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Posts Tagged ‘Jesus’

As I mentioned in previous posts, I’m trying to be more intentional about my meditation through Scripture and focus on the liturgical year. We are currently in the season of Ephiphany as we rapidly approach Ash Wednesday and the Lenten Season. My posting on the blog regarding my meditations has tapered off a bit, but my personal devotions have not… It may sound weird or contrived, but I have never felt so spiritually alive and awakened in all my life; with each new day it seems this awakening becomes even more profuse. This is not to say that I don’t have times of fatigue, doubt, frustration, sorrow, grief, anger…etc, but I’m learning that God, the Holy Spirit, is leading, teaching, and revealing Himself in the midst of every nano-atom of matter, life, time, space, and eternity. If I am alert and intentional in seeing Him in every instance of life…in every moment of time…I do; see Him. I “hear” Him. I am instructed, and discipled, by Him all through my day. This is truly Ephiphany; the great “awakening” and walking in this heart, soul, mind, and strength attitude seems that each day is even more ephiphanous or epiphanic.

“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” ~~Jesus (Matthew 5:14-16)

And isn’t this what an “awakening” or revelation (epiphany) is about; showing it and revealing it to others? New life. Awakened. Reborn. Recreated. Redeemed. Reconciled. Restored. Reunited. I get excited just writing these words. How much more should our excitement be to reveal the HIM in us to the world around us? Honestly, can we keep HIM in us from being revealed? I don’t think so.

It was with great delight then when I read the following excerpt from this post from my “new” friend, John Armstrong’s blog:

“But apparitions, in the sense of purely private revelations intended for private use, seem to me to be unknown in Scripture. All epiphanies include a message for the whole community of God, underscoring the nature of Christian faith as personal and communal but never private and gnostic.” ~~John H. Armstrong

I “discovered” John through one of the blogs (euangelion) that I regularly read. This particular post was reviewing his upcoming book, Your Church is Too Small. I am thrilled to say that I will be reviewing and posting my thoughts from this book in the near future. Until then…continue to live in the revelation and let the LIGHT of HIM in you be revealed and displayed before the world. Praise Him!

and for your “earworm” pleasure that will do your “heart” good…try this from the CD “HYMNED” by Bart Millard of MercyMe

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Epiphany: You are a Light…a City on a Hill

“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” ~Jesus (Matthew 5:14-16) NLT

This week a tragic and devastating earthquake hit the small island nation of Haiti…a country that was pretty much destroyed and without hope to begin with. While this (natural disaster) seems like some “unholy” kick-to-the-head while already down on the ground, it could be that God Almighty will use this cataclysmic event to show the world His redemptive and restoring ways. It troubles me, and humanity in general, to think in these terms and I certainly do not try to explain or quantify why God allows certain things to happen. However, if we believe He is Sovereign, there has to be some way that we are able to reconcile the events of life outside the “catch all” of fate. No, I can’t make sense of it from my limited perspective…and I have no desire to try to defend my own thoughts, but I do believe that great good can be the ultimate outcome of a horrible and tragic event.

Haiti has been a victimized and oppressed land for a long time; a long, long time. We have had the ability and resources to bring healing to this country for a long, long time too. It might be argued that it is not our responsibility to be the big brother of the nations (speaking of the United States of America)…however, as citizens of God’s Kingdom (anyone calling themselves Christian) it is our responsibility. I have seen statistics that say the annual “tithe” of the North American Christian Church should be estimated at 200 Billion dollars. Actual charitable (inside and outside of the Christian Church) giving totals 39 Billion annually.  This is annually. Yearly. To me, this indicates a renewable capital income. The difference between 200 and 39 is significant. What this reveals is a large amount of untapped discretionary income that could be used for the rebuilding and resurrection of not a country…but a people. We stand on the threshold of one of the greatest Christian opportunities of the modern world. And, we have the resources, manpower, and wherewithal to accomplish the task.

Poverty, hunger, lack of potable water, disease, and a host of social maladies plague our island neighbors of Haiti. In the past two years they have seen hurricanes and flooding added to their plight…and the world turned (for the most part) a deaf ear. I don’t know why a tragedy of such monumental proportion was not intervened upon by a “good and loving” God, but in the cacophony of flattened cities we are hearing…and may we not stop hearing until a nation of people have been fully resurrected and restored to a place of dignity and health.

So, during this season of Epiphany and revelation, I pray for my Haitian brothers and sisters. I pray that the world may see and BE the Light and Love of the Redeeming-Restoring God who loves us in the midst of storm, fire, and earthquake (Isaiah 43:1-4). Jesus told his followers, “In this world you will suffer oppression and persecution.” He also said He would walk with us through the difficult times and regardless of the difficulty of our journey, nothing could snatch us from His hand (Romans 8:38). We are His; forever. This is the resurrection God, Jesus Christ. He is the God who brings beauty from ashes and changes mourning into dancing joy. May we see the dawn of this great Light as the twilight of tragedy fades from our sights.

“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
I have called you by name; you are mine.
When you go through deep waters,
I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty,
you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression,
you will not be burned up;
the flames will not consume you.
For I am the Lord, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
…You are precious to me.
You are honored, and I love you.” (Isaiah 43:1-4)

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” ~Jesus (John 16:33)

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.” (Romans 8:38)

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Christmastide Reflections: The Great Exchange…

Reconciliation is here…Restoration beckons us to come.

The past several days I have remained in a state of contemplative wonder; considering still the miracle of deity and flesh converging for the purpose of redeeming light from dark and life from death. For many people, Christmas is over…there is still the novelty and newness of gifts given and received, but the wonder of the Great Exchange has been forgotten; swallowed in the glitter, flash, and furious flurry of commercialism and consumerism. Such is life in the 21^st Century. In the great traditions of the church, however, Christmas is not over…the celebration has only just begun.

Christmas is not merely a day like every other day. It is a day made holy and special by a sacred mystery. It is not merely another day in the weary round of time. Today, eternity enters into time and time, sanctified, is caught up into Eternity.

—Thomas Merton

Christmastide: A Season of Feasts…celebrating the joining of Heaven and Earth

The wonderful nativity story from the gospel of Luke that is so romanticized by our culture has become our poster child of the Christmas season. We gather together, read the story, force a tear, stifle a yawn, and then with alarming speed we rush through the day of Christmas and begin our race towards the New Year holiday parties. And the birth of our Savior is all but forgotten; lost in the midst of fanfare-ous clutter and media mayhem.

The waiting is over, the promised Savior is here…The waiting is over, the Holy One is born…The waiting is over, the Light of the World dawns. If Advent is waiting, Christmas is a season of wonder.

As I have considered this magnificent event, God coming to earth in the flesh of man (Luke 2; Philippians 2), I have noted some parallels…similarities to other stories I have not previously considered. Mary gives birth…delivers the Deliverer, Jesus, with great and joyful exhaustion. I have been present through the births of three of my own children. It is an incredible and “full-body” experience—painful, messy, and very emotional. Giving thought to these experiences, my imagination is stirred to reflect upon the “rebirth” process. After all, this is what the divine birth is the precedent for. I think the process of rebirth is very similar to the original birth…perhaps just as much fraught with pain, mess, and emotion…sometimes exhausting and sometimes exhilaratingly joyful too. Birth and rebirth do not start and stop with a single event; both are beginnings. I wonder why so many of us treat the birth of Jesus as a single event during the Christmas season. I wonder why so many of us (professing Christians) treat our “rebirth” as a single event during the course of our lives. Both events are beginnings; the starts of something so incredible and so incomprehensible that it is hard to put into words. Laurence Stookey does an admirable job of describing the indescribable, the Great Exchange; he writes the following:

Christmas is the enfleshment of God, the humiliation of the Most High and divine participation in all that is painful, ugly, frustrating, and limited. Divinity takes on humanity, to restore the image of God implanted at creation but sullied by sin. Here is the great exchange Christmas ponders, that God became like us that we might become like God. God accepted death that the world might accept life. The Creator assumed temporality to redeem creation from futility.  –Laurence Stookey

My, oh my… How then can we ignore this great exchange, this great salvation? (Hebrews 2:2-4)

I have decided to take on the suggestion from one of the books I am reading during this immersion into the liturgical year; while society and culture moves on to the next thing, I will treat this Christmastide season (these twelve days of Christmas) different. I will linger and reflect on the Season of Feasts; for indeed, Heaven has kissed Earth and reconciliation is here. Restoration beckons us to come.

“Don’t be afraid…I bring you Good News that will bring Great Joy to all people. The Savior—Yes the Messiah, the Lord has been born today.” Luke 2:10-11

“Then I witnessed in Heaven an event of great significance… It has come at last—salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ.” Revelation 12:1-10

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Meditation #7  December 13-18, 2009

Advent Reflections: Anticipating Zion; the joy of God’s universal shalom, considering “peace,” “completion,” “joy,” and His divine “splendor.”

Coming Joy –

“Let it be unto me, Your servant, according to Your will…” Mary (Luke 1:38)

“I must decrease, so that He may increase…” John the Baptist (John 3:30)

Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! For the Lord will remove his hand of judgment and will disperse the armies of your enemy. And the Lord himself, the King of Israel, will live among you! At last your troubles will be over, and you will never again fear disaster. On that day the announcement to Jerusalem will be, “Cheer up, Zion! Don’t be afraid! For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” (Zephaniah 3:14-17)

Anticipate ~ Watch ~ Wait ~ Alert

The promise of His return is before us. While “no man knows the time or day” of the return, we know that it is imminent. Therefore, how we wait is important. Our wait should be with eager anticipation; baited and hungry for fruits of righteousness born from our own lives that indicate lifestyles of repentance. It was John the Baptist who said, “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.” (Luke 3:8) As we wait…as we watch, our attitudes are that of eager, alert, and hungry anticipation; bearing fruits of repentance until His return.

Remember ~ Return ~ Readiness ~ Repentance

Remembering helps us to stay ready. It is easy to slip into complacency; even ambivalence, while we wait if our minds and hearts do not stay “ready.” Remembering helps us to ward off the tendencies our nature has to relax. What is it that we remember? We can remember the historical works of God from the Holy Scriptures. We can remember the promises fulfilled even now by our great and faithful God. We can recount the works of transformation, blessing, provision, and perfection that He has done in our lives individually as well as the lives of people who are close to us. In these acts of remembrance, we stay ready for His return with eager and repentant hearts. Maranatha; Come Lord Jesus…

Redemption ~ Reconcile ~ Restore ~ Rejoice

Redemption is an incredible thing…a concept that explodes into our lives with new meaning once we are awakened to our brokenness. The English dictionary provides us with the following definitions for “redeem”: (1) to make something acceptable or pleasant in spite of its negative qualities or aspects (2) restore a reputation (3) to pay off the outstanding portion of a debt (4) to fulfill a pledge or a promise. Redemption is a work that God promised even in the early chapters of the Genesis account. Redemption is an act that no man can perform on his own behalf. Without God, there is no hope for redemption and awareness of our brokenness only brings paralyzing despair. But…redemption is an incredibly real act that has been completed by our God for every man and woman; past, present, and future. With redemption comes the invitation to reconciliation, an even more gloriously stupendous reality…the invitation to be reconciled (oneness of unity) with the Triune Person of God. This is restoration…taking back that which was broken to its original and unbroken state; the restoration is in process and working towards ultimate completion and perfection. For this, we rejoice!

Hope ~ Delight ~ Peace ~ Joy ~ Shalom

Our hope is looking forward to completion and ultimate reconciliation with our Father and Savior God. Anticipation of this day brings delight even now as we live out repentant and grateful lives with peaceful joy always staying alert and ready for His return, but stalwart in our confidence of being held by Him until the universal Shalom of God is ushered into the ReCreation (The New Heaven and New Earth). This is our joy. “I’m bringing you,” the angel says, “good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day… a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). And so it is; Great Joy… past, present, and ultimate future. Hope; with joy now, looking forward to eternal reconciliation and complete restoration. This is Joy. This is the universal Shalom of the Creator-Savior-King, the Triune God.

Joan Chittister, writes in The Liturgical Year; “If, focused on the Christ Child at the very beginning of the liturgical year; we do not have the spiritual vision to see meaning there and to develop it within ourselves, there is nothing else on earth that will ever be able to supply it for us.” Indeed.

Additional thoughts on joy that I pulled from the writings of Joan Chittister follow:

1. Joy is not about what happens to us…
2. Joy is the meaning we give to what we do that determines the nature, the quality of the lives we live.
3. Joy is not about self-centeredness (John 5:30)
4. Happiness (true happiness) is not about self-satisfaction; it is about the joy that comes with a sense of purpose.
5. Joy comes from living our lives immersed in the will of God; not self-aggrandizement.
6. Joy is not in things; it is in us…

A prayer as we enter into the week of Light and Joy:

O Lord, my God, grant us your peace; already, indeed, You have made us rich in all things! Give us peace of being at rest, that Sabbath peace, the peace which know no end. O great God of Peace, sanctify me entirely; may You keep my spirit, soul and body sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because You have called me and You are faithful, I believe You will do this.

O Lord, mindful fo Your Great mercy, grant that I might serve You without fear, in holiness and righteousness this day and all the days of my life. May it be so to Your glory and the coming of Your Kingdom Eternal. Amen.

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Advent: Prepare

“Cleans us, O Lord, from our secret faults and mercifully absolve us from our presumptuous sins, that we may receive thy holy things with a pure mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord.” –The Leonine Sacramentary

“It is while waiting for the coming of the reign of God, Advent after Advent, that we come to realize that its coming depends on us. What we do will either hasten or slow, sharpen or dim our own commitment to do our part to bring it.” Joan Chittister; The Liturgical Year.

Malachi 3:1-4

• Prepare the way…
• He comes to purify and refine
• …so they (we) may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lord.

I consider how faithful I am to prepare the way for my Lord Jesus. I think, too often, we (generally) are lax, complacent, and downright lazy in our preparations. Where do we prepare…at some distant location in the future? When do we prepare; hastily, at the last minute…out of desperation? Israel had (at the time of the prophet Malachi) 400 plus years to prepare…and they still weren’t ready. Israel (at the time of John the Baptist) had several years…maybe even a decade or so; and they still weren’t ready. Our nature indicates that our own preparation leaves much to be desired.

I think “prepare the way” is repentance and with repentance we are open to receive the Spirit of the Lord to purify and cleanse us so we might receive His holy things. He is the giver of Light and our Guide in the dark. It is our responsibility to hasten His coming in our own lives through preparation… How do I prepare? I prepare with and through an attitude of repentance with desire to walk upright in purity and righteousness. I want the sacrifice of my life to be a pleasing aroma in the nostrils of my God.

Prepare…

“Prepare;” this word implies it is my responsibility to make the way ready for my King…He will cleanse, He will guide, He will purify… I am given the task to prepare.

Luke 1:67-79

• Prepare the way for the Lord…
• He comes to give light…
• He comes to guide us…

Maranatha – “Come, Lord Jesus, Come.”

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Yesterday was my rotation for leading the congregation in hearing the Word of God. I felt strongly inclined to “do something different.” Something in my deepest self feels a sense of remorse over the lack of attentive reverence given to Scripture. I’m not an advocate of Bibliolatry…pushing for the worship of God’s Word; however, it seems to me that since the Holy Scriptures are a primary means that God speaks to humanity, we should give more attention to it…reverence, awe, and worship for the Giver of the Word. It is for this reason that I do not care of the typical (at least what I am used to) contemporary worship service…if you can call it that. It seems almost sacrilegious to call it “worship.” Sorry…it’s a pet peeve, but I take it as an affront to Christ for people professing to “love him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength” to give Him such little attention. Here’s an example; the typical modern service lasts approximately 1 – 1.5 hours in length. This service will generally consist of a welcome, announcements, a few hymns/choruses, and a brief reading of the Word and sermon. The sermon, most often, is more of a devotional thought (at least in the contemporary setting) with a few “relevant” points and a “what I’m supposed to do with this” to do list for good Christian boys and girls. I know I’m sounding cynical…but we’re talking about the CREATOR of the UNIVERSE here! I hear of people sitting down and watching an entire DVD series of a TV show at one time, playing console games for hours straight, and/or waiting in traffic jams and long lines for a sporting event and then sitting through inclement weather for hours to watch said event. Conversely, we are told repeatedly that people don’t have the attention spans to sit through much more than a 25 minute sermonette in a worship service. Baloney; people will sit through what they want to sit through provided they find there is value in it. Personally, I cannot find anything of more value than hearing the words of my God…He is indeed, the Pearl of great price.

Enough of my rant…

So, yesterday I read a letter, a letter to the church. This letter was compiled by me from eleven of the church letters and epistles comprising the New Testament Scriptures. There were thirty-four passages of Scripture taken from the letters each annotated and foot-noted in my manuscript. I believe the letter is contextually true and is as relevant for us today as it was when it was originally written/read.

I shared with the congregation that the ancient church would often go months or longer before they might hear from one of the apostles and when they did it would be with great excitement they would gather to hear the reading of the letter. This is the letter I read to my church family yesterday. A copy of the letter (here) and small group discussion points (here) are included  for download.

My thinking for this letter was to simply let the Word of God do what it does; teach, inspire, challenge, rebuke, correct, and convict. I assumed that God did not need me to tell the people what to think on this occasion. I know this is a lot of information in one letter, but I am under the conviction that people would walk away hearing only what God the Holy Spirit wanted them to hear. Time will tell; feedback from this Sunday was rather sparse…dunno what to make of that, but I feel I was true to what the Spirit laid on my heart. Amen.

2009NOV29 DearChurch jborden by icrucified

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Today marks the beginning of the Liturgical Year. This is the first Sunday of Advent 2009…

I plan to focus this year on the Liturgical Calendar. My tradition has not been one that expresses participation with the Christian seasons in full. As an act of discipline and spiritual exploration I intend to enter the journey of the Christian year beginning today. I’m using several tools that will help educate and guide me; in all likelihood, I will pick up a few more along the way. These present tools follow: Living the Christian Year by Bobby Gross; The Liturgical Year by Joan Chittister; Ancient Christian Devotional – A Year of Weekly Readings edited by Thomas Oden; and I will be utilizing resources that introduce me to historical prayers during the Advent season. I will share additional resources as I learn of them and incorporate them into my journey.

During Advent we focus on

• The arrival of Christ in history; the coming of the Christ child and Messiah Jesus
• The final return of Christ at the end of time when all things will be restored
• The intermediate entrance of Christ into our lives (our personal redeeming salvation)

The themes of Advent are:

• Death and Life
• Darkness and Light
• Doubt and Longing

Advent is a time of expectant waiting…our longing for Christ deepens as we slow down and focus our attention and intentions upon Him, our Redeemer-Reconciler-Restorer. O joyous wonder awaits expectant hearts!

“The Biblical scope of Advent stretches from the garden in Genesis to the New Jerusalem in Revelation. Advent concerns first and last things. It involves looking back and learning forward. In Advent we ponder the promises of God from beginning to end.” (Living the Christian Year; p.42)

Opening Prayer for Advent

To you, my God, I lift my soul,
I trust in you; let me never come to shame.
Do not let my enemies laugh at me.
No one who waits for you is ever put to shame.

All-powerful God,
increase our strength of will for doing good
that Christ may find an eager welcome at his coming
and call us to his side in the kingdom of heaven,
where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Father in heaven,
our hearts desire the warmth of your love
and our minds are searching for the light of your Word.

Increase our longing for Christ our Savior
and give us the strength to grow in love,
that the dawn of his coming
may find us rejoicing in his presence
and welcoming the light of his truth.

We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.

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“Before we can conquer the world, we must first conquer the self.” Oswald Sanders; Spiritual Discipleship

The LORD is our righteousness… (Jeremiah 33:16)

I’ve been spending extended time in the writings of the prophet Jeremiah as I meditate and study through other passages of the Bible… sort of like examining all of the Scriptures through Jeremiah’s eyes. Today as I was doing this, I returned to Jeremiah (chapters 2-3) and noticed a disturbing parallel between the retelling of Israel’s and Judah’s unfaithful relationship with God and modern Christianity; specifically, the North American Church. Painting with a broad brush, we are no different. Here’s what I found that led me to this conclusion. I’ll start with a passage from 2 Timothy 3:1-9 – my recap follows:

• People love themselves (2 Timothy 3:2)
• People are ungrateful (2 Timothy 3:2)
• People love pleasure/comfort more than God (2 Timothy 3:4)
• People act religious but reject the power of God to live godly lives (2 Timothy 3:5)
• People have a counterfeit faith (2 Timothy 3:8)

Now, back to Jeremiah and my comparison/parallel observation…

• We feel shame only when we’re caught… (Jeremiah 2:26)
• We keep our back turned to God most of the time, but in times of trouble, we are quick to turn to Him (Jeremiah 2:27)
• We accuse God of wrongdoing (“why would a good God let _______ happen?”), but we are the ones in rebellion and solely responsible for evil in the world (Jeremiah 2:29)
• We like to profess our innocence before God and pretend that He is okay with everything (Jeremiah 2:35)
• We claim to be children of God and profess Him as our Guide, but continue to live our lives on our own terms (Jeremiah 3:4-5)

All of this looks, to me, uncannily like the American church.  It doesn’t have to be this way…and the apostle Paul (speaking under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says it won’t stay this way (2 Timothy 3:9). I continue to pray and teach that we embrace fully the teachings of Jesus and become fully devoted subjects to His Kingdom. It will take first, our determination to overthrow the kingdom of self; a feat that requires a radical faith… This is the essence of what it means to be born again; dying to self in order to be reborn into the Kingdom of God. If we continue to serve self, we are not His disciples and not part of the kingdom. “Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in You.” (Psalm 25:4-5)

Incline, O Lord, thy merciful ears, and illuminate the darkness of our hearts by the light of thy visitation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (The Gelasian Sacramentary)

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“Listen carefully to me. Procure books [of the Bible] that will be medicines for the soul… Don’t simply dive into them… swim in them. Keep them constantly in your mind.” John Chrysostom

“When we submit our lives to what we read in Scripture, we find that we are not being led to see God in our stories, but our stories in God’s. God is the larger context and lot in which our stories find themselves.” Eugene Peterson

“The hope of their faith lies in heavenly reward. When they truly know what the fruit of believing is, they will become more eager in acts of worship.” Ambrosiaster; Epistle to the Ephesians 1.18.1

“End time influences present, ordinary time, not by diminishing or denigrating it but by charging it, filling it with purpose and significance. The end time is not a future we wait for but the gift of the fullness of time that we receive in adoration and obedience as it flows into the present.” Eugene Peterson as quoted by Bobby Gross; Living the Christian Year

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