Pasadena, California, United States - First Church of the Nazarene "Bales of Straw" Reverend Scott Daniels
Daily Bales of Straw
The Revised Common Lectionary is an historic list of texts for each Sunday and for each day. The lectionary always gives a set of texts for each day from the Psalms, from the Old Testament, from the Epistles, and from the Gospels. The Sunday lectionary is divided into a three year cycle, but the Daily Office is divided into two - Year One and Year Two. It is easy to know which cycle we are on because Year One falls on odd years and Year Two on even.I like the lectionary for a couple of reasons. It isn't perfect, and it probably isn't for everyone. But for someone like me who has struggled to keep a strong devotional life, it gives me a place to start. And I like that it puts me in various places in the Scripture allowing me to hear from a variety of Scriptural voices each day.
I'm terrible at keeping a journal, primarily because I often can't read my own writing. And so I've started typing my reflections. Some are probably good for no one but myself, but I thought there might be others out there who would like to also read the lectionary texts and reflect with me on them.
I've called this blog "bales of straw" in reference to two great stories. The first is the Exodus story. If you remember, Pharaoh forced the Israelites to make more bricks with less straw. What a gift at that point in their life a huge flatbed full of straw would have been. The Word is like that for all of us. In the day-to-day grind, the voice of God's Spirit through the Scripture does not absolve us from our daily work, but becomes the straw we at times need to hold it all together.
But I also love that at the end of St. Thomas Aquinas' vast scholarly work the Summa Theologica - after he had written volumes and volumes about God - he realized that in the face of God all the words he had written was like so much straw. There was still so much to say about God that his massive volume of theology was just a drop of water in the ocean. And so I also recognize that this kind of pursuit, writing daily thoughts about God, is simply that, a bale of straw.
But I hope it might be helpful to some. I can't promise to write each day. My schedule and lack of discipline are often much stronger than my good intentions. But here goes...
Here is a link to a website that gives the Daily Office Readings for each day: http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/bcp/
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The Blessing of the Father through the Son - Reflections on the
Daily Readings for March 7 (Lent Day 3)
Psalm 31: For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.1 In you, Yahweh, I take refuge.
Let me never be disappointed.
Deliver me in your righteousness.
2 Bow down your ear to me.
Deliver me speedily.
Be to me a strong rock,
a house of defense to save me.
3 For you are my rock and my fortress,
therefore for your name’s sake lead me and guide me.
4 Pluck me out of the net that they have laid secretly for me,
for you are my stronghold.
5 Into your hand I commend my spirit.
You redeem me, Yahweh, God of truth.
6 I hate those who regard lying vanities,
but I trust in Yahweh.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in your loving kindness,
for you have seen my affliction.
You have known my soul in adversities.
8 You have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy.
You have set my feet in a large place.
9 Have mercy on me, Yahweh, for I am in distress.
My eye, my soul, and my body waste away with grief.
10 For my life is spent with sorrow,
my years with sighing.
My strength fails because of my iniquity.
My bones are wasted away.
11 Because of all my adversaries I have become utterly contemptible to my neighbors,
A fear to my acquaintances.
Those who saw me on the street fled from me.
12 I am forgotten from their hearts like a dead man.
I am like broken pottery.
13 For I have heard the slander of many, terror on every side,
while they conspire together against me,
they plot to take away my life.
14 But I trust in you, Yahweh.
I said, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hand.
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me.
16 Make your face to shine on your servant.
Save me in your loving kindness.
17 Let me not be disappointed, Yahweh, for I have called on you.
Let the wicked be disappointed.
Let them be silent in Sheol.[a]
18 Let the lying lips be mute,
which speak against the righteous insolently, with pride and contempt.
19 Oh how great is your goodness,
which you have laid up for those who fear you,
which you have worked for those who take refuge in you,
before the sons of men!
20 In the shelter of your presence you will hide them from the plotting of man.
You will keep them secretly in a dwelling away from the strife of tongues.
21 Praise be to Yahweh,
for he has shown me his marvelous loving kindness in a strong city.
22 As for me, I said in my haste, “I am cut off from before your eyes.”
Nevertheless you heard the voice of my petitions when I cried to you.
23 Oh love Yahweh, all you his saints!
Yahweh preserves the faithful,
and fully recompenses him who behaves arrogantly.
24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who hope in Yahweh.
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 31:17 Sheol is the place of the dead.
Psalm 35: World English Bible (WEB)
By David.
1 Contend, Yahweh, with those who contend with me.
Fight against those who fight against me.
2 Take hold of shield and buckler,
and stand up for my help.
3 Brandish the spear and block those who pursue me.
Tell my soul, “I am your salvation.”
4 Let those who seek after my soul be disappointed and brought to dishonor.
Let those who plot my ruin be turned back and confounded.
5 Let them be as chaff before the wind,
Yahweh’s angel driving them on.
6 Let their way be dark and slippery,
Yahweh’s angel pursuing them.
7 For without cause they have hidden their net in a pit for me.
Without cause they have dug a pit for my soul.
8 Let destruction come on him unawares.
Let his net that he has hidden catch himself.
Let him fall into that destruction.
9 My soul shall be joyful in Yahweh.
It shall rejoice in his salvation.
10 All my bones shall say, “Yahweh, who is like you,
who delivers the poor from him who is too strong for him;
yes, the poor and the needy from him who robs him?”
11 Unrighteous witnesses rise up.
They ask me about things that I don’t know about.
12 They reward me evil for good,
to the bereaving of my soul.
13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth.
I afflicted my soul with fasting.
My prayer returned into my own bosom.
14 I behaved myself as though it had been my friend or my brother.
I bowed down mourning, as one who mourns his mother.
15 But in my adversity, they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together.
The attackers gathered themselves together against me, and I didn’t know it.
They tore at me, and didn’t cease.
16 Like the profane mockers in feasts,
they gnashed their teeth at me.
17 Lord, how long will you look on?
Rescue my soul from their destruction,
my precious life from the lions.
18 I will give you thanks in the great assembly.
I will praise you among many people.
19 Don’t let those who are my enemies wrongfully rejoice over me;
neither let those who hate me without a cause wink their eyes.
20 For they don’t speak peace,
but they devise deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.
21 Yes, they opened their mouth wide against me.
They said, “Aha! Aha! Our eye has seen it!”
22 You have seen it, Yahweh. Don’t keep silent.
Lord, don’t be far from me.
23 Wake up! Rise up to defend me, my God!
My Lord, contend for me!
24 Vindicate me, Yahweh my God, according to your righteousness.
Don’t let them gloat over me.
25 Don’t let them say in their heart, “Aha! That’s the way we want it!”
Don’t let them say, “We have swallowed him up!”
26 Let them be disappointed and confounded together who rejoice at my calamity.
Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me.
27 Let them shout for joy and be glad, who favor my righteous cause.
Yes, let them say continually, “Yahweh be magnified,
who has pleasure in the prosperity of his servant!”
28 My tongue shall talk about your righteousness and about your praise all day long.
Psalm 95:1 Oh come, let’s sing to Yahweh.
Let’s shout aloud to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let’s come before his presence with thanksgiving.
Let’s extol him with songs!
3 For Yahweh is a great God,
a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth.
The heights of the mountains are also his.
5 The sea is his, and he made it.
His hands formed the dry land.
6 Oh come, let’s worship and bow down.
Let’s kneel before Yahweh, our Maker,
7 for he is our God.
We are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep in his care.
Today, oh that you would hear his voice!
8 Don’t harden your heart, as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your fathers tempted me,
tested me, and saw my work.
10 Forty long years I was grieved with that generation,
and said, “It is a people that errs in their heart.
They have not known my ways.”
11 Therefore I swore in my wrath,
“They won’t enter into my rest.”
Philippians 4:1 Therefore, my brothers, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. 2 I exhort Euodia, and I exhort Syntyche, to think the same way in the Lord. 3 Yes, I beg you also, true partner, help these women, for they labored with me in the Good News, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. 4 Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, “Rejoice!” 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think about these things. 9 The things which you learned, received, heard, and saw in me: do these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Ezekiel 18:1 Yahweh’s word came to me again, saying, 2 What do you mean, that you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge? 3 As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, you shall not use this proverb any more in Israel. 4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins, he shall die.
Ezekiel 18:25 Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, house of Israel: Is my way not equal? Aren’t your ways unequal? 26 When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and dies therein; in his iniquity that he has done shall he die. 27 Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. 28 Because he considers, and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. 29 Yet the house of Israel says, “The way of the Lord is not fair.” House of Israel, aren’t my ways fair? Aren’t your ways unfair? 30 Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, everyone according to his ways, says the Lord Yahweh. Return, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, in which you have transgressed; and make yourself a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies, says the Lord Yahweh: therefore turn yourselves, and live.
John 17:9 I pray for them. I don’t pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are. 12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you have given me I have kept. None of them is lost, except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I come to you, and I say these things in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves. 14 I have given them your word. The world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I pray not that you would take them from the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth.[a] 18 As you sent me into the world, even so I have sent them into the world. 19 For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
Footnotes:
a. John 17:17 Psalm 119:142
All you who wait for the LORD, be strong and let your heart take courage (Ps. 31:24).
I will rejoice in the LORD; I will celebrate his salvation (Ps. 35:9).
Come let’s worship and bow down! Let’s kneel before the LORD, our maker! He is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the sheep in his hands (Ps. 95:6-7).
This is what the LORD God says. Turn, turn away from all your sins. Don’t let them be sinful obstacles for you. Abandon all of your repeated sins. Make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit (Ezek. 18:30-31).
From now on, brothers and sisters, if anything is excellent and if anything is admirable, focus your thoughts on these things: all that is true, all that is holy, all that is just, all that is pure, all that is lovely, and all that is worthy of praise (Phil. 4:8).
I’m not asking that you take them out of the world but that you keep them safe from the evil one. They don't belong to this world. Make them holy in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. I made myself holy on their behalf so that they also would be made holy in the truth (John 17:15-19).
My friend, Jamie Smith in his book Desiring the Kingdom writes incredibly insightful things about the way that liturgical practices form those who regularly participate in them. One of the points that Jamie makes in his book is that part of what various practices of worship do is take theological concepts out of our heads and helps them get deeply inscribed in our bodies.
I particularly have been blessed when I have heard Jamie talk about the significance of the practice of benediction for him. When Jamie was a teenager his father left his mother. Soon after, Jamie’s father moved the family out of their home so that he could move his mistress and her children in.
Jamie became a Christian at the age of eighteen primarily through the influence of the father of his girlfriend and future wife. A few years later his father-in-law, who had been such a significant Christian influence in Jamie’s life, also divorced his wife and left the family behind. Jamie describes the experience as being orphaned twice, with the difference that his two fathers both chose to leave.
Years later, after Jamie became a Christian philosopher and theologian, he was sitting in a liturgical church service that concluded with the minister stretching forth his hands and praying a benediction upon the congregation. It was in that moment, Jamie often reflects, that he knew – in the core of his being – that he had the blessing of a Father. The issue was not his head. He knew in his mind many rich theological tenets about the undying love of the heavenly Father. But in the praying of that benediction, he knew deep within his being that there was finally a Father blessing his life. The minster had become for Jamie the conduit of a Father’s approval and sanctification.
Jamie often jokes that even if he is running late for church he will still show up for the benediction and stand with his hands outstretched because he so deeply needs the continual blessing from the Father.
Today’s reading from John 17 is in many ways the Lord’s benediction over his disciples. In this prayer he prays a blessing upon their going out into the world. He prays that those whom he has taught the way of the kingdom would continue to find the ability to live in the world without becoming of it. He prays that their discovery of the new creation life through him would carry them forward into participation in the renewal of all things.
It doesn’t take very long for the reader of John’s Gospel to realize that as we read we too are being invited to enter into discipleship with Jesus. The prayer that Jesus prayed for the disciples was not just for the original twelve but it is prayer over every person, regardless of time or place, who enters into the new life of the Son.
Therefore, it is not only permissible, but also appropriate to place our name in this prayer. So I would like to invite you on this third day of Lent to place your name in the blanks below and receive this benediction from Jesus as the Father’s blessing upon your life this day.
The Prayer of Christ for You
Father, I am praying for ______. I’m not praying for the world but for ______, because ______ is yours. Everything that is mine is yours and everything that is yours is mine; I have been glorified in ______. I’m no longer in the world, but ______ is in the world, even as I am coming to you. Holy Father, watch over ______ in your name, the name you gave me, that _____ will be one with You, just as we are one…I have given ______ your word and the world often hates him/her, because he/she don’t belong to this world, just as I don't belong to this world. Make ______ holy in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I am sending ______ into the world. I made myself holy for ______ so that ______ would also be made holy in the truth. Amen
The Goal We Pursue - Reflections on the Daily Readings for March 6 (Lent Day 2)
Psalm 37: By David.1 Don’t fret because of evildoers,
neither be envious against those who work unrighteousness.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
and wither like the green herb.
3 Trust in Yahweh, and do good.
Dwell in the land, and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Also delight yourself in Yahweh,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to Yahweh.
Trust also in him, and he will do this:
6 he will make your righteousness go out as the light,
and your justice as the noon day sun.
7 Rest in Yahweh, and wait patiently for him.
Don’t fret because of him who prospers in his way,
because of the man who makes wicked plots happen.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath.
Don’t fret, it leads only to evildoing.
9 For evildoers shall be cut off,
but those who wait for Yahweh shall inherit the land.
10 For yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more.
Yes, though you look for his place, he isn’t there.
11 But the humble shall inherit the land,
and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
12 The wicked plots against the just,
and gnashes at him with his teeth.
13 The Lord will laugh at him,
for he sees that his day is coming.
14 The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow,
to cast down the poor and needy,
to kill those who are upright on the path.
15 Their sword shall enter into their own heart.
Their bows shall be broken.
16 Better is a little that the righteous has,
than the abundance of many wicked.
17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
but Yahweh upholds the righteous.
18 Yahweh knows the days of the perfect.
Their inheritance shall be forever.
19 They shall not be disappointed in the time of evil.
In the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
20 But the wicked shall perish.
The enemies of Yahweh shall be like the beauty of the fields.
They will vanish—
vanish like smoke.
21 The wicked borrow, and don’t pay back,
but the righteous give generously.
22 For such as are blessed by him shall inherit the land.
Those who are cursed by him shall be cut off.
23 A man’s goings are established by Yahweh.
He delights in his way.
24 Though he stumble, he shall not fall,
for Yahweh holds him up with his hand.
25 I have been young, and now am old,
yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
nor his children begging for bread.
26 All day long he deals graciously, and lends.
His offspring[a] is blessed.
27 Depart from evil, and do good.
Live securely forever.
28 For Yahweh loves justice,
and doesn’t forsake his saints.
They are preserved forever,
but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
29 The righteous shall inherit the land,
and live in it forever.
30 The mouth of the righteous talks of wisdom.
His tongue speaks justice.
31 The law of his God is in his heart.
None of his steps shall slide.
32 The wicked watches the righteous,
and seeks to kill him.
33 Yahweh will not leave him in his hand,
nor condemn him when he is judged.
34 Wait for Yahweh, and keep his way,
and he will exalt you to inherit the land.
When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.
35 I have seen the wicked in great power,
spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil.
36 But he passed away, and behold, he was not.
Yes, I sought him, but he could not be found.
37 Mark the perfect man, and see the upright,
for there is a future for the man of peace.
38 As for transgressors, they shall be destroyed together.
The future of the wicked shall be cut off.
39 But the salvation of the righteous is from Yahweh.
He is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
40 Yahweh helps them, and rescues them.
He rescues them from the wicked, and saves them,
Because they have taken refuge in him.
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 37:26 or, seed
Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect; but I press on, if it is so that I may take hold of that for which also I was taken hold of by Christ Jesus.
13 Brothers, I don’t regard myself as yet having taken hold, but one thing I do. Forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, think this way. If in anything you think otherwise, God will also reveal that to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the extent that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule. Let us be of the same mind. 17 Brothers, be imitators together of me, and note those who walk this way, even as you have us for an example. 18 For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, as the enemies of the cross of Christ, 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who think about earthly things. 20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from where we also wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 21 who will change the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working by which he is able even to subject all things to himself.
Habakkuk 3:1 A prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet, set to victorious music.
2 Yahweh, I have heard of your fame.
I stand in awe of your deeds, Yahweh.
Renew your work in the middle of the years.
In the middle of the years make it known.
In wrath, you remember mercy.
3 God came from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran.
Selah.
His glory covered the heavens,
and his praise filled the earth.
4 His splendor is like the sunrise.
Rays shine from his hand, where his power is hidden.
5 Plague went before him,
and pestilence followed his feet.
6 He stood, and shook the earth.
He looked, and made the nations tremble.
The ancient mountains were crumbled.
The age-old hills collapsed.
His ways are eternal.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction.
The dwellings of the land of Midian trembled.
8 Was Yahweh displeased with the rivers?
Was your anger against the rivers,
or your wrath against the sea,
that you rode on your horses,
on your chariots of salvation?
9 You uncovered your bow.
You called for your sworn arrows.
Selah.
You split the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw you, and were afraid.
The storm of waters passed by.
The deep roared and lifted up its hands on high.
11 The sun and moon stood still in the sky,
at the light of your arrows as they went,
at the shining of your glittering spear.
12 You marched through the land in wrath.
You threshed the nations in anger.
13 You went out for the salvation of your people,
for the salvation of your anointed.
You crushed the head of the land of wickedness.
You stripped them head to foot.
Selah.
14 You pierced the heads of his warriors with their own spears.
They came as a whirlwind to scatter me,
gloating as if to devour the wretched in secret.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses,
churning mighty waters.
16 I heard, and my body trembled.
My lips quivered at the voice.
Rottenness enters into my bones, and I tremble in my place,
because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble,
for the coming up of the people who invade us.
17 For though the fig tree doesn’t flourish,
nor fruit be in the vines;
the labor of the olive fails,
the fields yield no food;
the flocks are cut off from the fold,
and there is no herd in the stalls:
18 yet I will rejoice in Yahweh.
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
John 17:1 Jesus said these things, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you; 2 even as you gave him authority over all flesh, he will give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ. 4 I glorified you on the earth. I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do. 5 Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed. 6 I revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me. They have kept your word. 7 Now they have known that all things whatever you have given me are from you, 8 for the words which you have given me I have given to them, and they received them, and knew for sure that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me.
Observe those who have integrity and watch those whose heart is right because the future belongs to persons of peace (Ps. 51:37).
His majesty covers the heavens and his praise fills the earth. His radiance is like the sunlight, with rays flashing from his hand. That is the hiding place of his power (Hab. 3:3-4).
It’s not that I have already reached this goal or have already been perfected, but I pursue it, so that I may grab hold of it because Christ grabbed hold of me for just this purpose (Phil. 3:12).
This is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent (John 17:3).
This coming Sunday is the Los Angeles Marathon. I have been having trouble with a knee and an ankle so I am not running this year. I will miss it. I won’t miss not being able to get out of bed on Monday, and I haven’t missed training. But I will miss the process of the race itself.
My favorite part of the marathon each year is the start. There is nothing quite like running with 25,000 other people. For the first six or seven miles there are hundreds of bobbing heads all around mostly cheering and encouraging one another on.
The last six or seven miles is a different story. At that point the crowd has thinned out and no one is talking. All you want to do is cross the finish line, receive your medal, and go home. The Los Angeles Marathon starts at Dodger Stadium and heads west through several famous parts of LA and Hollywood and then ends along Santa Monica beach. For me, during the last third of the race, all I can think about is that final stretch along the beach and all I can picture is the banner above the finish line.
In the reading from Philippians for this second day of Lent, Paul picks up the metaphor of running a race that he uses in several other places as well. As he compares the Christian life to running a race he certainly has a marathon and not a sprint in mind. And just like when I run a marathon and can think of nothing but the finish line, Paul also wants the Philippian church to think about the goal or end of the race.
The powerful difference for Paul is that the end isn’t just out there 26.2 miles away. In a profound and miraculous way the end has also broken into the middle.
Let me briefly explain. Paul, like most faithful Jews of his day, believed deeply in the resurrection of the dead. Most of the Hebrew people believed that at the end of history God would resurrect the dead and bring judgment upon the evil and the righteous. But what was theologically wild for Paul was that when the Father resurrected the Son the end of history – the eschaton – broke into the middle.
What is amazing to Paul is not just that Jesus came back from the dead. That’s obviously incredible, but there were other people in the Scripture who came back from the dead. But those, like Lazarus, who came back to life, ended up dying all over again. However, when Jesus resurrected from the dead, “Death no longer had dominion over him.” He did not just live once more, but he experienced in the middle of history the resurrection connected to the end of time and the beginning of the new creation). In other words, through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection the end of time (heaven, the new creation, the eschatological kingdom of God) has broken into the world now.
In the light of this theological perspective, here is how I would paraphrase what Paul is writing to the Philippians in 3:12-21.
I am surely not yet what Christ intends for me to ultimately become. I continue to pursue his purposes in my life – even though in a strange way I feel like he has grabbed me and is pulling me (by his Spirit) into the future he has for me as much as I am living into it. As he develops me, matures me, and forms me, I leave all that I used to be behind. The past is the past. Now I keep heading towards his holy purposes in my life. By the way, this is not just his plan for my life, but for all who pursue his purposes. We may be at different levels of maturity, but the goal of the holy life is the same for everyone in the Body of Christ.
There are some “saints” in the church who model this well, and we should learn from them. Unfortunately, there are some both inside and outside the church who still don’t “get it.” They think the goal is getting something from God or just following a bunch of rules that will just make us nice, successful people. Their goal has more to do with their appetites and what the culture deems to be the “good life” more than it is to pursue God’s dreams. But we belong to the eschaton. We are people who, through the resurrected Christ, are already citizens of the new creation. Someday Christ will transform our deteriorating bodies into resurrection bodies, like his. In the meantime, the power that will make all things new is already making us new today.
A Prayer for the Right Goal
Father, we are often confused about where we are runningWe think the goal is affluence
We think the end of the race is power
We think we’ve “made it” when we grasp the American Dream
Sometimes we just run as fast as we can unsure of where we are going fearful that there is no meaningful end to the race.
But you have grasped us with the vision of the new creation – Heaven, the New Jerusalem, the Holy Mountain of the Lord, the Wedding Feast of the Lamb, the Eternal Kingdom…
Your vision for us is holiness, completeness, and love.
We are both waiting to be holy while we are being made holy.
We are expecting your completion while you are completing us.
We are hoping for the day when we will be full of love even as we are fully loved.
But in the meantime continue to teach us how to love you and how to love one another. Amen
The Sin that Clings So Close - Reflections on the Daily Readings for Ash Wednesday
Readings for Ash Wednesday – March 5, 2014 Ash-Wednesday
Psalm 32: By David. A contemplative psalm.1 Blessed is he whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man to whom Yahweh doesn’t impute iniquity,
in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 When I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me.
My strength was sapped in the heat of summer.
Selah.
5 I acknowledged my sin to you.
I didn’t hide my iniquity.
I said, I will confess my transgressions to Yahweh,
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.
Selah.
6 For this, let everyone who is godly pray to you in a time when you may be found.
Surely when the great waters overflow, they shall not reach to him.
7 You are my hiding place.
You will preserve me from trouble.
You will surround me with songs of deliverance.
Selah.
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go.
I will counsel you with my eye on you.
9 Don’t be like the horse, or like the mule, which have no understanding,
who are controlled by bit and bridle, or else they will not come near to you.
10 Many sorrows come to the wicked,
but loving kindness shall surround him who trusts in Yahweh.
11 Be glad in Yahweh, and rejoice, you righteous!
Shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart!
Psalm 95:1 Oh come, let’s sing to Yahweh.
Let’s shout aloud to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let’s come before his presence with thanksgiving.
Let’s extol him with songs!
3 For Yahweh is a great God,
a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth.
The heights of the mountains are also his.
5 The sea is his, and he made it.
His hands formed the dry land.
6 Oh come, let’s worship and bow down.
Let’s kneel before Yahweh, our Maker,
7 for he is our God.
We are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep in his care.
Today, oh that you would hear his voice!
8 Don’t harden your heart, as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your fathers tempted me,
tested me, and saw my work.
10 Forty long years I was grieved with that generation,
and said, “It is a people that errs in their heart.
They have not known my ways.”
11 Therefore I swore in my wrath,
“They won’t enter into my rest.”
Psalm 102: A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before Yahweh.
1 Hear my prayer, Yahweh!
Let my cry come to you.
2 Don’t hide your face from me in the day of my distress.
Turn your ear to me.
Answer me quickly in the day when I call.
3 For my days consume away like smoke.
My bones are burned as a torch.
4 My heart is blighted like grass, and withered,
for I forget to eat my bread.
5 By reason of the voice of my groaning,
my bones stick to my skin.
6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness.
I have become as an owl of the waste places.
7 I watch, and have become like a sparrow that is alone on the housetop.
8 My enemies reproach me all day.
Those who are mad at me use my name as a curse.
9 For I have eaten ashes like bread,
and mixed my drink with tears,
10 Because of your indignation and your wrath,
for you have taken me up, and thrown me away.
11 My days are like a long shadow.
I have withered like grass.
12 But you, Yahweh, will remain forever;
your renown endures to all generations.
13 You will arise and have mercy on Zion;
for it is time to have pity on her.
Yes, the set time has come.
14 For your servants take pleasure in her stones,
and have pity on her dust.
15 So the nations will fear Yahweh’s name;
all the kings of the earth your glory.
16 For Yahweh has built up Zion.
He has appeared in his glory.
17 He has responded to the prayer of the destitute,
and has not despised their prayer.
18 This will be written for the generation to come.
A people which will be created will praise Yah.
19 For he has looked down from the height of his sanctuary.
From heaven, Yahweh saw the earth;
20 to hear the groans of the prisoner;
to free those who are condemned to death;
21 that men may declare Yahweh’s name in Zion,
and his praise in Jerusalem;
22 when the peoples are gathered together,
the kingdoms, to serve Yahweh.
23 He weakened my strength along the course.
He shortened my days.
24 I said, “My God, don’t take me away in the middle of my days.
Your years are throughout all generations.
25 Of old, you laid the foundation of the earth.
The heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you will endure.
Yes, all of them will wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a cloak, and they will be changed.
27 But you are the same.
Your years will have no end.
28 The children of your servants will continue.
Their offspring[a] will be established before you.”
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 102:28 or, seed
Psalm 130: A Song of Ascents.
1 Out of the depths I have cried to you, Yahweh.
2 Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my petitions.
3 If you, Yah, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with you,
therefore you are feared.
5 I wait for Yahweh.
My soul waits.
I hope in his word.
6 My soul longs for the Lord more than watchmen long for the morning;
more than watchmen for the morning.
7 Israel, hope in Yahweh,
for with Yahweh there is loving kindness.
With him is abundant redemption.
8 He will redeem Israel from all their sins.
Psalm 143: A Psalm by David.
1 Hear my prayer, Yahweh.
Listen to my petitions.
In your faithfulness and righteousness, relieve me.
2 Don’t enter into judgment with your servant,
for in your sight no man living is righteous.
3 For the enemy pursues my soul.
He has struck my life down to the ground.
He has made me live in dark places, as those who have been long dead.
4 Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me.
My heart within me is desolate.
5 I remember the days of old.
I meditate on all your doings.
I contemplate the work of your hands.
6 I spread out my hands to you.
My soul thirsts for you, like a parched land.
Selah.
7 Hurry to answer me, Yahweh.
My spirit fails.
Don’t hide your face from me,
so that I don’t become like those who go down into the pit.
8 Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning,
for I trust in you.
Cause me to know the way in which I should walk,
for I lift up my soul to you.
9 Deliver me, Yahweh, from my enemies.
I flee to you to hide me.
10 Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God.
Your Spirit is good.
Lead me in the land of uprightness.
11 Revive me, Yahweh, for your name’s sake.
In your righteousness, bring my soul out of trouble.
12 In your loving kindness, cut off my enemies,
and destroy all those who afflict my soul,
For I am your servant.
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore let us also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider him who has endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, that you don’t grow weary, fainting in your souls. 4 You have not yet resisted to blood, striving against sin; 5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which reasons with you as with children,
“My son, don’t take lightly the chastening of the Lord,
nor faint when you are reproved by him;
6 For whom the Lord loves, he chastens,
and scourges every son whom he receives.”[a]
7 It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with children, for what son is there whom his father doesn’t discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have been made partakers, then are you illegitimate, and not children. 9 Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they indeed, for a few days, punished us as seemed good to them; but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness. 11 All chastening seems for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been exercised thereby. 12 Therefore lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees, [b] 13 and make straight paths for your feet,[c] so that which is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. 14 Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord,
Footnotes:
a. Hebrews 12:6 Proverbs 3:11-12
b. Hebrews 12:12 Isaiah 35:3
c. Hebrews 12:13 Proverbs 4:26
Amos 5:6 Seek Yahweh, and you will live;
lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
and it devour, and there be no one to quench it in Bethel.
7 You who turn justice to wormwood,
and cast down righteousness to the earth:
8 seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion,
and turns the shadow of death into the morning,
and makes the day dark with night;
who calls for the waters of the sea,
and pours them out on the surface of the earth, Yahweh is his name,
9 who brings sudden destruction on the strong,
so that destruction comes on the fortress.
10 They hate him who reproves in the gate,
and they abhor him who speaks blamelessly.
11 Therefore, because you trample on the poor,
and take taxes from him of wheat:
You have built houses of cut stone,
but you will not dwell in them.
You have planted pleasant vineyards,
but you shall not drink their wine.
12 For I know how many your offenses,
and how great are your sins—
you who afflict the just,
who take a bribe,
and who turn aside the needy in the courts.
13 Therefore a prudent person keeps silent in such a time,
for it is an evil time.
14 Seek good, and not evil,
that you may live;
and so Yahweh, the God of Armies, will be with you,
as you say.
15 Hate evil, love good,
and establish justice in the courts.
It may be that Yahweh, the God of Armies, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”
Luke 18:9 He spoke also this parable to certain people who were convinced of their own righteousness, and who despised all others. 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself like this: ‘God, I thank you, that I am not like the rest of men, extortionists, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far away, wouldn’t even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
I admitted my sin to you; I didn't conceal my guilt. “I’ll confess my sins to the LORD,” is what I said. Then you removed the guilty of my sin (Ps. 32:5).
Come let’s worship and bow down! Let’s kneel before the LORD, our maker! He is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the sheep in his hands. If only you would listen to his voice right now! “Don’t harden your hearts…” (Ps. 95:6-8).
My days are like a shadow soon gone. I’m dried up like dead grass. But you, LORD, rule forever! Your fame lasts from one generation to the next! (Ps. 102:11-12).
If you kept track of sins, LORD – my Lord, who would stand a chance? But forgiveness is with you – that’s why you are honored (Ps. 130:3-4).
Listen to my prayer, LORD! Because of your faithfulness, hear my request for mercy! Because of your righteousness, answer me! Please don’t bring your servant to judgment, because no living thing is righteous before you (Ps. 143:1-2).
Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of heavenly forces, will be with you just as you have said. Hate evil, love good, and establish justice at the city gate. Perhaps the LORD God of heavenly forces will be gracious to what is left of Joseph (Amos 5:14-15).
Let’s throw off any extra baggage, get rid of the sin that trips us up, and fix our eyes on Jesus, faith’s pioneer and perfecter. He endured the cross, ignoring the shame, for the sake of the joy that was laid out in front of him, and sat down at the right side of God’s throne (Heb. 12:1-2).
…the tax collector stood at a distance. He wouldn’t even lift his eyes to look toward heaven. Rather, he struck his chest and said, ‘God, show mercy to me, a sinner.’ I tell you, this person went down to his home justified rather than the Pharisee. All who lift themselves up will be brought low, and those who make themselves low will be lifted up” (Luke 18:13-14).
The Holiness tradition has not always been comfortable with participation in seasons like Lent. Some of that has to do with the Protestant reaction against various practices connected with medieval Catholicism. Thankfully, in recent years we’ve recognized that even though there are some practices connected with Roman Catholicism that still violate some Protestant theological sensibilities, there is much in the Catholic (and also the Eastern Orthodox) traditions that ought to be recovered or re-traditioned for the whole church.
But the other reason folks from the Holiness tradition have sometimes struggled with a season like Lent is because of its clear focus on the confession of sin. (Look at the texts for Ash Wednesday. Every single one is about recognizing, confessing, and setting aside our sin). The problem has been that people in the Holiness tradition have sometimes confused freedom from sin with sinlessness.
If living a life of holiness is experiencing sinlessness, then a season like Lent doesn’t mean a whole lot. Who needs to confess sin if you are sinless? I don’t know many people who think this way anymore, but it would seem obvious that the only way one could conceive of holiness in terms of sinlessness, would be shrink the definition of sin down so far that it would include only major willful transgressions against God’s purposes or will.
But if holiness isn’t achieving sinlessness, but embracing freedom from sin, then this season of confession has great importance.
In the same way that the longer I study the more I realize I do not know… The more I confess the ways that my life has been broken by sin, the more I recognize the depth of sin’s destructive power in the world. Sin doesn’t just describe the “big sins” I have committed against God (and there are a few). Sin describes the way selfishness and self-centeredness is a constant battle for every person. Sin describes the way we too often miss out on acts of goodness and redemption (sins of omission). Sin describes the way our systems and structures exploit, misuse, and damage our neighbor and the creation. Lent recognizes that sin is messy, sticky, pervasive, tricky, generational, habitual, structural, and on and on… To borrow the title from Cornelius Plantiga’s wonderful book on the complicated nature of sin, sin means that things are “not the way it’s supposed to be.”
Yet, freedom from sin means that sin doesn’t get the last word. The reason we can confess all the messiness of sin is because He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We don’t confess sin as an exercise in futility but as a way of continuing to set aside the sin that clings so closely so that we can run the race set before us with perseverance.
So I treasure this season. Each time we gather on Ash Wednesday I am increasingly aware of the depth of sin and its profound effect on us all. But I am also increasingly aware of the depth of God’s transforming grace at work in and through Christ Jesus to deliver us from sin and to form (and reform) us into images of his holiness.
So come, let us confess our sin together. Let us put on ash as a reminder of our frailty and weakness. Let us proclaim and fast and break the patterns that too often bind us. And let us experience the amazing grace that sets us free once again.
The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Lord’s Spirit is, there is freedom. All of us are looking with unveiled faces at the glory of the Lord as if we were looking in a mirror. We are being transformed into that same image from one degree of glory to the next degree of glory. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:17-18).
Prayer for Ash Wednesday
O Jesus, you place on my foreheadthe sign of your saving Cross:
“Turn from sin and be faithful to the gospel.”
How can I turn from sin unless I turn to you?
You speak, you raise your hand,
you touch my mind and call my name,
“Turn to the Lord your God again.”
These days of your favor
leave a blessing as you pass
on me and all your people.
Turn to us, Lord God,
and we shall turn to you.
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