, letting go of the present order, so that we may embrace the new humanity. “I die every day!” asserts Paul (1 Corinthians 15:31). Resurrection necessitates death as a preceding act. The church’s peculiar Lenten claim is that in dying we live, that all who are baptized into Christ are baptized into his death. To be raised with Christ means one must also die with Christ. In order to embrace the resurrection, we must experience the passion of Jesus. The way of the cross, the way to Easter, is through death of the “old self.” In dying, we live.

Therefore, at the beginning of Lent, we are reminded that our possessions, our rulers, our empires, our projects, our families and even our lives do not last forever. “You are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). The liturgies throughout Lent try to pry loose our fingers, one by one, from presumed securities and plunge us into unknown baptismal waters, waters that turn out to be not only our death tomb but surprisingly our womb of life. Rather than falling back into nothingness, we fall back on everlasting arms. Death? How can we fear what we have already undergone in baptism?

It is the power of the resurrection on the horizon ahead that draws us into repentance toward the cross and tomb. Through the intervention of God’s gracious resurrection, lifelong changes in our values and behavior become possible. By turning from the end of the “old self” in us, Lenten repentance makes it possible for us to affirm joyfully, “Death is no more!” and to aim toward the landscape of the new age. Faithfully adhering to the Lenten journey of “prayer, fasting and almsgiving” leads to the destination of Easter.

During the final week, Holy Week, we hear the fullness of Christ’s passion, his death, and resurrection. From Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and on to the Triduum (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday), all of Holy Week focuses on the passion. As his followers, we travel Christ’s path of servanthood through the Lord’s Supper and the suffering of the cross toward the glory of Easter, all of which underscores the inseparable link between the death and resurrection of Jesus.

(from http://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/worship/worship-resources-lent/ )

What Twitterers are giving up for lent : http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2013/february/what-people-gave-up-for-lent-2013-according-to-twitter.html

 

 

Did God Really Say…

I started a new read-through of the Bible this week and today I’m in Genesis 3.  Sometimes I read on a schedule, but this time I’m reading until something stops me, and I didn’t get very far today before I got stopped by Satan’s memorable words, “Did God really say…”  That’s where the trouble got started.  Questioning God.  The Life Application Study Bible notes for this passage suggest that what Satan is prompting Eve to doubt is God’s goodness.  A few months ago I preached about God’s goodness.  The focus text was from Exodus 33-34 in which Moses makes a bold request of God:  “Show me your glory.” (Ex. 33:14)  God does what Moses asks, and what I found remarkable is that what God shows when he shows Moses his glory is his goodness.  God said, “I will cause my goodness to pass in front of you.”  God’s goodness is the essence of his glory.  It’s why we say God is good all the time.  And so it’s no wonder that God’s goodness would be a great thing for Satan to encourage us to doubt.  And how true it is that in the midst of trouble we do indeed doubt God’s goodness.  I used to frequently say about whether God would answer my prayers, “I know he can fix this, I just don’t know if he will.”

Doubt happens just as surely as trouble happens.  Pretending it doesn’t happen only makes it worse.  The problem is not the doubt.  The problem is how we respond to it.  Doubt is a problem only if we let ourselves hang out in it and don’t ask God to help us resolve it.  God can do far more than we can ask or imagine, but I think we don’t always give him the chance.  We get comfortable with our doubts.  And trusting can mean walking onto some shaky ground, especially when we get outside the safety of empirical data and reason.

We see another problem with our response to doubt in Eve’s response to the serpent.  She continued the conversation with the wrong person.  She didn’t ask God, she listened only to the serpent.  We tend to do the same thing.  We talk to the wrong people, and we get all kinds of answers to our questions.  Talking about things is good, but somewhere in the process we need to talk to God.  We need to pray and ask God to show us the answers we seek.  And we need to read what the Bible has to say.  Sometimes easier said than done, but God promises us that if we seek with all our hearts we will find him (Jeremiah 29:13).

Life is full of struggles.  In the face of great trouble, God’s goodness can seem inadequate.  In the midst of controversy and dissention and setbacks, God’s goodness can seem distant.  In the realization of our own deficiencies, God’s goodness might seem insufficient.

Paul gives us reassurance:  “But my God will supply all your needs according to his glorious riches in Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 4:19)

Did God really say he would?  Yes, he did.  And to prove he meant it, he sent us Jesus.