This Day in the Word

Familiarity breeds contempt

2010-03-09T10:07:00.004-05:00

Texts: Genesis 45.1-15, 1 Corinthians 7.32-40, Mark 6.1-13

Commemoration: Gregory of Nyssa

Almighty God, who have revealed to your Church your eternal Being of glorious majesty and perfect love as one God in Trinity of Persons: Give us grace that, like your bishop Gregory of Nyssa, we may continue steadfast in the confession of this faith, and constant in our worship of you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.

What was it about the people of Nazareth that caused them to reject one of their own? Had they not paid enough attention to Jesus as he was growing up among them to realize that he was going to be someone unique in the history of Israel? Had they been too busy with their own affairs to get involved in helping prepare him for his life's mission?

The answer to these questions is a resounding no.

The people of Nazareth rejected Jesus when he returned to his hometown not because they did not know him well enough, but because they knew him all too well. "Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands?" Wherever, whatever, and however Jesus became what he was, the people of Nazareth had nothing to do with it and wanted nothing to do with him.

"Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?" In our day, "son of Mary" may be a term of endearment for Jesus. But it was nothing of the sort in Jesus' own day. To be called the son of one's mother, as opposed to the son of one's father, was a term of derision. It implied an illegitimate birth, the worst form of disgrace not only for the particular individual, but also for the entire family. The people of Nazareth "took offense at" Jesus. They knew him. They knew his family. They knew his trade. Who was he to come parading back into town, with his entourage of disciples, presuming to be their teacher and prophet?

Nazareth did not want him. They knew him too well. He was a carpenter, a child of questionable parentage in a family of no particular influence. They would have preferred he never left town in the first place. If he had stayed home and made a comfortable living making doors and hinges, they would have left him well enough alone. But he had to be about his Father's business, and that meant leaving the familiar surroundings of his hometown and embarking on a journey whose ultimate destination was a dark hill called Calvary.

Much like the people of Nazareth then, we today must overcome a serious obstacle to our faith. It is not that we don't know Jesus well enough, but that we think we know him all too well. As we continue our Lenten journey, let us hear and respond to the invitation to abandon our affinity for the familiar and step out in faith with the Jesus who knows us better than we can ever know ourselves.

Searcher of Hearts, from Mine Erase

Searcher of hearts, from mine erase
All thoughts that should not be,
And in its deep recesses trace
My gratitude to Thee.

Hearer of prayer, O guide aright
Each word and deed of mine;
Life’s battle teach me how to fight,
And be the vict’ry Thine.

Giver of all—for ev’ry good
In the Redeemer came—
For raiment, shelter, and for food,
I thank Thee in His Name.

Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost,
Thou glorious Three in One,
Thou knowest best what I need most,
And let Thy will be done.

George P. Morris

Complete restoration

2010-03-08T16:07:00.004-05:00

Texts: Genesis 44.18-34, 1 Corinthians 7.25-31, Mark 5.21-43

Commemoration: Edward King

O God, our heavenly Father, who raised up your faithful servant Edward to be a bishop and pastor in your Church and to feed your flock: Give abundantly to all pastors the gifts of your Holy Spirit, that they may minister in your household as true servants of Christ and stewards of your divine mysteries; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Maybe I've been suffering under the effects of this nasty virus for a while myself, but I noticed something in today's Gospel reading that I had never noticed before. Much has been said about the insertion of the account of the woman with the discharge of blood in the middle of the story of Jesus and Jairus's daughter. But something in particular stood out to me as I read the passage today:

And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. (vv. 25, 26)

And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. (v. 42)

The years of the woman's distress are identical with the years of the young girl's life. But the number of years, twelve, is itself covenentally significant. Earlier, Jesus had appointed twelve apostles (Mark 3.14ff). Later, after the feeding of the five thousand, the disciples gather twelve baskets full of leftovers (Mark 6.43ff). It is not particularly difficult, for anyone familiar with the history of Israel, to understand the parallel between the twelve apostles and the twelve tribes of Israel. It would also take only a little research to see the parallel between twelve baskets full of loaves and fishes and the twelve stones with which Elijah built an altar during his contest with the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18.30ff). The number twelve, as employed in Mark's narrative, is intended to drive home the point that, in Jesus, the true Israel is being restored.

With the account of the woman and Jairus's daughter, a central characteristic of the restoration is brought to the forefront. It will be a restoration in the complete sense of the word. The broken and bleeding will be made whole; the dead will be raised to life; and all will be "overcome with amazement" at the wonder of God's glorious new creation.

I Stand Amazed in the Presence

I stand amazed in the presence
Of Jesus the Nazarene,
And wonder how He could love me,
A sinner, condemned, unclean.

Refrain

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!

For me it was in the garden
He prayed: “Not My will, but Thine.”
He had no tears for His own griefs,
But sweat drops of blood for mine.

Refrain

In pity angels beheld Him,
And came from the world of light
To comfort Him in the sorrows
He bore for my soul that night.

Refrain

He took my sins and my sorrows,
He made them His very own;
He bore the burden to Calvary,
And suffered and died alone.

Refrain

When with the ransomed in glory
His face I at last shall see,
’Twill be my joy through the ages
To sing of His love for me.

Refrain

Charles H. Gabriel

Under the weather

2010-03-08T10:59:00.001-05:00

I haven't posted here in a few days because I've been under the weather with a wicked stomach virus. Hope to be back to normal later this afternoon.

Sex and the resurrection

2010-03-04T08:16:00.002-05:00

Texts: Genesis 42.29-38, 1 Corinthians 6.12-20, Mark 4.21-34

The most radical idea with which early Christianity confronted the pagan Roman world was that of the resurrection of the body. Any number of religions taught something or other about immortality or life after death in some kind of "spirit world." But Christianity proclaimed a life to come in which one's whole being--spirit, soul, and body--would be renewed and restored as part of God's glorious new creation.

As is often the case today, the Corinthian believers had a hard time living a life consistent with what they believed. Having been immersed in a pagan culture which reveled in carnal pleasures, they were not altogether prepared to deal with the implications of belief in the resurrection of the body. They were eager to embrace the idea that Christ had paid the penalty for their sins. But they were using their newfound freedom as an excuse for continuing to indulge their carnal passions. This, says Paul, is not the way to treat a body that is to be raised immortal.

"The body is not meant for sexual immorality," Paul writes, "but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power." Indeed, it is the hope of the resurrection which lies at the heart of Paul's teaching on sexual morality. That hope is embodied in Christ. "Do you not know," Paul asks, "that your bodies are members of Christ?" Just as Christ was raised by the power of God, so all who are members of Christ will be raised. In light of this, it would be the height of foolishness to join oneself with a prostitute. What is the benefit, Paul wants to know, of continuing to indulge the flesh while grieving the Holy Spirit, of whom your body is a temple? Can such an act of desecration bring glory to God? Certainly not!

The sayings, "All things are lawful for me" and "Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food," were popular in Corinth in Paul's day. Apparently, they were being used by some of the Corinthians to justify their carnal indulgences. In much the same way, modern-day expressions like "I can do what I want with my own body" are used to justify the pursuit of sensual pleasure without consequences. The culture at large may live by such dangerous thinking, but for those who bear the name of Christian, Paul's words to the Corinthians still apply: "You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling

Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of heaven to earth come down;
Fix in us thy humble dwelling;
All thy faithful mercies crown!
Jesus, Thou art all compassion,
Pure unbounded love Thou art;
Visit us with Thy salvation;
Enter every trembling heart.

Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit,
Into every troubled breast!
Let us all in Thee inherit;
Let us find that second rest.
Take away our bent to sinning;
Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith, as its Beginning,
Set our hearts at liberty.

Come, Almighty to deliver,
Let us all Thy life receive;
Suddenly return and never,
Never more Thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
Serve Thee as Thy hosts above,
Pray and praise Thee without ceasing,
Glory in Thy perfect love.

Finish, then, Thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be.
Let us see Thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in Thee;
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in heaven we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise.

Charles Wesley

A divisive parable

2010-03-03T16:04:00.004-05:00

Texts: Genesis 42.18-28, 1 Corinthians 5.9-6.8, Mark 4.1-20

Commemoration: John and Charles Wesley

Lord God, who inspired your servants John and Charles Wesley with burning zeal for the sanctification of souls, and endowed them with eloquence in speech and song: Kindle in your Church, we entreat you, such fervor, that those whose faith has cooled may be warmed, and those who have not known Christ may turn to him and be saved; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The most enduring, and unfortunate, innovation of the Social Gospel movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was the replacement of the biblical understanding of the kingdom of God with the utopian ideal of the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man. We see the continued influence of this ideal today in the so-called "Emergent" movement which has recycled and repackaged much of mainline Protestant liberalism, which standardized and institutionalized many Social Gospel innovations. Thus, the image of Jesus as a great teacher of peace and harmony among all persons remains a prominent feature of pop culture Christianity. Today's Gospel reading, however, challenges that image.

In the parable of the sower, Jesus is painting a picture of the in-breaking of the kingdom of God which brings not unity, but division--and a most uneven division at that. Some will want nothing to do with it, others will fall out as quickly as quickly as they rushed in, and still others will miss out because they are too invested in the current order of things. Only those who have "ears to hear" will come into the kingdom and prosper. In other words, only one fourth of those to whom the kingdom is proclaimed will ultimately be brought into it. This is not exactly "good news" in the popular sense of the term. But, as N.T. Wright, comparing Jesus' parables to political cartoons, explains:

Everything Jesus does creates division within the Israel of his day. The parables not only explain this, but are themselves part of the process. They work, they function, as a sharply focused version of Jesus' entire ministry. Hence the comment in the middle. Jesus is not only telling them the dream, but giving them the interpretation. He is not only sketching the cartoon, but explaining the code. But those outside, who are fascinated by the story and the picture, can't understand it.

Why not? Doesn't Jesus want everybody to get the message? Yes and no. What he is saying is such dynamite that it can't be said straightforwardly, out on the street. Any kingdom-movement was dangerous enough (if Herod, or the Roman authorities, heard about it, they'd be worried); but if word got out that Jesus' kingdom-vision was radically unlike what most people wanted and expected, the ordinary people would be furious too. It was doubly dangerous. Put the cartoon into plain prose and somebody might sue.

It's a 'mystery' (verse 11): not just a puzzle, but a divine secret which Jesus is revealing. But as with all divine revelation, you can only understand if you believe, if you trust. (Mark for Everyone, Westminster John Knox Press 2001, p. 44)

This is not the only parable of Jesus which speaks of separation and division. The trap we often fall into, trying to apply them to our own day (as opposed to understanding them, first, as they would have been understood--or misunderstood--in Jesus' day), is that we try to interpret them in terms of the kingdom's final consummation, rather than in terms of its initial inauguration. There is, of course, a deep eschatological element to the parables. But Jesus' purpose in telling them to a first century Jewish audience immersed in misguided expectations the coming of the kingdom was, precisely, to separate the true Israel--those who had "ears to hear" and put their trust in him as the long-awaited Messiah--from those, like the religious establishment, who claimed a spiritual birthright on the basis of purely natural circumstances. To that audience, Jesus' declared that the kingdom of God was already breaking forth in their midst and the time for decision was imminent. The parables themselves were part and parcel to the kingdom's breaking forth. By speaking in the language of mystery, Jesus was beginning the process of separating out the true children of the kingdom from the pretenders, a separation that continues to this day whenever the Word of God is preached and its hearers either receive or reject it.

Where Shall My Wondering Soul Begin?

Where shall my wondering soul begin?
How shall I all to heaven aspire?
A slave redeemed from death and sin,
A brand plucked from eternal fire,
How shall I equal triumphs raise,
Or sing my great Deliverer’s praise?

O how shall I the goodness tell,
Father, which Thou to me hast showed?
That I, a child of wrath and hell,
I should be called a child of God,
Should know, should feel my sins forgiven,
Blessed with this antepast of Heaven!

And shall I slight my Father’s love?
Or basely fear His gifts to own?
Unmindful of His favors prove?
Shall I, the hallowed cross to shun,
Refuse His righteousness to impart,
By hiding it within my heart?

No! though the ancient dragon rage,
And call forth all his host to war,
Though earth’s self-righteous sons engage
Them and their god alike I dare;
Jesus, the sinner’s friend, proclaim;
Jesus, to sinners still the same.

Outcasts of men, to you I call,
Harlots, and publicans, and thieves!
He spreads His arms to embrace you all;
Sinners alone His grace receives;
No need of Him the righteous have;
He came the lost to seek and save.

Come, O my guilty brethren, come,
Groaning beneath your load of sin,
His bleeding heart shall make you room,
His open side shall take you in;
He calls you now, invites you home;
Come, O my guilty brethren, come!

For you the purple current flowed
In pardons from His wounded side,
Languished for you the eternal God,
For you the Prince of glory died:
Believe, and all your sin’s forgiven;
Only believe, and yours is Heaven!

Charles Wesley

An eternal sin?

2010-03-02T11:14:00.002-05:00

Texts: Genesis 42.1-17, 1 Corinthians 5.1-8, Mark 3.19-35

Commemoration: Chad of Litchfield

Almighty God, whose servant Chad, for the peace of the Church, relinquished cheerfully the honors that had been thrust upon him, only to be rewarded with equal responsibility: Keep us, we pray, from thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, and ready at all times to step aside for others, (in honor preferring one another,) that the cause of Christ may be advanced; in the name of him who washed his disciples' feet, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Jesus was healing many and driving out demons. But "the scribes who came down from Jerusalem" were not impressed, claiming, "'He is possessed by Beelzebul' and 'by the prince of demons he casts out demons.'" Not only was this claim callous, it was also perilous, placing these self-proclaimed religious know-it-alls in danger of eternal separation from God. For Jesus warns them that "all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin."

But what was it which these scribes said which placed them outside the forgiveness of God? What was their "eternal sin?" Jesus said this to them, according to Mark, because "they had said, 'He has an unclean spirit.'" They had witnessed, before their very eyes, the power of the Holy Spirit at work in Jesus, bringing healing and deliverance. Yet, they attributed all this to "the prince of demons."

But is the "eternal sin" of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit as simple as this? Is it merely an outward act, a careless word spoken out of ignorance or hard-heartedness? Did the scribes' real sin involve only the words of their mouths, or did it involve the attitude of their hearts? Were not their careless words merely a manifestation of a callous attitude which so clouded their perception that they could not even acknowledge, much less glorify, God even when the power of his Holy Spirit was on display right before their very eyes?

Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is an unforgivable, "eternal sin" not because of any failure on God's part to forgive "all sins" committed by "the children of men and whatever blasphemies they utter." Rather, the one who "blasphemes against the Holy Spirit has no forgiveness" because such forgiveness is not desired. The merciful, forgiving, and healing God revealed in and through Jesus Christ is a total stranger to such a person, so much so that he is unable to give God all the glory, but instead gives the devil all the credit.

Originally posted 1/20/09

When O'er My Sins I Sorrow

When o’er my sins I sorrow,
Lord, I will look to Thee
And hence my comfort borrow
That Thou wast slain for me;
Yea, Lord, Thy precious blood was spilt
For me, O most unworthy,
To take away my guilt.

Oh, what a marvelous offering!
Behold, the Master spares
His servants, and their suffering
And grief for them He bears.
God stoopeth from His throne on high;
For me, His guilty creature,
He deigns as man to die.

My manifold transgression
Henceforth can harm me none
Since Jesus’ bloody Passion
For me God’s grace hath won.
His precious blood my debts hath paid;
Of hell and all its torments
I am no more afraid.

Therefore I will forever
Give glory unto Thee,
O Jesus, loving Savior,
For what Thou didst for me.
I’ll spend my breath in songs of thanks
For Thy sad cry, Thy sufferings,
Thy wrongs, Thy guiltless death.

Justus Gesinius

Being with Jesus

2010-03-01T15:44:00.004-05:00

Texts: Genesis 41.46-57, 1 Corinthians 4.8-21, Mark 3.7-19

Commemoration: David (Dewi) of Wales

Almighty God, who called your servant David to be a faithful and wise steward of your mysteries for the people of Wales: Mercifully grant that, following his purity of life and zeal for the gospel of Christ, we may with him receive the crown of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever.

What was the first priority of the apostles? Mark writes that Jesus "appointed twelve . . . so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and to have authority to cast out demons." It is easy to say that the apostles preached the gospel and performed many signs and wonders. But it is significant to note that Jesus first appointed them "so that they might be with him." In the book of Acts, Peter and John were brought before the Council after healing a lame beggar at Solomon's portico. The members of the Council were "astonished" with the apostles' boldness in light of the fact "that they were uneducated, common men." But one characteristic of Peter and John stands out. "And they recognized that they had been with Jesus" (Acts 4.13).

The most subtle temptation every Christian faces is the temptation to do something for Jesus before being with Jesus. We would do well to ask ourselves, during this Lenten season of self-examination, just how much the work we do in the name of Jesus reflects the time we spend in the company of Jesus.

Abide in Thee

Abide in Thee, in that deep love of Thine,
My Jesus, Lord, Thou Lamb of God divine;
Down, closely down, as living branch with tree,
I would abide, my Lord, my Christ, in Thee.

Abide in Thee, my Savior, God, I know
How love of Thine, so vast, in me may flow:
My empty vessel running o’er with joy,
Now overflows to Thee without alloy.

Abide in Thee, nor doubt, nor self, nor sin,
Can e’er prevail with Thy blest life within;
Joined to Thyself, communing deep, my soul
Knows naught besides its motions to control.

Abide in Thee, ’tis thus alone I know
The secrets of Thy mind e’en while below;
All joy and peace, and knowledge of Thy Word,
All power and fruit, and service for the Lord.

Joseph D. Smith

Keeping the Sabbath wholly

2010-02-27T09:44:00.003-05:00

Texts: Genesis 41.1-13, 1 Corinthians 4.1-7, Mark 2.23-3.6

Commemoration: George Herbert

Our God and King, who called your servant George Herbert from The pursuit of worldly honors to be a pastor of souls, a poet, and a priest in your temple: Give us grace, we pray, joyfully to perform the tasks you give us to do, knowing that nothing is menial or common that is done for your sake; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Pharisees, in their zeal for righteousness, often, if not always, missed the point of the very law they claimed to uphold. Strict observance of the Sabbath was one of the most important tenets of their religious system. So, when Jesus comes along with his band of ragtag disciples, wandering through the grain fields on the Sabbath and, horror of horrors, plucking heads of grain, the Pharisees are, to put it mildly, greatly offended. "Look," they say to Jesus, "why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?"

Jesus responds to the Pharisees' inquiry by citing Scriptural precedent. "Have you not read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him," he asks these noted experts on the Scriptures, "how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?"

It is important to note that the incident Jesus cites took place during what might be seen as a transitional time in Israel's history. David had been anointed king by Samuel, but Saul was still on the throne. David was legitimately king, having received the sign of divine sanction, but he had not yet been officially recognized by human authorities. Similarly, Jesus, the true heir of David, has been anointed (in baptism), but has not yet been recognized, in this case, by the self-appointed human authorities who lodge their complaint about his alleged transgression of the Sabbath.

"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath," Jesus declares. "So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath." It is a bold declaration indicating that what appears to the "experts" to be a violation of the law is, in reality, a sign of the in-breaking of the kingdom of God. Even as the old order of things languishes in the throes of death, the new order of things is breaking forth in its midst.

But the incident in the grain fields is merely a prelude to what is about to happen in the synagogue. Plucking grain was bad enough. But would Jesus be so bold as to heal a man with a withered hand on, of all days, the Sabbath? It is here that the hypocrisy of the Pharisees is fully exposed and Jesus, far from being a Sabbath breaker, is revealed as the true Sabbath maker. "Is it lawful on the Sabbath," he asks, "to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?"

Jesus challenges the very notion that the Sabbath is to be observed for its own sake, rather than for the glory of God. What, after all, was God's purpose in setting aside the seventh day as a day of rest, if not to make creation whole? In their zeal for the letter of the law, the Pharisees had run roughshod over the spirit of the law. In their minds, it was not holy for one to be made whole on the Sabbath. But Jesus turns their misguided zeal on its head. It is, indeed, most holy for one to be made whole on the Sabbath.

Such restoration to wholeness is what the Sabbath is all about! To keep the Sabbath holy, you must keep it wholly. One day a week is not enough. Six days a week is incomplete. God is to be glorified in everything we do moment by moment, hour by hour, day by day, every day!

He Touched Me and Made Me Whole

To the feet of my Savior in trembling and fear,
A penitent sinner I came;
He saw, and in mercy, He bade me draw near;
All glory and praise to His Name.

Refrain

He touched me and thus made me whole;
Bringing comfort and rest to my soul;
O glad happy day, all my sins rolled away!
For He touched me and thus made me whole.

I knew not the tender compassion and love
That Jesus, my Savior, had shown;
Tho’ burdened with grief, His dear hand brought relief,
He healed me and called me His own.

Refrain

“My grace is sufficient,” I heard His dear voice,
“O come and find rest for your soul;
From sin you to save, My life freely I gave;
I died that you might be made whole.”

Refrain

O Jesus, dear Jesus, Thy Name I adore,
For saving and keeping my soul;
Thy praises I’ll sing, my Redeemer and King,
Thy dear, loving hand made me whole.

Refrain

Thomas Sullivan

Discipleship, repentance, and healing

2010-02-26T13:02:00.003-05:00

Texts: Genesis 40.1-23, 1 Corinthians 3.16-23, Mark 2.13-22

Mark's account of the call of Levi serves as a fitting bookend with the account of the calling of the first disciples. In between, there are accounts of numerous healings and deliverances which accompanied Jesus's proclamation of the coming kingdom of God. Unlike Peter and Andrew, James and John, Levi probably was not comfortable with the way he was making a living. He worked for "the enemy," as far as his fellow Jews were concerned. Day after day, he sat at the tax booth--probably a toll collection center on the border separating the territory between Herod Antipas and his brother Philip--enduring the sneers and insults of his fellow Jews. He worked for the wrong employer, the Herodian family which ruled over Judea with the backing of the hated Romans.

When Jesus called his first disciples, Peter and Andrew, James and John had to leave behind the fishing business which had been the livelihood of their respective families for generations. For Levi, it would seem, the decision to leave his business and follow Jesus was much easier. Any life would be better than the life of a tax collector. But the call to follow Jesus is, inherently, a call to repentance. Did Levi really want to face the painful truth about the life he had been living? If he was a typical tax collector (and there is no reason to believe he was not), he had probably enriched himself by taking from his fellow Jews more than was required. Was he prepared to make restitution to everyone he had wronged?

There is more to the statement, "And he rose up and followed him," than meets the eye. It does not mean merely that Levi stepped outside the tax booth and began hanging out with Jesus. It means he gave himself completely to the One who invited him to be his disciple. Whatever the cost to himself personally, Levi would turn away from his former life and make a new start. He realized that he--no less than the man with the unclean spirit, the leper, and the paralytic--was a sick man who needed healing and deliverance.

It is fitting, then, that the account of Levi's call ends with Jesus's statement, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." The call to discipleship is the call to repentance. Jesus is the physician who comes to bring healing and wholeness to all who have been broken by the sickness of sin.

Depth of Mercy

Depth of mercy! Can there be
Mercy still reserved for me?
Can my God His wrath forbear,
Me, the chief of sinners, spare?

I have long withstood His grace,
Long provoked Him to His face,
Would not hearken to His calls,
Grieved Him by a thousand falls.

I my Master have denied,
I afresh have crucified,
And profaned His hallowed Name,
Put Him to an open shame.

I have spilt His precious blood,
Trampled on the Son of God,
Filled with pangs unspeakable,
I, who yet am not in hell!

Lo! I still walk on the ground:
Lo! an Advocate is found:
“Hasten not to cut him down,
Let this barren soul alone.”

Jesus speaks, and pleads His blood!
He disarms the wrath of God;
Now my Father’s mercies move,
Justice lingers into love.

Kindled His relentings are,
Me He now delights to spare,
Cries, “How shall I give thee up?”
Lets the lifted thunder drop.

Whence to me this waste of love?
Ask my Advocate above!
See the cause in Jesus’ face,
Now before the throne of grace.

There for me the Savior stands,
Shows His wounds and spreads His hands.
God is love! I know, I feel;
Jesus weeps and loves me still.

Jesus, answer from above,
Is not all Thy nature love?
Wilt Thou not the wrong forget,
Permit me to kiss Thy feet?

If I rightly read Thy heart,
If Thou all compassion art,
Bow Thine ear, in mercy bow,
Pardon and accept me now.

Pity from Thine eye let fall,
By a look my soul recall;
Now the stone to flesh convert,
Cast a look, and break my heart.

Now incline me to repent,
Let me now my sins lament,
Now my foul revolt deplore,
Weep, believe, and sin no more.

Charles Wesley

More than a great teacher

2010-02-25T14:06:00.003-05:00

Texts: Genesis 39.1-23, 1 Corinthians 2.14-3.15, Mark 2.1-12

Commemoration: Æthelbert of Kent

O God, who called your servant Æthelbert of Kent to an earthly Throne that he might advance your heavenly kingdom, and gave him zeal for your Church and love for your people: Mercifully grant that we who commemorate him this day may be fruitful in good works, and attain to the glorious crown of your saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

C.S. Lewis scoffed at the idea of reducing Jesus to the level of a good moral teacher. Lewis rightly pointed out that the claims Jesus made about himself demand that we either worship him as Lord or dismiss him as a crazed lunatic or, worse yet, a demon. Today's Gospel reading is a fitting illustration of the foolishness of the "great moral teacher" argument. Seeing the faith of the paralytic and those who lowered him through the open roof, Jesus declared, "My son, your sins are forgiven." The scribes rightly believed that only God forgive sins. But they were not willing to believe that Jesus was anything more than an itinerant rabbi. Thus, they were taken aback by Jesus's declaration. Lewis observes in Mere Christianity:

We can all understand how a man forgives offenses against himself. You tread on my toe and I forgive you, you steal my money and I forgive you. But what should we make of a man, himself unrobbed and untrodden on, who announced that he forgave you for treading on other men's toes and stealing other men's money? Asinine fatuity is the kindest description we should give of his conduct. Yet this is what Jesus did. He told people that their sins were forgiven, and never waited to consult all the other people whom their sins had undoubtedly injured. He unhesitatingly behaved as if He were the party chiefly concerned, the person chiefly offended in all offenses. This makes sense only if He really was the God whose laws are broken and whose love is wounded in every sin. In the mouth of any speaker who is not God, these words would imply what I can only regard as a silliness and conceit unrivalled by any other character in history. . . .

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg--or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

O Merciful Creator, Hear

O merciful Creator, hear;
In tender pity bow Thine ear:
Accept the tearful prayer we raise
In this our fast of forty days.

Each heart is manifest to Thee;
Thou knowest our infirmity:
Repentant now we seek Thy face;
Impart to us Thy pardoning grace.

Our sins are manifold and sore,
But spare Thou them who sin deplore;
And for Thine own Name’s sake make whole
The fainting and the weary soul.

Grant us to mortify each sense
By means of outward abstinence,
That so from every stain of sin
The soul may keep her fast within.

Blest Three in One, and One in Three
Almighty God, we pray to Thee,
That Thou wouldst now vouchsafe to bless
Our fast with fruits of righteousness.

Attributed to Gregory I

Keep your eye on the cross

2010-02-24T17:48:00.003-05:00

Texts: Genesis 37.25-36, 1 Corinthians 2.1-13, Mark 1.29-45

Commemoration: Matthias

Almighty God, who in the place of Judas chose your faithful servant Matthias to be numbered among the Twelve: Grant that your Church, being delivered from false apostles, may always be guided and governed by faithful and true pastors; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Mark's Gospel begins with a flurry of deliverances and healings. When driving out demons, Jesus would not permit them to speak because they knew who he was. When the crowds became too big, he would withdraw and find a "desolate place" to pray. Although he was God incarnate, Jesus did not want to make himself the center of attention. His mission was more than just signs and wonders, although they seemed always to accompany his proclamation of the Gospel.

Paul, similarly, went to great lengths to keep the focus off of himself. He reminds the Corinthians that "my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God."

Over and over, we see this pattern emerging in the daily readings during Lent. Our focus must be on God, and God alone. Words are spoken by those anointed by the Spirit, signs and wonders accompany their proclamation, and a disciplined life of prayer and fasting seems to be a rule in the lives of such persons. But words, signs, and disciplines are nothing in and of themselves. Paul "decided to know nothing" while among the Corinthians "except Jesus Christ and him crucified."

The Corinthians were, for the most part, novice believers who might easily be impressed by eloquent speech and miraculous signs. But Paul tells them, "Don't be impressed by my words. Don't think these signs make me anyone special. Keep your eye on the cross and never be ashamed to let God demonstrate his power through your weakness."

In the Cross of Christ I Glory

In the cross of Christ I glory,
Towering o’er the wrecks of time;
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime.

When the woes of life o’ertake me,
Hopes deceive, and fears annoy,
Never shall the cross forsake me,
Lo! it glows with peace and joy.

When the sun of bliss is beaming
Light and love upon my way,
From the cross the radiance streaming
Adds more luster to the day.

Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure,
By the cross are sanctified;
Peace is there that knows no measure,
Joys that through all time abide.

In the cross of Christ I glory,
Towering o’er the wrecks of time;
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime.

John Bowring

Dangerous trust

2010-02-23T09:18:00.003-05:00

Texts: Genesis 37.12-24, 1 Corinthians 1.20-31, Mark 1.14-28

Commemoration: Polycarp

O God, the maker of heaven and earth, who gave to your Venerable servant, the holy and gentle Polycarp, boldness to confess Jesus Christ as King and Saviour, and steadfastness to die for his faith: Give us grace, following his example, to share the cup of Christ and rise to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The opening declaration of Jesus’s ministry, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel,” is familiar to the point of irrelevance for many. In an age of easy believism, repentance is as easy as taking time out from our busy schedule of worldly pleasures and saying to God, “I’m sorry.” But Jesus has something far more radical in mind than a simple apology to fend off divine wrath.

The people of Jesus’s day trusted God well enough. But their trust was conditional. They expected God to make everything work out the way they wanted it. Certainly, Peter and Andrew, James and John trusted God to prosper their fishing business because it was the way they made a living, the way their father made a living, and (most likely) the way generations before them had made a living. They expected to do well as fishermen because they expected God to do things their way.

But Jesus’s declaration, and his subsequent call to his first disciples, shattered the expectations of those who had become comfortable in their conditional trust. Here was a call to return to God, not on their terms, but on God’s terms. Repentance was more than merely a turning away from their sins. It was also a turning toward God and trusting him in a new, and often dangerous, way. No longer were they to trust God to do things their way. They were now to trust God to do things his way. For Peter and Andrew, James and John, that might mean something other than a prosperous business. It might mean abandoning their dreams of comfortable lives as fishermen and risking everything for the sake of this rabbi who was now inviting them to “become fishers of men.”

Not much has changed over the last two thousand years. How often have we ourselves been guilty of trusting God only on the condition that he do things our way? The call to repentance, which we hear over and over again throughout the Lenten season, is as relevant today as it was when Jesus first announced the in-breaking of the kingdom of God. It is a call to turn away not only from our sins, but away from every desire or ambition which clouds our faith, and to turn toward God and trust him not to do things our way, but to accomplish his purpose, according to his will, and for his glory.

O Jesu Christ, from Thee Began

O Jesu Christ, from Thee began
This healing for the soul for man,
By fasting sought, by fasting found
Through forty days of yearly round;

That he who fell from high delight,
Borne down to sensual appetite,
By dint of stern control may rise
To climb the hills of Paradise.

Therefore behold Thy Church, O Lord,
And grace of penitence accord
To all who seek with generous tears
Renewal of their wasted years.

Forgive the sin that we have done,
Forgive the course that we have run,
And show henceforth in evil day
Thyself our succor and our stay.

But now let every heart prepare,
By sacrifice of fast and prayer,
To keep with joy magnifical
The solemn Easter festival.

Father and Son and Spirit blest,
To Thee be every prayer addrest,
Who art in threefold Name adored,
From age to age, the only Lord.

Translated by Thomas A. Lacy

A study in humility

2010-02-22T12:38:00.005-05:00

Monday in Lent 1

Texts: Genesis 37.1-11, 1 Corinthians 1.1-19, Mark 1.1-13

Commemoration: The Martyrs of Arcadios

Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy martyrs triumphed over suffering and were faithful even to death: Grant us, who now remember them in thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to you in this world, that we may receive with them the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

One common characteristic of prophetic leaders in Israel—from Moses to John the Baptist—is their reluctance to take on a task which promised little in the way of comfort and much in the way of hardship. Moses, having grown comfortable tending his father-in-law’s sheep, tried to negotiate his way out of his call to be Israel’s deliverer. Amos, also, would have been content to remain “a shepherd and a dresser of sycamore trees.” Jonah had to spend three days in the belly of a fish before being convinced to go to Ninevah. Jeremiah thought himself too young to be taken seriously. Even Isaiah, before saying, “Here am I. Send me,” was overwhelmed by his unworthiness to stand in the presence of God.

Prophetic leaders are, first and foremost, empowered by the Spirit of God to speak the truth boldly and rebuke vice even, and especially, to the religious and secular power brokers who, more often than not, have ascended to their positions through means other than divine appointment. To the Herods and Caiaphases of his day, John the Baptist was seen as a threat not because of his fiery preaching or immense popularity. Rather, he was a threat precisely because he was being faithful to his calling. He was a prophet sent from God to prepare God's people for the coming of their true King and High Priest, that is, the One who would embody everything the religious and secular establishment was not.

In Mark's Gospel, John is presented, very much in the vein of Elijah, as one who simply "appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." But, for all the attention he garnered, he wanted to shift the focus elsewhere. "After me come he who is mightier than I," John declares, "the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

In these opening days of Lent, we have noted a recurrent theme of keeping our focus on God, not ourselves. John the Baptist is a perfect model for us in this regard. For all his fiery preaching, he remained the humblest of humble servants, recognizing his role as relatively insignificant in God's grand scheme of things. He had the wildest costume and the strangest diet; he even had some of the best lines. But, in the unfolding drama of redemption, he was a mere bit player whose role would be finished before the end of the first act. Yet, John fulfilled his calling with faithfulness and obedience, calling attention not to himself, but to the One who would come after him.

Such faithfulness and obedience inevitably leads to suffering at the hands of those who jealously guard their positions of power, not because they are servants of God but because they are servants of their own selfish interests. Prophetic leaders put the interests of the kingdom of God before their own interests. Hence, they are willing to suffer whatever slings and arrows are thrown their way. For his faithfulness, John the Baptist lost his life at the hands of a faithless, selfish, and ultimately irrelevant earthly king. Those who follow his example must be willing, likewise, to lose their livelihood at the hands of even lesser characters.

Lo! Now the Time Accepted Peals

Lo! now the time accepted peals
Its tidings of release;
A time that with salvation heals,
And to repentant tears reveals
The mercy seat of peace.

Then let us wisely now restrain
Our food, our drink, our sleep;
From idle word and jest refrain
And steadfastly begin again
A stricter watch to keep.

Now Heav’n-taught love will haste to rise
And seek the cheerless bed,
Where cold and wan the sufferer lies,
And Christ Himself to heedful eyes
Is hungering for bread.

’Tis now that zealous charity
Her goods more largely spends,
Lays up her treasure in the sky,
And freely yields, ere death draw nigh,
To God the wealth He lends.

Then consecrate us, Lord, anew,
And fire our hearts with love;
That all we think, and all we do,
Within, without, be pure and true,
Rekindled from above.

Now fuller praise and glory be
To Thee, the First and Last,
And make us, blessèd Trinity,
More faithful soldiers, worthier Thee,
Through this our chastening fast.

Translated by Robert M. Moorsom

Truth and love cannot abide apart from one another

2010-02-20T09:22:00.002-05:00

Texts: Ezekiel 39.21-29, Philippians 4.10-20, John 17.20-26

Commemoration: Cecile Isherwood

O God, by whose grace your servant Cecile Isherwood, enkindled With the fire of your love, became a burning and a shining light in your Church: Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline, and may ever walk before you as children of light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

There is a world that is passing away and, along with it, all the temporal pleasures and desires which make it something less than the world God intended. But the love of the Father for the world he created endures forever, and that love will abide throughout the world to come. It is the love that already abides in “whoever does the will of God” (1 John 2.17), thus making real in this world that is passing away that world which will never pass away.

This is what Jesus was praying for when he prayed not only for his apostles, “but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

The prayer of Jesus surpasses any mere desire on our part, noble as it may seem, for some kind of organizational unity among believers across denominational or sectarian lines. The unity for which Jesus prays, the unity which manifests God’s glory to the world, is nothing less than incorporation into the divine community itself. “The glory that you have given me I have given to them,” Jesus prays to the Father, “that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

This is a unity that goes beyond any human-concocted scheme. It is the union established by the Father before the world began; a bond of eternal love between the Father and the Son, into which are incorporated all to whom the Son has made the Father’s name known, that is, all to whom the Son has imparted the divine nature through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Those to whom such a gift is given are the true chosen people of God in whom abides the same Spirit which revealed to Daniel the mystery of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Daniel 2.1-30).

By contrast, the one who walks apart from Christ is like the pitiful “wise men” of Babylon, groping about in the darkness, “not know[ing] where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes” (1 John 2.11). As those “wise men” were under the sentence of death before the intervention of the truly wise and righteous Daniel, so are we all under the sentence of death before the intervention of God’s own Son, Jesus Christ. By his coming into the world, he has shown us the way of truth and, by his example of self-giving and self-sacrifice, demonstrated that truth cannot exist apart from love. To his apostles, he imparted the very word which is truth, that is, the same Word of God which he himself made incarnate. He “kept them in [the Father’s] name” and “guarded them” so that “not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled” (John 17.12).

But, as Pilate will later cynically ask, “What is truth?” (John 18.38). Jesus has the answer. “Your word,” that is, the Word of God the Father, “is truth” (John 17.17). It is the Word that Jesus himself has made incarnate. Thus, he not only gives the answer, he is the answer. Jesus himself, the very Word made flesh, is the embodiment of the truth, the full revelation of the will and purpose of God from the foundation of the world. To be “sanctified in the truth” is to be sanctified in Christ, made holy as the Father is holy through the truth abiding in us through the Holy Spirit, the “Spirit of truth” (John 14.17), whom God has sent to lead us in the way of righteousness.

To abide in Christ, the Word made flesh, the truth incarnate, is “to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2.6). It is an often difficult road of selfless, unconditional, sacrificial love. “Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in the darkness,” John writes. “Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling” (1 John 2.9-10) because the light in which he abides is Christ himself.

Truth and love cannot abide apart from one another. Only in Christ are the two made one; and only in Christ may we be sanctified in the truth to shine forth the glorious light of his love.

Jesus, Grant That Balm and Healing

Jesus, grant that balm and healing
In Thy holy wounds I find,
Every hour that I am feeling,
Pains of body and of mind.
Should some evil thought within
Tempt my treacherous heart to sin,
Show the peril, and from sinning
Keep me ere its first beginning.

Should some lust or sharp temptation
Prove too strong for flesh and blood,
Let me think upon Thy Passion,
And the breach is soon made good.
Or should Satan press me hard,
Let me then be on my guard,
Saying, “Christ for me was wounded,”
That the tempter flee confounded.

If the world my heart entices
On the broad and easy road
With its mirth and luring vices,
Let me think upon the load
Thou didst carry and endure
That I flee all thoughts impure,
Banishing each wild emotion,
Calm and blest in my devotion.

Every wound that pains or grieves me,
By Thy stripes, Lord, is made whole;
When I’m faint, Thy cross revives me,
Granting new life to my soul.
Yea, Thy comfort renders sweet
Every bitter cup I meet;
For Thy all atoning Passion
Has procured my soul’s salvation.

O my God, my Rock and Tower,
Grant that in Thy death I trust,
Knowing death has lost his power
Since Thou trodd’st him in the dust.
Savior, let Thine agony
Ever help and comfort me;
When I die, be my Protection,
Light and Life and Resurrection.

Johann Heerman

Celebrating in Lent?

2010-02-19T08:14:00.002-05:00

Texts: Ezekiel 18.1-4, 25-32; Philippians 4.1-9; John 17.9-19

Lent is not the season most often associated with celebration. It is the season in which we are reminded of our mortality and the need to turn away from our sins (or else face dire consequences, as Ezekiel reminds us). Yet, celebration is the theme which runs throughout Paul’s letter to the Philippians, and he finishes with a flourish, imploring his readers to “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say Rejoice.” It is, literally, a call to celebrate, and to do so out in the open for everyone to see.

But, once again, this seems out of place during Lent. The disciplines we observe are not to be done for show. Yet, Paul says to the Philippians, “Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.” The church is to be known for its gentle spirit, its compassionate service, and its unity in Christ (Euodia and Syntyche, please take note). Jesus prayed that all his disciples be perfectly one. Now, Paul exhorts the Philippian congregation to manifest that unity in such a manner that it will be known to everyone around them. In so doing, they would be bearing witness to the fact that “The Lord is near.”

So, once again, we are reminded, as we will be throughout Lent, of where our focus must always be. As a community defined by celebration, the church calls attention not to itself or to its individual members, but to the coming reign of its Lord, who will subject all things to himself and transform a fallen and shattered world into a glorious new creation.

Lord, in This Thy Mercy's Day

Lord, in this Thy mercy’s day,
Ere for us it pass away,
On our knees we fall and pray.

Holy Jesus, grant us tears,
Fill us with heart searching fears,
Ere the hour of doom appears.

Lord, on us Thy Spirit pour,
Kneeling lowly at Thy door,
Ere it close forevermore.

By Thy night of agony,
By Thy supplicating cry,
By Thy willingness to die,

By Thy tears of bitter woe,
For Jerusalem below,
Let us not Thy peace forego.

Judge and Savior of our race,
Grant us, when we see Thy face,
With Thy ransomed ones a place.

Grant us ’neath Thy wings a place,
Lest we lose this day of grace,
Ere we shall behold Thy face.

On Thy love we rest alone,
And that love shall then be known,
By the pardoned, round Thy throne.

Isaac Williams

A work in progress

2010-02-18T09:39:00.005-05:00

Texts: Habakkuk 3.1-18, Philippians 3.12-21, John 17.1-8

Commemoration: Martin Luther

Almighty God, the sender in every age of faithful men and women to recall the Church to its task, and to renew its life: raise up, in this our day, prophetic heralds and evangelists, whose voices, like that of your servant Martin, will give strength to your Church, that your will may be done and your name glorified, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Paul's aim was to be like Christ in every way, shape, and form. His deepest desire was "to know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead" (Philippians 3.10-11). The end of his faith is complete union with Christ, but that union remains, for Paul, a work in progress, as he makes clear in today's Epistle reading.

Throughout his ministry, however, Paul faced opposition and scorn from a pugnacious and disagreeable bunch. These so-called "super apostles" claimed a superior knowledge of the mysteries of God and derided Paul as a novice. Two of the worst offenders were Hymenaeus and Philetus (2 Timothy 2.14-26) who were propagating the outlandish claim "that the resurrection has already happened." Paul disowned these men and their claims, noting that "They are upsetting the faith of some."

The claim by Hymenaeus and Philetus "that the resurrection has already happened" was "upsetting" to some because it was self-serving and self-glorifying. It set these "super apostles" above those, like Paul, who humbly and freely admitted that "the resurrection from the dead" was a goal which they had "not yet attained."

The resurrection is the outcome of a life lived in obedience to Christ. Paul was correct in his attitude of humility, knowing that the closer he got to the goal, the less he should think of himself. Union with Christ was, for Paul, a lifelong journey which required dying to self in order to be fully realized. This side of eternity, he knew that he could never confidently claim to have reached this ultimate outcome without calling attention to himself instead of Christ.

The Lenten season is the perfect time to be reminded that we are all still works in progress. The joy of the resurrection lies ahead of us and, with Paul, it is the goal toward which we press as we live out our faith, holding true to that which we have already attained. The struggles and trials we face along the way serve to remind us that we still have a long way to go. But the prize is worth the wait. For in the end, our Savior will appear and will "transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself."

The Glory of These Forty Days

The glory of these forty days
We celebrate with songs of praise;
For Christ, by Whom all things were made,
Himself has fasted and has prayed.

Alone and fasting Moses saw
The loving God Who gave the law;
And to Elijah, fasting, came
The steeds and chariots of flame.

So Daniel trained his mystic sight,
Delivered from the lions’ might;
And John, the Bridegroom’s friend, became
The herald of Messiah’s Name.

Then grant us, Lord, like them to be
Full oft in fast and prayer with Thee;
Our spirits strengthen with Thy grace,
And give us joy to see Thy face.

O Father, Son, and Spirit blest,
To thee be every prayer addressed,
Who art in threefold Name adored,
From age to age, the only Lord.

attributed to Gregory I

Keeping focus on God

2010-02-17T09:59:00.003-05:00

Ash Wednesday
Texts: Amos 5.6-15, Hebrews 12.1-14, Luke 18.9-14

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

It is possible that the shock value of the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector has been lost on those of us who, two thousand years removed, have been so immersed in the comforting doctrine of salvation by grace through faith. Of course, it was the tax collector, not the Pharisee, who “went down to his house justified.” He was the one who relied on the mercy of God, unlike the Pharisee, who thought he could justify himself by reciting his litany of good deeds. To the twenty-first century evangelical, there is nothing at all unusual about this parable and what it teaches. It is the very essence of the Gospel.

But there is an old dictum that the Scriptures were written for us, but not necessarily to us. Jesus had a very specific audience in mind when he cast the Pharisee as the self-righteous blowhard and the tax collector as the humble penitent. To any devout first century Jew, The Pharisees represented the purest form of Judaism. Tax collectors, on the other hand, were the ultimate collaborators. Not only did they sell out the faith of their fathers, they also exploited their position for personal enrichment.

The contrast could not be more stark: the Pharisee, the embodiment of everything good and pure and decent, and the tax collector, the very face of collaboration and exploitation. There could be little doubt whose side Jesus’ original listeners would take. They wanted, and expected, the Pharisee to go home justified and the tax collector, despite his pleas for mercy, to get everything he deserved. To their ears, Jesus’ words, “I tell you, this man [the tax collector] went down his house justified, rather than the other [the Pharisee],” would have been shocking. The very idea that a miserable tax collector would be justified in the sight of God just because he cried out for mercy and the fine, upstanding Pharisee would be turned away despite his record of service would have literally turned their world upside down.

The beginning of the Lenten season is a particularly appropriate time to consider the implications of this parable. Much of the emphasis over the next forty days will be on precisely the kind of spiritual disciplines which the Pharisee thought would justify him before God. How quickly we tend to fall back into a legalistic form of righteousness, especially when the emphasis of the season is the invitation to observe the disciplines of “holy living.” We must be careful to remember that none of these disciplines are ends in themselves. We are justified by grace, not by works, and no amount of boasting about our sterling record of spiritual discipline will make us worthy to stand before God. As the writer of Hebrews reminds us, it is God himself who disciplines us for our good. What was it, after all, that brought that tax collector to his knees in the first place? Was it not God’s own gracious initiative, the promise of forgiveness if only he would turn from his sin and cry out for mercy?

“Two men went up into the temple to pray.” One, a Pharisee, went on his own initiative. The other, a tax collector, went in response to God’s invitation. The Pharisee was focused on himself; the tax collector was focused on God. That, in the end, is why the tax collector, not the Pharisee, “went down to his house justified.” No amount of fasting, tithing, or any other works, no matter how good they may seem, will send us home justified if they become ends in themselves, rather than means through which we keep our focus squarely on God.

Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days

Lord, who throughout these forty days
For us didst fast and pray,
Teach us with Thee to mourn our sins
And close by Thee to stay.

As Thou with Satan didst contend,
And didst the victory win,
O give us strength in Thee to fight,
In Thee to conquer sin.

As Thou didst hunger bear, and thirst,
So teach us, gracious Lord,
To die to self, and chiefly live
By Thy most holy Word.

And through these days of penitence,
And through Thy passiontide,
Yea, evermore in life and death,
Jesus, with us abide.

Abide with us, that so, this life
Of suffering over past,
An Easter of unending joy
We may attain at last.

Claudia F. Hernaman