Isn't It Time?

In sorting through old files the other day, I came upon the piece below, written in 1985. How my heart was breaking then, and even more so today, when I see God's People living as if they are paupers, living as if the Prodigal Son had come home only to have the Father treat him as a hired servant. Why O why do we live as spiritual dumpster divers - eating scraps from back alleys - refusing to accept the incredible wholeness that we have in Jesus Christ? 

Why do we define ourselves by our insufficiency, rather than Jesus Christ's all-sufficiency? (1 Cor. 1:30 - 31). 

Jesus rolls the stone away, and we are conditioned to roll it back. Jesus rends the veil in two, giving us access to an intimate relationship with the Trinity, and we insist on sewing the veil back together. 

Isn't it time that we stopped this nonsense? What are we afraid of? 

Isn’t It Time?

Robert L. Withers, Easter 1985

An empty tomb

A new life

A life free

            from fear

            from death

            in all of their forms

A life free to live

            free to give

            secure in His love

                        which dispels all fear

            secure in His life

                        which has destroyed all death

An empty tomb

A new creation

A new rising

            of faith

            of life

In everything we see

In everything we touch

A new awareness

            of whom He is

            of whom we are in Him

            of whom we are in each other

  

An empty tomb

            He was there

            but now is risen

            as are we

            in Him

Resurrection!

The final fear has been destroyed

The final limitation has been removed

Before us lies infinite inheritance

That we have in our infinite Father.

Shall we possess it?

The stone has been rolled away

Let us not move it back

Let us not reenter the tomb

            by giving place to fear

            by giving place to death

Let us not undo what He has done

Let us live in His resurrection.

Let us walk each day

            as those who have risen with Him

And let us roll stones away

            whenever and wherever we find them

And let us say to our neighbor

            by both word and deed

                        that He is risen

                        that the tomb is empty

            and that we can leave

                        fear and death

                        never to return to them.

Isn’t it time that we

Stopped feeling guilty

And started feeling whole and complete

In Him?

Isn’t it time that we

Stopped feeding on fear

And started feeding on the liberty

That we have in Him?

Isn’t it time that we

Stopped catering to our insecurities

And began giving to others in the security

That we have in Him?

Isn’t it time that we

Stopped worrying that He will

Roll the stone back

And started experiencing His love?

 Isn’t it time that we

Started living as resurrected

Sons and daughters

Of the Living God?

I know that it is time!

For the tomb is empty

The stone has been rolled away

There is, my friend, a New Day in Jesus Christ.

“…our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death, and has brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.” 2 Timothy 1:10.

The Unity of the Spirit - To Open Houses of Worship or Not?

Here is a piece on the issue of reopening places of worship - it is well worth pondering and is a timely reminder that we are to strive to "preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." 

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/church-dont-let-coronavirus-divide/

Praying with Fenelon

This is an excerpt of a prayer from Francis Fenelon (1651 - 1715), archbishop of Crambrai and one of my historical mentors. Is not the Great Commandment that the Lord our God is One, and that we are to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength; and to love our neighbor as ourselves? Are we not to present ourselves as living sacrifices? 

An Excerpt from a Prayer of Fenelon:

“…Even those who want to love thee only love thee for themselves, for their consolations or for their security. Where are they, those who love thee for thyself? Where are they, those who love thee because they were created only to love thee? Where are they? I do not see them. Are there any on the face of the earth? If there are not any, make some! Of what use is the whole world if no one loves thee, or if no one loves thee enough to lose himself in thee?...

“O my God, O love, love thyself in me! In this way thou will be loved as thou are loveable. I only want to live to be consumed before thee, as a lamp burns ceaselessly before thine altars. I do not exist for myself at all. It is only thou who exists for thine own self. Nothing for me, all for thee. This is not too much. I am jealous for thee against my own self. Better perish than allow the love which should be given to thee, ever to return to me. Love on, O love! Love in thy weak creature! Love thy supreme beauty! O beauty, O infinite goodness, O infinite love: burn, consume, transport, annihilate my heart, make it a perfect holocaust!”

Eucharistic Living

One way or another, we are called to eat at the Lord’s Table as a way of life. This is surely contained in the words, “Give us this day our daily bread.” It is surely front and center of Jesus saying, “I am the Bread of Life”. We can see this in, “You prepare a Table before me in the presence of my enemies.”

Olivier Clement writes concerning the Church Fathers:

“The Eucharist not only establishes the existence of the Church and the communion of Christians among themselves, but determines the manner in which these are present in the world. For everyone is called 'to give thanks in all circumstances' (1 Thessalonians 5:8), to become a 'eucharistic person'. Making the Eucharist part of oneself, especially by the invocation of the name of Jesus, is one of the fundamental themes of Christian spirituality. The eucharistic celebration is an apprenticeship in new relations among people, and between people and things; it cannot but have a prophetic dimension.”

Clement then quotes Chrysostom:

“Do you wish to honour the body of the Saviour? Do not despise it when it is naked. Do not honour it in church with silk vestments while outside you are leaving it numb with cold and naked. He who said, 'This is my body', and made it so by his word, is the same that said, 'You saw me hungry and you gave me no food. As you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.' Honour him then by sharing your property with the poor. For what God needs is not golden chalices but golden souls.”

Chrysostom On Matthew, Homily 50.3

Baggage

This past Tuesday morning our small group considered (we’re meeting via Zoom) Matthew 7:1 – 14. When we got to verses 13 and 14 Glen, who was facilitating, asked Rick what his thoughts were. Rick said something like this, “If you’re going to go through the small and narrow gate you can’t take any baggage.” This was the only comment, as I recall, that Rick made about our passage, but it has stayed with me – as usual Rick made a point in a few words that would have taken me many words to make, assuming I saw the point in the first place.

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13 – 14.

The tragedy of the present distress, the pandemic, offers many opportunities in the midst of uncertainty, sorrow, and pain. C.S. Lewis thought that pain is God’s megaphone, God’s way of trying to get our attention so that we’ll hopefully realize there is a higher reality than we think, a higher reality than what we live in.

As I’ve pondered Matthew 7:13 – 14 and Rick’s pointed words, I’ve also thought about Mark 4:18 – 19 in which Jesus explains an element of the Parable of the Sower:

“And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”

The worries of the world are baggage, Jesus teaches us that we are to trust Him for our daily bread and that we are to seek first the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness and that all other things that we need will be provided for us. (Matthew 6:25 – 34).

The deceitfulness of riches is baggage, Jesus teaches us that we cannot serve two masters, we cannot serve God and money. (Matthew 6:19 – 24).

The desires for other things are baggage, entering in at the narrow gate means that we are focused on Jesus Christ and His Kingdom in all spheres of life, there is no compartmentalization for the disciple of Jesus Christ. Everything that we do is to be done in the name of Jesus Christ to the glory of God. (Mark 8:34 – 38; 12:29 – 31; Colossians 3:17).

What baggage am I carrying that needs to be thrown away? What about you?

What baggage are our local congregations carrying that ought to be put in the trash dumpster? What are we doing, what are we spending time and resources on, that is extraneous to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Great Commission and the building up of the Body of Christ (Matthew 28:16 – 20; Ephesians 4:1 – 16)? The good is the enemy of the better, and the better is the enemy of the best. Of course sin is an enemy, but doing good can also be an enemy and is often a more insidious enemy than sin because doing good can more easily blind us to the fact that we are not going through the small and narrow gate – doing good things can mean baggage that hinders.

There was a time when we weren’t overly conscious of how many pounds of baggage we brought with us on an airplane trip, nor were we concerned with how many pieces of luggage we carried. That has, of course, changed. With fees for pieces of luggage and penalties for luggage being overweight, we are conscious of what we take with us on a flight. We are also conscious of what items we cannot pack in luggage due to TSA regulations.

Are we conscious of the amount and content and weight of the baggage that we are carrying through life? Are our congregations conscious?

Prior to the pandemic, what did I think was important that now is not important at all? What was I placing so much trust in that I now see was something that couldn’t be trusted? What was I investing time and energy in that now seems frivolous? What idols was I worshipping?

What beauty am I discovering that I had not seen before? What deeper textures of life? What relationships?  How is my relationship with the Trinity deepening and ripening?

What baggage is there in my relationship with God that has to go? What about baggage in my relationship with others?

Am I allowing God in Christ to mold my life in such a way that I can go through the small and narrow gate? Am I leaving my baggage outside the high security area?

What about you?

If, when this present crisis passes, we are the same as before it began, then we will have wasted an opportunity. If our goal is to return to “business and life as usual” then we have squandered an opportunity. There are many ways in which God can redeem this crisis, as painful as it is for many of us (and it should be painful for all of us) – what does that redemption look like in our lives?

In my life?

In your life?

Morning Dedication Prayer

Morning Dedication

[Adapted from The Valley of Vision,

Banner of Truth, pp. 220 – 221][1]

Holy Father,[2]

As I cross the threshold of this new day, I commit myself, heart, mind, soul, body, affairs, friends, my present, my future, my past, to your tender loving care;[3]

Watch over, keep, guide, direct, sanctify, bless me.

Incline my heart to your ways;[4]

Mold me wholly into the image of Jesus, as a potter forms clay;[5]

May my lips be a well-tuned harp, sounding forth your praise;[6]

Let those around[7] see me living by your Spirit,[8]

trampling the world underfoot,[9]

unconformed to lying vanities,

transformed by a renewed mind,[10]

clad in the entire armor of God,[11]

shining as a never dimmed light,[12]

showing holiness in all my doings.[13]

Let no evil this day soil my thoughts, words, hands.[14]

May I travel miry paths with a life pure from spot or stain.[15]

In needful transactions let my affection be in heaven,

and my love soar upwards in flames of fire,

my gaze fixed on unseen things,[16]

my eyes open to the emptiness, fragility, mockery of earth and its vanities.

May I view all things in the mirror of eternity,

waiting for the coming of my Lord,[17]

listening for the last trumpet call,

hastening unto the new heaven and earth.

Order this day all my communications according to your wisdom

and to the gain of mutual good.[18]

Forbid that I should not be profited or made profitable.[19]

May I speak each word as if my last word,

and walk each step as my final one.

If my life should end today,

let this be my best day.[20]

---

[1] I have updated some language, for example, substituting “your” for “thy”; other adaption is as noted below. In order for this prayer to become part of our lives, I encourage us to pray it daily for at least fourteen days. I also encourage us to memorize it – don’t worry if you forget it, it will come back to you, it will become part of you as you commune with the True and Living God in Christ.

[2] While the original begins with “Almighty God”, the intimacy of this prayer influences me to begin with “Holy Father” – see John 17:11.

[3] I have expanded this line, and in actual practice expand it to include those people and situations which represent the inner circle of my prayer and intercession on any given day. Are we not called to commit all to our Holy Father?

[4] All of our Father’s ways are found in Jesus, the Way.

[5] I visualize myself as clay on the Potter’s wheel – a wheel of life in Christ. Can you see the Potter’s hands on, and in, your life?

[6] Hebrews 13:15

[7] We are called to be faithful and holy witnesses.

[8] Romans 8:14

[9] 1 John 2:15 - 17

[10] Romans 12:1 – 2; 2 Corinthians 3:17 – 18; Ephesians 4:20 - 24

[11] Ephesians 6:10 – 20; 1 Thessalonians 5:8

[12] Proverbs 4:18; Isaiah 60:1 - 3

[13] 1 Peter 1:13 – 16; Hebrews 12:14; 2 Corinthians 6:14 – 7:1

[14] As I pray this I s-l-o-w down and visualize my mind, my mouth, my hands and feet – presenting them to my Father at the beginning of each new day. This is, after all, a prayer of dedication.

[15] Psalm 1

[16] Colossians 3:1 – 4; 2 Corinthians 4:16 - 18

[17] Philippians 3:20 – 21; 1 Thessalonians 1:9 – 10; 1 John 3:1 - 3

[18] Colossians 3:14 – 17; 4:6

[19] We are called to both give and to receive – wherever we might find ourselves on a given day.

[20] I also add, “and the best day of my marriage.”

Something to Ponder

Augustine: "Dwell and you will be a dwelling, abide and you will be an abode." 

John chapters 13 - 17.

Where am I living?

Where are we living?

Where are you living?