Tag: John

We Might Have Been Statues (April 10, 2013)

Published on by Adam ThomasLeave a comment

…Opening To…

For a second after Aslan breathed upon him the stone lion looked just the same. Then a tiny streak of gold began to run along his white marble back — then it spread — then the colour seemed to lick all over him as the flame licked all over a bit of paper — then, while his hind-quarters were still obviously stone the lion shook his mane and all the heavy, stony folds rippled into living hair. (C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)

…Listening In…

It was still the first day of the week. That evening, while the disciples were behind closed doors because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities, Jesus came and stood among them. (John 20:19; context)

…Filling Up…

…Day three with the Apostle Peter (click here for day one, two)

I shut the door with Mary on the other side. Sliding the bolt home, I slumped against the door and slid to the ground. Oblivious to Mary’s pounding on the door, I looked around the room. Judas was gone, of course, but everyone else was there, I was sure. We had escaped the mob and the authorities. Would they be content with the death of our leader or would they be coming after us, too? I counted the others. Nine, and I made ten. Someone else was missing. “Where’s Thomas,” I called out.

Philip looked up for a moment and managed a one-word response. “Gone,” he said, and he put his head back into his hands. I sat with my back to the locked door. Eventually Mary gave up her pounding. I could hear her sobbing, her breath coming in great heaves. She was, no doubt, sitting against the other side of the door. Three inches of wood separated us: three inches of wood and my disbelief and the war raging within me.

Inside the room, we might have been statues. I couldn’t even hear the others breathing. Hours passed and no one noticed. No one spoke. No one ate or drank. We were entombed in the locked house, alive but acting like dead men. And all the while the war raged on while numbness froze my body against the bolted door.

The ten of us were still frozen in place when evening fell. I had been staring at nothing in particular when I began unconsciously counting the others again. “Eight. Nine. Ten.” I counted aloud, and then I put my finger to my own chest. “Eleven.” I counted again. Eleven again. I leapt up and stared at the man in the center of the room.

…to be continued tomorrow.

…Praying For…

Dear God, you are the life-breath of all things. Help me to invite you into the locked rooms within myself, all the places I don’t want you to see, but where you are needed most. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, feeling you breathe the peace that passes all understanding into my heart and soul.

Shutting the Door (April 9, 2013)

Published on by Adam ThomasLeave a comment

…Opening To…

For a second after Aslan breathed upon him the stone lion looked just the same. Then a tiny streak of gold began to run along his white marble back — then it spread — then the colour seemed to lick all over him as the flame licked all over a bit of paper — then, while his hind-quarters were still obviously stone the lion shook his mane and all the heavy, stony folds rippled into living hair. (C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)

…Listening In…

Mary Magdalene left and announced to the disciples, “I’ve seen the Lord.” Then she told them what he said to her. (John 20:18; context)

…Filling Up…

…Day two with the Apostle Peter (click here for day one)

I was at war within myself, and I could not access a single crumb of the peace that Jesus had always radiated.

I saw the empty tomb, but the conflict within kept me blind to what the emptiness might mean. The war inside of me – with fresh reinforcements of guilt – was still raging when I returned to the house we had used a few nights before, on the night when I didn’t want Jesus to wash my feet. Nine of the others were there; they had been locked in the room since the mob had formed three days before. As I was shutting the door, Mary Magdalene rushed up and squeezed her way into the room. “I have seen the Lord,” she shouted.

She was breathing hard. I had left her standing outside the tomb, so she must have raced all the way to the house to catch up with me. I looked at Mary: her face glistened with sweat, her eyes were bright. If the conflict within had not been blinding me, I might have identified the brightness in her eyes as “joy,” but how could there ever be joy again after what had happened? The other disciples barely looked up when she burst in shouting. She looked around the room, then back at me. “He has risen from the dead,” she said, defiantly.

I took a step toward her. “Just because the tomb was empty,” I began, but my voice trailed off. She backed away, and now her voice was very small, small and wounded. “But I did see him,” she said. And I shut the door with Mary on the other side.

…to be continued tomorrow.

…Praying For…

Dear God, you are the life-breath of all things. Help me not to shut out possibilities that seem impossible; grant me the imagination and the elbow grease needed to remove the “im” from the word impossible. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, feeling you breathe the peace that passes all understanding into my heart and soul.

At War Within (April 8, 2013)

Published on by Adam ThomasLeave a comment

…Opening To…

For a second after Aslan breathed upon him the stone lion looked just the same. Then a tiny streak of gold began to run along his white marble back — then it spread — then the colour seemed to lick all over him as the flame licked all over a bit of paper — then, while his hind-quarters were still obviously stone the lion shook his mane and all the heavy, stony folds rippled into living hair. (C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)

…Listening In…

Peter and the other disciple left to go to the tomb. They were running together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and was the first to arrive at the tomb. Bending down to take a look, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he didn’t go in. (John 20:3-5; context)

…Filling Up…

We’re going to change it up a little bit on devotiONEighty this week with five days of narrative. Every once in a while at my church, I preach sermons as a character from the text of the Bible. Likewise, this week on devo180, imagine with me the Apostle Peter, who is in Rome near the end of his life, talking to a friend about the day when Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to the disciples in the locked house (John 20).

I wish I could tell you that seeing the empty tomb was enough. I went inside the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there and the cloth that had covered Jesus’ face folded up in a corner. Thinking back now, surely grave robbers would not have folded his ceremonial burial garments while stealing his body! But in the semi-darkness of that early morning, I wasn’t thinking rationally. I wasn’t thinking at all. I was numb on the outside, immune to the sliver of hope that the empty tomb brought.

I was numb on the outside, but on the inside, I was at war. I always thought of myself as his most faithful disciple, but at the time of his greatest need, I abandoned him, I lied about knowing him to save my own skin. In the garden, I had been ready to fight to the death for Jesus. But the moment he took away my sword, I crumbled. I wasn’t strong enough to remain by his side without a weapon in my hand. I wasn’t strong enough to trust him, to trust that his plan included death without fighting. I was at war within myself, and I could not access a single crumb of the peace that Jesus had always radiated.

…to be continued tomorrow.

…Praying For…

Dear God, you are the life-breath of all things. Help me to believe even when I can’t see and help me to proclaim your love even when I am afraid. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, feeling you breathe the peace that passes all understanding into my heart and soul.

Way of the Cross: Stations 11-12 (March 28, 2013)

Published on by Adam ThomasLeave a comment

…Opening To…

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you;
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

…Listening In…

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that time on, this disciple took her into his home. After this, knowing that everything was already completed, in order to fulfill the scripture, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was nearby, so the soldiers soaked a sponge in it, placed it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. When he had received the sour wine, Jesus said, “It is completed.” Bowing his head, he gave up his life. (John 19:26-30; context)

…Filling Up…

This Holy Week we are be meditating on the fourteen “Stations of the Cross.” The Opening and Sending sections of this week’s Devos, as well as the italicized verses at the end of each station come from the Episcopal “Way of the Cross” service found in the Book of Occasional Services. (If you’d like to hear the complete work before Friday, check out the music page.)

Station 11: Jesus is nailed to the Cross
They climb the Skull and fling him down
Like so much dross.
See him stretch his arms of love on the
Hard wood of the cross
That all might come within the reach of his embrace.
Hear the nail pierce his hand
Taste the heaving tang of fear
The unrelenting hammer strikes home.
They lift high the Son of Man
His broken glory now appears
As he draws all to himself.

They pierce my hands and my feet:
They stare and gloat over me.

Station 12: Jesus dies on the Cross
With the Beloved his mother stands:
To each other his final breath ties.
Darkness eclipses the surrounding lands;
“It is finished. It is finished,” he cries.
“My spirit, O Father, I give to your hands,”
With choking gasps he sighs.
Then my Lord bows to the grave’s demands,
Breathes his last, and dies.
He breathes his last and dies

Christ for us became obedient unto death:
Even death on the cross.

…Praying For…

Dear God, your holy Son stretched his arms out on the cross and drew the whole of Creation to himself. Help me to reach out my own arms in love to all I meet, especially to those in the most need. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, glorying in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom is our salvation, our life, and resurrection.

“Y” is for YHWH (March 19, 2013)

Published on by Adam ThomasLeave a comment

…Opening To…

Batter my heart, three-person’d God ; for you
As yet but knock ; breathe, shine, and seek to mend ;
That I may rise, and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend
Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new. (John Donne)

…Listening In…

The one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The guard at the gate opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. Whenever he has gathered all of his sheep, he goes before them and they follow him, because they know his voice. (John 10:3-4; context)

…Filling Up…

This Lent, we are exploring our faith by running through the alphabet. Today, “Y” is for YHWH. Collectively, these four letters (when written in their original Hebrew) are known as the tetragrammaton, which (conveniently) means “four letters.” But these aren’t just any four letters – these four letters when written in this order spell God’s name, the name that the ancient Hebrews wrote down but never uttered aloud.

This name comes from the Hebrew verb hiyah, which means “to be” or in the first person singular, “I Am.” This is what God says to Moses in the burning bush encounter when Moses asks God God’s name. God says, “I am who I am.” Thus, the word that the Hebrews chose to call God comes from the very word for existence itself. God is the great “I Am,” the great “Being,” who is the bestower of be-ing.

The ancient Hebrews did not say this name aloud, preferring to substitute the name Adonai whenever the tetragrammaton cropped up in the text of Scripture. The name stood for the One who is so holy that the name just wasn’t spoken. This makes sense. Names are powerful things. Naming something grants some measure of control over that something. Conversely, taking away a name does the same thing – think about the Jews thrown into concentration camps and branded with numbers during World War II.

When we keep silent where the name of God is concerned, we are confirming our position as God’s subjects. We are not the ones in power. We are not the one’s with a name on our lips. Rather, God is the one who calls us each by name, as Jesus says when he talks about the sheep: “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”

…Praying For…

Dear God, your very name means “the foundation of existence.” Help me to find my place in that existence, help me discover my own being, which flows from the life you breath into me. Help me hear you calling my name. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, enlivened by your word, sustained by your grace, and filled with your love.

“S” is for Sabbath (March 11, 2013)

Published on by Adam ThomasLeave a comment

…Opening To…

If we would follow Jesus we must take certain definite steps. The first step, which follows the call, cuts the disciple off from his previous existence. The call to follow produces a new situation. (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship)

…Listening In…

As a result, the Jews were harassing Jesus, since he had done these things on the Sabbath. Jesus replied, “My Father is still working and I am working too.” (John 5:16-17; context)

…Filling Up…

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

Ever since the seventh day of creation, the Sabbath has been a day set apart. God rested on that day from the labor of creation. The Fourth Commandment that Moses brought down the mountain from God directed the people of Israel to “Observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” Just as God rested on the seventh day, so was the Sabbath a day to rest from the labor of the week. Over time, a set of rules was established for what constituted “work” on the Sabbath. The number one criticism from Jesus’ opponents in the Gospel is that Jesus healed people on the Sabbath. Jesus “worked,” which is a no-no. Such is the case in John 5, from which the verse above is quoted after Jesus heals the man who had been sitting by the pool of Beth-zatha for 38 years.

True, by healing the man at the pool, Jesus did do work on the Sabbath. And true, he commanded the man to pick up his mat, which is also considered work. These are not mere technicalities. Jesus’ opponents are not mere tattletales. The Sabbath was and is sacred, and violating it was and is an offense. But while Jesus violates the letter of the existing Sabbath laws, he also deepens the spiritual meaning of Sabbath. When his opponents confront Jesus with his Sabbath infraction, Jesus says to them, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.” In effect, he is saying: my Father and I are still creating. The Sabbath is a time to pause and rediscover what it means to be created. Sabbath rest brings rest, reflection, and recreation.

Re-creation.

Taking time every week (it doesn’t necessarily have to be Saturday) for observing the Sabbath reconnects me to the God who is creating me. When I pause to reflect, I notice more readily God’s movement in my life. When I pause to rest, I realize that I am capable of taking much deeper breaths of the Spirit than my normal level of distraction permits. And when I pause to engage in re-creation, I find myself connecting with creation in such a way that the glory of the Creator can’t help but shine through. By taking time for Sabbath, I relocate myself within this constant creation and rejoice in knowing that God is far from through creating me.

…Praying For…

Dear God, without your constant creation, this universe would cease to be. Help me to participate in your creation by making time to take in all the ways you are moving in my life. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, trusting that you never leave me, trusting that you are above, below, behind, before, beside, and within me.

“N” is for Nothing (March 4, 2013)

Published on by Adam Thomas2 Comments

…Opening To…

O Lord, you are my Lord and my God, and I have never seen you. You have made and remade me and bestowed on me all the good that I possess. (St. Anselm, Proslogion)

…Listening In…

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness doesn’t extinguish the light. (John 1:5; context)

…Filling Up…

This Lent, we are exploring our faith by running through the alphabet. Today, “N” is for Nothing. Think of “nothing” as two words: no-thing and you’re close to the understanding of evil that I’ll go into in a moment. First, the Gospel according to John uses the imagery of darkness and light to delineate between the creative force of God (the light) and the nebulous other that in some sense contests with God (darkness).

God’s creative force is the light that shines in the darkness. The darkness cannot comprehend or overcome or extinguish the light because the darkness has never been a part of creation. The darkness is just the absence of any created thing. This is a tricky concept, so let’s get back to our word for today: no-thing.

But first a side note: the darkness that cannot overcome the light is wholly different from the darkness of night. (Remember that God created darkness and light and separated them.) However, “night” and “darkness” are useful metaphors for speaking about that which is outside creation.

And we’re back. Okay, so the great German theologian Karl Barth posited that all this stuff outside of creation is where evil comes from. He said that Evil is everything that God didn’t create, and all that uncreatedness is pushing on or sucking on creation. When I sin (seek my own will rather than God’s will), I distort my relationship with God. This distortion is the pull that non-creation has on me. If you ever define a word as “the absence of” something else, then you are close to this idea. For example, despair is the absence of hope. Remember “The Nothing” in the movie The NeverEnding Story? That villain is as close to a visual example as I can come up with.

I know this is a zany understanding of evil, and we would need a whole lot more space to really talk about it, but I think it’s worth a bit of thought. If you ever felt like something you were doing was “un-making you,” then you were feeling the pull of non-creation, non-being, annihilation. The good news is this: while the “Nothing” of evil tries jealously to unmake created things, it will ultimately fail to triumph because God never stops creating or calling creation to God.

…Praying For…

Dear God, you are the creative force that calls all people to your light. Help me to orient myself towards you, and away from the forces of darkness that pull me from you. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, grateful for the word that you speak daily into my soul, the word that continues to create me and helps me to grow.

“J” is for Joy (February 26, 2013)

Published on by Adam ThomasLeave a comment

…Opening To…

Yesterday, you understood a little; today, you understand better; tomorrow, you will understand better still: the light of God is growing in you. (St. Augustine of Hippo)

…Listening In…

As the Father loved me, I too have loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy will be in you and your joy will be complete. (John 15:9-11; context)

…Filling Up…

This Lent, we are exploring our faith by running through the alphabet. Today, “J” is for Joy. Thanks to the thesaurus, “joy” is a misunderstood concept. If you go to Roget’s searching for synonyms, you’ll get “pleasure, gladness, glee, happiness,” and so on. While joy definitely encompasses these positive emotions, joy itself is much more expansive than any of these other words.

Rather than being simple pleasure or happiness, joy is the pervading sense of well-being that comes when the Creator and the creature delight in one another. The Creator is forever emanating this delight, and only the limited vision or attention of the creature keeps him or her from reciprocating. When we find joy, we access the sense of delight that God has in creation. But joy doesn’t stop there.

As Thomas Merton writes, “God does not give His joy to us for ourselves alone, and if we could possess Himself for ourselves alone, we would not possess Him at all. Any joy that does not overflow from our souls and help other people to rejoice in God does not come to us from God.”

Accessing the joy of God in our lives finds completion only when we share that joy with others. This is true delight: to be a source of God’s joy emanating throughout creation.

…Praying For…

Dear God, you take delight in your creation and call it “good.” Help me to overcome the distractions in my life that keep me from fully basking in your joy so that I may be a beacon of joy to others. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, thankful that you continue to shine your light in my heart and mind, that I may continue to know you better through every way that you choose to reveal yourself.

“I” is for Incarnate (Feb. 25, 2013)

Published on by Adam Thomas3 Comments

…Opening To…

Yesterday, you understood a little; today, you understand better; tomorrow, you will understand better still: the light of God is growing in you. (St. Augustine of Hippo)

…Listening In…

The Word became flesh and made his home among us. We have seen his glory, glory like that of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14; context)

…Filling Up…

This Lent, we are exploring our faith by running through the alphabet. Today, “I” is for Incarnate. I was struggling to come up with “I” words (all I could come up with was “Idolatry,” but I used that last year) so I am grateful for the suggestion of wonderful woman at my church. I daresay the word “incarnate” is not one you use on a daily basis. It assuredly falls into the camp of “church” word. This is a problem for we followers of Jesus who seek to take our spiritual lives out of the confines of the church and into the world. So how can we liberate the word “incarnate” from its Sunday internment.

First, I should probably remind you where you hear the word most often. If you’ve ever recited the Nicene Creed, then you’ve said the word “incarnate.” The Creed states: “[B]y the power of the Holy Spirit [Jesus] became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.” This line in the Creed is where 99% of all uses of the word “incarnate” come. (Yes, I just made up that statistic.)

So how do we liberate the word for our use during the rest of the week? In fact, it’s easier than you might think; indeed, it is vital to remember the lesson of the Incarnation as we go about our daily lives. Do you see the “carn” in the middle of the word. Yes? Excellent. This is the same root that appears in the word “carn-ivore.” That’s right — “carn” means “flesh,” or more descriptively “meat.”

When we profess that the Son of God became incarnate, we are using polite language for something a little more down and dirty — the Son of God put on flesh and bones, muscle, sinew, blood, skin, hair. And with those he got all the stuff that goes with them: body odor, sunburn, stubbed toes, sprained ankles, sore neck, thirst, exhaustion. (Not to mention the ability to embrace and shake hands and look you in the eye…and die on a cross.)

But if this incarnate thing stopped with Jesus we wouldn’t be telling the whole story. Paul reminds us that we are the Body of Christ and each individually members of it. Thus, when we leave the church on Sunday morning (filled once again with the Eucharistic Body and Blood of Jesus Christ) we have the opportunity to embody Christ in the lives of other people, to be the flesh and bones which Jesus uses to fulfill his continuing work today.

…Praying For…

Dear God, thank you for sending your Son to take on the full human life as one of us. Help me to be an incarnation of your love and peace in this world. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, thankful that you continue to shine your light in my heart and mind, that I may continue to know you better through every way that you choose to reveal yourself.

“E” is for Enthusiasm (Feb. 19, 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…

“…Whoever does the truth comes to the light so that it can be seen that their actions were done in God.”  (John 3:21; context)

…Filling Up…

This Lent, we are exploring our faith by running through the alphabet. Today, “E” is for Enthusiasm. You might be wondering why I chose this word since, at first glance, it doesn’t seem all that religion-y. You’re right – we don’t use this word too often in church. But we should. Do you see the “T-H-U-S” in the middle of the word? Good. If you follow these letters all the way back in time to ancient Greece, they would have looked like this “θεος” or in our alphabet, “theos.” Look familiar? I’ll give you a clue: we get the words “theology” and “atheism” from this same word.

Right! It means “God.” (Theology is the “study of God,” and atheism is “disbelief in God,” (the “a-” making the word negative).) So, let’s go back to our original word: enthusiasm. When we say we are enthusiastic about something, we usually mean that we are excited or passionate about that something. I am enthusiastic about playing guitar and watching Doctor Who, for example.

But if you look at that little Greek root and add the little Greek prefix (“-en” meaning “in”), you get a bit different definition. Etymologically, “enthusiasm” means “in God.” Therefore, when we talk about our passions and excitements, what we are really saying is “these are the ways that I most clearly notice that I am in God.” Pretty cool, huh?

So, what are your passions? What are you enthusiastic about? How do you meet your Creator when you get involved with them?

…Praying For…

Dear God, you are within me even as I exist always in you. Help me to find those things that bring me closer to you, and help me recognize your presence in my life. In Jesus Christ’s name 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.