THIS IS AMAZING GRACE

 

NOVEMBER 14, 2023

 

Romans 8:26-28

.... the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. 28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

 

Romans 8:28, without context, could read like we just need to love and be called by God and He’ll smooth out the rest. But with this thinking, we’re left wondering, “I know I love God, so am I not as ‘called’ as those who seem to have nicer things and easier lives?” These kinds of questions, and the thoughts behind them, could lead us to “an effort-driven race to Easy Street,” the outcome of which and we would miss out on the grace-filled relationship with Christ. As Ephesians 2:8-9 says “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (See Matthew 11:28-29). I believe this would lead us to the place where we would be left wondering who wasn’t fulfilling on their end of the deal.

So, let’s unravel Romans 8:28. Romans was written by the Apostle Paul to Christians in Rome. (Romans 1:7) Paul was writing to outline the saving work of Christ: the Gospel. Let us look at some other teaching of the Apostle in Romans. Paul goes on to write of weak flesh in need of God’s Spirit, flesh so weak it doesn’t know what to pray (Romans 8:26). He wrote about how our vulnerability (weakness) helps us rely on the intercession of God’s Spirit because it is the Holy Spirit who knows the perfect will of God. Then finally, there’s Romans 8:28.

And we know that in all things God works
for the good of those who love him
who have been called according to his purpose.

What truth can we draw out? Paul wrote to Jesus followers in Rome about the power of the same Gospel that we live by today. He pointed out our inability to make things work out for our good and therefore this reveals our need for outside help, a Savior. He went on to explain how the Holy Spirit works things together for our good. When we’re suffering, weak, and waiting on Him, that’s when we’re most receptive. When we don’t even know what to pray, that’s when the Holy Spirit prays through us. When our way gets broken, that’s when He can “fill in the cracks” with His perfect will. So, I believe that Romans 8:28 doesn’t promise “Easy Street”, what it does promise to our weak, exhausted and at times fragile flesh, His strong Spirit, and His peace and good will.

AMEN!!

IS THAT THE RIGHT PASSword

 

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

John 14:14

“You may ask me 

for anything in my name, 

and I will do it.”  

Dear Jesus, I pray that You would keep all my family healthy, safe, and rich forever. In Your name, amen.

Dear Jesus, I pray that you would keep that parking spot, near the door for me, today. In Jesus name amen.

We have all asked some doozies in Jesus name, and we’ve all seen requests fall short of God’s to-do list. When God doesn’t keep the promises, we’ve twisted His words into making, we’re left wondering if He’s really trustworthy. This situation arises from the difference between two words: exegesis and eisegesis. You don’t have to remember these words, but you do need to remember what they are about. Exegesis is about drawing God’s truth from Scripture and eisegesis is about adding our ideas into Scripture, “reading into the text.”

What do we want to add into John 14:14? Well, we want to see a Jesus who’ll do whatever we ask Him when we have the right password “in Jesus Name.”

What truth waits to be drawn out? To find out, let’s look at who John was writing to, who Jesus was talking to, what else Scripture says, and what else was happening when Jesus said this.

Bible scholars aren’t positive who John was writing to, but they agree the book aims to make one of the Bible’s strongest arguments for Jesus as God’s Son (John 20:31). We know Jesus was talking to His disciples, at the Last Supper, this happened not long before His death. Based on this setting, we could take a guess at Jesus’ intentions, but John 14:1 spells out for us what Jesus was teaching, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.” What else did Jesus say? In verse 13, Jesus told his disciples He will do what they ask, “… so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” What else was happening? The men Jesus was speaking to were about to see their leader killed, face great opposition, and then begin planting the Christian Church from scratch.

Now, what truth can we draw out?

John intended to show the divinity of Christ. Jesus intended to comfort and inspire His disciples right before His death. And there was a qualification: the Father should be glorified. Meaning, Jesus will do the things we ask for if they make God’s greatness known. If they are requests that bring Glory to God. 

So how do we ask this way?

We must ask from

• right relationships (Mark 11:24-25, 1 Peter 3:7),
• with right motives (James 4:3, Proverbs 16:2),
• through right living (James 5:16, Proverbs 15:29),
• in good faith (James 1:6-7),
• according to God's will (1 John 5:14-15).

In short, if you think Jesus would put His name on it, and it will make His Father famous, then ask and believe!!

REFLECTION

When I ask, am I looking to make God famous, or make me comfortable?

 

FOR YOUR TOMORROW WE GAVE OUR TODAY

 

NOVEMBER 10, 2023

Micah 4:1-5 

In the last days
the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established
as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
and peoples will stream to it.

2 Many nations will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 He will judge between many peoples
and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.

4 Everyone will sit under their own vine
and under their own fig tree,
and no one will make them afraid,
for the Lord Almighty has spoken.
5 All the nations may walk
in the name of their gods,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord
our God for ever and ever.

In 1916, during the First World War, the theologian P. T. Forsyth gave a series of lectures called The Justification of God. His work was a response to the question “Where is God in all of this?” The “this” being war. I dare say many of us have been asking that question in these recent days when considering Russia/Ukraine and Hamas/Israel. Forsyth warned against any simple attempt at finding God in the events of war. “An event like the war at least aids God’s purpose in this,” he writes, “that it shocks and rouses us into some due sense of what evil is, and what a Saviour’s task with it is.” (The Justification of God p. 25) In the war he suggested, “We are having a revelation of the awful and desperate nature of evil.” (The Justification of God p. 23)

 

In Forsyth’s view, the horror of War pointed to the need for Redemption. For healing and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. The war pointed to the conviction that we hear in those well know words of Job from the Old Testament:

“For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that at the last he will stand upon the earth;
and after my skin has been thus destroyed,
then in my flesh I shall see God.” [Job 19.25-26]

Too many lost their lives in wars and service, and we have remembered them this week, especially tomorrow. There is an inscription commemorating the end of World War 1 that says, “When you go home tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow we gave our today.”  May their story and death awaken in us an understanding of our need, our calling to break down barriers of hate and join in the call to all of humankind to discover in each other their common, God-given humanity, then we are remembering them as they should be remembered. And remembering what they gave for us. That we might build a better world. I desire and long for the day that today’s scripture reading will be fulfilled when “they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” Or as The Message interprets it “They’ll trade in their swords for shovels, their spears for rakes and hoes. Nations will quit fighting each other, quit learning how to kill one another.”

Let us conclude with a Remembrance Day prayer I heard this week in a service,

Let us commit ourselves to responsible living
and faithful service.

Will you strive for all that makes for peace?
We will

Will you seek to heal the wounds of war?
We will

Will you work for a just future for all humanity?
We will

Merciful God,
we offer to you the fears in us
that have not yet been cast out by love:
May we accept the hope you have placed
in the hearts of all people,
and live lives of justice, courage, and mercy;
through Jesus Christ our risen Redeemer.
Amen.

REMEMBRANCE through PRAYER

 

November 9, 2023

1 Timothy 2:1-4

2 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.

 

I imagine we all have seen the “secret” homecoming videos on social media of Military service personnel arriving home to surprise their spouse, children, or parents. Real tear jerkers aren’t they?  When I see these videos, I am reminded that as a civilian I am fortunate enough to be with my family each day. Something, I believe, we take for granted at times until we are separated in some way.

To serve our country’s military is a huge commitment and sacrifice. Sometimes this comes without much in the way of support or gratitude. I suppose, without the exception of November 11, Remembrance Day.

Today I want to share with you some prayers that we can pray for our Canadian Military service women and men. I originally posted these prayers 3 years ago, but I feel they are helpful as way to pray for Veterans and currently serving personnel. If you know someone who is serving include their names in the prayers and make it personal. These prayers were published by writer Bob Hostetler.

Let us use these prayers in our prayer times this week and beyond.

1) To Feel Honored
“God, please let every veteran of our nation’s armed forces feel truly and appropriately honored by the attention and appreciation of their fellow citizens. Let no one feel forgotten or neglected. Let every man and woman, young or old, feel the deep and enduring gratitude of our nation and its inhabitants.”

2) To Be Understood
“God, You know that it can be difficult for a person who has returned from battle or stressful military service to reintegrate into ‘normal’ everyday life. You know that veterans can feel isolated and alone even in the midst of their friends and  families because there are few around who understand their experience. So, I ask You to place in the path of our veterans those who do understand (or strive to), that they may feel less alone. Remind them often that while their fellow human beings may never fully comprehend, You see, You know and You identify with them in everything.”

3) To Be Healed
“Lord, You know how deep a warrior’s wounds go. You know the loss of many of our veterans in body and soul. You know the memories that haunt them and the scars that many of them continue to carry.  Please bring healing to those veterans who still hurt. Please grant patience and wisdom to those around them who cannot understand but can sometimes help the healing process. Please apply both natural and supernatural medicine to their wounds.”

4) To Be Rewarded
“Father, please turn your gaze to those men and women who in their military service have sacrificed time, comfort, strength, ambition, health and prosperity for the peace and safety of family and friends and others they’ve never even known. Please reward them a hundredfold for all their sacrifice and service. Bless them far beyond all their expectations. Reward them richly for all they have given.”

5) To Know You
“Almighty God, You know every veteran by name. You know their deeds, their hard work, and their perseverance. You know their needs, both material and spiritual. Please draw each one closer to you and grant them all the peace that passes understanding (Philippians 4:7), the peace of Christ to rule in their hearts (Colossians 3:15), and ‘joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand’ forevermore (Psalm 16:11).”

 

Amen

 

THINK OF LIFE, NOT DEATH

 

November 08, 2023

 

1 John 3:16

"We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters."

Romans 5:8

"But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners."

2 Timothy 2:8

“Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead ….”

 

 

I read a few years ago the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., he said 

 “Our dead brothers still live for us, and bid us think of life, not death -- of life to which in their youth they lent the passion and joy of the spring. As I listen, the great chorus of life and joy begins again, and amid the awful orchestra of seen and unseen powers and destinies of good and evil our trumpets sound once more a note of daring, hope, and will.”

I am still struck by Holmes’ suggestion that to “think of life, not death” would honor the fallen soldiers. Their sacrifice follows the example of Jesus Christ laying down His life for our freedom and the call to surrender our lives for others.  It is selfless love for others,  not so others can mourn forever, but rather that they may have hope and life!

Notice the scripture above that says "We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So, we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters." 

As I see things, I believe that in scripture and in military service, the willingness to give up one’s life is not contingent on the worthiness of the people who benefit from such an honorable act.

"But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." 

As I age, the blessing of being able to live in a country like the “true North Strong and Free, is a gift. I gratitude for this gift, may we honor the Canadian soldiers that gave the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom we have in this country. Oh, I know that many feel that our freedom’s have been diminished in recent years. But I still believe that our Canada is the “true North Strong and Free” and I am grateful. May we also give thanks to God for the life-giving freedom we have because of His gift of forgiveness through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

They shall grow not old,
as we that are left grow old.

Age shall not weary them,
nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning.

We will remember them.

 

“Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead …”

 

LET US PRAY

 

God! As with silent hearts we bring to mind

 how hate and war diminish humankind,

 we pause, and seek in worship to increase

 our knowledge of the things that make for peace

 

 Hallow our will as humbly we recall

 the lives of those who gave and give their all.

 We thank you, Lord, for women, children, men

 who seek to serve in love, today as then. Amen.

 

Fred Kaan            Remembrance Hymn

 

DON'T FORGET! REMEMBER

 

November 7, 2023

Luke 22:19

". . . do this in remembrance of me."

I Chronicles 16:12

"Remember the wonders he has done."

We will remember them! This week in our country our attention turns toward the act of Remembrance. On November 11, each year there are held in communities large and small across our Canada, services of Remembrance for those who paid the “ultimate sacrifice” of giving their lives for others, even you and me.

In my own reflections, I was drawn to think about the Old Testament meaning of “remember.” Perhaps in order to fully appreciate the Hebrew concept of “remembering” we would benefit to think about what it means to forget.

To forget, in our day, means simply to have an idea or notion slip out of the mind. To forget a person is simply no longer to have the idea of that person in one’s consciousness. In the Bible to forget someone is much more serious: to forget someone is to annihilate that person, obliterate them, destroy them. When the Israelites cried to God not to forget them they didn’t mean, “Be sure to think of us once in a while.” They meant, “Don’t annihilate us, don’t blot us out.” It’s obvious that to forget has to do not with concepts but with living experiences.

In a similar way, to remember has to do with lived realities. In a word, to remember, for the Old Testament writings, meant to bring a past event up into the present so that what happened back then continues to happen right now. What unfolded in the past with all its meaning and impact, continues to be active now in people’s experiences, resulting in the same experience as those in an original event. An example, the Israelites are urged to remember the deliverance from slavery of their ancestors’ centuries earlier, they aren’t being urged to recollect a historical fact; rather they are being urged to live the same reality themselves, the reality of deliverance, many years later. Just as their ancestors’ knew most intimately a great deliverance at God’s hand, so they are now, hundreds of years later, to know most intimately a similar deliverance at God’s hand.

Now, I am sure you agree that is quite different from the way we speak of remembering today. When we remember we merely bring to mind the idea of an event. But when our Bible speaks of remembering they meant something far stronger; they meant that what had happened in the past continued to be a present, in force, a life-altering experience. After all, isn’t that what we do at the Lord’s Supper? That we are invited to the table to “Remember” our salvation, our being right with God and each other, were obtained only by the sacrifice of the cross. So, Jesus says "do this in remembrance of me."

On Remembrance Day, November 11, 2023 we will remember. I believe it would be an awesome thing if we could remember on this Remembrance Day in the Biblical way. That when we observe those minutes of silence, our act of remembering will be more profound this year. We know, we have learned, that to remember is to make a past event the functioning reality, the determining truth, of our lives now.

What was the past event? It was sacrifice, enormous sacrifice, the costliest sacrifice imaginable, for the sake of justice and peace. The circumstances in the world required that many family members had to bear arms to secure justice and peace, many of whom gave their lives for such a cause. When you think about it, our justification before God, and that peace (shalom) which is our salvation before God; were obtained only by the sacrifice of the cross. I read recently that “Justice and peace have never been obtained without sacrifice, and never will be.”

In “remembering” in the Biblical sense we must ever keep in mind the Remembrance Day statement, “Lest we forget.” “Lest we forget” doesn’t mean, “Lest a recollection of something decades or centuries old fade from mind”; “Lest we forget” means “Lest the sacrifice of those who have gone before, be blotted out, annihilated, rendered of no account.” To remember a sacrifice made for us is simply to pay it forward and make our own sacrifice on behalf of others.

 

 

 

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

 November 6, 2023

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.

2 A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
6 A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.

LET US PRAY

God of peace,

We pray for those who have served our nation and laid down their lives to protect and defend our freedom, asking that we remember their sacrifice and make right use of our liberty.

We pray for those who still bear the scars of their service, asking for healing for them in mind, body, and spirit.

We pray for those who serve us now, especially for those in harm’s way, asking that you shield them from danger and bring them home in safety.

We pray for all those who govern, asking that you turn their hearts and minds to the work of establishing a peace born of justice and equity.

We pray for all those who are caught up in conflict around the globe this day, civilians and peace-keepers and the poor who have no escape, asking that we have the courage to defend the defenseless, make room for those who flee for safety, and look to that day when we will train for war no more.

May the peace you gave us, the peace that passes all human understanding, be the peace that guides and sustains us. For it is in Jesus’ name that we pray. Amen.

OUR PART IN PEACEMAKING

 

NOVEMBER 3, 2023

Pray these words from Matthew 5 slowly and reflectively as you begin today. 

“‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.’” Amen.

 

Yesterday in our reflection, we looked at the experience of the exiled people of God during the Prophet Jeremiah’s time. It was suggested that this situation of exile raises important challenges for us today as Jesus followers. We noted three challenges for us to consider.

Today I would like to add three other challenges for us to think about.

Review from Yesterday.

1.       The Role of PRAYER.

2.       Engaging the HEART in prayer.

3.       Seeing the WORLD through GOD’S EYES.

 

Further Challenges

                                                                                                                                   

4. Partners with God. Intercessory prayer is a gift of grace, because of the ongoing ministry of intercession of Jesus Christ and the activity of the Holy Spirit. It is the humble yet confident awareness that we have access to the heart of God. According to Jacques Ellul, “Prayer is God inserting human initiative into the divine plan. It is through prayer that we are made ‘fellow workers for God.’” Intercessory prayer is not simply preparation for ministry. It is ministry. Through prayer we participate with God in fulfilling the divine purpose for the world.

 

5. How do we pray? Praying for peace requires that we pray within the boundaries of true peace. The spirit and composition of the Lord’s Prayer is a prayer for genuine and lasting peace on earth. The prayer of Jesus teaches that peace is assured where God’s name is hallowed, God’s kingdom is present, and God’s will is done. Peace flourishes where everyone has their portion of daily bread, receives, and extends forgiveness, and where evil is overcome. Perhaps, this is how we ought to pray for all humankind.

 

6. Praying with one another.  In the bible, the joining together of God’s people for worship and prayer has special significance. We believe it still does. According to Matthew 18:19-20, where the church is gathered, and is of one heart and mind with the purposes of Jesus, it experiences the presence and the authority of the living Christ in a unique way. I wonder if we, us Jesus’ worshippers, need to grow in our personal intercessory prayer but also grow as faith communities who are interceding for others for the world and its people, in our gatherings. Perhaps this is the foundation to being peacemakers that God calls us toward in our ministry.

 

Receive God’s Word of Blessing

REMEMBER, 

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,

God’s own people,

that you may declare the wonderful deeds of God

who called you out of darkness into marvelous light.

Go into the world; live as God’s people,

through the grace of Jesus Christ

and the power of the Holy Spirit.

And may God,

who has shown us such love,

and given us such unfailing encouragement and so sure a hope,

encourage and strengthen you

in every good deed and word. Amen.

 

ACTION STEPS

 

Look through a recent newspaper or online news site. Identify people, places, and situations that you might pray for. Spend time praying through the headlines and stories. (Maybe select 1 international story, 1 National story, and 1 Local story)

 

Take a Prayer Walk through your neighborhood or community park, or at the Mall near you. Stop to offer silent prayer for the various people and situations you encounter.

THE ESSENTIAL INSTRUMENT OF PEACE

 

 

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

 

Jeremiah 29:7

7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

1 Timothy 2:1-2

2 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

Matthew 6:9-13

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

 

In Jeremiah 29 the captive Israelites had just been deported to the capital city of Babylon with no prospects for return to their homeland. Removed from their Temple and the promised land of covenant, they faced an uncertain future. (Psalm 137 is a commentary on their gloomy and joyless spirit.) While clutching at false prophecies of a speedy return, they received a letter from the prophet Jeremiah with this divine message: Seek the peace of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper (Jer. 29:7). In other words, no quick return to homeland and freedom was on the horizon. Prayer for the peace and prosperity of their enemy host was now their God-given assignment.

The experience of the exiled Israelites raises important challenges for us today as Jesus followers. Here are three challenges for us to consider.

1. The Role of PRAYER. What is the role of intercessory prayer in promoting and building peace? Both the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah and the New Testament apostle Paul attribute peace to faithful intercessory prayer. Yet, intercessory prayer doesn’t seem to be substantial enough of a peacemaking activity to us, so it is often the least employed. What if this spiritual practice lays the groundwork for being the blessed peacemakers that are called children of God. (Matthew 5)

2. Engaging the HEART in prayer. It’s not hard to imagine how the captive Israelites would have felt about their destructive enemies. What might that first prayer have been like? Think about that for a moment. How do we pray for those who wrong us? What attitude of heart is necessary to offer sincere prayer for the well-being and prosperity of our enemies?

3. Seeing the WORLD through GOD’S EYES. For the Israelites, daily face-to-face contact with their captors would have been inescapable. It seems to me that in order to intercede for them with honesty and love God’s exiled people needed to see them as God saw them. God’s interest in their enemy’s welfare was much more than a temporary measure to preserve his covenant people. God’s love extended to the world of the Babylonians, too; God’s desire was to see all come to a knowledge of the truth (see I Timothy 2).

Prayer and peacemaking belong together the Bible seems to say. The reason for such an emphasis is that Intercessory prayer provides the essential foundation and the motive for our peacemaking behaviors. It is an important act of faith and hope, trusting on the promises of God for all people.  

 

LET US PRAY

God of Peace, We pray for those places in the world where conflict rages. Send your Holy Spirit and renew the face of the earth. Teach us compassion and mercy for one another, and for all of creation. Encourage and strengthen all who work for peace and justice. Open our eyes to see ways in which we can be your agents of reconciliation so that all of your creation may know justice and wholeness and may live in peace. Through our lives and by our prayers, may your kingdom come, and your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. Amen.

PRAYING FOR PEACE

 

Matthew 6:9-10

“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

The Bible provides us with a rich and broad vision of intercessory prayer. Both the Old and New Testaments are full of examples of people offering prayer for others.

• Abraham pleads with God to spare the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah;

• Moses asks God to spare the people after they worship the golden calf;

• Jeremiah exhorts the captive Israelites to pray for Babylon, the city to which they have been exiled.

Throughout the Old Testament there are continual reminders to remember the orphans, widows, and strangers.

This emphasis on intercessory prayer was further strengthened and supported by the example and teaching of Jesus himself.

“Pray for those who persecute you,” Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, and then proceeded to do exactly that as he was being crucified: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

The early Christians believed that Jesus had passed this ministry of intercession along to them. In Paul’s first letter to Timothy, he suggests that prayers should be offered for everyone, not just members of the faith community.

In early Christian worship the believers continued to take the ministry of intercession to heart. It is interesting to note that some of the early patterns for worship puts a high emphasis on Prayers of Intercession. They would spend a great deal of time in prayer during worship, ptaying for others.

What do you believe about intercessory prayer? Does it make a difference in our world? Should the practice of intercession be an integral part of our ministry to our world?

Theologian Karl Barth has been quoted as saying, “To fold one’s hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.” Through our intercession we participate with God in bringing about God’s vision for our world. Through our continued cries of “hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” we, the people of God, actively seek the in-breaking of God’s rule in our world.

LET US PRAY

God, You have called us to be peacemakers, to continue the reconciling ministry of Jesus Christ. Remove from us all those things which would prevent us from being true agents of reconciliation in our broken world. Through our lives, and by our prayers, may your kingdom come, and your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. Amen.

REFORMATION: THEN, NOW, ALWAYS!!

 

OCTOBER 31, 2023

Psalm 46

 

God is our refuge and strength,
always ready to help in times of trouble.
2 So we will not fear when earthquakes come
and the mountains crumble into the sea.
3 Let the oceans roar and foam.
Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!

4 A river brings joy to the city of our God,
the sacred home of the Most High.
5 God dwells in that city; it cannot be destroyed.
From the very break of day, God will protect it.
6 The nations are in chaos,
and their kingdoms crumble!
God’s voice thunders,
and the earth melts!

7 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us;
the God of Israel is our fortress.

8 Come, see the glorious works of the Lord:
See how he brings destruction upon the world.
9 He causes wars to end throughout the earth.
He breaks the bow and snaps the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.

10 “Be still, and know that I am God!
I will be honored by every nation.
I will be honored throughout the world.”

11 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us;
the God of Israel is our fortress.

 

 

A mighty fortress is our God,
a bulwark never failing.
Our helper he, amid the flood
of mortal ills prevailing.

Did we in our own strength confide,
our striving would be losing,
were not the right man on our side,
the man of God’s own choosing.
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is he.
Lord Sabaoth his name,
from age to age the same,
and he must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God hath willed
his truth to triumph through us.

Let goods and kindred go,
this mortal life also.
The body they may kill;
God’s truth abideth still.
His kingdom is forever.

 

Martin Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”

 

It is not a Reformation Day without reading Psalm 46 and singing A Mighty Fortress is Our God. When I think of the images used for God in Psalm 46 and this hymn (fortress = a Military stronghold and bulwark = a defensive wall), I picture things that don’t move, don’t change, that are not open to reform. When we reflect on the Reformation movement, we are led to focus on our call as Jesus followers, to continually be open to reforming, change and renewal, through the study of the scriptures, by paying attention to our culture, and openness to new winds of the Spirit. I feel this paying attention to what is often called, “Reformation Nudges” that push us to recognize the tension of living in a space where we celebrate who we have been (the past), and seek to make sense of the present moment, and yet knowing we have not yet arrived at the end of our journey of growth. With Paul we say “not that we have already arrived, but we press on to our high calling” in Jesus.

So why do we read Psalm 46 and sing this hymn on Reformation day? James Mays, Old Testament Professor, writes, “the Psalm does not invite us to trust in a place, but in a Presence” (Mays, James, Psalms: Interpretation (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox) p. 185). I wonder if the images of God as a defensive wall (bulwark), as a mighty military stronghold (fortress) , are not images meant to suggest an unchanging, stay in one place kind of God who is “closed and locked up tightly;” but rather, images meant to call to mind, to evoke, a trust in the promise of a Divine Presence who is always constantly with us, even as we move, change, and shift. I wonder if Luther’s interpretation of Psalm 46 in his hymn is meant to give us tools for being ready to be reformed, changed, and challenged.

Think about it, if we remember that God is present with us in every step of our life’s journey, doesn’t it change the way we feel about possibilities for our future?

If we know and trust that no matter how often we feel the confusion and uneasiness of change; that no matter how often our own strength seems to fail us; that no matter how often it feels like “this world with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,” that we are supported by God’s abiding and constant presence, we will not be afraid. “We will not fear, for God hath willed his truth to triumph through us.”

God’s presence is the solid rock on which we stand, the mighty fortress in which we make our home, and the promise of God’s presence is what does not change, no matter what occurs because this promise rests on the foundation of “the man of God’s own choosing”!!

Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is he.
Lord Sabaoth his name,
from age to age the same.

 

LET US PRAY

O Mighty Fortress, bulwark of love and presence, open our eyes to the ways you travel with us. Open our hearts for the constant reforming and renewing work of your Spirit. Don’t let us grow content with what is, but give us vision for what, who, we might become as your people and as your church. Amen.