Nothing too good to be hoped for ...

Does your load ever seem heavy?
Does your pain seem unbearable?
Or your stress seem unmanageable?
Then pray this prayer:

A Prayer of Hope
Lesslie Newbigin

O Christ, King and Lord of all,
teach me to know that with you
nothing is too bad to be cured;
nothing too good to be hoped for;
nothing too hard to be attempted;
and nothing so precious that it cannot
be surrendered for your sake;
who lives and reigns
with the Father
in the Unity of Spirit
for ever and ever.

May God kindle hope in our hearts,

Ron

Those who hope ...

Dwell on the words of the psalmist today.
Listen for the words trustworthy, faithful, steadfast.
Discern the potential sources of hope for the psalmist,
and then consider what you hope for,
and in what or whom you hope today.
How does faithfulness connect to hope,
both for the one who hopes,
and the one in whom one hopes?

Psalm 33

Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous.
Praise befits the upright.
Praise the Lord with the lyre;
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings.
Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.

He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle;
he put the deeps in storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.
The Lord looks down from heaven;
he sees all humankind.
From where he sits enthroned he watches
all the inhabitants of the earth —
he who fashions the hearts of them all,
and observes all their deeds.

A king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
The war horse is a vain hope for victory,
and by its great might it cannot save.
Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
to deliver their soul from death,
and to keep them alive in famine.

Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and shield.
Our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.

Grace and peace,

Ron

NRSV

There is a time to be born ...

To begin the New Year, a prayer from Walter Brueggemann:

There is a time to be born, and it is now

There is a time to be born and a time to die.
and this is a time to be born.
So we turn to you, God of our life,
God of all our years,
God of our beginning.
Our times are in your hand.

Hear us as we pray:
For those of us too much into obedience,
birth us to the freedom of the gospel.
For those of us too much into self-indulgence,
birth us to discipleship in your ministry.
For those too much into cynicism,
birth us to the innocence of the Christ child.
For those of us too much into cowardice,
birth us to the courage to stand before
principalities and powers.
For those of us too much into guilt,
birth us into forgiveness worked in your generosity.
For those of us too much into despair,
birth us into the promises you make to your people.
For those of us too much into control,
birth us into the vulnerability of the cross.
For those of us too much into victimization,
birth us into the power of Easter.
For those of us too much into fatigue,
birth us into the energy of Pentecost.

We dare pray that you will do for us and among us and through us
what is needful for newness.
Give us the power to be receptive,
to take the newness you give,
to move from womb warmth to real life.
We make this prayer not only for ourselves, but
for our [Home] at the brink of birth,
for the church at the edge of life,
for our city waiting for newness,
for your whole creation, with which we yearn
in eager longing.

There is a time to be born, and it is now.
We sense the pangs and groans of your newness.
Come here now in the name of Jesus. Amen.

May God bless your New Year with new beginnings and new birth,

Ron

Time to spread our wings ...

There is a song we have sung many times in many places. It is a song that meant a lot to some dear saints I have known. Some of them sang it from the day that it first was sung in our churches:

I’ll Fly Away
Albert E. Brumley

Some glad morning when this life is o’er,
I’ll fly away;
To a home on God’s celestial shore,
I’ll fly away.

When the shadows of this life have grown,
I’ll fly away;
Like a bird from prison bars has flown,
I’ll fly away.

Just a few more weary days and then,
I’ll fly away;
To a land where joys shall never end,
I’ll fly away.

I’ll fly away, O glory, I’ll fly away;
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by,
I’ll fly away.

Now, I have to tell you that I have always been fond of this song because of the people with whom I have sung it, and the places where we sang it. But lately, that fondness is more for sentimental feelings than theological reasons. What’s the problem?

Life seemed pretty grim nearly everywhere in 1932, the year that Albert wrote this song. There was a Depression, and it seemed to people that the efforts of humanity were futile. The Modern future that seemed so bright just a couple of decades previously had taken a severe beating from a World War, and then came a world-wide economic disaster. Over the next decade, things would get much worse before getting any better. If there was any hope, it didn’t appear to be on this planet, but in the next world.

Consequently, this world became something to endure: life, shadows, prison bars, and weary days. Even in pain or poverty, is this how God means for us to see this world? Are these the feelings that we are meant to experience in these difficult days and circumstances? Is our hope merely for the final coming of Jesus? I think not.

Our future is not when this life is over, it is not when the shadows have lengthened into those of the Psalmist’s valley, it is not after a few more weary days. Our future is our next instant, our next moment in time. The future is not however many days, months or years from now that God takes us to heaven, but the end of this paragraph.

Our hope is that the power of God working through his people can make the world a little better today so that tomorrow starts off from a better place. Such a place will require constant tending, but hope tells us that there is a way for things to be better. It may not be better everywhere, but with our hope and action, and God’s approval and providence, it is possible for it to be better here, soon.

Yes, the kingdom of God has come, and the church is the vanguard of it. But it is not yet completely here. We are called to be co-workers in that kingdom, not spectators. It is our job to bring a little more of the kingdom into this world day by day. We will never complete the job in our lifetime, but surely redeeming humanity and this planet is something that was intended to be our lives’ work, and not a mess to be left entirely for God to clean up in the “end times.”

Yes, I believe that God has a home on his celestial shore, but I also believe that he has one in Hollis, Oklahoma. It may not seem like heaven all of the time to all of its inhabitants, but our job is to make it the closest approximation that we can with the time and the resources that God has given to us. Heaven won’t have prison bars, but neither does this; we have the free will to choose ways to be a people who love and nurture needy children for the glory of God. He has given us freedom to work, and worship, and yes, even to play so as to delight in that freedom and glorify him with it. Yes, joys will never end in heaven, but we ought to find plenty of them here. We should be doing a little more than taste-testing the delights of paradise.

O, I’ll fly away one of these days, but that means that I had better learn how to spread my wings now. I don’t want to wait until I’m shoved out of the nest to see what they feel like.

Grace and peace,

Ron

Very fierce that day ...

In the time after Saul and Jonathan had died, and before David had consolidated his kingdom, there was war between the forces of David and those of Ishbosheth. Abner led the forces of Ishbosheth, and Joab led David’s men.

Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. And Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. And they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool. And Abner said to Joab, "Let the young men arise and compete before us." And Joab said, "Let them arise." Then they arose and passed over by number, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. And each caught his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent's side, so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim, which is at Gibeon. And the battle was very fierce that day. And Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.

The two armies come together; Joab’s men are not numerous, but they are hardened by dozens of battles under Joab and David’s leadership. Abner’s men may very well be more numerous, but the loss of many men in the same battle that ended the life of Saul and Jonathan has weakened both their experience and number. Both leaders feel compelled to fight, but neither can afford large losses. So they come up with a plan. They will engage in representative combat, much like what had happened with David and Goliath. Here though, they counted off every so many men until they had picked twelve for each side (perhaps representative of the twelve tribes, now divided and fighting a civil war here). The young men are to arise and “play” before Joab and Abner. This “play” is actually gladiatorial combat. Archeology confirms accounts of similar outcomes in similar contests in other places: all of the combatants die. Because the victor is not clear, general fighting breaks out, and things don’t go well for Abner.

And the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was as swift of foot as a wild gazelle. And Asahel pursued Abner, and as he went, he turned neither to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner. Then Abner looked behind him and said, "Is it you, Asahel?" And he answered, "It is I." Abner said to him, "Turn aside to your right hand or to your left, and seize one of the young men and take his spoil." But Asahel would not turn aside from following him. And Abner said again to Asahel, "Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I lift up my face to your brother Joab?"

Asahel doesn’t get Abner’s point. Asahel is caught up in the moment. He is not thinking about the past, not remembering the history of Abner’s many victories, not seeing that Abner has survived 100% of the battles that he has fought, win or lose. He has forgotten that Abner is a very dangerous old man. Asahel is not thinking about the future either; at best, by discounting Abner’s skill and experience, he has a 33% chance of surviving this contest (Joab could die, Asahel could die, or they both could die). Even if Asahel wins, he invites revenge from Abner’s clan. Abner is in the moment, too, but he wisely accesses his past experience with this young man and decides to dissuade him from combat. When Abner looks to the future, he sees that anything but Asahel’s turning aside will lead to a lose-lose situation: either Abner will die or face vendetta from his two brothers, and perhaps Asahel’s uncle David as well. Abner wants to live tomorrow, but Asahel wants glory today.

But [Asahel] refused to turn aside. Therefore Abner struck him in the stomach with the butt of his spear, so that the spear came out at his back. And he fell there and died where he was. And all who came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died, stood still.

Such is the ambition and energy of Asahel’s pursuit that he skewers himself on the sandy end of Abner’s spear. Asahel couldn’t leave the moment to consider the past or the future, and now he will never leave this moment at all. Twenty-four bodies in a bloody pile do not have the power to stop an army the way that Asahel’s stricken body does. And Abner turns out to be right; killing Asahel has allowed him to survive one threat, but relief is brief. Now two brothers pursue with a vengeance, literally a vendetta. Abner’s savvy allows him to survive to fight another day, but eventually his analysis proves to be correct; he will lose his life over this battle.

How are we doing in keeping our present connected with our past and our future? Failure to do this may mean failure altogether. Success at this doesn’t guarantee that we’ll always have victory, but it does hold out promise that we’ll live to work on our lives tomorrow.

May God bless us with the wisdom to use the time of our life well.

Ron

2 Samuel 2:12-23 – ESV

There a long time ...

Today, a look a few days back.

December 26
A poem by Kenn Nesbitt

A BB gun.
A model plane.
A basketball.
A ’lectric train.
A bicycle.
A cowboy hat.
A comic book.
A baseball bat.
A deck of cards.
A science kit.
A racing car.
A catcher’s mitt.
So that’s my list
of everything
that Santa Claus
forgot to bring.

Have we ever been so disappointed by some event or chain of events in the past that we have become unable to enjoy the present? Or, as in the poet’s case, unable to enjoy our presents? I don’t think that this is an uncommon human problem. Hear the words of the John’s gospel:

Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids — blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be made well? The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me." Jesus said to him, "Stand up, take your mat and walk." At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.

Now that day was a sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, "It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat." But he answered them, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Take up your mat and walk.' " They asked him, "Who is the man who said to you, 'Take it up and walk'?" Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was there. Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you." The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
John 5:2-16 – NRSV

Have you ever wondered what sin Jesus warns this man about? After all, wisdom literature and Jesus (wisdom incarnate) both tend to disconnect sin and sickness. They can be related, but not as often as people used to think. So what sin prompts the warning? I think perhaps that the sin of despair kept this man from healing physically, and has the potential to keep this man from healing spiritually. How so?

The legend is, that when the surface of this pool stirs, the first person to enter the water receives healing. And so, typically, many people wait alongside the pool, vigilant for their opportunity. John tells us that this man had been ill for thirty-eight years, and implies that he had lived much of his life by this pool.

Thirty-eight years of failure.
Thirty-eight years of watching someone else succeed.
Thirty-eight years of blaming others for not helping.
Thirty-eight years of dejection, then depression, then despair.

Is the problem that this man can’t make it down to the waters in time, or that he has stopped believing that he could? It sounds as if the memories of failures in the past are so oppressive that he has stopped trying. Oh, he will be at the pool alright. There are always people there. People who might listen to his complaint about his past. Sad songs about a sad life. Do those people ever have to listen to him blame God for this struggle?

Jesus cuts through the complaints and calls the man to the present. “Pick up your mat and walk.” Do something. Do something now. And yes, as a matter of fact it is the Sabbath, but don’t wait until tomorrow, act now! The man lets go of his past, and now his hands are open to pick up his present; he takes up his mat and starts walking.

Time passes, and the man meets Jesus again at the temple. This time Jesus starts the man from a fresh marker in the past, gives him instructions for his present, and points him toward the future: "See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you." In other words, Jesus says:

I have changed the course of your history.
Don't live in the past; instead do the good that is before you today.
Work toward a better future.

I don’t think that it is difficult for us to see how these three sentences apply to us. Jesus acts powerfully in our lives, too. He has changed the course of our history, and he calls us to an active and noble life in the present that will make for a world (even if it is only our corner of it) that will be different, that will, in the near future, be more like the kingdom of God.

May God grant us the courage to live this way.

Blessings,

Ron