Hear the word of the Lord:
Hebrews 7:23-28
Furthermore, the former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office; but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.
Consequently he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
Unlike the other high priests, he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for those of the people; this he did once for all when he offered himself.
For the law appoints as high priests those who are subject to weakness, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Taste and see ...
Hear the word of the Lord:
Psalm 34:1-8, (19-22)
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
let the humble hear and be glad.
O magnify the LORD with me,
and let us exalt his name together.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me,
and delivered me from all my fears.
Look to him, and be radiant;
so your faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor soul cried, and was heard by the LORD,
and was saved from every trouble.
The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
O taste and see that the LORD is good;
happy are those who take refuge in him.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the LORD rescues them from them all.
He keeps all their bones;
not one of them will be broken.
Evil brings death to the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
The LORD redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
Psalm 34:1-8, (19-22)
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
let the humble hear and be glad.
O magnify the LORD with me,
and let us exalt his name together.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me,
and delivered me from all my fears.
Look to him, and be radiant;
so your faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor soul cried, and was heard by the LORD,
and was saved from every trouble.
The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
O taste and see that the LORD is good;
happy are those who take refuge in him.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the LORD rescues them from them all.
He keeps all their bones;
not one of them will be broken.
Evil brings death to the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
The LORD redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The daughters of Job ...
Hear the word of the Lord:
Job 42:1-6, 10-17
Then Job answered the LORD: "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 'Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you declare to me.' I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes."
And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends; and the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then there came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they ate bread with him in his house; they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him; and each of them gave him a piece of money and a gold ring.
The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys.
He also had seven sons and three daughters. He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. In all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters; and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers.
After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children, and his children's children, four generations.
And Job died, old and full of days.
Job 42:1-6, 10-17
Then Job answered the LORD: "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 'Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you declare to me.' I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes."
And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends; and the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then there came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they ate bread with him in his house; they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him; and each of them gave him a piece of money and a gold ring.
The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys.
He also had seven sons and three daughters. He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. In all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters; and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers.
After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children, and his children's children, four generations.
And Job died, old and full of days.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Hopeful truth ...
Meditate on the word of God with me:
Mark 10:46-52
They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"
Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"
Jesus stood still and said, "Call him here."
And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart; get up, he is calling you."
So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.
Then Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?"
blind man said to him, "My teacher, let me see again."
Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you well." Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.
When we read healing stories in the gospels, we often observe that faith on someone’s part is necessary for healing to take place. Which is true. Yet this account at least describes some other actions that led to healing.
First, there is the recognition that we have a problem. Bartimaeus understood that he had a problem. Blindness.
Bartimaeus also understood that there was something other, something different about Jesus. This is where faith operates: God has the power to do that which we as human cannot. Yes, we are amazing imagers of God. Yes, we can think amazing thoughts, and we can do amazing deeds. Yet not everything lies within our power. Faith in the steadfast love and in the healing power of God is necessary.
Yet there is another need. Bartimaeus had to act. No one else was willing to plead the case of Bartimaeus. No one else was willing to carry Bartimaeus over to meet Jesus. It was the responsibility of no one else to name the obvious need for healing: blindness. Thank God, that Bartimaeus did what he needed to do.
One of the most surprising statistics I ever encountered in my professional career had to do with the success rate of counseling and therapy. It didn’t really matter what kind of facility in which the sessions were conducted. There wasn’t a lot of difference in success between varied methods of therapy. The personal attributes of the counselor had a surprisingly limited effect. The number one determinant of the success of any coaching or counseling process was the answer to this question: does the client want to get well?
For many of our boys, these same problems hinder their complete healing. We may be able to help them somewhat, but until they recognize that they have a problem, until they believe that it will take something more than their own power to fix it, until they do something in response to these realities, and until they decide that they want to be well, any real change or healing is stymied.
The trick is to tell the truth in a hopeful way and avoid unhelpful truths. What does the unhelpful truth look like? “Bartimaeus, you are blind and you can’t do anything about it.” We also need to make it clear that we are presenting what appears to be true from our perspective.
What does the hopeful truth, well presented, look like? “Yes, Bartimaeus, it appears to me that you are blind, but Jesus has the power and the desire to heal you.”
May we always work to keep hope and truth connected in our lives and in the lives of those whom we love.
Grace and peace,
Ron
Mark 10:46-52
They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"
Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"
Jesus stood still and said, "Call him here."
And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart; get up, he is calling you."
So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.
Then Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?"
blind man said to him, "My teacher, let me see again."
Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you well." Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.
When we read healing stories in the gospels, we often observe that faith on someone’s part is necessary for healing to take place. Which is true. Yet this account at least describes some other actions that led to healing.
First, there is the recognition that we have a problem. Bartimaeus understood that he had a problem. Blindness.
Bartimaeus also understood that there was something other, something different about Jesus. This is where faith operates: God has the power to do that which we as human cannot. Yes, we are amazing imagers of God. Yes, we can think amazing thoughts, and we can do amazing deeds. Yet not everything lies within our power. Faith in the steadfast love and in the healing power of God is necessary.
Yet there is another need. Bartimaeus had to act. No one else was willing to plead the case of Bartimaeus. No one else was willing to carry Bartimaeus over to meet Jesus. It was the responsibility of no one else to name the obvious need for healing: blindness. Thank God, that Bartimaeus did what he needed to do.
One of the most surprising statistics I ever encountered in my professional career had to do with the success rate of counseling and therapy. It didn’t really matter what kind of facility in which the sessions were conducted. There wasn’t a lot of difference in success between varied methods of therapy. The personal attributes of the counselor had a surprisingly limited effect. The number one determinant of the success of any coaching or counseling process was the answer to this question: does the client want to get well?
For many of our boys, these same problems hinder their complete healing. We may be able to help them somewhat, but until they recognize that they have a problem, until they believe that it will take something more than their own power to fix it, until they do something in response to these realities, and until they decide that they want to be well, any real change or healing is stymied.
The trick is to tell the truth in a hopeful way and avoid unhelpful truths. What does the unhelpful truth look like? “Bartimaeus, you are blind and you can’t do anything about it.” We also need to make it clear that we are presenting what appears to be true from our perspective.
What does the hopeful truth, well presented, look like? “Yes, Bartimaeus, it appears to me that you are blind, but Jesus has the power and the desire to heal you.”
May we always work to keep hope and truth connected in our lives and in the lives of those whom we love.
Grace and peace,
Ron
Monday, October 26, 2009
Carrying their sheaves ...
When I was very young, I was fascinated with flowers. We didn’t have many plants around our house at the time, mainly some holly bushes and some honeysuckle. One day, though, someone gave me some flower bulbs. I took them out into the front yard, and found a place near the holly bushes where I could plant them. I carefully placed them in their holes, patted down the dirt, and watered them.
The next day I went out to look for signs of life. I had seen pictures of plants placed alongside a glass wall, and knew that the green stem could be reaching for the surface even before I could see it. I decided to be patient a while longer.
Two days later I became worried. No flowers. No green. No bumps. No nothing. I decided more water would be good and so I watered the ground, but still, this was not what I expected.
A week later I was beyond worried. This was not the way that things were supposed to be. I started poking around the places where I had planted the bulbs looking for green. No joy. The next day, poking was not enough. I started digging around the bulbs. Sure enough, nothing had happened yet. The bulbs never did grow because I never would just leave them alone.
Which, believe it or not, connects with today’s text:
Psalm 126
When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
"The LORD has done great things for them."
The LORD has done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.
May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.
The people of Israel are in the “in-between” time. They have seen the dream, and it has given them joy, but they have yet to arrive at the dream. They have sown the seeds of hope, and watered the earth with their tears and suffering. Still, they have nothing to show for it. Not yet.
We are so often in the same place with the boys with whom we work. We can see a dream for their lives. We can almost taste it. We have yet to arrive at that dream, so we water it with our tears and the suffering that comes from walking alongside these young men. If we can resist the temptation of poking around too much, of expecting too much too soon, then we will have the opportunity for our reward: an amazing harvest. We can, with these young men, “come home with shouts of joy.”
Perhaps if we want to get to the harvest, it will do us good to remember the big picture. It is not the condition of the (flower)bed today that matters. What counts is the final outcome, the big dream for life itself. We need to patiently, prayerfully work toward that day and not undermine the harvest with our impatience. It might also be good to remember who is really doing the work: “The LORD has done great things for us, and we rejoiced.”
Grace and peace,
Ron
The next day I went out to look for signs of life. I had seen pictures of plants placed alongside a glass wall, and knew that the green stem could be reaching for the surface even before I could see it. I decided to be patient a while longer.
Two days later I became worried. No flowers. No green. No bumps. No nothing. I decided more water would be good and so I watered the ground, but still, this was not what I expected.
A week later I was beyond worried. This was not the way that things were supposed to be. I started poking around the places where I had planted the bulbs looking for green. No joy. The next day, poking was not enough. I started digging around the bulbs. Sure enough, nothing had happened yet. The bulbs never did grow because I never would just leave them alone.
Which, believe it or not, connects with today’s text:
Psalm 126
When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
"The LORD has done great things for them."
The LORD has done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.
May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.
The people of Israel are in the “in-between” time. They have seen the dream, and it has given them joy, but they have yet to arrive at the dream. They have sown the seeds of hope, and watered the earth with their tears and suffering. Still, they have nothing to show for it. Not yet.
We are so often in the same place with the boys with whom we work. We can see a dream for their lives. We can almost taste it. We have yet to arrive at that dream, so we water it with our tears and the suffering that comes from walking alongside these young men. If we can resist the temptation of poking around too much, of expecting too much too soon, then we will have the opportunity for our reward: an amazing harvest. We can, with these young men, “come home with shouts of joy.”
Perhaps if we want to get to the harvest, it will do us good to remember the big picture. It is not the condition of the (flower)bed today that matters. What counts is the final outcome, the big dream for life itself. We need to patiently, prayerfully work toward that day and not undermine the harvest with our impatience. It might also be good to remember who is really doing the work: “The LORD has done great things for us, and we rejoiced.”
Grace and peace,
Ron
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