Psalm 43
In Psalm 42, from a setting of exile, the psalmist has poured out his longing to experience God in the Temple. Now he prays that God would deal with those circumstances that prevent him from being present at the Temple. He commits to praising him there as the joy of his life. Then the last verse of Psalm 42 is repeated (43:5). In these lines the psalmist addresses himself (“my soul”). But, with what builds within the psalmist in these few verses, it seems to me that the note of hope at the end now comes with more power than when the verse appeared before (42:11). The dialogue of longing bears fruit with the gift of inner assurance and even quiet joy. This inner transformation happens independently of external circumstances, even while he prays for change in those circumstances.
The lesson I take in this is that if we converse honestly with our Lord, he will, even before our outward circumstances change, give us inner encouragement and strength to persist until the outcome he has in mind is fulfilled. I love the term blogger Kim Heinecke of Edmond, Oklahoma, has adopted: deliberate hope. That’s what earnest dialogue with the Lord brings within us.
Prayer:
Lord, I pray for … , who I know is struggling with a long-time problem. The resolution is visible, but seems very far away. Give … your encouragement. May your Holy Spirit prompt a conversation with you to bear fruit in hope. Through Christ. Amen.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Longing
Psalm 42
The consensus among Bible scholars seems to be that Psalms 42 and 43 are one composition. But for some reason they are in Scripture as Psalms in their own right so we will treat them as such.
In the dry season, the deer longs for flowing streams. That’s how the psalmist longs for God in the temple, an experience denied him due to a condition of exile. Note that he is not without God. He’s conversing with God (verse 8). But he longs for experience of God in the Temple. I would make this comparison: You play an musical instrument, you sing, just for the joy of it – in the shower maybe (well, not with your guitar, I hope). Or you sing to yourself when you’re out gardening. You pick up your oboe and play a Mozart melody. Or you’re pretty good at shooting hoops, or picking a top corner of hockey net with a tennis ball in the driveway. You can do this on your own.
But then you just long all the more to use that guitar in a band, to blend your voice with a couple of others in a vocal team, to sit down with your oboe in a chamber ensemble – and to experience the merging of the love of music, on the part of individuals, into a unified sound – all the more glorious in its unity for the variety within it. There’s something even mystic about it; on rare occasions you become like one in mind and spirit as you no longer play the music, but rather the music plays you, or through you: an appropriate and fitting use of the word medium.
Or you take that love of the feel of the hard surface of the basketball briefly touching and releasing as it presses into your hand, the roll of the ball off your fingers; and you add to that the sound of the ball on the gym floor, the squeak of your shoes joining others, the sweat building, the back and forth, the reaching for rebounds …. so much more than shooting hoops in your driveway.
Or you take that hockey stick and your bag and … well, you get the idea.
The Psalmist knows God. But he longs for something more than picking or singing or pressing his lips to that double-reed on his own. He longs to merge his voice and heart in a setting where God has been experienced as meeting and joining people together as one in him. But it’s about so much more, or less, than just looking for an experience, or “The Feeling,” as some call it. It’s not about what you get, but what you bring. That’s what so much worship strategizing misses: Everyone longs to give what they have to give. Most of us are tired of the whole ‘getting’ thing, I think, whether we consciously identify it or not. We sense that our real dignity is in giving, in offering, in losing ourselves in some way. Our worship needs to work to give people the opportunity to do that.
Maybe a part of the problem is that a lot of us who are already Christians have lost the longing. That’s sad. But I say all this by way of confession. When I read the following recently, it convicted me:
“Did it ever strike you odd that in contemporary Christian jargon, it’s the pre-Christians who are called seekers? Where does that leave the Christians? Shouldn’t Christian leaders be the lead seekers?” - Brian D. McLaren, in Adventures in Missing the Point, by Brian D. McLaren and Tony Campolo
Prayer:
God, I acknowledge with humility and relief that our knowing of each other is not an equal matter. Forgive me when I forget that. Every week I read about you, I study you, I analyze you, but I don’t know you at all, except as you choose to reveal yourself to me, through conversation that you allow. But whatever you choose to reveal is more than enough for me. And so I go on both knowing you and longing for you. In this is life. Through Christ. Amen.
The consensus among Bible scholars seems to be that Psalms 42 and 43 are one composition. But for some reason they are in Scripture as Psalms in their own right so we will treat them as such.
In the dry season, the deer longs for flowing streams. That’s how the psalmist longs for God in the temple, an experience denied him due to a condition of exile. Note that he is not without God. He’s conversing with God (verse 8). But he longs for experience of God in the Temple. I would make this comparison: You play an musical instrument, you sing, just for the joy of it – in the shower maybe (well, not with your guitar, I hope). Or you sing to yourself when you’re out gardening. You pick up your oboe and play a Mozart melody. Or you’re pretty good at shooting hoops, or picking a top corner of hockey net with a tennis ball in the driveway. You can do this on your own.
But then you just long all the more to use that guitar in a band, to blend your voice with a couple of others in a vocal team, to sit down with your oboe in a chamber ensemble – and to experience the merging of the love of music, on the part of individuals, into a unified sound – all the more glorious in its unity for the variety within it. There’s something even mystic about it; on rare occasions you become like one in mind and spirit as you no longer play the music, but rather the music plays you, or through you: an appropriate and fitting use of the word medium.
Or you take that love of the feel of the hard surface of the basketball briefly touching and releasing as it presses into your hand, the roll of the ball off your fingers; and you add to that the sound of the ball on the gym floor, the squeak of your shoes joining others, the sweat building, the back and forth, the reaching for rebounds …. so much more than shooting hoops in your driveway.
Or you take that hockey stick and your bag and … well, you get the idea.
The Psalmist knows God. But he longs for something more than picking or singing or pressing his lips to that double-reed on his own. He longs to merge his voice and heart in a setting where God has been experienced as meeting and joining people together as one in him. But it’s about so much more, or less, than just looking for an experience, or “The Feeling,” as some call it. It’s not about what you get, but what you bring. That’s what so much worship strategizing misses: Everyone longs to give what they have to give. Most of us are tired of the whole ‘getting’ thing, I think, whether we consciously identify it or not. We sense that our real dignity is in giving, in offering, in losing ourselves in some way. Our worship needs to work to give people the opportunity to do that.
Maybe a part of the problem is that a lot of us who are already Christians have lost the longing. That’s sad. But I say all this by way of confession. When I read the following recently, it convicted me:
“Did it ever strike you odd that in contemporary Christian jargon, it’s the pre-Christians who are called seekers? Where does that leave the Christians? Shouldn’t Christian leaders be the lead seekers?” - Brian D. McLaren, in Adventures in Missing the Point, by Brian D. McLaren and Tony Campolo
Prayer:
God, I acknowledge with humility and relief that our knowing of each other is not an equal matter. Forgive me when I forget that. Every week I read about you, I study you, I analyze you, but I don’t know you at all, except as you choose to reveal yourself to me, through conversation that you allow. But whatever you choose to reveal is more than enough for me. And so I go on both knowing you and longing for you. In this is life. Through Christ. Amen.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
In Big Letters
Galatians 6:11-18
Paul writes this last part in his own writing and with big letters, like he's saying, get this. We’ll conclude our walk through this letter by focusing on what Paul says counts: “What counts is a new creation” (verse 15b). What does not count? “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision mean anything” (verse 15a).
The new creation in Christ is a personal experience, but it is not an individual experience, at least not only an individual experience; it belongs to, is experienced in, and lived out in, a community of faith. So variety of humanity is wonderful; divisive distinctions are intolerable. The circumcision controversy was not about just one ritual among many, a tradition as other traditions can be difficult to leave behind.. This was a particular matter of identity. But the new identity is with Christ. Along with identity goes commitment in love and service to others.
I’m in a church that has, in the past, been big on tradition and not so much on personal encounter. It has been good, in more recent times, to have an emphasis on the latter. But we should not be absorbed in an individualistic approach to faith – as some songs get caught up in - as if it’s just about “me and Jesus” and the rest of the world can go where it’s going.
God’s fervent desire is for all to be saved. The witness together of the faith community, focusing on Christ alone as its head, can and will bring real hope to all with ears to hear and eyes to see.
Prayer:
Thanks, God, for this honest outpouring of Paul to people he loved but was not happy with. Let your church today speak the truth in love, wherever needed. For Christ’s sake. Amen.
Next in Open Journal: We'll continue the Psalms, with Book II.
Paul writes this last part in his own writing and with big letters, like he's saying, get this. We’ll conclude our walk through this letter by focusing on what Paul says counts: “What counts is a new creation” (verse 15b). What does not count? “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision mean anything” (verse 15a).
The new creation in Christ is a personal experience, but it is not an individual experience, at least not only an individual experience; it belongs to, is experienced in, and lived out in, a community of faith. So variety of humanity is wonderful; divisive distinctions are intolerable. The circumcision controversy was not about just one ritual among many, a tradition as other traditions can be difficult to leave behind.. This was a particular matter of identity. But the new identity is with Christ. Along with identity goes commitment in love and service to others.
I’m in a church that has, in the past, been big on tradition and not so much on personal encounter. It has been good, in more recent times, to have an emphasis on the latter. But we should not be absorbed in an individualistic approach to faith – as some songs get caught up in - as if it’s just about “me and Jesus” and the rest of the world can go where it’s going.
God’s fervent desire is for all to be saved. The witness together of the faith community, focusing on Christ alone as its head, can and will bring real hope to all with ears to hear and eyes to see.
Prayer:
Thanks, God, for this honest outpouring of Paul to people he loved but was not happy with. Let your church today speak the truth in love, wherever needed. For Christ’s sake. Amen.
Next in Open Journal: We'll continue the Psalms, with Book II.
Monday, April 21, 2008
The Practice Field
Galatians 6:1-10
Paul’s urging to “do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (verse 10) is not so much a ‘charity begins at home’ kind of thing, as an antidote to the dynamics of competition that can and do happen in the family of believers. The emphasis is on doing good to all. We need to keep in mind that in the background is a churning power and control struggle, and, specifically, the controversy over the attempted imposition of certain rituals. Genuine caring for one another is a sign of faith life that is a free and joyful response to God’s grace in Christ, rather than a matter of adhering to rituals, or getting one’s way. The faith community has to get that right, or the mission to do good to all is jeopardized before it begins. We also take the context seriously if we see the last bit of advice as being connected to the concern about restoring one another in the faith community with gentleness and caring (verse 1). That is, at the time of writing, evidently, a pressing issue, and a very practical and important example of what it means to do good within the family of believers.
Prayer:
Wonderful God, of all the things that can wear me down, it is good to know that I can never be worn down by doing good. Thanks. Through Jesus. Amen.
Paul’s urging to “do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (verse 10) is not so much a ‘charity begins at home’ kind of thing, as an antidote to the dynamics of competition that can and do happen in the family of believers. The emphasis is on doing good to all. We need to keep in mind that in the background is a churning power and control struggle, and, specifically, the controversy over the attempted imposition of certain rituals. Genuine caring for one another is a sign of faith life that is a free and joyful response to God’s grace in Christ, rather than a matter of adhering to rituals, or getting one’s way. The faith community has to get that right, or the mission to do good to all is jeopardized before it begins. We also take the context seriously if we see the last bit of advice as being connected to the concern about restoring one another in the faith community with gentleness and caring (verse 1). That is, at the time of writing, evidently, a pressing issue, and a very practical and important example of what it means to do good within the family of believers.
Prayer:
Wonderful God, of all the things that can wear me down, it is good to know that I can never be worn down by doing good. Thanks. Through Jesus. Amen.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Choose
Galatians 5:16-26
You have been called to be free, Paul has just been saying. There is a picture of what that freedom looks like. It’s called service, to God and other people.
Now Paul gets to the power behind that freedom and service: the Holy Spirit.
This power is not an “it” but “he”. This power is so personal, so powerful. he has an enemy. That’s what happens when you are on to something that is really of God: you attract opposition, resentment, jealousy. Paul calls the enemy ‘the flesh’ – variously translated also as sinful nature, selfishness, selfish desires. It is just the world’s usual standard and way of doing things (flesh > physical > of the world). It can seem innocuous, even good. But the way of the Spirit and the way of the world are so opposed, that if we live only according to the physical nature, the outcome is not just less than what it could be, but rather it is actually and actively opposed to God’s purposes. That leads to the list of unsavoury things (verse 19-21) that are the ultimate fruit of this approach to life.
My take? This calls for daily immersion in the Spirit. We are so easily caught up in the standards of the everyday. We need to be aware that there is a daily battle going on over our loyalty. The Spirit and the ‘flesh’ are not components of human nature, but they are cosmic realities that use human lives as their battleground, and seek us as their trophies. The question is – for the church as for individuals – are we going to live according to the Spirit, and be fully open to his engaging, dynamic, impossible-to-fail power; or are we going to base our decisions, direction, and lines of authority according to the ‘realities’ of the ‘real’ world – a world which, in case you didn’t notice, is passing away.
What will you choose? What will you choose, church?
Prayer:
Purify my mind, heart and spirit in your Holy Spirit, Lord. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.
You have been called to be free, Paul has just been saying. There is a picture of what that freedom looks like. It’s called service, to God and other people.
Now Paul gets to the power behind that freedom and service: the Holy Spirit.
This power is not an “it” but “he”. This power is so personal, so powerful. he has an enemy. That’s what happens when you are on to something that is really of God: you attract opposition, resentment, jealousy. Paul calls the enemy ‘the flesh’ – variously translated also as sinful nature, selfishness, selfish desires. It is just the world’s usual standard and way of doing things (flesh > physical > of the world). It can seem innocuous, even good. But the way of the Spirit and the way of the world are so opposed, that if we live only according to the physical nature, the outcome is not just less than what it could be, but rather it is actually and actively opposed to God’s purposes. That leads to the list of unsavoury things (verse 19-21) that are the ultimate fruit of this approach to life.
My take? This calls for daily immersion in the Spirit. We are so easily caught up in the standards of the everyday. We need to be aware that there is a daily battle going on over our loyalty. The Spirit and the ‘flesh’ are not components of human nature, but they are cosmic realities that use human lives as their battleground, and seek us as their trophies. The question is – for the church as for individuals – are we going to live according to the Spirit, and be fully open to his engaging, dynamic, impossible-to-fail power; or are we going to base our decisions, direction, and lines of authority according to the ‘realities’ of the ‘real’ world – a world which, in case you didn’t notice, is passing away.
What will you choose? What will you choose, church?
Prayer:
Purify my mind, heart and spirit in your Holy Spirit, Lord. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Free to Serve
Galatians 5:7-15
Back when we went through Exodus in Open Journal, we found that when God directed Moses to speak to Pharaoh, the Lord said,
"Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: "Let my people go, so that they may worship me" (Exodus 9:1). Other versions say, “… that they may serve me.” I guess we catch the double meaning when we talk about the worship service, or serving God by worshiping God in our lives.
The connection here is really important, and runs against the grain of the way much of the world thinks and operates. Freedom is connected with service, particularly serving/worshiping God and serving others. This runs naturally into Paul’s quotation in verse 14 of our present passage.
Freedom is not, as it seems some thought, liberty to act without responsibility, but to have a direction in life that is focused on the Lord, since he knows what is best for us, and works for our true fulfillment in the life that he has loaned us to share with others.
I’m going to make a point of serving someone today in some intentional way, and experience the freedom of God.
Prayer:
Lord, give me discernment to see, and the love to act on, someone’s need today, not just so I can experience the freedom that is connected with service, but so that they ultimately will find that freedom as well. Through Christ. Amen.
Back when we went through Exodus in Open Journal, we found that when God directed Moses to speak to Pharaoh, the Lord said,
"Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: "Let my people go, so that they may worship me" (Exodus 9:1). Other versions say, “… that they may serve me.” I guess we catch the double meaning when we talk about the worship service, or serving God by worshiping God in our lives.
The connection here is really important, and runs against the grain of the way much of the world thinks and operates. Freedom is connected with service, particularly serving/worshiping God and serving others. This runs naturally into Paul’s quotation in verse 14 of our present passage.
Freedom is not, as it seems some thought, liberty to act without responsibility, but to have a direction in life that is focused on the Lord, since he knows what is best for us, and works for our true fulfillment in the life that he has loaned us to share with others.
I’m going to make a point of serving someone today in some intentional way, and experience the freedom of God.
Prayer:
Lord, give me discernment to see, and the love to act on, someone’s need today, not just so I can experience the freedom that is connected with service, but so that they ultimately will find that freedom as well. Through Christ. Amen.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Knit It But Then Live It
Galatians 5:1-6
It is good to be reminded at this point that the Law certainly has its role. Christians revere the 10 Commandments as God’s certain will for us (not the 10 Suggestions). The danger of the law is as a means of salvation. The Law can’t save. And the more precise point here is that any rite that would lead to a religion based on law is to be shunned. But now there is a new, positively expressed note in this theme: “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Gal. 5:6). This is the freedom Christians have been set free for (verse 1). In other words, because of Christ, we do freely what the law would have compelled us to do! Jesus himself said the greatest command – the sum of the law and the prophets - is to love God above all and my neighbour as myself (Matthew 22:34-40). The “new command” John records is to love one another (John 13:34-35). The gracious effect of following love as a command is that we keep loving with sacrificial love, putting others ahead of ourselves, even when we don’t feel like it. In fact it is all the more love then. So much for love as mere emotion or sentiment. The worst thing that could happen with verse 6 is for it to be put into needlepoint (speaking for myself, of course, with apologies to all the crafty types!).
Prayer:
Lord, let my faith be expressed in love that puts others first. Through Christ. Amen.
It is good to be reminded at this point that the Law certainly has its role. Christians revere the 10 Commandments as God’s certain will for us (not the 10 Suggestions). The danger of the law is as a means of salvation. The Law can’t save. And the more precise point here is that any rite that would lead to a religion based on law is to be shunned. But now there is a new, positively expressed note in this theme: “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Gal. 5:6). This is the freedom Christians have been set free for (verse 1). In other words, because of Christ, we do freely what the law would have compelled us to do! Jesus himself said the greatest command – the sum of the law and the prophets - is to love God above all and my neighbour as myself (Matthew 22:34-40). The “new command” John records is to love one another (John 13:34-35). The gracious effect of following love as a command is that we keep loving with sacrificial love, putting others ahead of ourselves, even when we don’t feel like it. In fact it is all the more love then. So much for love as mere emotion or sentiment. The worst thing that could happen with verse 6 is for it to be put into needlepoint (speaking for myself, of course, with apologies to all the crafty types!).
Prayer:
Lord, let my faith be expressed in love that puts others first. Through Christ. Amen.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Love and Leadership
Galatians 4:21-31
Paul's analysis from history serves as background to a pressing leadership issue at Galatia: what to do about those who insisted on ritual under the law for all Christians?
His history lesson draws puts the natural birth of Ishmael to the slave woman, Hagar, in association with Mount Sinai (where the law was given) and the earthly Jerusalem. On the other hand is Isaac, born by the promise of God to Sarah in old age. He is associated with the Jerusalem “that is above” (see Revelation 21:1-2). The implication is that those who align themselves with the new covenant of promise are both free and part of the larger family of God. The Sinai/earthly Jerusalem tradition is connected with one people; the heavenly Jerusalem with all those who trust in Jesus on the basis of grace.
All this is background Paul sets out as he deals with a leadership issue: what to do with those who are taking away from the purity of the Gospel and its inclusiveness in the local setting? The painful conclusion is that it is better for them to be put out of the church than contaminate the whole. That’s the point of the reference in verse 30. It should be clear, however, that the contamination is in their thinking, not in their persons. This may be one of the first instances where church leadership had to act in a difficult way in recognition that members of the church are to be held accountable for their beliefs and place and conduct in the Body of Christ. In our marketing-oriented world, it is good to remember that church members are just that: members, not customers. We love and serve one another and our Lord as servants of God – first God - and one another.
Prayer:
Lord, let us serve one another in your church on the basis you provide: on the basis of love. We may find Paul’s thinking odd at times, Lord, but we thank you for his example in seeking a Biblical basis in all things. Let us be diligent in shaping life and practice according to Scripture and not the other way around. Through Christ. Amen.
Paul's analysis from history serves as background to a pressing leadership issue at Galatia: what to do about those who insisted on ritual under the law for all Christians?
His history lesson draws puts the natural birth of Ishmael to the slave woman, Hagar, in association with Mount Sinai (where the law was given) and the earthly Jerusalem. On the other hand is Isaac, born by the promise of God to Sarah in old age. He is associated with the Jerusalem “that is above” (see Revelation 21:1-2). The implication is that those who align themselves with the new covenant of promise are both free and part of the larger family of God. The Sinai/earthly Jerusalem tradition is connected with one people; the heavenly Jerusalem with all those who trust in Jesus on the basis of grace.
All this is background Paul sets out as he deals with a leadership issue: what to do with those who are taking away from the purity of the Gospel and its inclusiveness in the local setting? The painful conclusion is that it is better for them to be put out of the church than contaminate the whole. That’s the point of the reference in verse 30. It should be clear, however, that the contamination is in their thinking, not in their persons. This may be one of the first instances where church leadership had to act in a difficult way in recognition that members of the church are to be held accountable for their beliefs and place and conduct in the Body of Christ. In our marketing-oriented world, it is good to remember that church members are just that: members, not customers. We love and serve one another and our Lord as servants of God – first God - and one another.
Prayer:
Lord, let us serve one another in your church on the basis you provide: on the basis of love. We may find Paul’s thinking odd at times, Lord, but we thank you for his example in seeking a Biblical basis in all things. Let us be diligent in shaping life and practice according to Scripture and not the other way around. Through Christ. Amen.
Friday, April 04, 2008
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