Rule of Benedict 34
July 13, 2009
It’s hard to believe that I have posted on the same Rule of St Benedict so many times yet I am not even close to the end. I trust that a meditation on this rule has been as helpful to you as to me. I appreciate Benedict because he got serious about following Jesus as best he understood him in his day. There is benefit to us all from such faithfulness.
Chapter 4:50. This verse says: Dash down at the feet of Christ your evil thoughts, the instant that they come into your heart; and lay them open to your spiritual father.
I am reminded of these lines from the hymn: Oh (a cry of lament) what peace we often forfeit, Oh what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.
Dashing the temptation the moment it enters our mind (the window of its opportunity) or carrying it to God in prayer, is the smartest thing we can do. Another thing we can and should do more often is dash them at the feet of an experienced spiritual companion or brother or sister int he Lord. These are practices that will save us much suffering. Dash (as if out of hate) the temptation against the feet of Christ. It is where it belongs. There it will dissolve as Christ’s tears wash over it. Tears of joy because we did not indulge it. The speed at which we learn to do this can save us much fear, much shame, much anxious living.
Prayer: Have mercy on me O God, I cry with the sinner of old. O Christ, tempted in everyway as we, sin never entered thee. Its power without influence on thee. In thy perfection thou hast shown, in thy mercy thou has proven, that I in thee am able of the same grandeur of spirit, victory over sin, and largess of life. The victory is mine as abiding with thee be mine. Amen. Christ, have mercy.
Missio Dei 13
July 9, 2009
The mission of God and the people of God go together as glove and hand. It is true that God sent individual missionaries to other nations to preach repentance and righteousness and the love of God. However, the missionary was the representative of God and the people of God on mission to the nations (i.e. Jonah). Individuals who are sent are always part of the larger community of God. The community witnesses to its “sentness” by inviting, blessing, and harvesting the nations for inclusion in the kingdom of God. Behind the bringer of good news, the “blesser”, are two communities: The Trinitarian community of love and the church community the trinity inhabits. The people of God in the New Testament are represented by the church gathered/scattered as apprentices of Jesus who adopt the mission of Jesus to be grace, love, and light unto the nations, their communities, and their neighbors.
The church that does not see itself and acts as a sent people to the nations, to the peoples that surround it is not a missional church no matter what it claims. By being sent, I mean what I said above: inviting, blessing, and harvesting those who decide to obey Jesus’ invitation. Inviting the community by grace (doing for the community what the community cannot do for itself, to turn to God), blessing the community through generous self-sacrifcing actions, and harvesting winsomely those who obey and enter the kindgom.
A good indication of whether a church is actively seeking the missional posture is to see what it has budgeted of its collected resources (people, money, time, and space) to accomplish its part of the mission of God.
Prayer: Jesus, make us at missional order a community that truly lives the mission of God in whatever community we belong to. Amen. Christ, have mercy.
Rule of Benedict 33
July 6, 2009
Benedict writes in 4:48-49
Keep guard at all times over the actions of your life, knowing for certain that God sees you every where.
I didn’t grow up with this Sunday School song: O be careful little hands, feet, eyes, ears what you do, where you go, what you see, and hear for the Father up above is looking down in love… Yes indeed one must be careful. Enticements to drift away from a Jesus-abiding life are many. Outward enticements to indulge our sensual pleasures of every kind abound. Inward enticements fueled by stored memories of sinful pleasures, boredom, and a sense of entitlement or missing out, lie in wait in every nook and cranny of our heart, mind, and soul. Thus keep guard at all times is apt advice, the one necessary thing in kingdom living.
Two people I read about and read some, who have managed a keeping guard over their hearts (Proverbs 4:23) are Brother Lawrence and Frank Laubach (other than the proverb writer and of course our Master). Perhaps there are many more.
Laubach in Letters by a modern Mystic says:
As for me, I never lived, I was half dead, I was a rotting tree, until I reached the place where I wholly, with utter honesty, resolved and then re-resolved that I would find God’s will, and I would do that will though every fiber in me said no, and I would win the battle in my thoughts. It was as though some deep artesian well had been struck in my soul… and strength came forth. I do not claim success even for a day yet–in my mind, no complete success all day–but some days are closer to success, and every day is tingling with the joy of a glorious discovery. That thing is eternal. That thing is undefeatable… This spirit which comes to a mind set upon continuous surrender, this spirit is timeless life.
Does this sound doable? Is there a desire within me for this?
Laubach adds:
It seems to me now that yonder plowman could be like Calixto Sanidad, when he was a lonesome and mistreated plowboy, “with my eyes on the furrow, and my hands on the lines, but my thoughts on God.” The carpenter could be as a full of God as was Christ when he drove nails. The millions at looms and lathes could make the hours glorious. Some hour spent by some night watchman might be the most glorious ever lived on earth.
We occupy our lives with all kinds of activities. But with our thoughts we train our minds to turn upward, keeping guard over our actions because the Father up above is looking down in love to give us the desires of our hearts.
This is challenging to say the least. Keeping guard is only the starting point. The rest is to turn our minds to be stayed on Him. Much easier said than done. But willed by our Lord for us.
Prayer from Celtic Daily Prayer morning canticle:
Christ, as a light
illumine and guide me.
Christ, as a shield
overshadow me.
Christ under me;
Christ over me;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Be in the heart of each to whom I speak;
in the mouth of each who speaks unto me.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Christ as a light;
Christ as a shield;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.
Missio Dei 12
July 2, 2009
In these posts I am seeking to understand the mission of God in the world and asking God to clarify for us what it means to live this mission in a daily sacred rhythm of life.
The mission is God’s. It is only our mission in the sense that we are commissioned by God to engage the world as he does. Moses, for example, was on the mission of God to soften the heart of Pharaoh toward God and his people. Our sending into the world is his mission. If we possess it selfishly it ceases to be his mission. We strike the rock in our own strength and it yields nothing.
God is at work, his mission of having all people have the right heart toward him through his son, is also our daily engagement. When we program it or institutionalize it, it becomes ours to manage, to handle. God’s mission is always his mission. It never ceased to be his mission even when he gave us the responsibility to take it on as our mission also. It is in his name. If it is not it is not his mission but only ours, stubble and hay are plenty.
Peter in dealing with Cornelius understood that the mission he is on is God’s mission. Look at what he says to him: “You prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God” (Acts 10:31). And “God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him” (34-35). All this was happening to Cornelius before Peter showed up. God was at work. Peter was brought by God into that work.
How then do we engage this truth daily in the local and ordinary hustle and bustle of life? We live with open eyes to see where God’s mission is going on. We jump on the opportunity where we see it going on. If we don’ recognize it, it’s not because it’s not going on, but because there is a veil over our eyes.
Prayer: So open our eyes, dear Lord, that we may see glimpses of the Missio Dei in the lives of others. Give us the will and stoke the desire in us to engage in it as we see it. Amen. Christ, have mercy.
Confession 9
June 30, 2009
Confession is an open profession of faith (Luke 12:8). It is also an acknowledgment of sins to God (Lev. 16:21; Ezra 9:5-15; Dan. 9:3-12), and to a neighbor whom we have wronged (James 5:16; Matt. 18:15) (source: dictionary.com).
There we have it.
In Exodus 19:6 Moses is given this revelation to tell the people of God: You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Peter is given a similar revelation to give to the new people of God who follow the King of kings in the new kingdom of God: But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Israel failed to live as a set apart people in that they chose not to be different than people of other nations in the inward part. They looked different (circumcision), ate different foods, practiced their religion differently, monotheistically. But this differentness was not sufficient in itself to set them apart from the nations. Flesh circumcision is not heart circumcision.
In the church today, what applied to Israel of old applies to us. We too are citizens of a kingdom whose way of life ought to shape our daily living because it has taken deep roots in our hearts. The way our king lived the kingdom life is not evident among us. Alas! The record shows we are not that different from kingdoms that are dark. Our light is dim in many places. We do marvelous things to reflect the marvelous light of Jesus. Would to God that the day would come when all we say and do, everyone of us who claims Jesus’ lordship would reflect the Marvelous Light.
Let us profess our faith openly in a way that is seasoned with the salt of healing not the pepper of acrimony (Colossians 4:1-6). Let us acknowledge our sin before God, and our neighbor readily before we are caught and have to. Let us show that our holiness is not skin deep but heart-love deep. We must not fail. We have a stewardship from King Jesus to not fail. This is our prayer of confession, O King of eternal glory. Amen. Christ, have mercy.
Rule of Benedict 32
June 29, 2009
In verses 44-47 St Benedict has a warning. He warns that the actions of our lives matter. The little things we do either move us in the direction toward God or away from God.
He says: Fear the Day of Judgment: be in dread of hell. Ardently desire everlasting life with deep spiritual longing. Keep death daily before your eyes.
Frankly speaking I spend little or no time reflecting on the first and last parts: judgment, death, and hell. I much prefer the middle part. I prefer to desire and long to be near God. Yet my actions, all of them, will one day be evaluated. The reality of this evaluation caused Benedict to earn his followers about the last things: Sin, judgment, death, and hell. To some these sound morbid. They seem to motivate by eliciting negative feelings. Yet there is a healthy way of viewing them. Those who are in Christ have no fear that they will experience any of these things outside of Christ. He is the judge and he will judge in mercy. Death, therefore, can be a daily reality and even at times welcomed out of longing to be nearer to our Lord.
Prayer: Dear merciful God, help us to conduct our lives in such a way as the dread of judgment and hell are far away from us. Yet keep us mindful that in your mercy, there is full assurance of justice. Awaken, reawaken, and constantly awaken within me a deep desire for the things that are above where Christ is seated with the Father. In gratitude I rejoice that the sting of death has lost its power in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen. Christ, have mercy.
Rule of Benedict 30
May 17, 2009
Why do you think we grumble and speak badly about others?
Scripture is clear about disliking grumbling. In fact we are commanded to do all things without grumbling (complaining) or arguing (Phillippians 2:13). We are also told to speak evil of no one.
Chapter 4:39-40 of Benedict’s Rule echoes these biblical commandments: Do not murmur or speak evil of others.
Living in close proximity to others is challenging to the life of faith. Benedict knew it. He knew that complaining is natural to us. Maintaining unity and closeness with other people without conflict is impossible. The question is how to deal with relational issues directly without complaining to a third party? I find it much easier to murmur or complain than to suffer silently or speak openly to the one I want to complain about. I let off steam and feel justified for doing it.
There is a better way says the word of God, and Benedict echoes it as a way of living with others. Don’t complain or speak evil of others.
Prayer: O to go one day without complaining would be a wonderful gift from your heart to mine, dear Lord. Be pleased, O you who remained silent before your accusers and “crucicfiers”, to grant me one day at a time the freedom not to grumble or speak evil of no one. Amen. Christ, have mercy.
Missio Dei 10
May 13, 2009
Did Jesus live missionally? What counts in the life of Jesus as missional activity besides the incarnation, death and resurrection?
The answer to the question is yes if by living missionally we mean that Jesus both lived and died for his mission (Romans 5:10 says that Jesus’ life and death are salvific). Jesus did indeed live missionally and thus he lived and died 1) to rescue humanity and the cosmos from utter lostness, 2) to restore everything on earth and in the universe to its original created order because it is cracked, 3) to create a covenant community (the church) that lives and breathes his life, and 4) to instill in us an active hopefulness that at his coming he will consummate his mission in the world and with his bride, the church, by making all things new.
Corporately and individually, Christ followers cannot simply be satisfied by random acts of kindness, periodic fores into the community, or going overseas to build a church building, or prayerwalk. That’s a good start. But our mission is full participation in the comprehensive plan of God to put the world back to rights and everything in it. We do it not only periodically but “second-naturally.” Whatever we do we do to the glory of God. We buy missionally (1-4 above), we vote missionally, we eat missionnally, we play missionally, we engage in our work life or leisurely life missionally.
Missio Dei 9
May 7, 2009
From the Road to Peace comes this quote of Henri Nouwen about the connection between prayer and serving others.
You must make the connection between prayer and life. The closer you are to the heart of God, the closer you come to the heart of the world, the closer you come to others. God is a demanding God, but when you give your heart to God, you find your heart’s desires. You will also find (unto the least of these, unto me) your brother and sister right there. We’re called always to action, but that action must not be driven, obsessive, or guilt-ridden. Basically, it’s action that comes out of knowing God’s love. You want to be with the poor because with them you’re not trying to please the world and be accepted….
Our spirituality should come from living deeply with the poor [perfect integration of prayer and action]. A spirituality of being with vulnerable people and of being vulnerable to them–that’s the great journey!
Also from Nouwen come these nuggets: What real and gutsy praying does is to move us to the center of all life and all love Prayer and action … can never be seen as contradictory or mutually exclusive.
Missional living is a combination of action and contemplation. What do you think of the term “Contemplaction?”
Rule of Benedict 28
May 4, 2009
The Rule of Benedict has been translated umpteen times. The translation that I’m using is by Fr. Luke Dysinger, OSB (a Catholic acronym designating the Order of Saint Benedict). For ease of use translators divide the Rule into chapters and verses.
At Missional Order we are committed to learning from all those who followed Christ faithfully before us and are now following him into the life that is truly life in Christ Jesus. Benedict, I believe, is a good teacher of the Way of Christ. The Rule that he left his fellow followers of Christ has stood the test of time as an eminently practical guide.
Chapter 4:29-33
Do not render evil for evil (1 Thess 5:15, 1 Pet 3:9). Do no wrong to anyone; rather, bear patiently the wrong done to yourself. Love you enemies (Matt 5:44; Luke 6:27). o not render cursing for cursing, but rather blessing. bear persecution for justice’s sake (Matt 5:10).
Comment: The New Testament makes it clear that loving those who love us is no great accomplishment. Love of those who don’t is. Loving of those who wish to hurt us is. Loving our enemies is a mandate, not a choice. The reason the New Testament harps on this is because we don’t come by it naturally. We must cultivate it through hours, days, and years (yes years) of intentional formation of our character (heart, soul, mind, social interactions, and body). Benedict discerned this reality from reading the scripture and his way of the spiritually formative life promotes the love of the enemy as a natural way of life, as a first response force in our lives.
Lectio: Do no wrong, bear the wrongs done to you patiently. I get you Jesus. You did it well. You showed me the way. You proved it can be done. I’ve gotten glimpses of it, it’s been rumored possible.
Prayer: Jesus, make me like you able to respond in love when hurt is hurled at me. Make me compassionate, when hate is aimed at me. Make me suffer quietly when it is easier to respond in kind to the sufferings others inflict on me. Amen. Jesus, have mercy.
Your turn: add your prayer to mine if you dare to be vulnerable.
CDP 1
May 1, 2009
CDP is acronym for Celtic Daily Prayer. Today’s Scripture reading and reflection are encouraging to me.
The Bible Verse: Genesis 26:12 Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him.
L’ABRI
But in addition to these conversations and discussions, something else was happening.
People were finding it hard to ’shake off’ what they were living through.
They were there while we were praying for things that they later found had been given …
They were being given (not by us, but by God’s answers to prayers) a demonstration that God exists …
It was a combination which could never be ‘planned’ or ‘put on’ as an exhibit … it had to be real.
… a completely new work … would never have been possible if we had not been uprooted completely in every way, and if in that uprooting we had not decided to pray for God’s solution and leading every step of the path as it wound through unknown territory.
We also prayed that if it grew, God would send us the workers of His choice, rather than our trying to advertise or get people to help us … So not to advertise, but simply to pray that God will send those of His choice, and keep others away, is a different way of doing things.
We don’t say everyone ought to work this way, we simply say we feel we were led by God to do this as a demonstration that He is able to bring the people to a place - even a tiny out-of-the-way place … and only to bring the ones He wants to have there for His purposes.
Edith Schaeffer
Missional Order is our planting a crop for the Lord, it is our L’Abri. We pray that the blessing of God will be upon each visitor and that our efforts yield a hundred fold fruit for the sake of God and others. Amen.
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