tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20515836946245042022024-03-14T02:35:23.669-07:00Communion MeditationsMeditations used at the Lord's Table plus occasional reflections on texts related to the Lord's Supper.Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.comBlogger131125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051583694624504202.post-12093050711149511902022-06-12T16:01:00.003-07:002022-06-12T16:01:41.101-07:00"COMMUNION" and "COMMUNITY"<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">John 15:13</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">For ten years straight I helped lead
High School age trail camps in the Eagle Cap Wilderness of the Wallowa
Mountains of Northeastern Oregon for the Christian Churches. After several
years, during an evaluation session with other leaders, we concluded that our
most successful camps took place when the weather was the poorest. The
difficulties presented by rain and snow led the campers to depend on each other
more, and work together better, resulting in a stronger sense of community.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In a much greater way, the danger
and difficulties that soldiers face in military conflicts have led soldiers to
develop a closeness they would have never known otherwise. On June 6, 1944, a
mighty armada crossed a narrow strip of sea from England to Normandy and
cracked the Nazi grip on Western Europe. The men who landed at Normandy and
survived developed an extremely strong bond.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">One of the most remarkable stories
to come out of the 2</span><sup style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">nd</sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> World War of how community was created
through the sacrifice made by one man was told by Ernest Gordon, a British army
officer who was captured by the Japanese and assigned to building the
Burma-Siam railway. In his book, </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">To End All Wars</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">, he tells of joining a
detail of prisoners to build a track bed through low lying swamp land. If a
prisoner appeared to lag, a guard would beat him to death or decapitate him.
Most of the war, the prison camp had served as a laboratory of survival of the
fittest, with every man for himself. Men lived like animals, and for a long time
hate was the main motivation for staying alive.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But something happened to cause a
change. One morning a guard discovered that a shovel was missing. When no one
confessed to the theft, he screamed, “All die! All die!” and raised his rifle
to fire at the first man in line. At that instant an enlisted man stepped forward
and said, “I did it.” Enraged, the guard raised his rifle high in the air and brought
the butt down upon his head in a crushing blow, killing him.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> That evening when tools were
inventoried again, the work crew discovered a mistake had been made; no shovel
was missing. One of the prisoners remembered the words of Jesus in John 15:13, <i>“Greater love has no
one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”</i> Attitudes in
the camp began to shift. With no prompting, prisoners began looking out for
each other rather than themselves. It was the beginning of community, a band of
brothers </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 8pt;">(Phillip
Yancey, Christianity Today, September 2003).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Communion” and “community” have the same
root meaning. They mean fellowship, oneness, and imply a group of people who
work, laugh and cry together – and sometimes, it is crying together that
creates the strongest bonds. People who look out for each other, people who, as
Paul says, <i>“bear one another’s burdens,”</i> become a band of brothers and
sisters in Christ. Of course, it was the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf that
created our community of faith. Like that guard, Sin said, “ALL DIE!” but Jesus
said, “NO, I WILL DIE FOR ALL.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">His sacrifice has brought us
together into this fellowship we call church, and we stay together only as we
take up our cross and follow him. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As a
band of brothers and sisters in Christ, We come together and express our community in the
act of communion.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Words
of institution and partaking of bread and cup.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prayer:
Thank you Lord for the sustaining fellowship of your church which you created
by the sacrifice of your son.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">June
6, 2004; Revised and used June 3, 2007; last used June 12, 2022.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051583694624504202.post-9255445978132598872021-11-02T16:04:00.001-07:002021-11-02T16:04:52.327-07:00THE LORD OF LIFE<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Long
before Christianity came to northern Europe and the British Isles, Oct 31 and
Nov 1 were special days for the Celtic people. These days marked the death of
summer and beginning of winter. They recognized this with a special feast named
for the Celtic Lord of Death, Samhain (Sow-een). His name meant “summer’s end.”
It was not, however, a happy occasion. Since winter is the season of cold,
darkness and death the Celts soon made the connection with human death. The Eve
of Samhain (Sow-een), Oct 31 was a time of Celtic pagan sacrifice, and a time when
Lord Samhain allowed the souls of the dead to return to their earthly homes.
Ghosts, witches, goblins, and elves came and frightened people. In Ireland
people held a parade in which they followed a leader in a white robe with a
mask from the head of an animal. They went door to door asking for food. The
Scots walked through fields and villages carrying torches and lit bonfires to
ward off witches and other evil spirits. From Sunset on Oct 31, when their day
began, the Lord of Death reigned supreme.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p> Sometime
after the Celts began honoring the Lord of Death a very different Feast began
in the Mediterranean world. It too focused on death, but in a very different
way. At first, it was a day to commemorate martyrs who had been killed because
they refused to denounce Christ and worship the emperor. Later it expanded to
remember and honor those special people named saints by the church. Eventually,
the church recognized what Paul knew from the beginning – that all who profess
faith in Christ are saints. They are – we are – the holy people of God. Several
dates were used at first but eventually the church settled on Nov. 1 for the
Feast of All Saints Day.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p> When
the church came to England and spread throughout Northern Europe, the
Anglo-Saxon word, “Hallows” was the name used for the Feast. They called it, “All
Hallows Day,” and the evening before was called “Halloween.” We still use this
word when we pray, “Hallowed be thy name … “.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> The two
traditions, the feasts of Samhain and All Saints Day, clashed and are still in
conflict today. For the Christian the question must be faced: who do I honor today,
the Lord of Death or The Lord of Life? Is my focus on the unholy, the dark and
scary things of death, on ghosts and goblins, werewolves, and zombies, or on
the Holy One who not only died for us but was raised to new life? Our
confession of faith answers that question as we meet the Lord of Life at His
table. Here we honor and remember the Lord of Life. And we do it with all the
saints. My long life and service in many churches has allowed me to know a lot
of saints. I wish I could name all of them now, because I feel, as Heb. 12
says, “surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses,” those who have passed on and
those still living, who have chosen on this day to honor the Lord of Life. We
can join them now in remembering and honoring the Lord of Life by saying
together our confession of faith.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>“Samhain” pronounced Sow-een, or Sow-in (as in cow).</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051583694624504202.post-1945667151523181812021-07-06T14:39:00.004-07:002021-07-06T14:39:59.704-07:00OUR STORY<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It’s
the fourth of July – a day to remember the birth of our nation. Lately, I have
been reading biographies of presidents and other important figures present during
the early years of our nation. These stories have helped me understand more
fully who we are as Americans.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p> Stories
play a powerful role in our lives. They entertain and teach us. They preserve
culture and pass on cultural knowledge from one generation to another. Perhaps
the greatest role that stories play in our lives is that they form and reveal
who we are. Stories form and express our beliefs and values. Stories create and
shape our world view and can also change it.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p> I heard
while living in Oklahoma that many years ago a Native American child was taken
to his grandmother’s home and left with her for several days. She spent that
time telling him stories, the stories of his people. He went there, not
thinking about who he was; he left there knowing he was a Kiowa.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p> Stories
come out of our past, out of what has already happened. Which is why history is
so important. Psalm 105 and several others demonstrate how important Israel’s
history was to it. Psalm 105 opens with a series of imperatives: “Give thanks
to the Lord, call on his name … make known his deeds … sing praises to him …
tell of all his wondrous works … glory in his holy name … seek the Lord …
remember the wonderful works he has done.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p> “Remember!”
it says, and then proceeds to tell Israel’s story, beginning with the covenant
God made with Abraham and continuing with their time in Egypt and the
miraculous Exodus.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p> Why was
it important, centuries later, for Jewish families to tell Israel’s story over
and over again? Why was it important for Israel to periodically re-enact that
story during elaborate feasts and festivals? Because that story made them and
told them who they were. It gave them their way of life, their ethics, their
faith, and set the direction for their journey in the world.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> T</span></o:p>he
story of God’s saving acts throughout history, culminating in the coming of
Jesus, the master storyteller, has become our story. 1 Peter 2:9-10 uses
ancient texts from Israel’s story to summarize how that story identifies us
with these words: <i>You are a chosen nation a royal priesthood, a holy nation
his own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you
out of darkness into his marvelous light; who once were not a people but are
now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p> The
Lord’s Supper is one of the stories that identify us as those who have been
chosen, have received mercy, and now are the people of God. We acknowledge that
now as we make our confession of faith.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> <span> </span><span> "I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God</span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span><span> </span><span> and my Lord and Savior."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051583694624504202.post-54896231207779757142021-05-31T14:30:00.001-07:002021-05-31T14:30:58.013-07:00 “My days are like an evening shadow”<p><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p> Memorial
weekend is considered by many to be the unofficial start of summer and they
look forward to picnics, a trip to the beach or some other pleasurable
activity. Originally, the day was meant to honor fallen service men and women,
as well as loved ones who have died, and many people will visit cemeteries to do
just that.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> Visiting
a cemetery is a time to remember others, but it is also a time to reflect. The
silent headstones tell us more than names and dates. They speak to us of
mortality. Including our own mortality. We may not actually go to a cemetery
but Memorial Day still prompts us to reflect on our mortality.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> I
thought of this recently while reading in the Psalms. More than one psalm speaks
of our mortality. Many echo what the psalmist said in Psalm 102: “My days pass
away like smoke . . . my days are like an evening shadow; . . . I wither away
like grass.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> Poets
have picked up on the imagery of the words, “my days are like an evening
shadow.” Gerhard Frost wrote these lines:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>“Time to come in now!” The mellow voice of love in</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal">The darkening dust of a distant day,</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal">my barefoot, carefree days of firefly lanterns,</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal">cricket-chirped curfews</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal">and the serious business of play.</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal">No harshness to remember, but firmness born of care,</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal">The loving care of Mother; She knew how much we liked to
play.</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal">“Time to come in now!” I seem to hear God say</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal">in the deepening dusk of my sunset day.</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal">God knows how much I want to stay.</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>(Gerhard
Frost, “God Knows,” in <i>Seasons of a Lifetime,</i> p. 153)<o:p></o:p></p></blockquote></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p> How
shall we face our mortality and the “evening shadow?” This unexpressed question
must be in my mind when I go to bed because I often, not always, but often go
to sleep reciting another poem to myself. It is a short poem, written by a
woman of faith, Jane Kenyon, whose “evening shadow” came early because of
breast cancer. It is titled: “Let Evening Come.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Let the light of late afternoon</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal">Shine through chinks in the barn, moving</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal">Up the bales as the sun moves down.</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Let the cricket take up chafing</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal">As a woman takes up her needles </p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal">And her yarn. Let evening come.</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Let dew collect on the hoe abandoned</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal">In long grass. Let the stars appear</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal">And the moon disclose her silver horn.</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Let the fox go back to its sandy den.</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal">Let the wind die down. Let the shed </p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal">Go black inside. Let evening come.</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>To the bottle in the ditch, to the scoop</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal">In the oats, to air in the lung</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal">Let evening come.</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Let it come, as it will, and don’t</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal">Be afraid. God does not leave us </p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal">comfortless, so let evening come.</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>(<i>The Best Poems of Jane Kenyon. </i>Graywolf Press,
2020, p. 58).<o:p></o:p></p></blockquote></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><o:p> </o:p> Jane Kenyon could write this because of her
faith in one whose life was cut short by a cross. His “evening shadow” also
came much too early, as we humans count lifespans. But he trusted in the
all-powerful God of creation to see him through “the valley of the shadow of
death” to the victory banquet that lay ahead. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p> On this
Memorial weekend, as we consider our mortality, God does not leave us
comfortless because of him who died and rose again on our behalf. Because of
him we face our mortality with a living hope. Today, especially, we heed his
invitation: “Do this in remembrance of me.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051583694624504202.post-53864466184154265682021-04-26T16:14:00.001-07:002021-04-26T16:15:20.060-07:00ENOUGH!<p> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">1 Corinthians
11:23-26</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In his book of meditations on the
psalms, Ben Patterson tells of a professor who was lecturing from Paul’s
letter, First Thessalonians, in which the apostle is teaching about the return
of Christ. He was in Uganda and his students were young men preparing for
ministry. These young men were living with horrendous reminders of what they
had endured during the murderous reign of Idi Amin. Some were missing an eye or
an arm. Several had bulging red scars from what had been deep machete wounds.
In the eyes of all was the shadow of the horror they had seen. But there was
also the light of the hope of Christ.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The professor read verse 16 in
chapter 4: </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“The Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet call of God.”</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
Immediately, a student’s hand went up.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Yes?” said the professor. “What is
your question?”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The man who had raised his hand
hesitated for a moment and then asked softly, “What will the Lord shout?”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The professor didn’t know what to
say. Who would? Yet the accumulated suffering of the students in that classroom
seemed to demand some kind of answer. What will the Lord shout when he returns
as Lord of Lords and King of Kings?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“I don’t know,” the professor
admitted. Then he looked around the room, pausing to look at each student, and
asked, “What do you think he will shout?”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">A student’s voice came from the
back: “I think he will shout ‘Enough!’” That’s a good answer.* Enough violence,
enough sickness and pandemics, enough tears, enough suffering, enough hatred.
It’s a time we all look forward to.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Paul reminds us in 1 Cor. 11 that
the Lord’s Supper looks forward to that time as he says, </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">For as often as you
eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he
comes.”</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> His words remind us that we look not only to the past with
thanksgiving but to the future with hope. As we partake, we look to the future
when he will return, and all will be well.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">To be sure, in the meantime, even
now to some extent, we can experience the wholeness and peace that he has
promised, but we know that all will not be realized until the final shout is
heard. Paul’s words invite us to look toward that day: </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“For as often as you
eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;">*Patterson,
Ben. </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;">God’s Prayer Book.</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Carol Stream, Ill., Saltriver, 2008, p. 184.</span></p>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051583694624504202.post-64334677160452008772021-03-23T11:42:00.002-07:002021-03-23T11:42:53.898-07:00A TABLE IN THE WILDERNESS<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">I sat in the living room early on a quiet morning, with a
cup of tea, and looked out upon a tranquil neighborhood bathed in bright
sunshine and thought, “it appears that all is well.” But looks can be deceptive.
I had also just picked up the morning paper. It told a different story – a
story of over ½ million deaths from Covid 19, of thousands who have lost their
jobs, a murderer was killed by the police in a standoff, a governor who is
accused of sexual assault and a cover-up of Covid 19 deaths. There are threats
of domestic terrorism, political deadlock, a pending ecological disaster and
protestors being gassed. You get the idea. It’s a jungle, a wild wilderness out
there and we must travel through it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">It’s enough to make us question God. Israel certainly
did. They were in the wilderness of Sinai, weary, frightened, hungry and
thirsty. In their desperation, says Psalm 78:19, </span><b style="font-size: 12pt;">“They spoke against God,
saying, ‘Can God spread a table in the wilderness?’”</b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> They were asking, can
God give us the nourishment we need to survive in this environment? Can God
really produce a sense of hope and promise in the midst of such a depressing,
mind-boggling situation?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Yes, said the psalmist, he can and he did. Psalm 78
reviews their history in the wilderness and asserts: </span><b style="font-size: 12pt;">“He commanded the skies
above and opened the doors of heaven; and he rained down upon them manna to
eat, and gave them the grain of heaven. They ate the bread of the angels; he
sent them food in abundance”</b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> (Ps, 78:23-25),</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Can God spread a table in our wilderness? John’s story in
chapter six says he can. A few days after feeding the 5,000 in a </span><b style="font-size: 12pt;">“secluded”</b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
and “</span><b style="font-size: 12pt;">desolate</b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” place (Mk. 6:32,35), Jesus was found again, as John tells
us, by a large crowd (Jn 6:25). When some, seeking more bread, spoke of Israel being
given manna in the wilderness they quoted Ps 78:24 which says, </span><b style="font-size: 12pt;">“He gave them
bread out of heaven to eat.” Jesus responded, “It is not Moses who has given
you the bread out of heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread
out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which … gives life to the world.” When
the people said, “Lord, evermore give us this bread,” Jesus replied: I am the
bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me
shall never thirst”</b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> (Jn 6:31-35).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Lord’s Supper reminds us that God can spread a table
for us in the wilderness. Jesus is our Table in the Wilderness. He is our bread
of life. As he said, “this bread is my body, given for you.” And this cup is my
blood shed for you.” He is our table in the wilderness.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">A communion hymn invites us to that table with these
words:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">All who hunger, gather gladly; Holy Manna is our
bread.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>Come from wilderness and wandering. Here in truth we
will be fed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>You that yearn for days of fullness, all around us is
our food.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>Taste and see the grace eternal. Taste and see that
God is good.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>(Sylvia Dunstan, 1990; Chalice Hymnal, 419)</span></p>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051583694624504202.post-10369761062803440412021-02-13T09:57:00.002-08:002021-02-13T09:57:43.220-08:00UNPRECEDENTED!<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> Ordinarily
the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary elect one word to characterize the
previous year, but in the case of 2020, they had trouble doing that. In an
article titled, “Words of an Unprecedented Year,” they said that they couldn’t
settle on one word but instead chose several, with words related to the
Pandemic in the lead. Words like, locked down, shelter in place, covid-19,
bubble, and others. As they said, it was an unprecedented year and perhaps the
best choice for a single word to describe the year is simply “unprecedented.” </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The disciples of Jesus could say
that they had an unprecedented experience also. It happened when they were in a
lockdown. They were “sheltering in place.” There was a deadly enemy out there
and they were afraid to venture out. They had seen Jesus crucified. There was
nothing unprecedented about that; there were lots of crucifixions. What
happened next, however, was unprecedented. Here is how John describes it in chapter
20:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p><i>“When it was evening on that day, the first day of the
week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for
fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with
you.” After he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the
disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be
with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he
breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit”).</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><o:p> </o:p></i> Knowing
how shocked and troubled they were, Jesus said, twice, “Peace be with you.”
Then he showed them his hands and his side, as if to say, “look, I am the one
they crucified, but I’m alive.” Then they realized that he had defeated death and
they rejoiced. His living presence gave them hope and joy.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p> Then he
said to them, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” His words gave them
purpose. They were not a bunch of individuals, devastated and at loose ends.
They had a reason for existence, a mission to accomplish.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p> Next he
breathed upon them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Not only were they given
a purpose, they were also given the power to carry it out, the Holy Spirit, the
very presence of God in their lives.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> I</span>t was
indeed an unprecedented experience. They went from a devastated, frightened
people, destined to be scattered and forgotten to a joyful, powerful group that
would change the world. All because the living Christ was in their midst,
giving them peace, joy, purpose and power. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We are
fortunate to share in this unprecedented experience as we meet with our Lord in
communion this morning, and because of his presence, we too can experience
peace, joy, purpose and power. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051583694624504202.post-3492131655670755842020-12-30T16:16:00.000-08:002020-12-30T16:16:13.803-08:00A TRANSFORMING RESOLUTION FOR 2021<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"> The year is about to end, and we all
say, good riddance to a bad year. Of course, we know that our current problems will not go away just by turning a page on the calendar. But as we turn the page, we can hope for a much better year in 2021. However, for that hope to be more than just wishful thinking there are things we need to do beyond the usual precautions of wearing a mask, washing our hands, and so on. We can do something that is equally or even more important.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We can make a New Year’s Resolution that
will help us navigate whatever dangerous waters lay ahead. We can resolve to
live the words of Philippians 4:4-8. We can take these inspired words from
Paul, who seemed to always be in trouble, and do like the ancient Israelites
did with the divine words God gave them. They were told to bind them between
their eyes and on their wrists, and to write them on their doorposts where they
would see them every day. God’s words were meant to permeate their lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Here is what Philippians 4:4-8 says:
</span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: red;">Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say,
rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is near; do not
be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus. Finally, . . . whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever
is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if
there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about
these things.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">These
are words to live by in 2021. Let me summarize:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">First,
</span><u style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">rejoice</u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> in the Lord always. This is not a suggestion; it is a command;
we can choose to rejoice.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Second,
<u>be reasonable</u> with everyone, especially those who disagree with you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Third,
<u>replace anxiety</u> with prayer – in everything and with thanksgiving. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Finally,
<u>focus</u> on what is true, honorable, and just; on what is pure, lovely, and
commendable Do your best to counter the stories of ugliness and violence by
focusing on what is good and praiseworthy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Paul
wanted to imitate Christ and I am sure that these words reflect what he saw in
Christ. Today, as we view Christ through the lens of the Lord’s Supper, let us
resolve to live by these words and thereby imitate Christ.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Confession
of Faith</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prayer:
O Lord, hear us and rescue us. Give us in the new year, we pray, renewed health
in body, mind, and spirit. Help us to live by the example of your Son, Jesus
the Savior, in whose name we pray.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051583694624504202.post-90256422008902144712020-12-03T13:58:00.002-08:002020-12-03T13:58:42.927-08:00PEACE BE WITH YOU<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">If you look in any hymnal you will find several Advent
hymns that focus on the great themes of this season. A familiar one, “O Come, O
Come, Emmanuel.” speaks of peace in the fourth stanza as it says: </span><span style="color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">“O come Desire of nations, bind
all peoples in one heart and mind. Bid envy, strife and quarrels cease; fill
the whole world with heaven’s peace.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When Isaiah spoke of the coming child (9:6-7) he called
him <span style="color: red;">“Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting
Father, Prince of Peace,” and added, “of the increase of his government and
peace there will be no end.”</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The child, who became the man Jesus, met with his
apostles for the last time in the upper room. There, according to John’s
Gospel, he spoke at length, preparing them for his departure. Several times he
spoke about peace. For instance, he said,<span style="color: red;"> “Peace I leave
with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives”</span>
(14:27). Near the end of his teaching he said, <span style="color: red;">“I have
said this to you, so that in me you may have peace”</span> (16:33).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">He wants them to have the gift of his peace. He said, “</span><u style="font-size: 12pt;">I
do not give to you as the world gives.”</u><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> He, and they, knew all too well how
the world gives peace. Their world was a Roman world. How did that world give
peace? At the point of a sword and by crucifying anyone who was a threat to
their rule of peace. The Pax Romana, the “Peace of Rome,” was in force and they
meant to keep it that way. Jesus saw firsthand how the world gives peace. As a
boy he lived in the small village of Nazareth, close to the major city of Sephoris.
A rebellion in Sephoris about the time when Jesus was born ended quickly with
the death of some 30,000 citizens, including 2,000 who were crucified. Jesus
would have learned that the cross was the symbol of how the world gives peace.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Jesus said he wanted to give them </span><b style="font-size: 12pt;">his</b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> peace. Amazingly,
the cross became his symbol of peace. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">In
Romans 5 Paul points out that it was through death on the cross that Christ
reconciled us to God, thus making peace. And as for the hostilities and
divisions we experience in the world, Paul explains in Ephesians 2 that he put
these to death through the cross as well. The symbolism of the cross was
transformed when Jesus was crucified.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">There is a beautiful verse in Ps 85 which, I think, summarizes
the symbolism of the cross for us: “</span><b style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: red;">Mercy and truth
have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">” As
we take communion today may the cross be both righteousness and peace for us.</span></p>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051583694624504202.post-41912499249689932162020-10-29T09:58:00.002-07:002020-10-29T09:58:28.778-07:00IT'S NOT OVER<p> </p><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW112879357" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW112879357 BCX0" paraeid="{30f7c6f5-f465-40fd-8570-7fe41f741a3f}{172}" paraid="1051253730" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-indent: 48px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">I was reading Psalm 31 recently and one line in it made me think of Jesus on the cross. In verse 5 the psalmist says, </span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">“Into your hand I commit my spirit.”</span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> In Luke’s Gospel (23:46) these were his last words, uttered shortly before he died. When I picture Jesus on the cross and hear these words they sound like the last gasp of a dying man. He is facing reality – death is inevitable and imminent. Later, when Stephen in Acts 7, when Stephen is being crushed by huge stones thrown down on him, he said the same thing. It’s clear that he also knows that death is inevitable and imminent. It’s as if both Jesus and Stephen are saying, it’s over, the end has come.</span><span class="EOP SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559731":720}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW112879357" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW112879357 BCX0" paraeid="{30f7c6f5-f465-40fd-8570-7fe41f741a3f}{182}" paraid="1630403123" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-indent: 48px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559731":720}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW112879357" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW112879357 BCX0" paraeid="{30f7c6f5-f465-40fd-8570-7fe41f741a3f}{186}" paraid="1129143399" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-indent: 48px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">But when I read these words in the context of Psalm 31 that is not what I see. To be sure, the psalmist clearly is in trouble. He prays in verse 1, </span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">“rescue me speedily,”</span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> and in verse 4, </span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">“take me out of the net that is hidden for me.”</span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> Later in the psalm he cries out to God in distress, </span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">“my strength fails, my bones waste away”</span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> (10). And he speaks of enemies who scheme against him, and plot to take his life (13). </span><span class="EOP SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559731":720}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW112879357" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW112879357 BCX0" paraeid="{30f7c6f5-f465-40fd-8570-7fe41f741a3f}{204}" paraid="1074476819" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-indent: 48px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559731":720}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW112879357" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW112879357 BCX0" paraeid="{30f7c6f5-f465-40fd-8570-7fe41f741a3f}{208}" paraid="1519396807" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-indent: 48px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">In other verses, however, he thanks God for rescuing him. In fact, the entirety of verse 5 says, </span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">“Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.”</span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> These are not the words of a man who thinks that life is over. Instead, he goes on to say, </span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">“I will exult and rejoice in your steadfast love because you have seen my affliction”</span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> (7). He may not be out of danger yet, but he has hope. In verses 14-15 he repeats and summarizes it for us: </span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">“I trust in you, O Lord. I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hand.”</span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> A cliché in the sports world says, “It’s not over till </span><span class="NormalTextRun ContextualSpellingAndGrammarErrorV2 SCXW112879357 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/svg+xml;base64,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"); background-position: left bottom; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">its</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> over,” and for the psalmist it is not over yet. The end has not come</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559731":720}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW112879357" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW112879357 BCX0" paraeid="{30f7c6f5-f465-40fd-8570-7fe41f741a3f}{226}" paraid="801378996" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-indent: 48px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559731":720}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW112879357" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW112879357 BCX0" paraeid="{30f7c6f5-f465-40fd-8570-7fe41f741a3f}{230}" paraid="848557446" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-indent: 48px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">As I meditated on this </span><span class="NormalTextRun ContextualSpellingAndGrammarErrorV2 SCXW112879357 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/svg+xml;base64,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"); background-position: left bottom; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">psalm</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> I remembered that Jesus undoubtedly knew the entire psalm and understood exactly what the psalmist was saying. The fact that Jesus turned to it as he faced death means that these were not just his final words, they were his motto </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">for life. </span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">“Into your hand I commit my spirit … my times are in your hand,”</span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> – these words described how he lived as well as how he died. With such deep trust in God, Jesus knew that his life was not over and so he spoke the words of a psalm that faces the reality of pain and suffering and death with faith and hope and courage. In doing so he gave us a model for living that declares it</span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">’</span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">s never over when God is in it with us. Therefore, the psalm ends with a</span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">n</span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> exhortation for all of us: </span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">“Love the Lord, all you his saints. The Lord preserves the faithful … Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord”</span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> (24-25). </span><span class="EOP SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559731":720}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW112879357" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW112879357 BCX0" paraeid="{42e57ec4-395d-46df-ac59-ec9df96130e6}{2}" paraid="1496616890" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-indent: 48px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559731":720}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW112879357" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW112879357 BCX0" paraeid="{42e57ec4-395d-46df-ac59-ec9df96130e6}{6}" paraid="1497569757" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-indent: 48px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">As we take communion today may this be our prayer also: “Father, into your hand I commit </span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">my</span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> spirit; </span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">my</span><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> times are in your hands.”</span><span class="EOP SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559731":720}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW112879357" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW112879357 BCX0" paraeid="{42e57ec4-395d-46df-ac59-ec9df96130e6}{20}" paraid="502533307" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-indent: 48px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW112879357 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW112879357 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559731":720}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051583694624504202.post-62879382824733151682020-08-18T13:48:00.002-07:002020-08-18T13:48:49.342-07:00"COME, LORD JESUS."<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> At the
height of the Viet Nam war in 1969 there were protests throughout the U.S., not
unlike what we see today. One morning that summer, as I walked across the U.O. campus,
I saw a message of judgment from the book of Revelation spray-painted in big
black letters across one of the buildings: <b>“Fallen is Babylon.”</b> The
message was from a book that is filled with images that depict judgment. We see
all kinds of scary creatures along with scenes of persecution, death, plagues,
and impossible amounts of blood.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">If we are not careful that is all
we see, but there is more, much more. There is singing – a lot of it. Fifteen
passages are commonly considered to be hymns. And the singing is a joyful,
excited, enthusiastic praise of God upon the throne and of the Lamb who was
slain, but lives as king of kings. Handle captures the spirit of the music in
his masterpiece, <i>The Messiah. </i>Who hasn’t been moved by his rendition of
the hymn in chapter 5: <b><i>Worthy is the Lamb who has been slain, to receive
power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing? </i></b>And
who has not stood to join with the choir and sing with full voice the powerful
Hallelujah Chorus?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="text-indent: -4.5pt;">Near
the end of his story, in chapter 19, John sees a great multitude at the
marriage of the Lamb and his bride singing a victory song: </span><b style="text-indent: -4.5pt;"><i>Alleluia, for
the Lord God omnipotent reigns.</i></b><i style="text-indent: -4.5pt;"> </i><span style="text-indent: -4.5pt;">Some of the churches John wrote
to were in danger of not being able to sing the Alleluia victory song. One was
the church at Laodicea, seen in chapter 3, which was so self-sufficient and
self-satisfied, that they felt no need for the Lord. So they shut the door and
John shows Jesus standing by the closed door and saying, </span><b style="text-indent: -4.5pt;"><i>Behold, I stand
at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come
in to him and dine with him, and he with me.</i></b><span style="text-indent: -4.5pt;"> They probably called their
meal with the bread and wine the Lord’s Supper, but the Lord was not there.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 4.5pt; text-indent: -4.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 4.5pt; text-indent: -4.5pt;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: -4.5pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -4.5pt;">In contrast, at the end of the
story, in chapter 22 an invitation is extended to the Lord Jesus. Keep in mind
that John is writing to Christians, not to the world in general. He knows that
the assembled Christians will conclude their worship with the Lord’s Supper. In
this context, at the conclusion of his letter, corresponding to the conclusion
of his church’s worship, the invitation is given for Christ to come to the
table. </span><b style="text-indent: -4.5pt;">“The Spirit and the bride say come,” </b><span style="text-indent: -4.5pt;">the Spirit who inspires John,
and </span><b style="text-indent: -4.5pt;"> “The Bride,”</b><span style="text-indent: -4.5pt;"> the church
universal say, </span><b style="text-indent: -4.5pt;">Come!</b><span style="text-indent: -4.5pt;">. And, “</span><b style="text-indent: -4.5pt;">Let everyone who hears,“</b><span style="text-indent: -4.5pt;"> all who are
within sound of the reader’s voice, say, </span><b style="text-indent: -4.5pt;">Come! </b><span style="text-indent: -4.5pt;">Then the invitation is
extended to all of the congregation: </span><b style="text-indent: -4.5pt;">Let everyone who is thirsty come. Let
anyone who wishes, take the water of life as a gift (22:17).</b><span style="text-indent: -4.5pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -4.5pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -4.5pt;">The book ends with one last request, </span><b style="text-indent: -4.5pt;">Come,
Lord Jesus.</b><span style="text-indent: -4.5pt;"> Is it a request for the Second Coming? Yes, but more than that,
it is a request for the Lord to be with them in the bread and the wine.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 4.5pt; text-indent: -4.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 4.5pt; text-indent: -4.5pt;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-indent: -4.5pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -4.5pt;">Now it is our turn. We who are
about to partake of the Lord’s Supper also say, “Come, Lord Jesus,” be with us
now as we partake.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 4.5pt; text-indent: -4.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051583694624504202.post-30591492910282551262020-03-02T13:35:00.003-08:002020-03-02T13:35:52.050-08:00WHY?<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
WHY?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“O
taste and see that the Lord is good.” These words, from Psalm 34:8 have been
used in the church’s communion service since the earliest days. In her extended
meditation on this text Bonnie Thurston, Biblical scholar, professor and
spiritual leader, tells of a grandmother who said that her three-year-old
grandson was interested in crucifixes and depictions of Jesus’s death in art.
He had so many questions about Jesus’s death that his grandmother wondered if
it were normal. Bonnie Thurston said she thought it was unusual but not
abnormal. Children who have been loved and nurtured can respond with great
sensitivity to the sufferings of others <span style="font-size: 8.0pt;">(Thurston,
Bonnie. <i>O Taste and See.</i> P. 51).</span> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
isn’t just a three-year old’s question. You and I can relate to the little
boy’s concern. “Why,” the quintessential two-and-three-year-old question, is
also our question. Why did Jesus have to suffer and die? How did the
crucifixion erase sin? What kind of God is this? Its outrageous to assert that
God died on a Roman cross, an instrument of death saved for non-Roman citizens,
insurrectionists and the most horrible of criminals.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Paul
recognized this when he said in 1 Cor 1:23 that the idea of the Messiah being
crucified was a “stumbling-block” to Jews and “foolishness” to Gentiles.
“Stumbling-block” translates A Greek word which is the source of our
English word “scandal.” It is scandalous to think the Messiah, the Savior, was
crucified. Why the cross?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Great
theological treatises have been written to answer that question but there is a
simple answer that comes out of human experience and human relationships. As
Bonnie Thurston put it: <i>“In a broken relationship, only the wronged party
can restore the relationship because only the wronged party can forgive” </i>(p.
52).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>David
recognized this fact. Although he had done irreparable harm to Bathsheba and
Uriah he confessed to God in Ps 41, “<i>against you and you only have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight.” </i>We may wrong others and need their
forgiveness, but ultimately it is God we have wronged, and only God can
forgive. Our sins destroy our relationship with God, and we are helpless to
repair it. But God is love, and love seeks reconciliation.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As Paul
said in Romans 5:8, 10,<i> “God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. … While we were enemies we were
reconciled to God through the death of his son.”</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This is
the good news that we receive and remember each time we come to this table. <i>“O
taste and see that the Lord is good.”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<br />Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051583694624504202.post-79644277248619402552020-01-06T13:56:00.000-08:002020-01-06T13:56:09.001-08:00TWENTY-TWENTY VISION<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>On New
Year’s Day I saw in the Frank and Ernest cartoon that one of the characters was
looking at a calendar with Jan. 1, 2020 on it and saying, “Darn! I knew it was
a long shot, but I was hoping I’d wake up today and have perfect eyesight.” There
is no connection of course between 20-20 eyesight and the year 2020, at least
in a literal sense. But in another sense, there may be a vital connection. It
might help us maneuver through whatever the new year brings if we can see
clearly. Especially if we have the kind of 20-20 vision that enables us to see
reality clearly and, as Paul prays in Philippians 1:9, “that your love may
overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine
what is best.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>How can
we gain the kind of 20-20 vision that enables us to determine what is best? The
year 2020 will bring all kinds of tests, temptations, ups and downs, joys and
sorrows, opportunities and challenges. How do we determine what is best? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
It may depend on the kind of
glasses we are wearing. What we choose will be determined by how we look at
life. We all look at life through certain lenses. Some have lenses that are
covered with dollar signs and they see everything in terms of how much money
they can make. Others look at life through racist, or sexist, or political or nationalistic
lenses. The ideologies and worldviews by which we live are manifold and many of
them lead to a distorted understanding of reality.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As
Christians, we can choose to look through a different lens – the lens of Jesus,
or what we might call “Christ-colored” glasses. How did Jesus look at life? At
people? Matthew tells us (14:14) that when he saw the thousands of people who
had followed him to a deserted place “he had compassion upon them.” To view
life through the lens of Jesus means to see everything through his character,
that is, through his grace, compassion, love, kindness, goodness, and
integrity. It means to go through life choosing to live as a servant intent on doing
the will of God, the Father.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When
Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper he said to his disciples, “Do this in
remembrance of me.” As we focus on Jesus, our view of life is shaped by him and
we begin to see through the lens of Jesus. He gives us the kind of 20-20 vision
that we need to “determine what is best” as we maneuver through the year of 2020.
Let us focus, therefore, on him who took the bread, blessed and broke it and
said, “This is my body, given for you.” And also the cup, saying, “This is my
blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of
sins.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051583694624504202.post-77925920731779660282019-12-16T14:36:00.000-08:002019-12-16T14:36:07.989-08:00OUR GREAT THANKSGIVING<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Happy harvest day! This has always been my favorite holiday
in Ukraine.” This is how June Johnson, a missionary nurse in Ukraine that our
church supports, began her latest update. She went on to say that Harvest day is a Sunday set aside each fall
for giving thanks to God. For their church it is a 3-hour service with lunch
for 200 served afterwards. Ukraine, as a nation, began a national yearly
celebration of giving thanks to God in November of 2015. Over 100,000 people
gathered in Kiev’s main square to thank God for the year’s harvest and for
Ukraine.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>June
went on to comment on what giving thanks meant to her. She said: “Many years
ago, a sister in Christ, impressed upon me the importance of keeping a grateful
heart. Important because it keeps things like worry, fear, and complaining on a
short leash. Important because it gives other things like joy, trust and
obedience lots of room to run. And, important because it keeps me remembering –
remembering who God is, what he has done, what he will do in the end, and
remembering all that he has given me.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Aaron
pointed out in this week’s newsletter that “to give thanks” is from the Greek
word “eucharisteo”. The Lord’s Supper has been called the Eucharist from the
earliest days of the church because Jesus used that word at the Last Supper.
Matthew 26:26 says, <i>And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks
and broke it, and give it to the disciples and said, “take, eat; this is my
body.” Then he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them saying,
“Drink from it all of you; for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is
shed for many for the remission of sins.”</i> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
Lord’s Supper is our great thanksgiving. It is an act of thanksgiving, but more
than that it cultivates thanksgiving – an attitude of gratitude. It reminds us
that we have a choice. We can gripe and complain, or we can rejoice and give
thanks. It’s true – life is not always good, it is unfair, painful, and
sometimes really hard. But when we learn to maintain an attitude of
thankfulness, we can look at all that life offers and put a great big Y-E-S!
over it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I agree with the person who said: <i>“In
the end, when we die, maybe we’ll be judged not by what we accomplished during
our lifetimes – the jobs we held, the music or the books we wrote, or other
accomplishments – but by how thankful we were to have lived. Somehow, as I grow
older that seems important to me. I don’t want to die as one who wasn’t
grateful, who didn’t appreciate everything while he had it.”</i> <span style="font-size: 8.0pt;">(John Killinger,”The Healing Power of Grattitude,” 30GoodMinutes.org).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 8.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span>Let us join together now in a Great
Thanksgiving of commuion and our offering of grateful giving.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051583694624504202.post-78808266851509010152019-12-16T14:27:00.003-08:002019-12-16T14:27:52.019-08:00THANKFUL -- ON SUCH A DAY AS THIS<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After
all night in the ER I had surgery on Thanksgiving morning. Late that night I
reviewed the day and asked myself, is there anything I can be thankful for on
such a day as this? Immediately I thought of my wife and daughter, my brother,
the neighbors, and of course our church family that I knew would provide great
support. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
Then, it
occurred to me that this experience drove me to thanksgiving for the
fundamentals of living. For example, I couldn’t eat the thanksgiving noon meal
because it was too soon after surgery, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but that night when I lifted the lid on the
tray I was struck by the beautiful sight of green, orange, white, and brown
foods, and then savored the taste and texture of the food. It brought me joy. I
remembered that C S Lewis had said that such moments of joy, or bliss, or
ecstasy, whether it’s the food we eat, a striking sunset, or a thrilling
symphony, our senses give us moments of joy that are pointers to God, the giver
of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Then
I remembered the primary gift that I had received that day. A powerful, deadly
enemy had captured my body and there was nothing that I could do to get rid of
it. I could not repent of my illness, or confess it, and remove it. I needed
help, not from just anyone, but from someone capable of dealing with this
enemy. And I gave thanks for a highly skilled surgeon and his team. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As
I continued to reflect on my experience, some of our study of Romans in the
Senior Group came to mind. Paul spent the first three chapters of Romans
pounding home the fact that we have all been captured by a powerful enemy, an
enemy he calls sin, that intends death for us, and we have no way of dealing
with it. We have been captured and we cannot repent of our captivity and by
this escape. We need help. Realizing this, Paul cried out, <i>“Who will deliver
me from this body of death?”</i> And the answer came, <i>“Thanks be to God
through Jesus Christ our Lord”</i> (Rom 7:24).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>God
sent the Great Physician who did what no one else could do. Paul put it this
way: “<i>For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for
the ungodly. . . . God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we
were still sinners, Christ died for us” </i>(Rom. 5:6, 8). <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>For
this reason, the Lord’s Supper, which reminds us of this, has traditionally
been called, “The Great Thanksgiving.” God has given us life through the gift
of his one and only son and at this table, now, we can say “Thank You.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051583694624504202.post-65385474016127886412019-08-12T13:47:00.000-07:002019-08-12T13:47:11.836-07:00THE WOUNDED HEALER<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Last
Sunday night, following the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio where 31were
killed and many more injured, <i>Sixty Minutes</i> replayed an earlier story
about a couple whose daughter was killed in the Colorado Theater shooting
several years ago. This couple who understood what it meant to lose a loved one
that way began going to the site of mass shootings and offering their understanding,
compassion and support to those whose loved ones had been killed. Often, it is
those who have suffered who can help the most because they know how others
feel. They become what Henri Nouen called, “wounded healers.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Also,
fresh in my mind was a story I had just read which also makes clear how
“wounded healers” can provide what we really need.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story was told by Helmut Thielicke, a
German theologian and pastor, who preached in the Stuttgart Cathedral during
the Second World War. The Allies made Stuttgart a major target and bombed it
mercilessly and repeatedly. The Cathedral was destroyed and then his home was
destroyed. He went to a village nearby that had not been bombed hoping to find
a house for his family. There he had a peculiar experience. As he walked
through the village, he remembered how he had tried in his mind to escape the
sight of bombed out ruins and suffering people by imagining that he lived in a
quiet village, where neighbors sat on their porches, greeting passers-by with
warmth and friendliness. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By this he
hoped to find peace in his heart. But as he walked through the village, he did
not find peace. Instead, the idyllic scene was tormenting rather than
tranquilizing. He said, <b>“it drove me back to the ruined city and the people
whose faces were still marked by the runes of terror. There I felt at home.
They understood what I had gone through because they had suffered it
themselves. There is nothing more comforting than to have people who understand
one.”</b>* They were his wounded healers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In our
struggles, when we are tested and fail, when we are in a war, as Paul says in
Ephesians, <i><u>“against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of
the darkness of his age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness,”</u></i> we too
have a “wounded healer.” He is our commander in chief, but he does not sit in a
heavenly office sending out commands and comforting messages. He is in the
trenches with us. Hebrews 2:18 says, <u>“Because he himself was tested by what
he suffered he is able to help those who are being tested.”</u> He knows what
it is like. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
The prophet Isaiah described our
wounded healer this way: “<i><u>He was wounded for our transgressions, he was
bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by
his stripes we are healed”</u></i> (Isa 53:4-5). <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In the
upper room Jesus pointed to himself as our wounded healer when the took the
bread and blessed it and broke it and said, <i><u>“this is my body, given for you.”</u></i>
And also, the cup, saying, <i><u>“This is my blood of the new covenant, poured
out for many for the remission of sins. Do this in remembrance of me.”</u></i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-size: 8.0pt;">*Thielicke, Helmut. <i>Christ and the Meaning of Life.</i>
New York: Harper and Rowe, 1962, 16-17.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051583694624504202.post-10810391226335163932019-07-08T15:27:00.001-07:002019-07-08T15:27:47.689-07:00A FRAGRANT OFFERING<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Mahatma
Gandhi once said to a Christian missionary: <i>“Let us think of the bulk of
your people … Do they spread the perfume of their lives? That to me is the sole
criterion. All I want them to do is live Christian lives, not to annotate
them.”*</i> When I read this I thought Gandhi may have been acquainted with
Paul’s statement in 2 Cor 2:14, “<i>But thanks be to God, who in Christ always
leads us in triumphal procession and through us spreads the fragrance from
knowing him.” </i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There is
something very attractive about some aromas. I can remember when the Franz
bread bakery was located about where Matt Knight arena is today. The delicious
smell of freshly baked bread spreading throughout the University district
attracted many students who would buy warm bread and take it back to their
dorms for late night parties. Also, I remember reading about a church that
wanted to have a special communion service. Early on a Sunday morning a few
people came to the kitchen, which was located near the sanctuary, like ours is.
They proceeded to bake bread and timed it so that the wonderful aroma of fresh
bread permeated the sanctuary when church began.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Gandhi
spoke about the “perfume of Christian lives,” and Paul wrote about Christians
spreading the “fragrance from knowing Christ.” It’s a beautiful metaphor of how
evangelism can be done in a pleasing and attractive way. But what, exactly, is
this “fragrance,” this “aroma” that Christians carry into the world? Can it be
defined more precisely?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Paul
does this for us in his only other use of the metaphor. It is found in
Ephesians 5:2 where he says, <i>Live in love as Christ loved us and gave
himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”</i> The fragrance
of a loving, self-giving, sacrificial offering made by Jesus Christ is our
model.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Its
been said that Christians should live like Christ, look like Christ, love like
Christ, and serve like Christ. All of that is true, and all of it can be
summarized by simply saying, “Christians should smell like Christ.” Have we put
on Christ so that we smell like him or do we spread a moldy, rotting, decidedly
offensive aroma by our lives? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Nothing
attracts us to the table more than the smell of fresh baked warm bread, and
nothing attracts others to Christ more than the aroma of a loving, sacrificial,
Christ-like life. The Lord’s Supper, this communion, reminds us of his fragrant
offering and invites us to drench our lives in the perfume of his life. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*<span style="font-size: x-small;">M. J. Gandhi, <i>The Message of Jesus Christ, </i>ed. Anand T. Hingorani (Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhaven, 1986), 44.</span></div>
<br />Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051583694624504202.post-70766171868078292422019-06-19T13:56:00.001-07:002019-06-19T13:56:19.244-07:00"ABBA -- FATHER"<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
On this
Father’s Day I am thankful that Jesus chose to teach his disciples to God as
Father, and by doing so honored fatherhood. The Jewish people ordinarily did
not pray to God as father. In the psalms, the Jewish prayer and hymn book, God
is addressed as “Lord,” “Yahweh,” “my Rock,” or some other metaphor, but never
as “Father.” In the psalms and in the OT generally God speaks of the king as
his son and of the Jewish people as his children, but individual Jews did not
pray to God as Father.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
changes with Jesus. In Matthew Jesus began his teaching ministry with the
Sermon on the Mount when he taught his disciples to pray, “Our Father in heaven
…” He modeled that approach throughout his ministry, until at the end, on the
cross, he twice addressed God as Father, “Father, forgive them …,” and “Father,
into your hands I commit my spirit.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Why did
Jesus choose to have his disciples pray to God as Father? Perhaps doing so
recognizes something about the mystery and power of God. To a child a father is
this tall, strong, even fearsome person that he or she does not fully
understand. A father in the Jewish social structure had extraordinary status
and power. His word was final. It was to be obeyed without question.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But the
use of “Father” by Jesus goes far beyond that. The word he used in Aramaic was
“Abba” – a word implying intimacy and closeness. Some have likened it to our
terms of “Papa,” or “Daddy.” In addition to respect for this fearsome,
mysterious and powerful God, he wants his disciples to have an intimate, loving
relationship with God. As Paul says in Romans 8:15, <i>“You did not receive the
spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by
whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’”</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As I
have read, prayed and studied the psalms, one fact stands out. To be sure, God
is seen as powerful, mysterious, fearsome, and one who demands obedience, but
this is balanced by two other terms. Over and over the Psalms speak of God’s
“steadfast love,” and his “faithfulness.” His steadfast love and faithfulness
can be summarized in the one word, “commitment.” As our heavenly Father, God is
so committed to us that he will do whatever it takes, pay any price, to save us
and make us his own.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As we
take communion this morning, may we see not only the sacrifice of Jesus, but
the commitment of God – a commitment so strong that he gave his only begotten
son so that we might become his adopted sons and daughters and thus be able to
call him “Abba, Father.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051583694624504202.post-22841963950055305022019-05-20T14:34:00.000-07:002019-05-20T14:34:04.749-07:00A COMMON MEAL<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Most of
my days are quite common, in the sense that I do the same things day after day.
But special days come along, like today, Mother’s Day. Yesterday I decided to
revive an old tradition, so I went to the florist and bought a few baby roses.
It used to be that everyone wore roses, or some other flower, in honor of their
mother, red if she was still living and white if she was not. When my mother
was living, Mother’s Day was special because it brought her family together. My
sisters from Sweet Home and Lebanon, my brother from here in Eugene, and even
my brother from Seattle when he could, would come with their spouses to honor
our mother. Those days are gone for our family, but the memories linger on and
make today a special day. Also, it remains a special day to Frances and me as our
kids get in touch through gifts and telephone calls.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The great majority of my days, however, are
not special, they are common, ordinary days. And my meals each day are not
exotic, gourmet meals. They are just plain, ordinary, common meals. With this
in mind, David Steele gave us this poetic insight about the Lord’s Supper in his poem, Communion:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
This table now is simply spread </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
With little loaves of common
bread …<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Not pumpernickel, corn, or rye </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
To spark the taste or please
the eye … <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Just bread … It’s sold in any store. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
I’ve had it many times
before.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
I am accustomed, when a guest, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
To being rather more
impressed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
I might expect a gracious host </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
To brown the bread and make
some toast,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Or see his table was arrayed </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
With butter, jam, and marmalade.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Danish pastries filled with jam, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Some scrambled eggs with
lots of ham.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
This would impress me more. Instead, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
The Lord shares common,
daily bread.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
I’ll eat this bread; but I will find </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Its taste won’t linger
in my mind.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
This bread is easy to dismiss. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
I've had ten thousand bites
like this.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
This bread, I think, in many ways </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Reminds me of my common
days.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Some days are vivid in design, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Resembling an exotic wine …<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Days of joy and days of sorrow. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
(One may well arrive
tomorrow.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
But nearly all the days I’ve led </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Are more like this plain,
common bread;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Like, say, last 19<sup>th</sup> of September. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
(A day I
simply can’t remember.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
It’s gone … slipped from my memory </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Just as this bread is
bound to be.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
At this table I shall praise </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
The God who gives me common
days.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
And I shall live these days with pride, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Knowing God moves by
my side.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
For at this table God has said: </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
“I share with you this daily
bread”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
And by this Word we all are fed.*<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*<span style="font-size: 8.0pt;">David Steele, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">God must have a sense of humor. He made
Aardvarks and Orangutans … and Me.</i> Illuminations Press, 1983.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051583694624504202.post-73507913193627173872019-04-13T14:50:00.001-07:002019-04-13T14:50:58.426-07:00"INTO YOUR HAND"<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
For some time now I have often
thought about death. Not in a morbid, depressing sense but with the realization
that death is a greater reality to me than ever before. Both Frances and I have
lost our parents and all but one of our 9 brothers and sisters. Also, we have
outlived many long-time friends. And, of course, these old bodies of ours
‘ain’t what they used to be.’<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
At night I have a routine of
reading for a while and then, after turning off the light, I often pray a
couple of poems. One of them you know quite well. It begins, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“The
Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want …”</i></b>, and continues, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for you
are with me.”</i></b> The other is a modern poem by Jane Kenyon titled, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Let Evening Come,” <span style="font-size: xx-small;">(Jane Kenyon Collected Poems, St Paul, Graywolf Press, 2005)</span><o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Let
the light of late afternoon<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">shine
through chinks in the barn, moving <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">up
the bales as the sun moves down.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Let
the cricket take up chafing<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">as
a woman takes up her needles <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and
her yarn. Let evening come.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Let
dew collect on the hoe abandoned<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in
long grass. Let the stars appear <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and
the moon disclose her silver horn.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Let
the fox go back to its sandy den. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Let
the wind die down. Let the shed <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">go
black inside. Let evening come.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To
the bottle in the ditch, to the scoop <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in
the oats, to air in the lung<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Let
evening come.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Let
it come, as it will, and don’t <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">be
afraid. God does not leave us <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">comfortless,
so let evening come.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Thinking about this, it occurred to
me that Jesus had a poem on his mind in the hour of his death. The poem is
Psalm 31. It begins, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“In you, O Lord, do I take refuge.”</i></b>
It goes on to say, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“You take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for you are my
refuge.”</i></b> And then comes the line he quoted as he hung on the cross: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Father,
into your hands I commit my spirit.”</i></b> With his dedication to the will of
his father and his knowledge of the psalms, He must have prayed this same
prayer many times throughout his life.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
In doing so, he has given us a
model for both living and dying. This is a prayer that all of us can say. Whether
young or old, weak or strong, sick or healthy – in any and all circumstances – his
prayer can be our prayer.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
A few hours before going to the
cross Jesus said to his disciples, “this bread is my body,” and “this cup is my
blood … do this in remembrance of me.” What better way is there to remember him
than to make his prayer our prayer. As we take communion today, we too can pray
with him, “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Father into your hands I commit my spirit.”</i></b> <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051583694624504202.post-20091499287806744372019-03-04T16:16:00.002-08:002019-03-04T16:16:31.857-08:00AT THE RIGHT TIME<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Time is
an intriguing topic. We make up sayings about it, like: “<u>Time flies when you’re
having fun.</u>” That may be, but it seems to me, and many others like me, that
it should say: “time flies as you get older.” Prince Charles of England agrees.
He said recently, “<u>Anyone of my age knows that days pass at a far greater
speed than when they were young</u>”<span style="font-size: 8pt;"> (Reader’s
Digest, March 2019).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I am
speaking of chronological time, the relentless passing of minutes, days, hours
and years. The Greeks called this kind of time <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kronos,</i> and we get the word “chronology” from it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kronos time is measured in units like minutes
and hours, days and years. It is quantitative and linear.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But
those clever Greeks knew that time has more than one aspect, so they had
several words for it. One of those, used several times in the Bible, was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kairos.</i> Kronos time is informed by the
passing of minutes, but Kairos time is informed by the emergence of meaning. It
is qualitative and carries significance. An event happens at a particular time,
but it may have such great meaning that a “moment” in time becomes “momentous,”
and lives on.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Jesus
knew that a “momentous” time was coming in his life. He referred to it and used
both <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kairos</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kronos</i> in one sentence. It is found in John 7:6, at a point in his
ministry when many Jews were going to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles.
His brothers were going and urged him to go along but he refused, knowing that
Jewish authorities in Jerusalem were looking for a chance to kill him. He
responded to his brothers by saying, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“My
time has not yet come, but your time is always here.” </i>Jesus knew that the
time to die was not right yet. Paul reflected on this when he said in Romans
5:6,8, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“While we were still helpless, at
the right time Christ died for the ungodly,” </i>and he adds,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us.” </i>His death was one of those momentous events referred to with the word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kairos</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Such
events do not just happen and then sink out of sight in the flowing stream of
time. They live on. They stay with us. They change our world and our lives. Sadly,
the most significant lasting moments in history often contain something tragic.
Remember what FDR said about Dec 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor day: he called it, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a date which will live in infamy</i>”. And
it has. In our own lifetime, 9/11/2001 is another day that will live on. It too,
changed our lives.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
Christ event was such a day. It was an event of powerful meaning that has reached
through time and shapes our lives even today. Like Pearl Harbor and 9/11 the
time of Christ changed our world. But there is one big difference. The tragedy
of his death, unlike Pearl Harbor and 9/11 did not lead to war but to
redemption. It resulted in forgiveness and salvation for multitudes of people
ever since. Jesus knew it would and said so in the upper room when he said: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“This cup is the new covenant in my blood,
shed for the forgiveness of sins.” And, “this bread is my body, given for you.”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<br />Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051583694624504202.post-55571524366986489372019-01-28T13:24:00.000-08:002019-01-28T13:24:33.348-08:00OUR HOST: THE GOOD SHEPHERD<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Let’s
think about Jesus and the Lord’s supper as seen in the 23<sup>rd</sup> Psalm.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
The Lord is my
shepherd, I shall not want;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
He makes me lie down
in green pastures;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
He leads me beside
still waters.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
He restores my soul.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Who is
this shepherd? Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd gives his
life for the sheep” (John 10:11). He exemplified the good shepherd of the psalm one
day when thousands followed him to a lonely place near the Sea of Galilee. Mark
says that when Jesus saw them, he was moved with compassion because “they were
sheep without a shepherd.” Like the psalmist’s shepherd, he had them recline on
green grass. Then he fed them. In his description, Mark uses the same four Eucharistic verbs that he used to describe the last supper. Jesus “took” the
bread, “blessed it,” and “broke” it, and “gave it” to them. Thus, they were
nourished for their journey.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
psalm goes on:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
He leads me in paths
of righteousness for his name’s sake. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
I will fear no evil.
For you are with me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Your rod and your
staff, they comfort me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
You prepare a table
before me in the presence of my enemies;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
You anoint my head
with oil; my cup overflows.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Jesus,
the good shepherd, often ate in the presence of his enemies. When he dined with
Simon the Pharisee, with Zacheus the tax collector, and with others, his
critics watched. But some were more than critics. Some wanted him dead.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
Lord knows full well that today we must make our journey through the dangers of
dark valleys and through the wilderness of this world in the presence of many
enemies. Paul names them in Ephesians 6. He<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>calls them “the spiritual hosts of wickedness.” But our shepherd-host
defies them. He prepares a table before us and invites us to share in the meal that
commemorates Him and His victory over those very enemies.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And so
we partake of the broken bread, his body, and of the cup, his blood shed for
us, and then we leave, firm in the assurance of the psalm’s closing words:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Surely, goodness and
mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
And I shall dwell in
the house of the Lord forever.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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1/27/2019<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051583694624504202.post-16532273374750161422018-11-07T13:26:00.000-08:002018-11-07T13:26:08.906-08:00TO LIFE!<br />
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When I
open Facebook, it always asks, “What’s on your mind, George?” I was tempted
recently to answer with one word, “Death,” to see what the response would be.
It’s true, however, I do think of death rather often, for several reasons. One,
because its in the news – graphically and repeatedly. I should stop watching
the news, but I won’t. I am reminded of death also because of my age. The
longer I live the more friends and family members I lose. Another reason I
think of death is that both my daughter and my wife have had near death
experiences. One doesn’t forget things like that.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>My
reading also leads me to think about death. Some books I read are mysteries,
which always focus on someone’s death. A book I am re-reading now is not a
mystery, but it speaks of death often. It is titled, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My Grandfather’s Blessings. Stories of Strength, Refuge, and Belonging,</i>
by Dr Rachel Naomi Remen, a medical doctor who works with cancer patients. One
of them had survived 3 major surgeries in only 5 months. He described himself
to her afterward as being “born again.” She asked him what he meant, and he
said the experience of facing his death had challenged his ideas about life. He
was stripped of all that he knew, all of those ideologies and philosophies that
he had built his life on, and was “left only with the unshakable conviction
that life itself was holy.” She commented, “he had discovered that we live not
by choice but by grace. And that life itself is a blessing” (p 325).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As I
thought about this it occurred to me that Jesus must have thought something
like this when he faced death during his ministry. He knew that he would not
die for a Pharisaic ideology – or for any other ideology people build their
lives on – and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>certainly not any of the
polarizing “isms” that divide us today. He was very clear about why he came,
which was also why he had to die. He said it plainly in John 10:10-11, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I came that they may have life, and have it
abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for
the sheep.”</i> If you read through John’s Gospel you will find over and over
again that its all about life. He opens by saying, “In the beginning was the
Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God,” and quickly adds, “In him
was life and the life was the light of all people.” And he continues throughout
the Gospel to show us the one who said “I am the way the truth and the life… “
and “I am the resurrection and the life.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
cancer patient was right. Life is holy, and it is ours by grace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This broken bread and the cup remind us of
the life Jesus gave that we might live. It would be appropriate when we lift
the cup to use the traditional Jewish toast that says simply, “To Life!”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051583694624504202.post-57054581844706422682018-10-10T15:34:00.001-07:002018-10-10T15:34:42.810-07:00<br />
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THE LONGEST TABLE<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Today
is World Wide Communion Sunday and Christians all over the world have gathered
at the Lord’s Table to remember Jesus Christ. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibif_KVI8MTzutFQWMfPppKRWlMNX6YElmWI7AKV-qYU_pp8coD1sKW6L9J9QsvVkM5EN8qME2m9kR_dOBlNgNCqeAKbChQxfAJyV_RORZWm3WiWzg6x8KsRt3EekfcQrPlVBZuoItKDc/s1600/upper+room+table.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="980" height="121" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibif_KVI8MTzutFQWMfPppKRWlMNX6YElmWI7AKV-qYU_pp8coD1sKW6L9J9QsvVkM5EN8qME2m9kR_dOBlNgNCqeAKbChQxfAJyV_RORZWm3WiWzg6x8KsRt3EekfcQrPlVBZuoItKDc/s200/upper+room+table.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Matthew 26:20 says: “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">When evening came, Jesus was reclining at
the table with the twelve.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
table Jesus and his disciples used in the upper room of a home was probably
quite low, U shaped, and they reclined on cushions.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8-EkFBgIki3CSuJGx2Xrcy9R3WqZPezVJ9G2MDzARzxJIYBb80_OKG0K5VjTVJjfr3X0Fatoy2uhYIh-gk7212yCWFJDRnTJUdHNlnTogryS_YMrMCiJz4pIBWLWbyfXIH-oWH33L97s/s1600/Mackintosh+Table.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="262" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8-EkFBgIki3CSuJGx2Xrcy9R3WqZPezVJ9G2MDzARzxJIYBb80_OKG0K5VjTVJjfr3X0Fatoy2uhYIh-gk7212yCWFJDRnTJUdHNlnTogryS_YMrMCiJz4pIBWLWbyfXIH-oWH33L97s/s200/Mackintosh+Table.jpg" width="149" /></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As
Christianity spread around the world many kinds of tables have been used. I
like this simple yet elegant table that the Scottish architect Rennie
Mackintosh designed for a church in Glasgow, Scotland.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkrdZmWYCTGPuB34tP79A1GghgxG_AUMIhSjq8pO9kqLVYYP37XgCvW98rH64D2OymX8Uk3f5duW3cOlk_iTUzfWNByIIb5SQ4r0vTpMgH1dDWd4-xfWMY3L7fNGB0CtS3GTcyEHJODSA/s1600/Corinth+Communion+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkrdZmWYCTGPuB34tP79A1GghgxG_AUMIhSjq8pO9kqLVYYP37XgCvW98rH64D2OymX8Uk3f5duW3cOlk_iTUzfWNByIIb5SQ4r0vTpMgH1dDWd4-xfWMY3L7fNGB0CtS3GTcyEHJODSA/s200/Corinth+Communion+2.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Our table in Corinth where Paul
taught about the Lord’s Supper was unique. On a Sunday morning our tour group
sat on the ground and used a flat rock for a table as we had communion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, in youth camps I have had communion
where only what nature provided – a rock, a stump, even the ground – served as
our table.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In
Spokane, our son’s family attended a church that had an exceptionally long table.
It was long because there is indented across the entire front of the table a
carving of the last Supper.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Thinking
of long tables, a writer in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Christian
Standard</i> magazine once pointed out how appropriate a long table can be. He
begins by describing his grandmother’s Christmas dinner table. He says, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It stretched through the dining room to the
living room of her old farmhouse. It was so long there was a place for all her
children, and grandchildren, and great-grandchildren</i>.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> It was so long that there was room for folks far from home – Ireland,
Germany, even Tennessee. … That table was so long that it was never full until
family members who sat there in years gone by were brought back by a fond
remembrance or a hilarious memory of Christmases past. It was Christmas at
grandmother’s house, and it was the longest table I had ever seen.” </i>Then he
added: “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">But I came to know different, or
better. The communion table is the longest table in the world. And I know just
how far it stretches” <span style="font-size: xx-small;">(</span></i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Lee Magness, Christian Standard, June 10, 2007)</span>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>You and
I also know how long this table is, don’t we? It stretches from here to the
poor in Calcutta’s slums, to the affluent in Anglican Cathedrals, and to the
weary warriors in the Mid-East. It has room for the peasant farmers of India,
the beaded Maasai woman of Kenya, the immigrant laborer from South America, and
the socialite from New York. There is always room for more at this table, and
all are welcome. It is the longest table in the world.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Certainly,
it has room for us and Jesus invites us to come, to eat this broken bread, his
body given for us; to drink this cup, his blood shed for us. Come to the
Thanksgiving Table, the longest table in the world.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051583694624504202.post-78176164062860006432018-09-04T13:24:00.000-07:002018-09-04T13:24:24.287-07:00LOVING HEARTS LIVE LONGER<br />
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Recently,
in a newspaper medical column by Dr Oz, I saw this catchy sentence: “Loving
hearts live longer.” He cited studies that say married couples live longer, on
average, than single people. Maybe that’s why Frances and I can celebrate our
69<sup>th</sup> anniversary today. We have spent 69 years in what I sometimes
think of as an assisted living arrangement. Dr Oz went on quickly to say that
it isn’t just married couples, its anyone who has close, open, honest
relationships with other people who live longer.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>What Dr
Oz said is not new. The preacher in Ecclesiastes spoke of it long ago when he
wrote: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Two are better than one, because
they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his
companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help
him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one
be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken (4:9-12).</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
same concept can be seen in Paul’s description of the church, especially in 1
Corinthians 12 where he speaks of how members of the body lift one another up.
He says, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">members should have the same
care for one another. If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or
if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it (25-26).”</i> Earlier,
in chapter 10 Paul uses a rich, Greek word for this relationship. It’s the
word, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">KOINONIA, </i>and it means
“fellowship,” “participation,” or, as several versions say in verses 16-17,
“communion.” He says, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the bread which we
bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we
break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are
one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.” </i>Though we
are many, yet we are one body. This is close to marriage language – the two
become one. The many have something in common that makes them one.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Through
our years in the church, Frances and I have experienced how loving hearts are
one in Christ and lift each other up. One example: We were in Oklahoma for
seminary, two thousand miles from home, no family around, no way to communicate
with family, not even a telephone, and our first child was born. I sent a
telegram to tell the folks at home. Frances got sick in the hospital and had to
stay for over a week. To go home, she needed more help than I could give her by
myself. Our immediate families couldn’t help, but the family of God could, and
did. Good friends stepped in, took her home and gave her and Gary the care they
needed for a few days. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is
“koinonia,”, loving hearts, the church, in action.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Lord’s
supper as “communion,” as an expression of koinonia, points to what the church
is, a collection of loving hearts. And the result is life, long life, both here
and hereafter.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06172944678212373185noreply@blogger.com0