Courage comes from holding God in awe

Morning: Psalm 55; Revelation 13:11-18

Eve of All Saints: Psalm 34; Wisdom 3:1-9; Revelation 19:1, 4-10

I get nervous sometimes. Do you ever feel trepidation with certain people? Maybe your boss, someone you respect, or a famous public figure? You are not afraid exactly, just awestruck. One old hymn quotes today’s Psalm, #34: ‘Fear God, you saints, and you will then have nothing else to fear.’ Not that you should fear how God might treat you; you can always rely on God’s justice and mercy. But if you do not tremble before the maker of the universe, you may end up being unduly afraid of other, lesser powers. Courage comes from holding God in awe.

 

 

Why we bought a snowblower

Morning: Psalms 40, 54; Revelation 13:1-10

Evening: Psalm 51; Luke 12:13-31

Mona and I moved lately. We looked at some things, and asked ourselves: “Do we really need this?” Some stuff went to new homes, but still a few boxes call to us from the basement. We are not moving again anytime soon though. And, since it has been such a relief to get rid of what we do not need, I hope we will finish the purge. Jesus is right ... Having more than you need distracts you from life and its real treasures. That is why we did buy one new thing - a snowblower ... think about it!

 

If I reject God, I put God’s forgiveness out of my reach

Morning: Psalm 50; Revelation 12:7-17

Evening: Psalm 103; Luke 11:53-12:12

Even as a believer, I need to make rational sense of things. It makes no sense to me that there some things cannot be forgiven, because I trust in the grace and mercy of God. But if I reject the power of God’s Spirit, I put myself beyond God’s forgiveness. Not that God cannot forgive me - all is possible with God - but I cannot benefit from forgiveness if I am not ready to receive it. How can I receive forgiveness from one who does not exist? If I reject God, I put God’s forgiveness out of my reach.

 

St. Jude and my friend Tony

Morning: Psalm 66; Isaiah 28:9-16; Ephesians 4:1-16

Evening: Psalms 116, 117; John 14:15-31

Installing timing-chains on GM 350 engines was mind-numbingly boring. The saving grace was Tony. I was there for a year, saving for school. Tony, the man next to me on the line, was a ‘lifer’. He spoke often about St. Jude (whose day it is today), patron saint of lost causes. Tony was a lost cause and God rescued him, he said. An unlikely evangelist - hard-living loner - Tony strengthened my conviction that no-one is outside God’s love. God even speaks through you, though some days you may think yourself a lost cause. I often thank God for Tony.

 

Show me why I should change!

Morning: Psalm 45; Revelation 11:14-19

Evening: Psalm 47, 48; Luke 11:27-36

Jesus’s message of repentance is more than a simple call to admit you have acted or thought wrongly. Repentance, for Jesus, is a call to change your whole life’s focus, as Thomas Keating puts it: “Change the direction in which you look for happiness.” In common with all human beings, you can become set in your ways; change is difficult. You risk ‘barking up the wrong tree’ with no hope of seeing the error of your ways. You have to be ready to change direction, Jesus says, if you don’t want to get stuck in the dark.

 

Which power will prevail ... good or evil? Choose

Morning: Psalms 41, 52; Revelation 11:1-14

Evening: Psalm 44; Luke 11:14-26

In one popular story, a grandfather teaches his grandson that it is as if there were two wolves fighting within us - one good, the other evil. The grandson asks, “Which wolf will win?” The grandfather replies, “The one you feed.” When Jesus tackles evil forces in people and communities, there is a risk, he points out, that the evil that has been banished may come back full force if you do not replace the evil with good. Goodness is not simply the absence of evil. You have to choose to serve and encourage the good within you.

 

Crucial Conversations: Respect, Honesty, Listening

Morning: Psalms 63, 98; I Corinthians 10:15-24

Evening: Psalm 103; Haggai 1:1-2:9; Matthew 18:15-20

Matthew says that Jesus teaches church members to speak respectfully in private to those who have wronged them and also to listen carefully to those whom they themselves have wronged. Matthew, through his Gospel, passes on these customs of the early church. The exact words cannot be from Jesus ... there was no church yet when Jesus was teaching his disciples. But it is fair to assume that the disciples themselves learned these traditions from Jesus - respect, honesty and listening in crucial conversations - and passed them on to the early church. We need them now, more than ever.

 

Your presence may answer someone else’s prayer

Morning: Psalms 30, 32; Revelation 10:1-11

Evening: Psalms 42, 43; Ezra 4:7, 11-24; Luke 11:1-13

When people suffer - illness, loss, separation, depression - you long to help, to make things right. You have heard that comforting words or advice do not help. If you really want to help, you offer yourself. Your presence helps people most. You try prayer, and you wonder why you do not get what you ask for? Perhaps you do not know what you need? But Jesus teaches that the prayer for God’s Spirit never goes unanswered; then, the Spirit helps you with everything else ... And who knows, your presence may just be God’s answer to someone else’s prayer.

 

The one thing necessary ... sit and listen

Morning: Psalm 31; Revelation 9:13-21

Evening: Psalm 35; Ezra 3:1-13; Luke 10:38-42

Mary of Bethany and Martha, her sister, are friends of Jesus. Mary is famous for sitting at Jesus’s feet listening to him while Martha complains that Mary is not helping with the chores. Jesus responds: “Martha, Martha (there is deep love in his repetition of her name), Mary has made the right choice.” Sitting at Jesus’s feet, literally or metaphorically, is where we learn the essence of love, hospitality and welcome ... from the one who prepares a spacious place of welcome for all. Sometimes even our deep moral convictions prevent us from seeing the better Way that Jesus embodies.

 

Mercy ... life-giving love for the unloveable

Morning: Psalms 37:1-18; Revelation 9:1-12

Evening: Psalm 37:19-42; Ezra 1:1-11; Luke 10:25-37

Is there anyone - anyone - to whom, if they were in need, you would refuse mercy? This is Jesus’s implicit question in the parable. Anyone? In Jesus’s day, his people did not even associate with Samaritans, let alone treat them kindly. Yet, here a Samaritan shows mercy and kindness to a stranger. It’s as if an unkempt, cocaine-addicted male prostitute stopped to help a mugging victim who had earlier cursed him and refused to give him change for coffee. Mercy is life-giving love for the unlovable; all of them, rich or poor, are my neighbours.

 

The Great Work is under way, in us

Morning: Psalm 38; Revelation 8:1-13

Evening: Psalm 119:25-48; Luke 10:17-24

‘The Satan’, in the Gospel, is the power of evil, God’s purpose gone awry, causing suffering on the earth. The disciples tell Jesus excitedly about their efforts. He responds that he saw ‘the Satan’ fall; not to make them over-confident that they themselves overcome evil - that is God’s work - but to let them know that what they are doing, though small, is vital. Assuring us that God overwhelms the power of evil, Jesus wants us to know that the Great Work of shaping the New Creation is now already under way, in us, motley crew that we are!

 

The Way of Peace, Salaam, Shalom

Morning: Psalms 26, 28; Revelation 7:9-17

Evening: Psalms 36, 39; Luke 10:1-16

Human beings are prone to conflict. Thus, the Abrahamic faiths’ greeting is: ‘Peace’, ‘Salaam’, ‘Shalom’ - God’s Way of Peace. Suffering is the natural consequence of our refusing Peace. Our world urgently needs to discover the Way of Peace. Few, however, seem ready to work for it; probably because this work is hard. For Jesus, the Way of Peace was also the Way of the Cross. Just as refusing Peace leads to suffering for ourselves and others, so also there is probably no giving birth to Peace without our suffering some labour-pangs, too.

 

You have no idea ...

Morning: Psalm 103; Ezekiel 47:1-12; Luke 1:1-4

Evening: Psalms 67, 96; Isaiah 52:7-10; Acts 1:1-8

Today is St. Luke’s Day. Luke is ‘the beloved physician’, often associated with the work of healing. His greater gift to history, though, was his decision to write his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. He may have wondered, as he did so, what impact his efforts might have. Could he ever have imagined that we would still be reading his words today? Ask yourself: “What will I do today for the purposes of Christ?” You have no idea ... what a difference your small act of faithfulness will make in the world. Trust that possibility.

 

What is the cross I carry?

Morning: Psalms 148, 149, 150; I Corinthians 10:1-13

Evening: Psalms 114, 115; Matthew 16:13-28

When people say, in clichéd fashion, “It’s the cross you must bear”, they may miss the spirit of Jesus’s words: “Take up your cross and follow me.” The difference is one of intention. The reluctant long-suffering of the cliché refers to unchosen, unwelcome personal burdens, things I just cannot avoid. There are such burdens, and I must bear them. They are different, however, from the cross which Jesus calls me to take up. He calls me to the willing offering of my life’s energy in service to the better world which he embodies. In that, I want to invest myself.

 

Mountaintop moments are to equip you to serve

Morning: Psalms 20, 21; Acts 28:17-31

Evening: Psalms 110, 116, 117; Luke 9:37-50

Soon after Jesus’s mountaintop transfiguration - where his face shines and God’s affirmation of him rings out - he tells his disciples that he will be betrayed. He will confront the powers-that-be and they will do him harm. The disciples don’t get it. Instead, they argue about which of them is the greatest. Jesus takes a child and teaches them, “the least among all of you is the greatest”. Humility, not greatness, is life’s goal. True greatness is expressed in serving others. The great do not ask, “Who is the greatest?” but rather, “How may I be of service?”

 

 

The human face of God

Morning: Psalms 16, 17; Acts 28:1-6

Evening: Psalm 22; Luke 9:28-36

In the New Testament, people start to see Jesus differently. Something shifts in what he means to them. On the mountain, Peter, James and John see him transfigured; his face shines. They see him as God’s “Son”, God’s chosen one. Later, St. Paul says being “in Christ” is no longer regarding him from a human perspective ... When that happens, it is like a New Creation has begun; your world is transformed. Jesus offers and invites you into a new world ... I find him trustworthy, because I see in him what one writer calls “the human face of God.”

 

One simple daily decision

Morning: Psalm 18:1-20; Jonah 3:1-4:11; Acts 27:27-44

Evening: Psalm 18:21-50; Luke 9:18-27

‘Yesterday is gone; tomorrow may not be; but I have today.’ I copied this into a notebook during my adolescence. It’s clichéd but it gets me moving ... no regrets, no hoping for the wrong things, today is enough. When Jesus says, “Take up your cross daily and follow me,” he is not talking about momentous, life-changing, once-and-for-all decisions. He is calling me, whatever happened yesterday, simply to decide for today - that I will live not for myself but I will lose myself for others and for the world. One day at a time. One decision at a time.

 

Who is this about whom I hear such things?

Morning: Psalm 119:1-24; Jonah 1:17 – 2:10; Acts 27:9-26

Evening: Psalms 12, 13, 14; Luke 9:1-17

All my life I have wondered about Jesus with questions like King Herod’s: “Who is this about whom I hear such things?” Jesus acts with such authority, clarity and mystery; he is intriguing. Pious, clichéd notions about Jesus conceal him rather than reveal him ... If you go beyond religious hype about Jesus and experience him in his simplicity, you will (like the 5000 whom he fed) be awestruck. Awe is the only adequate stance before Jesus, as you begin to learn about who he is. I have only begun to encounter him really. There is still time ...

 

Challenging hidebound traditions & moving on

Morning: Psalms 5, 6; Jonah 1:1-17a; Acts 26:24 – 27:8

Evening: Psalms 10, 11; Luke 8:40-56

Jesus raises a dead 12-year-old girl and heals a woman with a menstrual disorder. He touches a corpse and a menstruating woman! This is shocking for his society - both actions rendered him ‘ritually unclean’. Yet here Jesus opens up a future of possibilities for both women, indeed for all women who experience the confining constraints that society may impose on them. Jesus routinely defies traditions that have lost their meaning and that now just hold people captive. Laws that may once have served a purpose grow moribund. Discipleship means knowing when it is time to move on.

 

Look at Jesus: see God

 Morning: Psalms 1, 2, 3; Micah 7:1-7; Acts 26:1-23

Evening: Psalm 4, 7; Luke 8:26-39

Why learn about Jesus? After Jesus heals a man possessed by demons, the man wants to follow Jesus. It is easier to leave town with Jesus than to live - no longer possessed, but whole - in the very community that experienced his former wild behaviour. But Jesus sends him home to tell his family how much God has done for him. He does go home and, instead, tells them how much Jesus has done for him. Notice how, for the author of Luke’s Gospel, a new, radical possibility has emerged ... Look at Jesus: see God.

Your faith can help your children become themselves

Morning: Psalms 146, 147; Micah 6:1-8; I Corinthians 4:9-16

Evening: Psalms 11, 112, 113; Matthew 15:21-28

I discovered when my sons were grown that kids teased them because I was a priest. I think they felt ungrounded and vulnerable because I may not have shared my faith with them enough. The faith of the Canaanite woman who meets Jesus helps in her daughter’s healing. I am sure it is never too late to help our children heal the loss they suffered because we were cautious about sharing our faith with them. If we do that now (including our doubts and fears), it can only help them become more fully themselves, more whole. I will keep trying.

 

Pay attention to how you listen

 

Morning: Psalms 137, 144; Micah 5:1-14, 10-15; Acts 25:13-27

Evening: Psalm 104; Luke 8:16-25

“Pay attention to how you listen.” ... I never noticed this phrase in Luke’s Gospel before, which proves Jesus’s point! Sometimes, I think I know exactly what Jesus is saying, so I listen without care. But behind his words lie new understandings of our life and purpose here. Listening well to the Word sheds light on your path (Psalm 119:105). Jesus teaches: listen well before you act! Listen to others; learn from one another. Jesus’s family comprises those who “hear the Word of God and do it”. Before you act, give him time; listen to him again.

The company of women who risk following Jesus

Morning: Psalms 140, 142; Micah 3:9-4:5; Acts 24:24 – 25:12

Evening: Psalms 141, 143:1-11; Luke 8:1-15

Among Jesus’s followers are women: Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Chuza and Susanna. For women to risk following him is shocking for Jesus’s culture. Yet his teaching takes root and bears fruit in the lives of women. Many cultures exclude women from leadership or significant roles in their societies, but Jesus calls women perhaps as much as he calls men, expecting their lives to bear fruit for God. Jesus’s own male-dominated culture does not celebrate female leadership any more than our culture does. However, both then and now, women are central figures in the Jesus movement, often “bearing fruit with patient endurance”.

 

Don’t give up on love: break the cycle of violence

Morning: Psalms 131, 132, 133; Micah 3:1-8; Acts 24:1-23

Evening: Psalms 134, 135; Luke 7:36-50

It must have been very wearying for Jesus that people would regularly criticize him whenever he did an act of kindness or grace ... like healing on the sabbath or declaring someone forgiven, or even eating with his critics! Basic goodness is devalued or mocked by those who behave without regard for others and who do not seem to care. But love does not give up. Love is powerful. You keep believing, even when others may abuse or persecute you, that love and grace and kindness will transform their hearts. When you break the cycle of violence, people change.

 

How did you expect God to act?

Morning: Psalm 119:145-176; Micah 2:1-13; Acts 23:23-35

Evening: Psalms 128, 129, 130; Luke 7:18-35

Here is the familiar human story ... We resist faith because God fails to fulfill our expectations. Jesus asks: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see?” People are disappointed that neither John the Baptist nor Jesus meets their expectations of how God ought to act. Many of us are at odds with God because God does not meet our expectations. We think we know what God should be like, or what God should do. Funny how for all our God-like knowing about how things ought to be, we ourselves still can’t quite get things right.

 

Tuesday October 6th - God’s compassion received >> a new creation

Morning: Psalms 121, 122, 123; Micah 1:1-9; Acts 23:12-24

Evening: Psalms 124, 125, 126, 127; Luke 7:1-17

Two stories demonstrate Jesus’s power over death. This is his purpose ... to bring life. Nobody asks Jesus to act here. He hears about the mortal illness of the centurion’s slave and cures him. He sees the widow whose son has died and raises him. Jesus’s compassion, which is the compassion of God, is life-giving. God’s compassion depends on nothing you do or do not do. It is freely offered. St. Paul says: “If anyone is in Christ, there is a New Creation.” All the centurion and the widow (and you) have to do is receive Jesus’s gift of compassion.

The good treasure and abundance of the heart speak

Morning: Psalm 106:1-18; Hosea 14:1-9; Acts 22:30-23:11

Evening: Psalm 106:19-48; Luke 6:39-49

Deciding to do good is pointless when your heart is not ready. Saying to yourself, “I have to do better” is your head telling you something that will only happen if you want it. Champions shine because, beyond ability or genius, they have heart. For this reason, Jesus teaches his followers that the good treasure and abundance of the heart will lead them to good actions. If your heart is not in something, nothing will come of it. So, first things first! ... Goodness is not a duty; it flows naturally from a treasure-filled heart.

 

Speaking the truth costs less than hiding from it

Morning: Psalm 118; Hosea 13:4-14; I Corinthians 2:6-16

Evening: Psalm 145; Matthew 14:1-12

Truth is scary. Herod hid from it. Speaking the truth about Herod cost John his life. When you hide from, or hide the truth, it hurts you and those around you. Clearly, telling truth is painful. Still, Jesus says the truth makes you free. We hide from things we are ashamed of, and shame is a dark prison. It is freeing to admit - even to ourselves - the things of which we are ashamed. Prison is costly and offers no reward. Freedom is costly, but is its own reward, especially when you pay to gain freedom for someone else.

 

 

St. Francis of Assisi ... the transformed heart

Morning: Psalms 107:33-43, 108; Hosea 11:1-9; Acts 22:17-29

Evening: Psalm 33; Luke 6:27-38

Francis of Assisi (whose day it is today) lives the extravagant lifestyle of a wealthy silk merchant’s son. Later, Francis realizes that the extravagant generosity of God requires him to give it all up and to follow in Christ’s footsteps. Jesus embodies God’s extravagant love and mercy. This is what attracts Francis. Imagine a society in which everyone took seriously Jesus’s call to generosity, love and forgiveness? Jesus does not call us to fulfil a checklist of morally good actions. He wants transformed hearts and attitudes, shaped by devotion to his Way. Goodness flows naturally from transformed hearts.

 

A new nation for a new creation

Morning: Psalm 102; Hosea 10:1-15; Acts 21:37-22:16

Evening: Psalm 107:1-32; Luke 6:12-26

Jesus calls 12 disciples, remembering the 12 tribes of Israel. The significance of this is lost on no-one in that crowd ... A new nation is taking shape, quite unlike the old one. Here, the usual order of things is reversed or overturned. The poor, the hungry, those who weep or suffer persecution find blessing. The rich, the well-fed, those who enjoy happiness in the midst of our present crisis, and those of good reputation experience woe. Jesus turns the old habits of society upside-down, makes things right, ushers in a new creation.

 

What ‘makes sense’ may just be a mistaken opinion

Morning: Psalm 105:1-22; Hosea 5:8-6:6; Acts 21:27-36

Evening: Psalm 105:23-45; Luke 6:1-11

While walking along a country road, I saw a small rock, bearing a freshly painted slogan: “Follow the rules if they make sense.” But what makes something ‘make sense’? Jesus ostensibly ‘broke the rules’ by healing on the sabbath. But he responded to his critics: it is how we interpret the laws that sometimes does not make sense. Jesus affirmed the law. However, he said the sabbath rest should not be slavishly applied to prohibit healing. Sometimes “the law is an ass” but, more often, the donkey is the one who twists the rules to serve his own ends.