Psalm 139

To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.

1    O LORD, you have searched me and known me.

2  You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away.

3  You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.

4  Even before a word is on my tongue, O LORD, you know it completely.

5  You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.

6  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.

7  Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?

8  If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.

9  If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,

10  even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.

11  If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,"

12  even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you.

The Psalms are the hymnbook of the people of the Bible. As such, here is a song of Adoration – a song that is a reminder of the nature of God. This is a song that acknowledges that  God knows us better than we know ourselves; our inner drives and attitudes are known – and accepted by God. The song then describes a God who is always present with humanity; echoes of the parable of Jonah are heard in the words of vs 9 & 10 that celebrate a God who is to found “at the farthest limits of the sea”. There is no place too distant, or too dark for God – Who is to be found everywhere.    

Use this Psalm as a prayer for this weekend: a prayer of confidence in the all-encompassing love of God that reaches everyone.....everywhere.

Song:

Wide, wide as the ocean,
High as the Heaven above;
Deep, deep as the deepest sea is my Savior’s love.
I, though so unworthy, still am a child of His care;
For His Word teaches me that His love reaches me everywhere.
Charles A. Miles, 1914

Sixth Sunday after Trinity

37 The Church for Others
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), 231.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

ἵνα ὦσιν ἓν – Christian Unity

John 17:20-26 "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21  that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22  The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23  I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24  Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25  "Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. 26  I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them."

This is an extract from a prayer attributed to Jesus. Obviously this is not a direct quote, because Jesus was alone and John could not have captured the exact words. What we have is a reconstruction of the kind of longings of the heart of Jesus for his disciples; a prayer “that they all might be one” (ἵνα πάντες ἐν ὦσιν). The truth is that by the time John’s Gospel came to be written, the followers of Jesus were divided! There were divisions between Jews and Gentiles; between rich and poor; between educated and uneducated. John’s writing was intended as a reminder to this fledgling community to find their unity – a unity not based on common cultural norms, or common religious rituals. Rather this was a unity based in a common call on their lives to follow Jesus.  

We too walk in the shadow of this prayer of Jesus. Let us resist those who would want us to deny our culture, or our own uniqueness, in order to “fit in” with other Christ followers. Equally, let us not try to make others conform to our way of following Jesus. Our Christian unity if found in mutual respect for our common call to follow Jesus in service to humanity.

"That they may be one"

   

What Shall Our Greeting Be

What shall our greeting be:
Sign of our unity?
JESUS IS LORD!
May we no more defend
Barriers he died to end:
Give me your hand, my friend:
One Church, One Lord!

What is our mission here?

He makes his purpose clear:
One world, one Lord!
Spirit of truth descend,
All our confusions end:
Give me your hand, my friend:
JESUS IS LORD!

He comes to save us now:

To serve him is to know
Life's true reward.
May he our lives amend,
All our betrayals end:
Give me your hand, my friend:
JESUS IS LORD!

Fred Pratt Green
Words © 1975 Hope Publishing Company

Sixth Sunday after Trinity

37 The Church for Others
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), 231.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

All Things to All people

1Corinthians 9:15-23  But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing this so that they may be applied in my case. Indeed, I would rather die than that--no one will deprive me of my ground for boasting! 16  If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel! 17  For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. 18  What then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel. 19  For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. 20  To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. 21  To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law) so that I might win those outside the law. 22  To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. 23  I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

I live in a country where “culture” and “personal identity” are extremely important. I am buffeted by marketers selling products such as clothing, hairstyle and furniture that claim to make me more acceptable to society, and it becomes hard work maintaining my own identity. Similarly, decades of colonialism has stripped people of their cultural identity. We were persuaded that “English” was a superior culture, and more recently that all things “American” are to be desired (such as McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken!). For this reason we witness a struggle for a cultural identity that is not defined by an external impetus. And so our culture and my identity are the things that we cling to in order to find our place in life.

The world of St Paul was no different. This was a world dominated by Roman culture – a culture that was built on a previously Greek culture, that in turn replaced a Persian culture. In the above Scripture passage St Paul shows his understanding of the importance of cultural identity. Because of this he suggests that the Christian missionary needs to share the Gospel of Jesus from within the culture of the person who hears your faith testimony.  “To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews... To those outside the law I became as one outside the law.... To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak.”  For Paul, there is no place for Christian cultural imperialism: “I have become all things to all people.” 

For thought: We who follow Jesus are products of our culture and personal identity. We need to shed our precious cultural ‘skin’, and take on the perspective of the “other” before we share our faith. Not only is this respectful of other people, but it will prevent us from thinking that ‘our’ way of being Christian is the only way.

 

 

 

Sixth Sunday after Trinity

37 The Church for Others
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), 231.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

 

 

 

Service not Status

Rom 15:1-13  We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2  Each of us must please our neighbour for the good purpose of building up the neighbour. 3  For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me." 4  For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. 5  May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, 6  so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7  Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. 8  For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9  and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, "Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles, and sing praises to your name"; 10  and again he says, "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people"; 11  and again, "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him"; 12  and again Isaiah says, "The root of Jesse shall come, the one who rises to rule the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles shall hope." 13  May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul writes to a community of Christ-followers in Rome who believed that being Jewish made then spiritually superior to those Christians who were Gentile. He has used the first part of his letter to emphasise that all are equally loved by God, and that the Jewish-Gentile divide was meaningless in God’s estimation. Now he shifts his focus. Paul challenges those who thought that they were spiritually stronger than others, “to put up with the failings of the weak”,  to spend your life helping those who you see as spiritually weaker “for the good purpose of building up the neighbour..”  He points out that this was the example set by Jesus, who gave his life “in order that the Gentiles might glorify God”.

I am inviting us to learn from this. We who follow the way of Jesus have no right to feel spiritually superior over those who do not see life as we do. Our Christian distinctiveness is that we offer our lives in service to humanity. Nothing more – nothing else.  

  

Take my silver and my gold;
Not a mite would I withhold;
Take my intellect, and use
Every power as Thou shalt choose.

Lyrics: Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-1879)

 

 

 

Sixth Sunday after Trinity

37 The Church for Others
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), 231.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

 

Strength for the Day

Colossians 1:9-23 For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10  so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. 11  May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12  giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13  He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14  in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15  He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16  for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers--all things have been created through him and for him. 17  He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18  He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19  For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20  and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. 21  And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22  he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him-- 23  provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.

 

So I had a busy day today – and did not have time to get to this devotion. It was the kind of day that made me want to grumble about the way everybody wanted something from me … “and I never had the time to do the things that I wanted to do”.
 
So it was with some irony that I read the words from vs 11 “May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father”. I did not really give thanks today – I just was grumpy! Yet I found the strength to get through everything that was expected of me. So I now pause to give thanks to God. And I invite you to read this passage as a celebration of the life we have been given.

 

 

Sixth Sunday after Trinity

37 The Church for Others
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), 231.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

 

God will not listen to prayers if…

Isaiah 1:10-17  Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! 11  What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. 12  When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand? Trample my courts no more; 13  bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation--I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity. 14  Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them. 15  When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. 16  Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17  learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.

 
 

 

Isaiah bluntly reminds his readers that people of faith do not exist for the sake of their religious activities. Here he puts angry words into God’s mouth: “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts…. bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me…. I cannot endure solemn assemblies… they have become a burden to me…” I can almost feel the shock of the religiously observant as their activities is thrown back into their faces. “Why?” they ask.

And the then answer comes - because worship must lead to lives that reflect the One who is worshipped: “learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow….”  The presence of God that is invoked in worship becomes visible in acts of justice and compassion. Our worship only becomes real when we cease to pursue evil, and instead defend the oppressed and the marginalized.  

 

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.

 

Refrain

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.
 
Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter,
Feelings lie buried that grace can restore;
Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness,
Chords that were broken will vibrate once more.

Refrain

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.

Words: Fan­ny Cros­by, 1869; ap­peared in Songs of De­vo­tion (New York: Big­low & Main, 1870).

 

 

Sixth Sunday after Trinity

37 The Church for Others
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), 231.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

 

 

Psalm 5

For the music director, to be accompanied by wind instruments;

A Psalm of David.

1 Listen to what I say, LORD! Carefully consider my complaint!
2 Pay attention to my cry for help, my king and my God, for I am praying to you!
3 LORD, in the morning you will hear me; in the morning I will present my case to you and then wait expectantly for an answer.
4 Certainly a you are not God who approves of evil; evil people cannot dwell with you.
5 Arrogant people cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who behave wickedly.
6 You destroy liars; the LORD despises violent and deceitful people.
7 But as for me, because of your great faithfulness I will enter your house; I will bow down toward your holy temple as I worship you.
8 LORD, lead me in your righteousness because of those who wait to ambush me, remove the obstacles in the way in which you are guiding me!

Use this as a prayer. It is helpful to use the Psalms as personal prayers as this can offer us other ways of praying. This can get us out of the stale words of overused familiarity.

May God be with us.




Fifth Sunday after Trinity
36 The Power of the Gospel
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), 225.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

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