Psalm 44:1-8

To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Maskil.

Here is an extract from a Psalm that can be helpful in both personal and corporate prayer. It begins with remembering the stories of old, and then moves on to a personal testimony of faith. You can read this alone, or with other people.

 

1 We have heard with our ears, O God, our ancestors have told us,

     what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old:

 

2  you with your own hand drove out the nations, but them you planted; you afflicted the peoples, but them you set free;

 

3  for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm give them victory;

     but your right hand, and your arm, and the light of your
    countenance, for you delighted in them.

 

4  You are my King and my God;

     you command victories for Jacob.

 

5  Through you we push down our foes;
     through your name we tread down our assailants.

 

6  For not in my bow do I trust,
     nor can my sword save me.
 

7  But you have saved us from our foes,

     and have put to confusion those who hate us.
 

8  In God we have boasted continually,

     and we will give thanks to your name forever. [Selah]

 

Fourth Sunday after Trinity

35 The Cost of Servanthood
The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 219.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

 

 

Test Yourselves

2Co 13:5-10  Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test!  I hope you will find out that we have not failed.  But we pray to God that you may not do anything wrong--not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed.  For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. For we rejoice when we are weak and you are strong. This is what we pray for, that you may become perfect.  So I write these things while I am away from you, so that when I come, I may not have to be severe in using the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.

St Paul sets out the cutting edge of Christian faith. Those who follow Jesus are not free to do as we please. We are to test our lives against the truth – “for we cannot do anything against the truth”.   And there are leaders such as Paul who have been given authority over us “for building up and not for tearing down”.

This runs counter to the dominant permissive culture we live in – one that emphasises personal freedoms at the expense of the welfare of the community. Many people live to a common creed is “If it feels good, then do it!” This is life without restraints; life that does not ask “what is right” ; life that no longer lives “only for the truth”.  

We can be different. I recommend the Jesuit spiritual practice calls of a daily examen: this is a moment at the end of each day when we examine our day with the intention of living better the next day. This builds on the instruction of St Paul to “examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith (2 Cor 13:5).

 

Why not try this tonight: (This is a version of the five-step Daily Examen that St. Ignatius practiced.+

1. Become aware of God’s presence.

2. Review the day with gratitude.

3. Pay attention to your emotions.

4. Choose one feature of the day and pray from it.

5. Look toward tomorrow.

For details about each step of the Examen, read How Can I Pray?

 

Fourth Sunday after Trinity

35 The Cost of Servanthood
The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 219.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

 

 

Treasure in Clay Jars

2Co 4:7-18  But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;  persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;  always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.  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.  So death is at work in us, but life in you.  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,   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.  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.  So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.  For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

Here we see how Paul borrows a familiar image and applies it to our faith relationship with God. He speaks of “treasure in clay jars”. It was common for people to hide their money in non-descript clay jars. In this way they hoped that if robbers searched their homes for treasure, they would overlook the common pot in favour of the ornate.

Paul speaks of the treasure of God’s power being hidden in very ordinary human beings. But here is the twist to the image: this treasure is not placed in non-descript people so that it can be hidden! Instead it is placed in us so that “it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.”     

If you feel inadequate to the task of serving Jesus, you are exactly the one that God needs. God supplies the strength. All that is required is a willing spirit.

 

Prayer:

Master, speak! Though least and lowest,
Let me not unheard depart;
Master, speak! For O, Thou knowest
All the yearning of my heart,
Knowest all its truest need:
Speak! and make me blest indeed.
Words: Fran­ces R. Hav­er­gal, Min­is­try of Song, 1869.

 

Fourth Sunday after Trinity

35 The Cost of Servanthood
The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 219.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

 

Faith and Violence

Act 7:54-60:  When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen.  But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"  But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him.  Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.  While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."  Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he died.

Like Jesus, Stephen was offering an opportunity for spiritual renewal within the faith of the people of Israel. But the guardians of the faith refused to listen to him: “they covered their ears and ...rushed together against him”. Sadly this difference of opinion led to Steven’s death.

This seems to be a recurring pattern in human history. All too often differences of religious belief result in violence, bloodshed, and even death. A close study of each of these Abrahamic religions will show that at their core they teach love and respect. However, followers of these faiths have perverted their beliefs into the language of war. Christians lead crusades against infidels and heretics, Muslims declare jihad against the kafir, and Jews persecute the pagan gentiles  who are called acum.

When you and I are tempted to insult someone of a different faith, let us remember St. Stephen, who was killed because he dared to believe something different.  I follow the Jesus-way of peace, which includes giving space to other people to practice their faith in ways that are different from mine. The challenge for today is to commit myself to respecting Muslim and Jew, Heretic, Agnostic and Athiest, as part of my human family.

Fourth Sunday after Trinity

35 The Cost of Servanthood
The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 219.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

Faith and Family

Mat 12:46-50  While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers were standing outside, wanting to speak to him.  Someone told him, "Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you."  But to the one who had told him this, Jesus replied, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?"  And pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!  For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."

Jesus was part of a family. In addition to his parents Mary and Joseph, he had brothers[1] (we know of James, Joseph, Simon and Judas[2]) and some unnamed sisters[3].  This was a culture that demanded loyalty to family, and expected respect for parents. For this reason it is unthinkable for the son of a Jewish family to deny his own flesh and blood ("Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?"). This shocking statement must therefore be more closely examined.

Matthew writes for a predominantly Jewish audience – one that would have recognised the significance of this interchange between Jesus and his family.  Jesus was not denying that he had family. Neither was he denying the importance of family. Throughout his life he had received support from his family, and they would continue to support him and his disciples in the future.[4]  The point that Matthew’s Gospel makes is that even the sacred bonds of family are subservient to the will of God. Matthew wants Jewish Jesus-followers to recognise the difficulty of being loyal to both family and to their new Jesus-culture. For this reason he includes a story that shows how even Jesus struggled with this. Matthew wants his readers to recognise that there will be moments when very difficult choices have to be made. A few chapters later Matthew picks up this theme in Jesus’ recognition of those who who “left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name's sake” .[5]

So what do we make of all of this?

I really do not know. The post-modern, capitalist-economic culture that engulfs so much of our consciousness allows us to sacrifice family in pursuit of our goals. This seeps into our religious practice too, and family is often a secondary concern for many Christian leaders who are intent on expanding their sphere of influence.  Offering purpose-driven Christians various Bible-verses that suggest that we can neglect our families in the service of Jesus is not the way forward. Perhaps this passage is a useful stopping point for us to reflect on the interface between family and faith. It is my opinion that – irrespective of the above scripture passage - following Jesus in our present circumstances and cultures ought to strengthen the bonds of family.

 

Fourth Sunday after Trinity

35 The Cost of Servanthood
The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 219.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

  

 

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[1]  Matthew 12:46, Luke 8:19 and Mark 3:31.

[2] Matthew 13:55

[3] Matthew 13:56.

[4] John 19:25; Acts 1:14

[5] Matthew 19:29.

Giving up and Becoming

Luk 14:25-33  Now large crowds were travelling with him; and he turned and said to them, "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.

This is a passage of scripture that is about followers of Jesus being qualitatively different from the society we live in. Luke writes his Gospel at a time when some Christians were arguing about their importance and status in following Jesus. There were students of the Apostles claiming superiority because of their association with a particular disciple;[1] there were Jewish Christians who thought themselves greater than Gentile Christians;[2] and there were wealthy Christians who struggled to associate with poorer Christians.[3] He reminds those who read this that one who follows Jesus must not mirror the social divisions of our society. Instead, followers of Jesus are to soberly count the cost of relinquishing the status conferred by family and possessions and instead embrace the disgrace associated with a cross.

When this concept is transferred into our own history we discover that Jesus is not asking us to abandon family and possessions. What he is saying is that his way of life asks for a different set of life-values. We who follow Jesus do not sacrifice our time and energy in pursuit of material wealth, or social status, or family approval. Instead, the central value that drives our lives is “carrying the cross”. We who walk in the footsteps of Jesus embrace service instead of status as our life choice.    

 

For Prayer:

Make me a servant Lord, make me like you
For you are a servant, make me one, too.
Make me a servant, do what you must do
To make me a servant, make me like you.

To love my brother, to serve like you do.
I humble my spirit, I bow before yo.
And through my service, I'll be just like you.
So make me a servant, make me like you.

Open my hands Lord and teach me to share
Open my heart Lord and teach me to care,
For service to others is service to you.
Make me a servant, make me like you.

Jimmy and Carol Owens

 

Fourth Sunday after Trinity

35 The Cost of Servanthood
The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 219.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

 

 

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[1] 1 Corinthians 3:1-6

[2] Acts Chapter 15

[3] 1 Corinthians 11:17—22.

A Trinitarian Blessing

Eph 3:14-21

 

I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name.

I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.

I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.

 

Amen.

 

This is a Trinitarian blessing.  In 325 AD the Council of Nicaea defined the dominant form of Christian thought about God as Father / Creator / Provider / Protector,   Son / Redeemer / Savior / Lord,   and Spirit / Counselor / Advocate / Guide. Today I am inviting us to move beyond a theological/intellectual debate about definitions of God to an experiential encounter with God.

 

Re-read this passage, but this time read it as if the writer is pronouncing a blessing over you. Read it aloud slowly, feeling the words wash over you. Take this prayer into your bones and make them part of your DNA.  Say the “Amen” over and over, feeling its power hold you.

 

 

Third Sunday after Trinity

34 Our Weakness and God’s Strength
The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 213.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

 

 

Giving it all Away

2Co 9:6--15  The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.  As it is written, "He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.  You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God.  Through the testing of this ministry you glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ and by the generosity of your sharing with them and with all others,  while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God that he has given you.

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

Why are we so grasping? Why do we clutch so tightly to our possessions; why so limited in our capacity to forgive; and why do we part with every coin with such a grudging spirit? The reality is that the Spirit of our Age is a selfish spirit. The essence of our economy is about grabbing all the money I can get, accumulating possessions, and holding onto savings. When I have surplus I invest it. When I have more than I can use today, I put it away for tomorrow – “just in case”. This is even justified as prudent financial management.  I have found this to be even more acute when I have lived close to poverty. I find that I grasp tightly onto every coin that comes my way, angrily denouncing those who have more than me.

This selfishness has even found its way into Christian teaching. We have invented a prosperity theology that satisfies our selfish cravings. Christian teachers have used (abused) Scripture passage such as this one to preach that we are entitled to be wealthy – to be “enriched in every way” – and that this “glorifies God”!   

A closer reading of the above passage discovers that Paul invites us to a life of unmerited, merciful generosity. Our faith is summed up in this: God has blessed us in abundance so that we might be able to share what we have with those who have need. This is not about accumulation, but is instead about redistribution. All that I have is given by God so that I can share with others:

·         I have been blessed with forgiveness so that I might be forgiving

·         I have been blessed with love so that I might share love

·         I have been blessed with friends so that I might be a friend

·         I have been blessed with food so that I might share with the hungry

·         I have been blessed with money so that I can share with the poor

And this is to be done cheerfully, and “not reluctantly or under compulsion”. It would seem that we demonstrate our grasp of God’s generous loving of us by the generous love we show towards other people.

In the words of Francis of Assisi

“......it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.”

Third Sunday after Trinity

34 Our Weakness and God’s Strength
The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 213.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

Generosity

Philippians 4:10-20  I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned for me, but had no opportunity to show it. Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. In any case, it was kind of you to share my distress.  You Philippians indeed know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you alone.  For even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs more than once.  Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the profit that accumulates to your account.  I have been paid in full and have more than enough; I am fully satisfied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.  To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

 The Philippian followers of Jesus proved themselves to be thoughtful and generous in their support of the Apostle Paul. Their concern for Paul led them to care for his needs “more than once”. This letter is written to acknowledge gifts brought by Epaphroditus – which Paul experienced as “a fragrant offering”.

Let us learn from their example. Pause and ask who God wants blessed today – and think of a way that God might use you to do so.

 

Third Sunday after Trinity

34 Our Weakness and God’s Strength
The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 213.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

 

 

Do you not know...have you not heard?

Isa 40:12-31  Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?  Who has directed the spirit of the LORD, or as his counselor has instructed him?  Whom did he consult for his enlightenment, and who taught him the path of justice? Who taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? Even the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as dust on the scales; see, he takes up the isles like fine dust... Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?  It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in; who brings princes to naught, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing. Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows upon them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble. To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these? He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing.  Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God"?  Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.  He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.  Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted;  but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

The descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the followers of Moses, the people of the Covenant, have been carried off to Babylon as captives. They look in despair at the heavens and ask “Where is God in all this”.  And at this point Isaiah brings a word – in the shape of Isaiah Chapter 40. It begins with the instruction to Isaiah to comfort the people because the moment will come when God will level the mountains and fill in the valleys to make a highway that will take them back home. There is a pause – where we can almost sense those who hear Isaiah shake their heads in hopeless despair.  The road home seems impossible because those who hold them in captivity are too powerful, and the Children of Israel are too weak.  Isaiah’s reply is decisive: “To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal? says the Holy One.”  The God of all creation is more powerful than any earthy ruler and so will make this happen. In addition to this, the people are not to think of themselves as weak because “He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless”.

These words have sustained generations of people since then. Whenever people have felt demoralised, we have turned to Isaiah 40 for words of comfort. Whether we read them aloud – or we sing them as in Part I of  Handels’ Messiah – they remind us that God is larger than our history and will carry us through the particular moment we are experiencing.

Just as God speaks words of freedom from captivity to Israel in Isaiah 40, so God continues to speak these words of rescue. And we who follow the ways of our God are partners in bringing comfort to those who have lost courage, and liberation to those who are held captive. Whether this is a woman living in fear of a bad husband, a child who is crushed by the burden of bad adults, a refugee running from bad government, or someone who is terrified of their own bad decisions – the truth remains: “those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”    

Do not fear your particular moment in history. The “everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth” is with you!

 

Third Sunday after Trinity

34 Our Weakness and God’s Strength
The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 213.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

 

Psalm 28

Of David.
 

1 To you, O LORD, I call; my rock, do not refuse to hear me, for if you are silent to me, I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.

2  Hear the voice of my supplication, as I cry to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.

3  Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those who are workers of evil, who speak peace with their neighbors, while mischief is in their hearts.

4  Repay them according to their work, and according to the evil of their deeds; repay them according to the work of their hands; render them their due reward.

5  Because they do not regard the works of the LORD, or the work of his hands, he will break them down and build them up no more.

6  Blessed be the LORD, for he has heard the sound of my pleadings.

7  The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts; so I am helped, and my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.

8  The LORD is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed.

9  O save your people, and bless your heritage; be their shepherd, and carry them forever.

 

A Psalm ascribed to King David.

Some have suggested that this prayer was written when David found himself faced with a rebellion led by his son Absalom.[1] Since that time this has been a prayer used by people who find themselves struggling with “the wicked... and workers of evil” (Ps 28:3). The answer is to choose to believe that “The Lord is my strength and shield” – even when this is not readily evident.

There are moments when we need to stand firm against those who seek to do that which is evil. We can find strength for this in songs and prayers that affirm the presence of a good God who stands against evil by strengthening people who work for good.   

You might want to use this Psalm as your prayer for today.

 

 

Third Sunday after Trinity

34 Our Weakness and God’s Strength
The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 213.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

 

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[1] 2 Samuel 15.

To Know Nothing....

1Co 2:1- 9 When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power,  so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.  Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish.   But we speak God's wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.   But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him"--

We live in an age that is dazzled by education, where we eagerly turn to literate, educated people to explain the secrets of life. When Oxford evolutionary biologist and author Richard Dawkins tells us that God exists only “in the environment provided by human culture”, [1]  we are tempted to doubt our Creator – just because an educated man says so!  Similarly I have seen how often we Christian leaders have taken on academic titles to enhance our presence. When a preacher adds Rev. Prof. Dr. as a prefix to a name it adds weight to the words of the sermon.  St. Paul emphatically disagrees with “the wisdom of this age”.

The Apostle Paul is educated, cultured and certificated!  In Philippians 3 he notes that he is entitled to claim superior lineage of one who was “circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee”. [2] Yet he rejects this, choosing instead  “to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”  This is not because of some false modesty. Paul’s desire was that the faith of the Corinthian followers of Jesus “might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.”

Let us remember that all of life is mystery. When some claim to know the will of God based on a superior education, or when others use their education to claim that there is no God all – we all need to discover the humility to admit to the limitations of our human knowledge. Live today open to the possibility of the Divine Spirit taking us by surprise. Who knows what we might learn!    

 

 

No eye has seen and no ear has heard
And no mind has ever conceived
The glorious things that You have prepared
For every one who has believed
You brought us near and You called us Your own
And made us joint heirs with Your Son

CHORUS
How high and how wide
How deep and how long
How sweet and how strong is Your love
How lavish Your grace
How faithful Your ways
How great is Your love, O Lord

Words and music by Mark Altrogge
© 1990 Integrity’s Praise! Music/Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)

 

 Third Sunday after Trinity

34 Our Weakness and God’s Strength
The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 213.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

 

 

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[1] Richard Dawkins

[2] In Acts 23:6 he noted that he is “a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees”.