LIVING THE GOOD NEWS

I think it is a wonderful time to be the Church of Jesus.  What a great time to live out the meaning of the Gospel.  What a great time to be alive in the power of the Holy Spirit. What a great time to be faithful to the visions and dreams of God for His Church.  What a great time to live transformed and transforming lives.

In the end, isn’t being a Christian simply living for Jesus one moment at a time.  Hundreds of books have been written on how to touch our world for Christ.  Thousands of Websites are out there in cyber space telling us how to touch our world for Christ.  Scores of monthly magazines tell us how to touch our world for Christ.  I suppose we need all these sources but I think we’re living in an age of sensory overload, too.  I believe the best way for Christians to touch their world for Christ is simply to go and be Christian.

     

The Bible says that God’s “divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence” (2 Pet. 1:3, NASB).  I’m not smart enough to know how to improve on this.  I am smart enough to know not even to try.  

     

In Christ we have everything we need to live for God in the world around us.  As we live in Him, by faith, seeking to glorify His Name, God creates in our midst a people who are rendered useful and fruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 1:5-8).  

     

The folks around us are going about their daily lives,  and the grace and love of God are flowing like a river.  What a wonderful time to live For God.  What a wonderful time to live out the meaning of the GOOD NEWS.

GOOD NEWS

I don’t think our culture cares much about what the Church thinks.  Should this surprise us?  No.  That it doesn’t surprise us, however, doesn’t let those of us in God’s Church off the hook. Actually, the ghosting of the Church by the culture is a good thing, not pleasant, particularly, but good.  Why?  Because it drives the Church further into the embrace of God’s amazing grace, and opens up the Church to the Holy Spirit’s energizing and creating imagination.

Within God’s embrace we are set free to dream and explore so as to give the Holy Spirit of God a community not limited to its own creativity but let loose to allow “God to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…” (Ephesians 3:20).  Here we are empowered to make our home in Jesus and from Him, to bear the fruit of God’s remarkable and life-changing love (see John 15:5).  

Actually, I’m pretty sure the culture doesn’t need what the Church thinks, as if there is one way the Church thinks.  What our culture needs is a Savior, a Guide, a Teacher, a Leader, a Shepherd; and we have one.  He is the One whom the Church should be sharing.  He is the One who says to a weary people, to all of us, “Come to Me…and I will give you rest” (Matthew. 11:28).  He is the One who came not “to condemn world, but to save the world” (John 3:17).

In a ghosting, disenfranchising, canceling culture, we all have a Guardian-Sentinel who calls us to Himself and brings within us the very life of God’s sacrificial self-giving love.  He is our “Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend.”  He is the One who came that we “may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). 

Jesus doesn’t ghost us or cancel us or disenfranchise us.  Rather, He opens up to us the very arms of God and says to all of us, “Come to me…Welcome home…Live…You are loved…You are embraced…You matter….”  

I identify with Brennan Manning who wrote, “My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it.”   

Sounds like a great reality to me.

A WORKING MODEL FOR BEING AND DOING CHURCH

In the formative days of the Church the new believers, some Jews and some Gentiles, needed guidance, direction, a foundation on which to base and build their faithfulness to Jesus and His Gospel.  There was no New Testament yet, so solid teaching and faithful witness were desperately needed.  In this new Church, the apostle Paul boldly stepped up and said, “The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:9).

Paul put himself out there as a model for the new Church’s blueprint and strategic plan, as it found its way in the world.  It was bold on his part, but think about it for a moment. Paul offered himself as a role model for new disciples to follow as they found their footing.  He did it by calling them to remember what they had learned and received from him, as well as what they had heard and seen in his life.  What he taught and how he lived was a witness, a testimony, for the new unfolding and growing community.

Could it be that twenty-centuries later it works the same way?  Could it be that God still uses people to model both content and lifestyle to new Believers in the Community.  Could it be that what we teach and how we live profoundly matters?

So, how are we doing in all this?

GLEANINGS OF AN OLD MAN

In a world of ongoing conflict in just about every strata of life, I am hearing some things Jesus is saying to His people.

1.    “I am the true Vine…

2.    Remain in Me…

3.    You are the branches…

4.    Remain in My love…

5.    Keep My commandments…

6.    Love one another…

7.    I chose you and appointed you that you would go 

        and  bear fruit…”                                                                                                                  - - John 15:1, 4, 5, 9, 10, 12, 16

I am an old man now, recognizing I have more days behind me than before me, seeking to hear and listen closely to the words of Jesus.  As I seek to hear and listen, these are the prayers of my life in this marvelous season gifted to me by the God of all grace.

Oh, God, 

• what can I do to be more aware of Your presence?
• How can I reflect Your love in this season of my life?
• How do I share Your love in a world that seems totally disinterested in the things of your grace?
• How can I be where Jesus is? (John 12:26, 17:24)
• How can I be an instrument of Your glory revealed in Jesus? (John 17:22)
• How can I live so I really do keep my eyes on Jesus? (Hebrews 12:2)
• How do I get out of the way so that Jesus can be the pragmatic and only LORD of my life?

What a great time to live and move and have our being in the God who loves us and calls us to Himself.

IT IS FINISHED...HE IS RISEN

He Is Risen!

Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?”

But thanks be to God! 

He gives us the victory 

through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

I Corinthians 15:55-57 (NIV)

Before the Throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea
A great High Priest whose name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands
My name is written on His heart
I know that while in Heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end to all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God the Just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there! The risen Lamb
My perfect, spotless Righteousness
The great unchangeable I AM
The King of glory and of grace!
One with Himself I cannot die
My soul is purchased with His blood
My life is hid with Christ on high
With Christ, my Savior and my God
With Christ, my Savior and my God.

("Before the Throne of God Above" by Charitie L. Bancroft, 1863) 

Holy Saturday: IT LOOKED LIKE THE FUTURE WAS DEAD

Scripture:  Lamentations 3:19-23; Matthew 27:57-66; John 19:38-42 

Focus on the Word

Saturday.  Jesus’ body has been taken down from the cross and laid in the tomb. The door of the tomb has been sealed off by a large stone. (See Matthew 27:57-66). All the possibilities have come to a screeching halt.  The future is dead.  Hope has floated away like a cloud.  It is a day of silence.  Why?  Because there’s just not much to say on this day.  It's the day after.  It's the day you wake up and realize that yesterday wasn't a bad dream or nightmare. Jesus really died.  What happened?

In the church we call this day "Holy Saturday," but it sure doesn't feel holy.  It feels awful.  There's a pit in the bottom of your stomach.  You feel like you might just throw up.  You flash back to what was and you realize it really is over. You look for words but they don't come.  You feel like you've been driven into darkness, that you have been "besieged and encompassed…with bitterness and hardship" (Lamentations 3:5, NASB).  You feel walled in, like a heavy chain has been placed around your neck.  You try to pray and you get nowhere.  You try to forget, but the thought won't go away.  All you can see is a cross, a broken body, and a tomb.

So you sit and wait; and wait and wait.  All your life you've been told that the "Lord's loving-kindnesses…never cease" and that "His compassions never fail" (Lamentations 3:22, NASB), but today you're wondering about that.  The last twenty-four hours just don't make sense.  How?  Why?  What happened? 

Where are God's loving-kindnesses today?  About the only place they could be--in hell. Look at the words of the Apostles' Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.He descended into hell.

Hell. That’s where the Lord’s lovingkindness are on Holy Saturday. That’s where his never-ending compassions are. That’s where His great faithfulness is on the morning after.  Hell!  Who would have thought it?  No wonder everything is out of focus and blurred.  They killed the King of glory.  Hell must be celebrating.

Today’s Prayer

"Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."  Forgive us, too, because they only acted on our behalf.  We would like to blame "them," but we can't.  We know the truth:

In the old rugged cross, 

stained with blood so divine, 

a wondrous beauty I see;

For ’twas on that old cross 

Jesus suffered and died, 

to pardon and sanctify me.

(From "The Old Rugged Cross," by George Bennard, 1913) 

Good Friday: I SAW ONE HANGING ON A TREE

Scripture:   Isaiah 52:13—53:12 

Focus on the Word -   This is one of my favorite hymns, written by John Newton, who also gave us, the hymn “Amazing Grace."

In evil long I took delight, 

Unawed by shame or fear, 

Till a new object struck my sight, 

And stopp'd my wild career: 

I saw One hanging on a Tree 

In agonies and blood, 

Who fix'd His languid eyes on me 

As near His Cross I stood.

Sure never till my latest breath, 

Can I forget that look: 

It seem'd to charge me with His death, 

Though not a word He spoke:

My conscience felt and own'd the guilt, 

And plunged me in despair:

I saw my sins His Blood had spilt, 

And help'd to nail Him there.

Alas! I knew not what I did! 

But now my tears are vain:

Where shall my trembling soul be hid? 

For I the Lord have slain!

A second look He gave, which said, 

"I freely all forgive;

This blood is for thy ransom paid; 

I die that thou may'st live."

Thus, while His death my sin displays 

In all its blackest hue,

Such is the mystery of grace, 

It seals my pardon too.

With pleasing grief, and mournful joy, 

My spirit now is fill'd,

That I should such a life destroy, 

Yet live by Him I kill’d!

Today’s Prayer

King of my life, I crown Thee now

Thine shall the glory be

Lest I forget Thy thorn-crowned brow

Lead me to Calvary

Lest I forget Gethsemane

Lest I forget Thine agony

Lest I forget Thy love for me

Lead me to Calvary

Jennie Evelyn Hussey, 1921

 

Maundy Thursday: THE SERVANT HEART

Scripture:   John 13:1-17, 31b-35 

Focus on the Word

On the night He was betrayed Jesus shared a meal with His disciples.  After supper He worked His way around the table, and as He came to each disciple, He washed their feet.  He acknowledged to them that they were right in calling Him, "Teacher and Lord" (John 13:13, NASB), and that if they were really His students and servants they would have the same servant heart toward each other as He had toward them.  Then He said an amazing thing to them, something that has literally impacted and changed the world.  He said, 

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34-35, NASB).

On the night He was betrayed Jesus talked about love.  He wanted His disciples to remember the one nonnegotiable – "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the great and foremost commandment" (Matthew 22:37-38, NASB).  In a few hours, on the cross, He would live out His commandment.  

On this Thursday, facing His own death, Jesus embraces His little church into His heart and calls it to live in the love of God.  Soon, He will be under arrest, go through the mockery of a trial, suffer at the hands of those who had no room for the love of God in their hearts, and then die a death He did not deserve.  All throughout Jesus will hold to His integrity, practice what He preached, and glorify His Father.  

In Lent Jesus' Church reminds itself that it has been purchased at a great cost.  We remember that were it not for God's amazing grace, we would be without hope in the world.  We humble ourselves, ask God to search our hearts, to purge them of anything not of love, and we weep as we see Jesus handcuffed and taken away into the night.

Today’s Prayer

Heavenly Father, draw me to your heart and fill me with Your love.  Help me to unite my life with Yours so that You will be the One voice that captures my imagination. Help me to love others with the love in which You embrace me.  There is too much hate in the world.  Drive out the hate by the love I see in Jesus.  Lead me into the messy middle of things and there to live and move and have my being in Your love, because You are love.  Fill me with Your Spirit, that I may be the voice of love in my world.  In Jesus name I ask these things.  Amen.

Lent, Day 37: IN OUR DARKEST NIGHT, GOD IS AT WORK

Scripture:   John 13:21-32 

Focus on the Word

As the day of His death approached, Jesus came to be "troubled in spirit" (John 13:21, NASB).  He knew His hours were numbered and that one of His disciples would betray Him.  Fully human, the weight of it all began to rest on His heart.  One He trusted would turn Him over to the powers that were seeking His demise.  With a heart of compassion, full understanding, and release, Jesus told Judas to go and do whatever it was he had to do.  Judas left the room.  The scene was set.  Friday's coming, suffering and death were soon to be upon "the Son of Man" (John 13:31, NASB), and the moment toward which Jesus had been moving throughout His life was near.

Everything was in the hands of the Father now.  History was rapidly moving toward a horrible day that would come to be called "Good Friday."  A day of suffering and death and betrayal would be anointed by the Maker of heaven and earth.  When it looked like everything was moving out of control Jesus revealed the Father was at work in all His glory.  Redemption was underway.

In Lent we remember the true story of Holy Week and realize that as long away as it is now, it is our story.  We are caught up in every moment, every event, every betrayal, every tear, and every nail that was driven into innocent skin.  Holy week is not a time of celebration. It is a time for self-examination, soul searching, even repentance, and self-denial.  Hear the words of this late nineteenth century hymn

Along that sacred way where Thou art leading,

Which Thou didst take to save our souls from loss,

Let us go also, till we see Thee pleading

In all prevailing prayer upon Thy cross.

William H. Draper, 1898

Today’s Prayer

Almighty God,

Your name is glorified

even in the anguish of your Son's death.

Grant us the courage

to receive your anointed servant

who embodies a wisdom and love

that is foolishness to the world.

Empower us in witness

so that all the world may recognize

in the scandal of the cross the mystery of reconciliation. Amen.

(Revised Common Lectionary) 

Lent, Day 36: OUR JOURNEY IS ROOTED AND GROUNDED IN GOD

Scripture:   1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Focus on the Word

There are lots of folks in the world who believe the cross of Christ is pure foolishness.  To others the cross is "a stumbling block" (I Corinthians 1:23, NASB).  To people who have allowed God to be God in them, however, Jesus, His cross, His whole story, is the power of God.  Perspective is everything.  Actually, faith is everything.  So, the apostle Paul's passion was simply to keep preaching "Christ crucified" (I Corinthians 1:23, NASB).

There was no need to argue or debate the issue.  If Christ was, in fact, the power of God and the wisdom of God, that reality could not be stopped.  The counsel to the early church became, "consider your calling…God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong" (I Corinthians 1:26-27). 

Grace and salvation and mercy and forgiveness are all of God.  The world may not get it, but not getting it doesn't change a thing.  If Jesus is who He says He is, just keep telling the story.  Keep on coming to Jesus.  Keep on living the Life.  Keep on embracing "Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption" (I Corinthians 1:30, NASB).  

In Lent we remind ourselves that the journey on which we find ourselves is rooted and grounded in God.  This is His story.  His is our story.  What others do with the story is beyond the scope of our authority.  As for us, we just keep on coming back, remembering that for two-thousand years the Gospel could not be stopped.  Those who see it as foolishness or a stumbling block can't stop it today.  The power of God is with us, and even a grave can't keep Him down.     

Today’s Prayer

I am bending my knee in the eye of the Father who created me, in the eye of the Son who purchased me, in the eye of the Spirit who cleansed me in friendship and affection. 

Through Thine own Anointed One, O God, bestow upon us fullness in our need, love towards God, the affection of God, the smile of God, the wisdom of God, the grace of God, the fear of God, and the will of God to do on the world of the Three, as angels and saints do in heaven; each shade and light, each day and night, each time in kindness, give Thou us Thy Spirit.

 (A Celtic prayer)

 

Lent, Day 35: WHAT IS THE TRUE STORY GOING ON IN OUR HEARTS?

Scripture:   John 12:1-11 

Focus on the Word

On His way to the cross Jesus stopped in Bethany to share dinner.  It was quite a scene.  Martha was serving because that's what Martha did.  Seated with them at the table was Martha's brother, Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.  Seated at the table was Martha's sister, Mary, whose heart was made for worship.  Seated at the table was Judas Iscariot, a thief and the man who would betray Jesus.

At some point during the meal Mary got up from the table, took a pound of very costly perfume and anointed the feet of Jesus, wiping His feet with her long hair; and, as we might suspect, "the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume" (John 12:3, NASB).  Mary's act and the Perfume's fragrance turned that supper into holy ground.  Judas didn't like it and saw the whole thing as a waste.  Jesus liked it very much and told Judas, "Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial.  For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me" (John 12:7-8, NASB).

Jesus saw the act as a preparation for His burial.  Something bigger than the moment was underway.  God was guiding and directing history to an atonement, and atonement would go much further to resolve issues men and women face than the selling of a bottle of perfume.  So it was at that evening meal, Jesus, the Bread of Life, said to Judas, "Let her alone."  While Judas fumed, Mary worshipped.  

When the people outside the home heard that Jesus was there, they came to check it out.  At least that's the way it seemed.  Actually they came to check out Lazarus.  After all, it's not every day you get to see a man who had been raised from the dead.  Others, the chief priests particularly, came to seize Lazarus so that they might put him to death.  His resurrection was interfering with their faith and people were coming to believe in Jesus because of Him.  That was unacceptable to them. 

In Lent we examine our hearts to see where we stand in the story of God.  What is our motive?  How do we view things?  How committed to do things God's way are we?  What is our passion?  What shall we do with what we have?  What is the true story going on in our hearts?  How shall we live? 

Today’s Prayer

God of steadfast love, light of the blind and liberator of the oppressed, we see your holy purpose in the tender compassion of Jesus, who calls us into new and living friendship with you.

May we, who take shelter in the shadow of your wings, be filled with the grace of his tender caring; may we, who stumble in selfish darkness, see your glory in the light of his self-giving.  We ask this through him whose suffering is victorious, Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.   

(The Revised Common Lectionary) 

Palm Sunday: BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD

Scripture:  John 12:12-16

Focus on the Word

In the ancient Middle Eastern world, leaders rode horses if they rode to war, but donkeys if they came in peace.  First Kings 1:33 mentions Solomon riding a donkey on the day he was recognized as the new king of Israel. Other instances of leaders riding donkeys are Judges 5:10, 10:4, 12:14  and 2 Samuel 16:2.

The mention of a donkey in Zechariah 9:9-10 fits the description of a king who would be “righteous and having salvation, gentle.” Rather than riding to conquer, this king would enter in peace. 

Zechariah 9:10 highlights this peace: “I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.”

One day, Jesus came riding a donkey into Jerusalem.  Why?  Because He didn't come to make war.  He came to be God's Prince of Peace.  So, the people in Jerusalem that day shouted out, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel" (John 12:13). 

In Lent we focus our lives on this man who rides a donkey in the presence of the people.  In our hearts we quiet ourselves so as not to get too caught up in the carnival atmosphere of the moment.  A restlessness in us tells us, "It's not over yet.  Something is yet to come."  So we look into the eyes of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, and we get our cue from Him.  We have a deep feeling that celebration is coming; but not just yet.

Today’s Prayer

Almighty and everlasting God, who in your tender love towards the human race sent your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ to take upon him our flesh and to suffer death upon the cross: grant that we may follow the example of his patience and humility, and also be made partakers of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

(The Collect for Palm Sunday from Lay Anglicana, the unofficial voice of the laity throughout the Anglican Communion)

Lent, Day 34: GOD HAS A PLAN

Scripture:   Jeremiah 33:10-16 

Focus on the Word

Judah and Israel were desolate.  It was said of them that their land was a waste land, "without man and without beast…desolate…without inhabitant" (Jeremiah 33:10, NASB).  This was not to be the final word, however.  God had a plan. He was going to do such a great work of restoration and renewal that in the land once called desolate would be heard, "The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, 'Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting" (Jeremiah 33:11, NASB).  

In His great grace and mercy and faithfulness God said, "I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah…I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth.  In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: 'The Lord is our righteousness'" (Jeremiah 33:14-16, NASB).

Lent is a time to remember God has a plan.  God is up to something.  The future created by God is barreling down on His people, and hope is on the horizon.  Already, we can feel the joy.  Already we are sensing the wonder of God who fulfills His Word.  Something is stirring among us and we find that it is time to be still, to listen, and to pray.  God of everlasting love is taking over.

Can you hear it?  Someone off in the distance is singing,

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.

Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.

Leave to thy God to order and provide;

In every change, He faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend

Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

(Katharina A. von Schlegel, 1752)

Today’s Prayer

"Jesus, Lover of my soul,  

Let me to Thy bosom fly;

While the nearer waters roll, 

While the tempest still is high!

Hide me, O my Saviour, hide, 

Till the storm of life is past,

Safe into the haven guide;  

O receive my soul at last!

(Charles Wesley, 1740)

Lent, Day 33: A TIME TO EXAMINE OUR HEARTS

Scripture:   Jeremiah 33:1-9 

Focus on the Word

At the time of Jeremiah, and at other times, too, God refused to bless sin and its action.  God is holy, and He is calling forth a holy people.  When sin reigns, it steals, kills, and destroys, so God will bring judgment to call His people away for sin and back into relationship with Him.

God is just, not simply with His people, but with all His creation.  He will come against sin wherever it exists.  He will never cease calling His creation out of the folly and dead-end of sin so that He can pour into His creation His righteousness and love and mercy and grace.

 

Judah was in a time of great sin and separation from God.  Soon they would be taken into captivity by Babylon, and there they would live outside their homeland, dealing with what it means to mock God and throw His holiness away as if it meant nothing.  However, God is not about judgment.  He is about mercy.  So, even before His people were taken off into Babylon He says to them, "Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know" (Jeremiah 33:3, NASB).  His words flourish with hope and help.  He says, "I will heal them…I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel…I will cleanse them from all their iniquity…It will be to Me a name of joy, praise and glory before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good that I do for them" (Jeremiah 33:6-9, NASB).

Lent is a time to examine our hearts, to see if there is anything in us that needs to go, to be jettisoned out of our lives.  It isn't a time to beat up on ourselves but a time to get real before God, and to own our lives.  In our relationship with God we have a standing promise, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteousness to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (I John 1:9, NASB).  What a mighty God we serve.

God has no desire to write off anybody.  Instead, He stands here with us crying out to us, "Call to Me, and I will answer you."

Today’s Prayer

Almighty, eternal God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Creator of heaven and earth and man, together with thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Word and Image, and with thy Holy Spirit: Have mercy upon us and forgive us our sins for thy Son's sake, whom thou has made our Mediator according to thy wonderful counsels, and do thou guide and sanctify us by thy Holy Spirit, who has poured out upon the apostles. Grant that we may truly know and praise thee throughout eternity! Amen. 

(Philip Melanchthon, Reformer, 16^th century)

 

Lent, Day 32: NEVER FORGET FROM WHENCE WE COME

Scripture:   Deuteronomy 16:1-8  

Focus on the Word

Passover, for the ancient Jews, was more than a season on their calendar.  It was a time to draw near to God.  It wasn't a celebration; it was time to remember a profound thing in their story – the Exodus out of Egypt.  God told then that for seven days during Passover they were to eat, "the bread of affliction," unleavened bread, that would remind them of the affliction they suffered in Egypt.  God arranged all this so that the people would, as He said to them, "remember all the days of your life the day when you came out of Egypt" (Deuteronomy 16:3, NASB).

A part of the journey of faith we are on, as is true of all people of God through all generations, is never to forget from whence we come.  Like ancient Israel we, too, need events of remembrance.  These events are not celebrations so much as altars where we look back and remember that God, in His grace, has been our Deliverer, our Savior, our friend, our God.  We taste the bread of affliction, as it were, so that in the present moment we are drawn into the very life of our God, who has so involved Himself in our lives that the past no longer controls or condemns us.  

Christians are a remembering people.  We know that we live only because God has lavished His grace on us.  We don't forget our past; in fact, in our hearts and minds and actions we are invited to go back to that day when God shook the foundations of our lives and brought us into His life.  "Remember all the days of your life the day when you came out of the land of Egypt."

In Lent we remember our Egypt.  More than this, we remember that God has delivered us for that Egypt.  We are no longer captives.  We are free in Christ to experience all God has for us.  We don't forget the past; we just place it on the altar and remember God's Amazing Grace.  The past doesn't hold us in bondage; it is a reminder that the present and the future are not dependent upon our past, but upon our God.  Our song is,

O to grace how great a debtor

Daily I’m constrained to be!

Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,

Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

Prone to leave the God I love;

Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,

Seal it for Thy courts above.

Robert Robinson, 1758)

Today’s Prayer

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,

Tune my heart to sing Thy grace.  Amen