"...Restless, Distraugt, and Distracted..."

Scripture:
Psalm 55:1-855 Listen to my prayer, O God,And do not hide Yourself from my plea.2 Listen to me and answer me;I am restless and distraught in my complaint and distracted3 Because of the voice of the enemy,Because of the pressure of the wicked;For they bring down trouble on me,And in anger they persecute me.4 My heart is in anguish within me,And the terrors of death have fallen upon me.5 Fear and trembling have come upon me;Horror has overwhelmed me.6 And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!I would fly away and be at rest.7“I would wander far away,I would lodge in the [peace of the] wilderness. Selah.8 “I would hurry to my refuge [my tranquil shelter far away]From the stormy wind and from the tempest.”

Observation:
It's the words "restless, distraught, and distracted" from verse 2 that stand out for me today.
Now, I'm not facing the kind of adversity that David sounds like he is facing. I don't feel actively persecuted or set upon. I have experienced such times, and in those times I have always been surprised and grateful to perceive God clearly with me, guarding my steps and preparing a path for me. Those times of great difficultly are not ones I long to repeat, but I will say this about them - they have been times that sharpened my focus upon what God was doing, cleared my vision to see the Divine direction beckoning and strengthened my resolve to do what I understood to be required of me.
By contrast, I find myself at present in a period of relative ease and comfort. My focus has drifted and I found myself now navigating through a thick fog of white-noise. I feel "restless, distraught, and distracted". Ironically, though I know God to have been present with me in times of struggle, I am finding it more tempting now in this time of relative ease to imagine that God is "hiding from my pleas".

Application:
I just came back from a time of holiday that was very renewing. The opportunity to rest was much appreciated and needed, but our family chose to do (or rather, not do) something that made the vacation all the richer. We turned off our cell phones and computers for the whole week.
(Well, that was the goal, at least. I'll admit we didn't completely adhere to it.  Imagine what might have happened if we had?)
The result was similar to the limited experience I have with snorkeling: The stiller I am, the less sand and silt is stirred up, and the more clearly I can see the miraculous evidence of God at work all around me.

In the midst of this Kairos, I hear God saying to me:Phil, you have my undivided attention. Phil, imagine what I could do with your undivided attention.
I'm still working on what God would have me do in response to this word of abundant grace.

What do you think?  
What helps you to deal with feelings of 

restlessness or distraction?  
What activities or social pressures make it difficult for you to focus on God's love and plan for us?

Prayer:

God, I believe you are here. I am coming to realize that many of my own choices are creating the cloud that make it difficult to see and hear You clearly. Jesus, be my centre. Calm my anxious brain. Hold my erratic heart. Grant me grace to be still and to exult in knowing that you are God. Amen.

A Strong Mandate to Love.

The hymn “We Are Called” (by David Haas) is a favorite of mine.
The chorus goes like this…

We are called to act with justice.

We are called to love tenderly.

We are called to serve one another, to walk humbly with God.

It’s a favorite hymn, but today this line bristles…
“We are called to love tenderly.” 
Though it is surely true that we are called to love tenderly, that sweet lyric doesn’t seem to do justice to the breadth and depth of the invitation and challenge we receive by way of the “new mandate” Jesus charges us with in John 13.

There are at least two ways in which we are tempted to misunderstand today’s Gospel reading:  On the one hand, we might sentimentalize Jesus’ command to “Love one another!”  making it out to mean that we ought to be nice to everyone in a way that makes us feel good while demanding very little of anyone – this approach is high on syrupy, greeting-card affirmations but woefully low on substance.  Then again, we might succumb to the temptation to seek to justify ourselves to God through works of well-meaning, but misdirected love: of ourselves, and our neighbours-as ourselves.

In order to avoid these pit-falls, it is important for us to begin, not with Jesus’ command to “love one another!”, but with his statement to the disciples on the eve of his execution.

“Where I am going you cannot come.”

What does Jesus mean by this?  The setting is an Upper-Room in Jerusalem where the disciples and their teacher have gathered to partake of the Passover meal.  Jesus has just finished washing his disciples’ feet and predicting his own betrayal at the hands of Judas.  Immediately after the passage we read today follows the prediction of Peter’s denial of Jesus. 

Today we encounter Jesus, poised at the decisive moment of John’s Gospel.  Until now, Jesus has often remarked that his “appointed time” has not yet arrived.  As Judas leaves the intimate and warmly lit upper-room, fleeing into darkness, the pivotal moment has arrived.  His path to the cross is now assured, and yet he declares this to be his moment of Glory.  As Jesus is “lifted up” on the cross, His Father will be “lifted up”, magnified, glorified, exalted, honored.  For The Son and The Father are one.  A few verses later in John 14:10, 11 Jesus will make this explicit:  “I Am in the Father and the Father is in Me.”

Jesus and the Father are one.  But from long ago, they have been separated from their beloved human creatures by a gulf of sinful hard-heartedness and willful disobedience.  Now, as “the appointed time” arrives for Jesus, the Son of Man, He rejoices in the pending completion of what Father and Son have so longed for…the re-establishment of right-relations with their creatures.

[Reading John 13:31-32 … standing at altar, elevate bread, indicating two sides, one loaf… slight pause, then read verse 33.]

³¹When he was gone, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. ³²If God is glorified in him,^[a] God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.

 ³³"My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.

It is clear in Jesus’ mind where he is going, even if it is a mystery to us and the other disciples.  The Son is going to the cross … to an encounter with death.  Jesus is on the road that is descending into Hell…hell being absolute “apartness” from the Father.

[Rip bread in two]

This one body is broken into two, and separated as in two hands spread wide on a cross…So that You, and I, and all others who would trust in and follow Christ might be joined once more to the Creator who longs to be known by us.  Jesus said, “Where I am going you cannot come.”  The Son went into absolute “apartness” from the Father, AND returned so that we all could become absolutely and permanently connected.  So that we might all have a place at the Lord’s Table.


And now that we have been accepted into this wonderful community, this glorious communion, we have been invited to respond by sharing that which we have first received…by loving one another as Jesus has loved us.  For God desires that our active, suffering, servant love for one another be our witness to the world regarding what God is doing.  As we love one another with the love we have so freely received all those who long to experience such life-giving love will be drawn in.

Lawrence O. Richards put it this way:

“Within the Upper Room, the vision of a new community was being shaped. In the last few hours of His life on earth, Jesus sketched for His friends a picture of a future that they—and we—are to experience. It’s important to realize that this revelation is for us. Here is a picture of your life and mine as Christians, a picture of our experience in Christ. The key to this experience is relationship: relationship with each other as members of a new community, and relationship with Jesus, the Enabler of the new community. … The foundation of Jesus’ new community is a unique relationship. Here is how Christ explained it: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. All men will know that you are My disciples if you love one another.”
         These are familiar words, yet strange ones. Love is nothing new; the Old Testament speaks often of love and reminds us to “love your neighbor as yourself.” (LEV 19:18)…

     [But] there is a new standard by which to measure love. Love of neighbor was to be “as you love yourself.” But here we are told to love each other “as I have loved you.” Love as Jesus did? Love with a love that gives self? Yes, this is new. My [community] becomes more important to me than I am!”^[1]

Family, this Love of Jesus which we have been immersed in cannot be summed-up by such a timid word as “tender”.  Rather, to adequately describe the depth and breadth of this Love defies dictionaries full of adjectives.  This Love is Glorious in its largess, magnificent in its nuanced richness.

Jesus’ Love Is:

Incarnate, Embodied, Flesh and Blood, Material.  It is experienced through the real smiles of greeters and the physical sharing of the peace with one another.  Jesus’ love is tangible when we visit the sick, care for an aging parent or spouse, and when we provide counsel and encouragement to those who are hurting.

Jesus’ Love Is:

Expensive, Costly, Lavish, Precious, Rich.  It is experienced through the pain that being in meaningful relationships brings when those among us are called away in life or death.  Jesus’ love is expressed through the sacrificial putting to death of our sinful impulses to “look out for number 1.”  It is made known among us by those who offer their time, talents and money to build up the community at Our Savior. 

Jesus’ Love Is:

Obedient, Dutiful, Humble, Intentional, Deliberate, Intricate.  At OSLC it is expressed in the ongoing production of sandwhiches by the ICPM volunteers and by the behind-the-scenes work of those who labour at the unglamorous work of maintaining and cleaning the building. 

Jesus’ Love Is:

Courageous, Powerful, Challenging, Agitational, Transformational, Reconciling.  Where this love shines, darkness abates and lives are changed.  We see it at work in our joint efforts with PALN churches to Sponsor a Refugee family and the Kids On Track After School Program at Ormsby School.  It is perhaps most visible in our midst among those who have experienced conflict with one another and yet have found a way to share in the life of Our Savior.

Jesus’ Love Is:

Unconditional, Preferential, All Inclusive, Invitational, Indiscriminant.  This love accepts all who desire to come to it.  It is embodied in the physical accessibility of OSLC’s building and the warmth of her people.  Jesus’ demonstrated preference to dwell among those who were shunned or held to be worthless is born out in the welcome shown to the Ormsby food share group, and The Tuesday Night AA group.

We have been loved substantially, lavishly, dutifully, transformationally, unconditionally.

And so we are invited and empowered to Love one another - and the world - generously.

May our love for one another be sufficiently Glorious that all might be drawn to its light.  Amen.

---

^[1]Richards, Larry ; Richards, Lawrence O.: The Teacher's Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1987, S. 740

Why Are You Looking For the Living Among the Dead?

Easter

Watchword for the Week — 

Why do you look for the living among the dead? Jesus is not here, but has risen. Luke 24:5

 Sunday, March 27 — Acts 10:34–43; Psalm 118:1–2,14–24; 1Cor 15:19–26; Luke 24:1–12

           There is nothing remarkable about the way Easter Sunday begins.  Early on that first day, before the sun had yet risen, was the least remarkable day in the collective memories of the people.  It was the least remarkable day in at least 35 years.  The world had fallen back to its normal modus operandi:  injustice flowed out of the courts; corruption abounded from the soldiers to the tax collectors; the mighty once again sat comfortably upon their thrones with the lowly ones restored to foot-stool status.  Death ran amuck – the bully ruling the playground, with sickness and despair serving as henchmen.

            No, nothing remarkable about the way Easter Sunday begins.

But, then:  ...Negative space. But, then ... A gaping tomb harmonizing with the empty cross.

            Notice with me, who sees this new reality first.  Notice who first hears the Good News: 

Alleluia, Christ Is Risen!  Christ is risen indeed, Alleluia!

            Disciples, learners, followers of Jesus move towards his “final” resting place through the fog of their anxious grief.  There are no Hosanna’s here – granted, no shouts of crucify him either.  No, there are no Alleluia’s here – only tear-soaked, muffled laments.  “My God, My God, why have you forsaken us!?!”  And yet they come.  Perhaps spurred on by Jesus’ new command to “love one another as I have loved you,” they come to wash his corpse feet and return his body to some semblance of dignity through their humble service.  

             Notice: those who compulsively move through fear and grief into service.  These women, these disciples are first to see new possibility.  They are the first to hear tell of Good News.

            Alleluia, Christ is Risen.  Christ is risen indeed, Alleluia!

            Now, notice with me, those who proclaim this Good News – seemingly too good to be true.  So much so that the 11 won’t be able to believe it later.  There are no angels here, not according to Luke.  Oh sure, their clothes might be glittering white, but they are more earth-bound messengers of what God has done and is doing than winged heavenly chorus.  In fact, many believe that Luke means to call to mind here, not cherubs, but siblings - the newly baptized in his own community of faith.  The dazzling white garments referred to are a reference to the gleaming white robes of our baptisms.

            And, what do they say?  What do these mere-men messengers say to wipe away tears and cast away fear?  “Why do you look for the living among the dead?

            Alleluia, Christ is Risen.  Christ is risen indeed, Alleluia!

            What about you?  Have you heard?  Better yet, have you seen him?  

Have you met the risen Jesus Christ?  Don’t tell me you are struggling to see?  Where have you been looking? … Ahhhhhhh, that’s the problem:

            Why do you look for Jesus among the guiltless?

He is not there.  See, the risen Christ is here, reconciling a guilt-stricken thief

– his co-accused – on death row.

           

            Why do we look for Jesus among the victorious?

            Why do we look for Jesus among the virtuous?
He is not there.  See, the risen Christ is here, cheering on those called losers of little worth.

           

            Why do I look for Jesus among the attractive?

            The able-bodied?

            The acceptable?

He is not there.  See, the risen Christ is here, bringing the reign of God to the marginalized.

           

            Why do you look for Jesus among the wealthy?

            The healthy?

            Why among the majority?

            The mighty?

He is not there.  See, the risen Christ is come here to cast the mighty down from their thrones and uplift the humble of heart.    

           

            Why do we look for Jesus among the strong?

            The successful?

            Among the self-satisfied?
            The celebrated?

            The citizens?

He is not there.  See, the risen Christ is here re-person-ifying the forgotten foreigners.

           

            Why do I look for Jesus among the popular?

            The preening?

            The proud?

            Why do I look for Jesus among the privileged?

            The powerful?

            The profiteers?

He is not there.  See, the risen Christ is here, bestowing robust identity rooted in the love of the Father and Creator of all.

            Why do you look for Jesus among the respected?

            Why do we look for Jesus among the normal?

            Why do I look for Jesus among the right-minded?

            Why do you look for Jesus among the brave?

            Why do we look for Jesus among the dignified?

            Why do I look for Jesus among the independent?

            Why do you look for Jesus among the employed?

He is not there.  See, Jesus – the risen Christ – is here, and he’s far more likely to be hanging out in the unemployment line assuring the uninsurable and calling the unemployable.

            Jesus is alive. Listen, can you hear him calling and consoling? 

“Why do you look for the living among the dead.  I’ve been there, and back.  It’s not so scary.

            Come!  Follow me, and I’ll show you the way from through death to life.”

            Brothers and sisters, today we come serving like those first weakling disciples, in order than we might go out into all the world, singing like those earth-bound messengers clad in white: “Why Do You Look For the Living Among the Dead?  He is not there.  He is risen and He is here!”

Alleluia, Christ is Risen.  Christ is risen indeed, Alleluia.  (x3)  Amen.

Suffering Ecstasy.

Mystic Monday

Every love causes ecstasy. To suffer ecstasy means to be placed outside oneself. - Thomas Aquinas

Aquinas says we "suffer" ecstasy; we undergo it. Ecstasy is bigger than us and that is why it affects us so deeply. It transforms us and makes us new. It makes us alive when we are feeling deadened and puts us outside ourselves, beyond our pains and woes and doubts. Where do we find such ecstasy? It comes with every love. A shocking observation! The love of a tree, of a poem, of a flower, of a bird, of a dance, of music, of strangers, of lovers, of relatives, of enemies - any love whatsoever causes ecstasy. So ecstasy is not rare, it is not rationed, it is everywhere love is. Wow! No wonder Aquinas put optimism ahead of pessimism. He found love and ecstasy everywhere. Despite the cynicism and rapaciousness of today's society, can you see the abundance of ecstasy in every love? - Matthew Fox

Scripture:

2 Corinthians 4:11-15
11 For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.
13 But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—“I believed, and so I spoke”—we also believe, and so we speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence. 15 Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

Observation:

Do you hear the call to three dimensional faith - faith that lives 
"Up, In and Out" - in both Aquinas and 2 Corinthians today?  
I am drawn by Aquinas' phrase "to suffer ecstasy" just as I am intrigued by Paul's playful use of pronouns. The first suggests a longed for experience that is also costly while the second depicts an interaction between the "ins" (us) and the "outs" (you) that creates a new reality (we) to the glory of God.

Application:

I have shared here before that I often come back to stretching after long periods of avoiding it. In the process I begin in a place of dread, move through duty and finally arrive at a sense of freedom and release only to wonder at the fact that I ever stopped living in such a life giving way to start with.

For me, it is such an apt description of endeavouring to walk in faith. God pours out ample opportunities to be "surprised by grace" ... arrested by beauty ... thrown outside of ourselves in order that we might finally be delivered from the tyranny of the self. This salvation must - and, thanks be to God, does - come from outside of the self. And yet, it is so true that I often experience this deliverance as the painful first few seconds of a long neglected stretching routine now enforced by a diligent physiotherapist or trainer.

Faith is an invitation to reach beyond what we have misguidedly come to accept as reality, and so reaching, 

to experience the full range of relational motion 

for which we have been created:

1) to be cherished by and to take delight in the Living God;
2) to know and to be known by a precious few fellow creatures in intimate and vulnerable relationships of love; and,
3) to encounter the wide world of the other from a posture of wonder, hospitality and service. (And, in so doing to entertain angels unawares.)

Prayer:

Healer of our every ill,
I am tempted to believe that I am an autonomous whole.
Living as though that were true is cramped and lonely.
Thank you for showing me the way out of my self-inflicted affliction!
Thank you for patiently tending to my stiff-necked ways.
Grant me endurance and courage to stretch into the promise of abundant life I can only imagine in You! Amen.

Who me? Yes, you! Couldn't Be.

As promised (threatened?), for the foreseeable future Friday editions of theproverbialdisciple will include reflections upon

The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (Fortress Press Edition, 2000)

If you are looking for in depth, scholarly treatment of the confessions, you won't find it hear.  

This blog remains an open devotional space first and foremost.  

I have taken on some new thematic foci to keep myself motivated in posting.

I hope that more diverse themes and tones will have the side benefit of providing more points of entry into the adventure of living full - UP, IN, OUT - lives as we follow Christ Jesus together.  

- Epiphany Always! Pastor Phil 

"Furthermore, although some theologians, like Luther himself, were drawn (against their will) by their adversaries from treating the Holy Supper into a dispute over the personal union of the two natures in Chirst, our theologians declare within the Book of Concord itself and in the norm comprehended therein that, according to our firm intent and that of this book, in the treatment of the Lord's Supper Christians must be directed to no other basis and foundation than this one, namely, to the Words of Institution of Chirst's testament. He is almighty and truthful and thus able to accomplish what he has ordained and promised in his Word. ..."

- From the 18th paragraph of the Preface to the Book of Concord, p. 11, 

The Book of Concord, Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 2000. Emphasis added.

Scripture:

Matthew 9:2-7

2 They brought to [Jesus] a man who was paralyzed, lying on a stretcher. Seeing their [active] faith [springing from confidence in Him], Jesus said to the paralytic, “Do not be afraid, son; your sins are forgiven [the penalty is paid, the guilt removed, and you are declared to be in right standing with God].” 3 And some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man blasphemes [by claiming the rights and prerogatives of God]!” 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven and the penalty paid,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? [Both are possible for God; both are impossible for man.] 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority and the power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your stretcher and go home.” 7 And he got up and went home [healed and forgiven].

Observation:

Jesus said and did things that should have been impossible. Without the proof of the realities they caused, his words were scandalous blasphemy. In short, only one speaking with the voice of the living Word of God could say:

"...your sins are forgiven..."; "Get up, pick up your stretcher and go home..."; or, "“...Take, eat; this is My body...” and transform seeming sacrilegious fancies into flesh and blood realities.

Application:

God's word for us - through the birth, epiphanies, teaching, healing, death, resurrection, ascension and promise to return while never leaving us alone to fend for ourselves - can seem too good to be true. Today I give thanks for the countless faithful through the ages - from those first, timid disciples; to Paul; to those gathered at the Council's of Jerusalem, Nicea, and Athanasia; to those who undertook a rigorous study and dialogue grounded in the Word of God in order to come to a "concord" around the confession of faith they would bequeath to subsequent generations of the small corner of Christ's church called Evangelical Lutherans - who have celebrated the good news that, "[Christ Jesus] is almighty and truthful and thus able to accomplish what he has ordained and promised in his Word."

The body of Christ is broken and offered, for you. Amen.

The blood of Christ is poured out and offered, for you. Amen.

Jesus said, "your sins are forgiven," and a lame man was healed and restored to community.

Jesus says, "Your sins are forgiven."

What does that healing word free you to leave behind today?

What does that healing word free you to take up today?

To whom does that healing word bid you go today?

Prayer:

Jesus, you are "for us"! Who or what could ever prevail against us?

Grant us your Spirit as we pray and wait upon Your Kingdom come.

And send us, far and wide, with the Good News, of your Word that forgives, heals, and sets free wherever there is sin, suffering, or slavery. Amen.