Endure Suffering

2Corinthians 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, 4  who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God. 5  For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ. 6  If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering. 7  Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our consolation. 8  We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. 9  Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 10  He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again, 11  as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

Many years ago I was startled to hear someone quote 2 Corinthians 1:8 as follows “We do not want you ignorant brothers”. I soon discovered that this was what happened when punctuation is omitted from a sentence! That said, there are, sadly, some sections of the Christian church that seem to echo this sentiment. There are preachers who suggest that following Jesus will produce success, wisdom and wealth – and if someone is suffering, or is in financial trouble, or is depressed, then they are “ignorant” of Jesus. This passage from 1 Corinthians suggests otherwise: Paul writes of how he and his companions were “so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself” (vs 8).  If Paul, the faithful Jesus-follower, has moments of suffering and despair, then any other Christian can admit to struggle in life.

Let us not judge a person weak because they are despairing of life. Let us rather give them courage for the road ahead.

We are pilgrims on a journey,
We are travellers on the road;
We are here to help each other
Walk the mile and bear the load.

I will weep when you are weeping;
When you laugh I'll laugh with you.
I will share your joy and sorrow
'Til we've seen this journey through.

The Servant Song - by: Richard Gillard

Palm Sunday

The Wounds and Sorrows of Ministry

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Rueben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 136.

This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day

A New Attitude

1Peter 2:21  For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps. 22  "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." 23  When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. 24  He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25  For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

Jesus attitude to life runs counter to human attitudes. Throughout history we have thought to live defensively: strike back at those who threaten us, and preferably “hit him back before he hits you”. Jesus shows that there is another way: “When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly (1Peter 2:23 ).

The challenge of Lent is to learn to step back from life by disciplining myself to speak second; to return anger with kindness; to reply to abuse with love. This is impossibly hard, and only is achieved if we “return to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.” (1 Peter 2:25).

Thought:

 Shepherd of my soul I give you full control,
Wherever You may lead I will follow.
I have made the choice to listen for Your voice,
Wherever You may lead I will go.

Martin J. Nystrom

  

Palm Sunday

The Wounds and Sorrows of Ministry

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Rueben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 136.

This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day

It’s not all about me

Acts 14:19  But Jews came there from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. Then they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. 20  But when the disciples surrounded him, he got up and went into the city. The next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. 21  After they had proclaimed the good news to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, then on to Iconium and Antioch. 22  There they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, "It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God." 23  And after they had appointed elders for them in each church, with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe. 24  Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. 25  When they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. 26  From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had completed. 27  When they arrived, they called the church together and related all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles. 28  And they stayed there with the disciples for some time.

I am struck by the ‘matter of fact’ narration of the life of Paul. He is beaten up, left for dead, and when he recovers he simply continues as if nothing untoward has happened. This is a faith that avoided the cult of the individual hero. In fact Acts 14: 11-15 sees Paul explicitly resisting the adulation of the crowds. This is a faith that plays down the messenger in order to highlight the message. This is faith that acknowledges “the Grace of God for the work they had completed” (Acts 14:26).

This week we remember Jesus as he makes his Palm Sunday entrance of Jerusalem. Pray that you and I may be able to pause our ego-driven lives long enough to acknowledge that life is not all about us.

Thought

I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You,
It's all about You, Jesus
I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it
When it's all about You,
It's all about You, Jesus

Michael W. Smith The Heart Of Worship

Palm Sunday

The Wounds and Sorrows of Ministry

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Rueben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 136.

This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day

Give me your hand my friend...

Col 3:1-3  So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth,  for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Col 3:9-11  ........you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

The Church at Colossae began through the work of Epaphras, who had met the Apostle Paul in Ephesus.  He was from the town of Colossae, about 192 km (120 miles) east of Ephesus. Paul then sent Epaphras back to his home region where he planted churches in Colossae and in the neighbouring towns of Laodicea and Hierapolis. The Colossian congregation met in the home of Philemon (Phm 2). Epaphras then rejoined Paul, and it would seem that they were imprisoned together, but  expected to be released soon (Phm 1:22). Paul writes this pastoral letter to the church in Colossae, both to strengthen them in their faith and to alert them of his intention to visit them. He tasks his co-worker, Tychicus, to carry the letter to Colossae, accompanied by Onesimus, a runaway slave belonging to Philemon (Col 4:9), who had been led to faith in Christ by Paul.

I can imagine this ‘mixed bunch’ sitting with Paul: Paul, the Jewish rabbi; Epharas, the Colossian; Tychicus, a native of Asia Minor (Acts 20:4);  and Onesimus, the runaway slave from Colossae. Together they embody the truth that “there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!”  (Col 3:11).

As you and I journey through Lent, let us repent of our difficulty in relating to people of other cultures and economic backgrounds – and commit ourselves to finding a Christian unity that transcends our human divisions. 

Thought:

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!

Fred Pratt Green
Words © 1975 Hope Publishing Company

The Fifth Sunday in Lent

From Death to Life

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Rueben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 129.

This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day

Swallowing Death

Isaiah 25:1  O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you, I will praise your name; for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. 2  For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the palace of aliens is a city no more, it will never be rebuilt. 3  Therefore strong peoples will glorify you; cities of ruthless nations will fear you. 4  For you have been a refuge to the poor, a refuge to the needy in their distress, a shelter from the rainstorm and a shade from the heat. When the blast of the ruthless was like a winter rainstorm, 5  the noise of aliens like heat in a dry place, you subdued the heat with the shade of clouds; the song of the ruthless was stilled. 6  On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. 7  And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; 8  he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. 9  It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation. [1]

The prophet looks forward to the day when the Lord (Yahweh) will right the wrongs that have been perpetrated by “ruthless nations”. This is the day when the Lord will destroy the strong enemy city and be a refuge for the poor and needy. All ruthless nations will eventually be forced to acknowledge Yahweh's greatness. 

In addition, death will be destroyed. The Canaanite world at the time of Isaiah described the god of death (Mot) as a beast who swallows everyone. Isaiah says that this will all change: Now it is the Lord will conquer the god of death:  ”he will swallow up death forever."

As we continue our Lenten journey towards Easter, we can use the words of Isaiah as encouragement to embrace the Lord, who dries our tears and who has swallowed up death.

Thought

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where's thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!

Charles Wesley

The Fifth Sunday in Lent

From Death to Life

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Rueben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 129.

This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day

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[1] This is an excerpt from the apocalyptic section of Isaiah (chaps. 24-27)

Called to be Saints

Romans 1:1  Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,2  which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, 3  the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4  and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5  through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, 6  including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, 7  To all God's beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

...................Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, "The one who is righteous will live by faith."

“My Sainted Aunt!” This was my father’s favourite expression of surprise or dismay. As a boy this puzzled me, because I knew his aunt, and Aunty Alice was no saint. As far as I knew, saints were in the windows of the church. I suspect that this idea still lurks somewhere inside many of us: saints are history. Except perhaps for Mother Theresa. And Desmond Tutu. So when we read Paul’s greeting to “God's beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints” it is easy for the truth of this passage to pass us by.  

The dictionary defines ‘saint’ as “an extremely virtuous person”,[1] which at first glance invokes the response – “Well that’s not me!” However, Paul hastens to add that when he refers to saint, he is not describing someone who has an innate, natural holiness. Paul is writing to those in whom the “righteousness of God is revealed through faith” (Rom 1:17). So a ‘saint’ is someone who is willing to step aside and allow God’s grace to be revealed.  The virtue of a ‘saint’ is not the personal perfection of an individual; instead, sainthood is seen when the love of God flows through flawed, weak individuals and touches the lives of the poor, the marginalized and the dispirited.

Saints are people like you and me.

Thought:

If I ever become a Saint — I surely be one of "darkness". I will continually be absent from Heaven — to light the light of those in darkness on earth.

As quoted in Mother Teresa : Come Be My Light (2007) by Brian Kolodiejchuk

To Sing:

Oh, when the saints go marching in

Oh, when the saints go marching in

Lord I want to be in that number

When the saints go marching in

Luther G. Presley (lyrics) & Virgil Oliver Stamps (music).

The Fifth Sunday in Lent

From Death to Life

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Rueben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 129.

This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day

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[1] http://www.thefreedictionary.com/saint

Setting an Example

1Corinthians 15:1  Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, 2  through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you--unless you have come to believe in vain. 3  For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, 4  and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, 5  and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6  Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7  Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8  Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9  For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10  But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them--though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11  Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.

St Paul writes of a faith that has been handed down from person to person: I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received (1 Co 15:3). While we as Christ-followers treasure our Scriptures as sacred, our faith is not confined to the written page. Ours is a faith that is learned from those who have gone before us. Paul lists those who had gone before him, adding his gratitude that he “the least of the apostles” could also be an inheritor of the faith.

Today – give thanks for those spiritual fathers and mothers who have handed down their faith experiences to you. And then let us be reminded by Paul that we are handing on our faith to others who look to us for courage: “we proclaim and so you have come to believe” (1 Co 15:11).

Like a mighty army moves the church of God;

            brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod.

Sabine Baring-Gould, 1834-1924 

For Thought

“Setting an example is not the main means of influencing others, it is the only means.”

Albert Einstein

The Fifth Sunday in Lent

From death to Life

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Rueben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 129.

This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day