Tag: devotiONEighty

“A” is for Ashes (February 13, 2013)

Published on by Adam Thomas1 Comment

…Opening To…

We come this morning –
Like empty pitchers to a full fountain,
With no merits of our own.
O Lord – open up a window of heaven,
And lean out far over the battlements of glory,
And listen this morning. (James Weldon Johnson)

…Listening In…

Listen, I’m telling you a secret: all of us won’t die, but we will all be changed— in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the final trumpet. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52; context)

…Filling Up…

This Lent, we are exploring our faith by running through the alphabet. Today, “A” is for ashes.

“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” the priest says as he or she scrapes two lines of grit on the forehead. Two lines of soot, of the debris that’s left after the fire is gone. Now, the fire consumes, but it does not annihilate. The fire converts the material fuel into energy and burns with heat and light. When it dies out, the ash remains. The ash is the remnant of the material, the leftover stuff that did not change from matter into energy.

This is the symbol of the beginning of Lent, the season in which we recall all the ways we have fallen short of our callings as human beings, in which we recall why we need Christ in the first place. The two lines of ash make a cross, a device of torture and death that Christ changed into a symbol of hope and life. The keyword here is change.

The fire changes the fuel into energy and leaves the ashes. We take those ashes and make the sign of the cross on our foreheads. In the same way, walking with Christ changes us. We burn with the light of Christ. We burn with the energy that Jesus infuses into our lives. This burning separates all the pieces of us that God can use from the ash of selfishness, pride, and domination. Through the mercy and grace of God, as we burn, we leave behind this ash and we are changed.

…Praying For…

Dear God, you provide the spark that gets our fires going. Help me to burn brightly for you and to participate with you in the removing of the ash from my life. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, taking hope in the overarching reality that you are the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

Voiding Fear (Feb. 12, 2013)

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…Opening To…

Anger…fear…aggression. The dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will… (Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back)

…Listening In…

When the wind had driven them out for about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the water. He was approaching the boat and they were afraid. He said to them, “I Am. Don’t be afraid.” (John 6:19-20; context)

…Filling Up…

The opposite of trust is not distrust. It is fear. Fear is the mind-killer, says the book Dune. Fear leads to the dark side, says Yoda. And in the Gospel according to John, there’s a wonderful little story about fear.

After the feeding of the 5000, the disciples leave Jesus on the mountain, apparently expecting him to catch a cab to Capernaum, for they take the boat and begin rowing across the sea. A storm blows up and the waves rise. Then the disciples see Jesus walking towards them on the water, and they are terrified. (This is the Greek word from which we get the word “phobia”). The story is unclear whether they are afraid of the storm or afraid of seeing Jesus unsupported by any sort of watercraft. Either way, they are afraid.

And Jesus says to them: “I am” and then “do not be afraid.”

Remember, this “I am” is the most fundamental affirmation of being. (We’ve talked about this before.) It is a complete thought in itself, though we usually expect a word to fill in the blank space after “am.” More often than not, Jesus’ “I am” statements are followed by such a word, but some are not. The ones that are not, such as this, do not leave room for me to fill in the blank. Indeed, they remove my need to fill in blanks.

Here’s how I see it: I can say I am…afraid. But as Jesus walks on the water toward his disciples he says, “I am.” That’s it. His “I am” leaves no room for an extraneous word at the end of the phrase, no room for afraid. Simply because Jesus is, my fear finds no purchase, no handhold. He takes my afraid and expunges it. I am free of fear because Jesus has taken my fear into his identity and voided it.

When inevitably I am afraid (of _____________ ) I can close my eyes, bow my head, breathe deeply, and know that Jesus is.

…Praying For…

Dear God, you provide meaning to the concept of trust. Help me put my trust in you so that fear cannot make me crumble. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, thankful that you have faith in me, because your faith in me enables me to have faith in you.

Belief is a Relationship (Feb. 11, 2013)

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…Opening To…

Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe. (St. Augustine)

…Listening In…

In Capernaum there was a certain royal official whose son was sick… The royal official said to him, “Lord, come before my son dies.” Jesus replied, “Go home. Your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and set out for his home. (John 4:46, 49-50; context)

…Filling Up…

With Lent starting in two days, today and tomorrow’s devotions will be “one-offs” rather than part of a weekly grouping. Today, we are going to look at a certain way that belief works. We’ve talked about “belief” in these devotions before, but what follows is a quick, new take on it. Belief is not something that we “have.” It is not a possession. Nor is belief a static thing. When you get right down to it, belief is a relationship.

Belief is a relationship between God and believer; trust, faith, hope, and love all play parts in this relationship. In moments when my belief is haggard, hope may take center stage, sustaining me through a time when God seems far away. Note that in the book of Psalms, the poems often have verses expressing the desire to praise God in the future but acknowledging that the praise isn’t possible quite yet.

On the contrary, in moments when my belief is strong, trust may come to the fore, assuring me that God is true and constant. The same psalms often have verses recognizing the steadfastness of God. This steadfastness is God’s faithfulness to me, which provides a foundation for my own faith. And the bond God creates between God and me is love, from which I can never be separated. This bond enables the relationship of belief, which grows and changes and transforms upon the foundation of God’s faith. As I grow, my belief grows with me. Some seasons see little rain, so my belief stagnates. In others, my belief takes root in the fertile ground and flourishes. Through all the changes and chances of life, however, the relationship with God continues, for God never breaks a bond of love.

…Praying For…

Dear God, you are the foundation of all belief; help me to sustain my part of the relationship and help me to except your love in my life. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, thankful that you have faith in me, because your faith in me enables me to have faith in you.

Pass it Along (February 8, 2013)

Published on by Adam ThomasLeave a comment

…Opening To…

If you look at a window, you see flyspecks, dust, the crack where junior’s Frisbee hit it. If you look through a window, you see the world beyond. Something like this is the difference between those who see the Bible as a Holy Bore and those who see it as the Word of God, which speaks out of the depths of an almost unimaginable past into the depths of ourselves. (Frederick Buechner)

…Listening In…

Listen, my people, to my teaching; tilt your ears toward the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth with a proverb. I’ll declare riddles from days long gone—ones that we’ve heard and learned about, ones that our ancestors told us. We won’t hide them from their descendants; we’ll tell the next generation all about the praise due the Lord and his strength—the wondrous works God has done. (Psalm 78:1-4; context)

…Filling Up…

The fifth word that we say quite often when we talk about the Bible is “Scripture.” We call it Holy Scripture or Holy Writ. Each of these words carries the connotation of “something written down.” And, of course, the Bible is written down. There’s very little chance it would have survived as long as it has if it weren’t written down somewhere.

That being said, large chunks of what became the written Bible did exist for quite a long time without being written down. People passed the oral tradition from parent to child. The dinner table, the campfire, the farmer’s field – these were the places the story of God and God’s people was told. Because of this type of transmission, the story went through a kind of survival of the fittest type of evolution: the most important parts remained, while the less important parts faded away.

Writing the Bible down on paper (well, the ancient equivalents of paper, at least) followed a common pattern: things aren’t written down until people start realizing that the folks who know the story best are dying off. In the years following Jesus’ death and resurrection, his story followed the same pattern as those older parts of the Bible, except in a much shorter span. The Gospel was not written down until a few decades after the events because the people who lived through the events began dying off. There was a scramble to preserve the story from the perspectives of eyewitnesses.

So, just because we think of “Script-ure” as something written down, know that the Bible didn’t always exist in that way. It was passed through word of mouth. And you know what: that’s still the best way to pass it along.

…Praying For…

Dear God, you are the presence standing behind the words of your people found in the Bible. Help me to be a part of the great story of your movement in the lives of the people of this world. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, endeavoring to learn more about you, learn more from you, and learn the best ways to be your child in this world.

One Hundred and Fifty (February 7, 2013)

Published on by Adam ThomasLeave a comment

…Opening To…

If you look at a window, you see flyspecks, dust, the crack where junior’s Frisbee hit it. If you look through a window, you see the world beyond. Something like this is the difference between those who see the Bible as a Holy Bore and those who see it as the Word of God, which speaks out of the depths of an almost unimaginable past into the depths of ourselves. (Frederick Buechner)

…Listening In…

Save me, God, because the waters have reached my neck! I have sunk into deep mud. My feet can’t touch the bottom! I have entered deep water; the flood has swept me up. I am tired of crying. My throat is hoarse. My eyes are done with waiting for my God. (Psalm 69:1-3; context)

…Filling Up…

The fourth word that we say quite often when we talk about the Bible is “Psalm.” The 150 psalms in the Hebrew Scriptures account for some truly exquisite, gritty, jubilant, despairing, and whimsical poetry. The whole gamut of human emotion runs throughout the psalms. The “psalter” (book of psalms) is one of the greatest human achievements of all times, not to mention being the most complete compendium of human encounter with God in one compiled source.

All that being said, you can’t really take the book of Psalms all at once. It’s too big. (Unless you’re a medieval monk who recited the whole thing everyday. The whole thing. Every day. Wow.) Whoever compiled the Psalms must have known this because the book breaks down into five large sections, each ending with special verses praising God.

You can further break the psalms into two main categories: praise and lament. Just by the numbers, there are more verses of lament than praise in the book of Psalms, but in church we read more of the verses of praise. You can explain this with the simple assertion that we’d rather be happy than sad. The problem here is this: when we censor a book like the Psalms, we remove from it the example it gives us of how to grieve or to be angry in the midst of prayer to God. We sweep under the rug the scriptural instances in which people made themselves vulnerable to God, accused God of negligence, wept in God’s presence, and disclosed their inability to praise God in the current moment. I’d be willing to bet each of us has felt this way at some point. Reading the lament psalms can help us cope in these times.

So the next time you are so joyful you can’t contain it, go read the psalms and find a reflection of your joy. And the next time you are so sad that you don’t think you’ll ever recover, go read the psalms and find a reflection of your grief. Lift up both your joy and sadness to God, who encompasses all in all.

…Praying For…

Dear God, you are with me even when I’m not with you. Help me to remain in relationship with you even when things aren’t going so well. Help me stick with you when I want to run away. Be my constant in a changing world. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, endeavoring to learn more about you, learn more from you, and learn the best ways to be your child in this world.

One Side of a Conversation (February 6, 2013)

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…Opening To…

If you look at a window, you see flyspecks, dust, the crack where junior’s Frisbee hit it. If you look through a window, you see the world beyond. Something like this is the difference between those who see the Bible as a Holy Bore and those who see it as the Word of God, which speaks out of the depths of an almost unimaginable past into the depths of ourselves. (Frederick Buechner)

…Listening In…

From Paul, called by God’s will to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, and from Sosthenes our brother. To God’s church that is in Corinth: To those who have been made holy to God in Christ Jesus, who are called to be God’s people. (1 Corinthians 1:1-2; context)

…Filling Up…

The third word that we say quite often when we talk about the Bible is “Epistle.” This is a fancy word for “letter” (the kind you put in the mailbox, not the kind on the keys of your keyboard). The bulk of the New Testament after the accounts of the Gospel is letters from various early followers of Jesus to various other early followers of Jesus. Some letters are written to specific individuals, others to communities. Here are a few things to know about “Epistles.”

First, in the ancient world, letters followed a particular format, not unlike the modern email convention of “Recipient, Sender, Subject, Body.” The Apostle Paul identifies himself first in his letters, then he names his recipients, then he presents a glimpse of the subject of the letter in the form of a thanksgiving to God for the recipients, and finally he gets on with the balance of the text. Knowing this standard formula helps interpreters like you and me discern when letter-writers break the formula, thus giving us a clue into the writer’s intentions. For example, Paul’s letter to the Galatians has no thanksgiving paragraph because Paul is really mad at his recipients.

Second, we only have one side of the story that the letters tell. We have two of Paul’s letters to the church in Corinth, but we have no letters from the church in Corinth to Paul. Interpreting the letters is akin to listening to someone on the telephone. You hear only that person’s responses to the caller on the other end of the line. It falls to you to piece together what the other party says.

Third, Paul and the other writers of the letters in the New Testament had no idea they were writing “Scripture” when they penned their correspondence. We get little bits about preparing a room to stay in and sending along the coat I left at your house. These little human touches are great, and they make the letters more accessible than if the writers were consciously writing the Bible.

These letters were written when the new church and the Christian faith were in their infancy. They give us clues to what the early communities of Jesus’ followers were struggling with, what they were worried about, and what they were celebrating. As we read them nearly 2,000 years later, our own struggles, worries, and celebrations are reflected in theirs because the same God makes the letters alive for us, animated through the power of the Holy Spirit.

…Praying For…

Dear God, you are the catalyst behind the human desire to connect with one another. Help me to maintain my connections with friends and loved ones, even those who live at a distance. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, endeavoring to learn more about you, learn more from you, and learn the best ways to be your child in this world.

Truth to Power (February 5, 2013)

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…Opening To…

If you look at a window, you see flyspecks, dust, the crack where junior’s Frisbee hit it. If you look through a window, you see the world beyond. Something like this is the difference between those who see the Bible as a Holy Bore and those who see it as the Word of God, which speaks out of the depths of an almost unimaginable past into the depths of ourselves. (Frederick Buechner)

…Listening In…

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it. But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing.’ (Jonah 3:10—4:2; context)

…Filling Up…

The second word that we say quite often when we talk about the Bible is “Prophecy.” This is possibly the single most misunderstood word in the English language when it comes to Biblical interpretation.

Prophets are not fortune-tellers or predictors or spiritual meteorologists. Prophecy is not about predicting the future. Prophecy is about telling the truth of the present in order that the future may change. This last sentence is the one that will be on the pop quiz, so let me say it again: Prophecy is about telling the truth of the present in order that the future may change. Prophets call people back to God and hope that those people will listen and change their lives.

The story of Jonah illustrates the true nature of biblical prophecy. People usually remember the bit about the fish, but there is more. Jonah goes to the city of Ninevah and says, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” He says this to shake them out of complacency, to get them to turn back to God. And they do: the city isn’t destroyed! Does this make Jonah a false prophet because his words didn’t come true? No. Quite the contrary: Jonah succeeds as a prophet because the people listened and changed. (What’s funny is that Jonah himself gets a little sour with God for not destroying the Ninevites. Jonah didn’t understand his own Job!)

“Prophecy” is about telling present truth, especially telling present truth to the powerful, not about predicting the future. Martin Luther King Jr. was a prophet. The Nostradamus was not. Telling truth to power doesn’t just happen in the big places of the world — in government, society, religion. You can be prophetic today at school or at work. If you see an injustice happening, speak out. And in a way, you’ll be following in the footsteps of the prophets.

…Praying For…

Dear God, you are merciful and you abound in steadfast love. Help me to recognize the situations I find myself in during the present so that I may make good decisions about the future. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, endeavoring to learn more about you, learn more from you, and learn the best ways to be your child in this world.

Insulting the Romans (February 4, 2013)

Published on by Adam ThomasLeave a comment

…Opening To…

If you look at a window, you see flyspecks, dust, the crack where junior’s Frisbee hit it. If you look through a window, you see the world beyond. Something like this is the difference between those who see the Bible as a Holy Bore and those who see it as the Word of God, which speaks out of the depths of an almost unimaginable past into the depths of ourselves. (Frederick Buechner)

…Listening In…

The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, God’s Son, happened just as it was written about in the prophecy of Isaiah: Look, I am sending my messenger before you. He will prepare your way, a voice shouting in the wilderness: “Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight.” (Mark 1:1-3; context)

…Filling Up…

Continuing the Biblical theme of the past few weeks, this week we are going to look at five words we say quite often when we talk about the Bible. These five words are used so often, in fact, that we probably don’t spend too much time thinking about their meanings. Rather, we just say them and forget that the words don’t actually define themselves.

The first word is “Gospel.” Gospel is a pretty word. It rolls off the tongue and retains its pleasant sing-song, Old English quality. Gospel means “good news.” (There’s a cool scene in Tolkien’s The Two Towers, when the antagonistic crony Wormtongue names Gandalf “Láthspell,” which is the opposite of “Gospel.” Gandalf was bearing, at least from Wormtongue’s perspective, “ill news.”)

The four accounts of Jesus’ ministry take the name of “Gospel.” As far as scholars can tell, the writer of the New Testament, including the writer of the Gospel according to Mark, snatched this word out of contemporary parlance and used it as a mission statement for Jesus’ ministry. Until that time, the Greek word for “Gospel” was used for royal proclamations and military victories. “Good news: the emperor had twins!” “Good news: the legions have conquered a new bit of Gaul!”

Mark takes the word away from its original context and uses it for the “good news” of God’s kingdom breaking into the world. In a sense, Mark thumbs his nose at the authorities of the world when he steals their word. He uses the word to show the world the true meaning of “good news.” For followers of Christ in today’s world, it is our duty and joy to make sure our proclamation of the Gospel is still “good news.”

…Praying For…

Dear God, you continue to shower us with the good news of your grace in our lives. Help me to proclaim that good news through both my words and actions to everyone I meet. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, endeavoring to learn more about you, learn more from you, and learn the best ways to be your child in this world.

A Prayer Sandwich (February 1, 2013)

Published on by Adam ThomasLeave a comment

…Opening To…

We say we read to “escape.” …A book so excites our imagination that we “consume” it… What would it feel like to consume the sacred book? Or to be consumed by it? To eat it, chew it, swallow it, digest it, to make it a part of you? (Roger Ferlo)

…Listening In…

Don’t hesitate to be enthusiastic—be on fire in the Spirit as you serve the Lord! Be happy in your hope, stand your ground when you’re in trouble, and devote yourselves to prayer. (Romans 12:11-12; context)

…Filling Up…

The fifth thing you should do when you read the Bible is pray before you do it and after you do it. This is the model we have in church. In the Episcopal Church experience (my faith background), the four lessons from the Bible happen near the beginning of the service. But before we read scripture, we pray for God to cleanse our hearts. Then we praise God in song. Then we “collect” the theme for the day in a special prayer right before the lessons.

Afterward the lessons (and the sermon), we recite the Creed, the church’s historic affirmation of faith, which is really another prayer in disguise. Then we pray the prayers of the people, in which we pray for our own needs and for those of others. The four lessons form the meat in a prayer sandwich.

In our own Bible study or that which we do in a group, following this example is a good idea. Reading the Bible is a prayerful experience, and so bookending the reading with dedicated prayers makes sense.

Begin your reading with a prayer of openness: ask God to encounter you in a surprising way during your reading. Ask God to show you something you’ve never noticed about the text or about yourself. End your reading with a prayer of thanksgiving: give gratitude to God for being with you all the time and especially when you engage the text. Thank God for God’s presence in your life, remembering that you are in God’s presence always. Reading the Bible helps us hold on to this fundamental truth of our existence.

…Praying For…

Dear God, I am in your presence all the time. Open me to receive your word in ways I might not expect. Thank you for being with me when I read the Bible. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, gladdened by the prospect of meeting you in the Bible.

More Sets of Lenses (January 31, 2013)

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…Opening To…

We say we read to “escape.” …A book so excites our imagination that we “consume” it… What would it feel like to consume the sacred book? Or to be consumed by it? To eat it, chew it, swallow it, digest it, to make it a part of you? (Roger Ferlo)

…Listening In…

You were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only don’t let this freedom be an opportunity to indulge your selfish impulses, but serve each other through love. All the Law has been fulfilled in a single statement: Love your neighbor as yourself. (Galatians 5:13-14; context)

…Filling Up…

The fourth thing you should do when you read the Bible is to read it with other people. Reading the Bible alone is a fine practice in itself, but when you read the Bible in a group, you will hear perspectives different from your own, which can help you go deeper into the text. This practice is the human equivalent of reading several translations at once.

Another person might read a sentence with completely different emphasis than you have. Another person might gravitate to a different place in the text than you have. Another person might affirm your interpretation or challenge yours with one of her own. In all of these instances, the other people with whom you read act as more sets of lenses through which you view the text.

Here are a few suggestions for you if you are going to begin a Bible study group. Agree amongst yourselves never to put one another down for voicing an opinion about a text. Always accept feedback in a positive manner. Always listen to another fully rather than forming your own thoughts while he or she is speaking. Always wait for your turn to speak. And most importantly, always pray before and after your study. We’ll talk about that tomorrow.

…Praying For…

Dear God, you gave us each other in order than we might learn how to find you in each other. Help me to rely on others in order to come to a better appreciation of your grace in my life. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, gladdened by the prospect of meeting you in the Bible.