Rule of Benedict 45
March 28, 2010
Benedict continues dealing with humility in verses 9-13 of Chapter 7 of his rule. Previously he spoke of Jacob’s ladder. He continues on the same theme.
The sides of the same ladder we understand to be our body and soul, in which the call of God has placed various steps of humility or discipline, which we must ascend. The first step of humility, then, is that a person always keeps the fear of God before his eyes (Ps 36:2), avoiding forgetfulness: that he is ever mindful of all that God has commanded; that those who despise God will be consumed in hell for their sins; and that he always considers that life everlasting is prepared for those who fear God. And keeping himself at all times from sin and vice, whether of thoughts, tongue, eyes, hands, feet, or his own will, let him thus hasten to cast away the desires of the flesh. Let him consider that he is always beheld from heaven by God, and that his actions are everywhere seen by the eye of the Divine Majesty, and are every hour reported to God by the angels.
Two thoughts: one, humility is not a passive stance. We can do something to humble ourselves before almighty God by living in awe of God, not forgetting his ways, not giving free will to our sinful nature. Two, that our lives are open books, lived in the presence of God. We can hide nothing, not with figs, not with twigs, not with brick or mortar, not with denial. The Divine Majesty pays attention to our lives. We give account. We live in the company of angels, open to the cosmos to see. What we do in the dark, is revealed in the light. Not for condemnation but for mercy.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me. I desire to climb this ladder of humility but with God’s enabling. The upward mobility that I seek is from an external show of humility to the internal height of self-denial, and holy self-love. I desire to live by the fear of the Lord as guide and I desire to live in obedience so that the crown of righteousness I receive from your hand can be placed at your feet: “Lord you showed mercy. I give back to you the gift of humility.”
Lord Jesus, have mercy. Amen.
A Good Life
August 21, 2009
I just finished and strongly recommend Robert Benson’s A Good Life: Benedict’s Guide to Everyday Joy. Here is a small taste.
“Many of us do not even know much about the office anyway. We are not always taught that this way of praying is part of our heritage as faithful people. The liturgies and forms and practices have long since been dropped from the ways that we are taught.
Our lives are already very busy from morning until night-too hectic, it seems, to stop two or three times each day and read the prayers from a book or to say them from memory. We live in a world in which we are encouraged to multitask, and to read books on tape (which is something that actually cannot be done, if you think about it). We eat fast food, expect overnight delivery, and sign up for instant messaging. We get too little sleep, have too many commitments and too much on our plate most days and weeks.
So we look for books that can help us pray our way to powerful Christian living in ten minutes a day, and we wonder why we are often left feeling somehow devoid of God’s presence in our lives.
“Can you not stay with me for one hour?” asks Jesus of the ones who said they loved him.
“Can you not move a little more quickly?” we seem to be saying in return.
If it is beginning to sound to you like I am trying to sell you something, it is only because I am. And if you have begun to feel that I am preaching to the choir, remember that I am in the choir myself and have been in it long enough to know that this is the best way to get us to sing.
For centuries, the payer of the office was at the center of the life of those who would serve the God that we say we want to serve. The people of Yahweh, our mothers and fathers, and the people of the early church and the people of the church across the years since–the desert monastics, the ones who kept the church alive through the Dark Ages, the ones ho wrestled it through the Reformation, regardless of which side they were on-kept such traditions of prayer alive. They preserved the prayer, they observed the prayer, and they have now handed those traditions of prayer to us in our time.
It may well be time for us to pick up the mantle, shoulder the burden, take up the song, or whatever metaphor you want to choose. It may be time for us to learn to pray the hours, to do the Work of God-with devotion, with art, with discipline, and with care.
It is reasonable to wonder about the efficacy of such prayer, especially when it is unfamiliar to us. And so much has been written and said about dead liturgy and dry, rote prayers that we are right to enter into such prayer with care and with discernment. And we are certainly wise to consider the time and effort that it will take to say such prayer.”
Mark 3: 13-19
August 1, 2009
13 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve [a] that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons. 16 These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”), 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. Mark 3:13-19
I think it is safe to say that when Mark writes that Jesus was up on the mountain he is telling his audience that Jesus was in communion with the Father. Luke’s version adds “to pray”. Matthew paints Jesus as the new Moses who is with God on the Mountain. In other words I think it is extremely important to notice that the appointment of the 12 was birthed out of prayer and intimacy with God. “Appointed” is literally “he made.”
Jesus appoints the 12 with a double assignment; “to be with him and to be sent out”. At first these two assignments appear to be mutually exclusively (and we sometimes still treat them this way), but I don’t think the disciples need to choose between being with Jesus or being sent out. Joseph Ratzinger writes, “They must be with him in order to get to know him; in order to attain that intimate acquaintance with him that could not be given to the “people”-who saw him only from the outside and took him for a prophet, a great figure in the history of religions, but were unable to perceive his uniqueness (Matt. 16:13).”
Being with Jesus and being sent by him clearly belong together. The Apostles have to learn to be with him in a way that enables them, even when they go to the ends of the earth, to be with him still. Being with him includes the missionary dynamic by its very nature, since Jesus’ whole being is mission.”
The first task they they are given is preaching. to announce the Good News of God’s in breaking kingdom. However, the preaching of God’s Kingdom is never just words, never just instruction. It is an incarnational event, just like Jesus, God’s Word is person.
In your experience has “being with Jesus” been fused together with “being sent out?”
How have you been able to keep from separating worship and evangelism?
Can the two even be separated without damaging the integrity of both?
For more thoughts along these lines check out Jesus of Nazareth by Joseph Ratzinger.
Praying Colossians 7
July 8, 2009
Today, we have before us to form a prayer from Colossians 1:15-16.
1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation,
1:16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.
Prayer: Jesus, you are the image of our Father whom we have never seen and whom only in you do we see. How much like him you are! How much like you he is! How much love flows between you! You have experienced our Father’s suffering at the hand of his creation in the same way as earthly fathers suffer when their children go astray. Except, in your case, Jesus, you were always the apple of our Father’s eye. You have never fallen short of his glory. You have never been at enmity with Him. You have always done his will. We haven’t. What we mortals love so much about you is your obedience to death because of your deep love to our Father.
There are ways you are like the Father that we cannot imagine unless we live to imitate you. But you have revealed enough of our Father that we could see what we need to see. When our Father spun the world into existence, you designed it together. You put your beauty in it. You stamped it with your design. How wonderful it is. You colabored with our Father. You breathed life into dry ground, into dead bones, into shriveled lives. Grant that I may see all you have done and all that has your signature on it and marvel that you, creator of all, died for all. Amen. Christ, have mercy.
Confession 10
July 7, 2009
Do you have a time of confession daily? Do you think it is necessary?
Acknowledging our weaknesses before God is helpful and instructive. It helps us in the humbling of ourselves before the Lord our God. It situates us in the right place as creatures before our creator, as sinners before the Holy One.
Confession works when we understand ourselves as God understands us. Deeply flawed persons who are deeply loved and graced. But beyond understanding there is agreement. In confessing my sins to God (or to others I offend) I am turning or changing my mind about my innocence before God and others. Love and grace flow to me to cover me and heal my brokenness.
Because confession takes courage and strength of character two implications follow:
1. The Holy Spirit initiates the need for it in our lives. He gives needed courage to face our weaknesses.
2. It is developed in the process of kingdom of God living. Confession can become a discipline of our lives that shapes our character in the likeness of Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Holy Spirit of God, enable to confess freely and without excuses. Teach us to know what to confess and by doing so make us followers of Jesus who value integrity. Amen. Christ, have mercy.
Waiting
July 3, 2009
Imagine yourself in this scene.
You have just been anointed the first King of Israel, I would guess that comes with a decent amount of pressure to succeed! You have already attacked the Philistines once and have really irritated them. They have now come out in force. You are way out numbered. Much of your army has gone into hiding. Those who remain are quaking with fear. You are way outnumbered! All eyes are on you as the newly anointed King. You want to attack, you want to prove yourself, you want to serve your God and your people well. And here is the rub. When you were selected by God, through Samuel to be king, you were instructed, “God down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do (1 Samuel 10:8).
You are now caught between waiting as you were instructed and the military needs of your people. You can not fulfill both. What would you do? Would you have the discipline to wait or would you lazily give in to the pressure (and pride) to act now?
If you are like Saul, you “get creative” and refuse to succumb to the tyranny of “either/or”. You do not want to fight without having offered sacrifices, but at the same time you see your “quaking” men are deserting after a full week of inactivity. (Can you imagine waiting a full 7 days under that king of pressure?) Saul, tired of waiting, takes it upon himself to make the sacrifices Samuel had promised to offer (after all, Samuel had given Saul “priestly honor” 9:23, 24;10::4).
Samuel arrives to discover the “foolish thing” Saul has done and says, “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had , he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’S command.”
Ultimately, Saul’s action undoes him as he is rebuked by Samuel, abandoned by his people and rejected by God.
(Reflections on 1 Samuel 13: 5-15, see also Psalm 131)
Praying Colossians 6
July 2, 2009
Praying Colossians 1:13-14
Affirming (what we know from Scripture) the identity we know God to be is a form of prayer. Repeating to a person (face-to-face) their qualities as as person is affirming, edifying, pleasing, and honoring. Although Paul speaks of the person of Christ in the third person, changing his compliments of Christ to a direct address to Christ makes it a prayer of adoration or praise. “O how I love him, how I adore him” becomes “you are the one I love, you are the one I adore…” Here are Paul’s words from the ESV.
1:13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, 1:14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Jesus, your powerful light-life is able to overcome any darkness-life in me and your church. Our hope is in you for a daily exchange of kingdoms. We give you our darkness; we receive your light. Day by day, minute by minute, your presence is a light unto our feet, the sun of life unto our path. Thank you for this exchange, the best deal we have ever had. Jesus we also love what our Father did in you and what you did in him to bring us back to you from that kingdom of evil. We are not alone. We are billions strong. We couldn’t have made it back on our own, that’s for sure. You lived in that kingdom, you suffered in that kingdom, you remained devoted to God, our Father, then you died in that kingdom. Now my sins are forgiven, separated from me, beyond your sight, hidden deep in the cross of your death and life. How vast is that life of yours to absorb all sin! You deserve all the praise. Amen. Lord, 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.
Praying Colossians 5
June 23, 2009
1:9-13 is a prayer Paul prays. Prayers need no comments. They beg to be prayed. So I pray with Paul with the help of Eugene Peterson. I Pray this for myself. I pray it for family members. I pray it for those I work with. We pray it for our leaders. The prayer applies and is necessary to all of us.
… asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. (And who could ask for anything more?)
We pray that you’ll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. Amen!
As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work.
We pray that you’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul–not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.
… May every thought and sentiment of this prayer be true in my life and all who are within my sphere of influence. I thank God for Paul who teaches us to pray as Jesus taught him to pray. Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Healing in his wings
May 29, 2009
I was reminded yesterday of the axiom, “Hurting people, hurt people.” My 12 year old son, Logan, came in the house on the last day of school fighting back tears. Apparently one of his closest friends said some very mean things to him. Logan’s heart was crushed! He was hurt and wounded deeply and now flowing out of his heart and mouth was more pain and hurt. Hurting people, hurt people. (I suspect that the friend who “hurt” my son is carrying around more pain and brokenness than his small body can contain.
You and I are no different. We too have been hurt, some of us very deeply. We’ve been betrayed, lied to, lied about, abandoned, abused, forgotten and forsaken. It is reality. The question is, “What do we do with that pain and brokenness? How do we love others, instead of using them to find our own healing?
There is a tremendous story told by both Luke and Matthew. Luke phrases it this way, “As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.”
A couple quick observations.
1. Like each of us, this woman new what it was like to suffer. She understands what it’s like to be betrayed, rejected, taken advantage of, ostracized and forgotten.
2. After 12 years of searching and hoping to find healing, she learned “no one could heal her.” Too often many of us look to the approval of others to find healing for our broken and bruised lives. We too know the disappointment left over from those failed attempts.
3. After pushing through the crowd, she touched the edge (kanaph) of Jesus cloak and found healing. Malachi 4:2 had told of the day when “the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings (kanaph).” (In Hebrew the word for wings and edge is the same; kanaph.)
4. This woman believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah; that in himself there was healing power, she but needed to take hold of him.
We are all broken people, struggling to find peace and wholeness in our fractured world. We can continue to search for wholeness in the approval of others or we can push through with desperate hearts and take hold of Jesus and find healing in His wings.
May God grant all of us who are broken this day to press on to take hold of the One who is already holding onto us!
Praying Colossians 4
May 19, 2009
Praying Scripture is a rewarding experience. Using Holy Spirit inspired words (their attendant meanings and referents) that have been comforting believers for millennia is an edifying experience. Praying Scripture also assures us that we are praying according to the will of God which instructs us to be fully prepared to serve him faithfully.
Today, we pray with Paul and the Church from Colossians 1: 7-8.
1:7 You learned the gospel from Epaphras, our dear fellow slave - a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf – 1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
Paul continues to commend the Colossians in a spirit of gratitude to God for receiving the gospel, for living the gospel, and for loving God and one another in the Spirit according to the gospel teachings.
Prayer: So today, Jesus, I pray with gratitude for those who have been faithful like Epaphras to bring the gospel to me. I name Kathy, Billie, Paul, Dan, Dianne and others. I also thank you, O Revealer of all truth, for opening my eyes to see, and moving me to enter into the kingdom of light in Christ Jesus. This is no personal achivement by sheer grace. I confess before you and before the world of my inability to live the gospel but for your strong presence in my weakness. I also pray, lover of my soul, that the world may see me and your church and marvel at the love we have for you, and for the world. Glorify your name in all the earth through your church. Amen, Christ have mercy.
Praying Colossians 3
May 13, 2009
In this series of praying through Scriptures, I am learning that in order to pray the Scriptures, time is needed for reflection, for paying attention to the presence of God, and for paying attention to the condition of my soul, and my heart’s desire. I have the impression that Paul, though he did not know he was writing Scripture, he was in deep prayer (communion with God) and that this letter was not just dictated but breathed by God through Paul for the sake of the the Colossians, North Carolinians, Topekans, and Kansas Citians.
1:5 Your faith and love have arisen from the hope laid up for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel 1:6 that has come to you. Just as in the entire world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, so it has also been bearing fruit and growing among you from the first day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.
Prayer: Jesus, I am experiencing the truth of these words of your servant Paul and the Holy Spirit. I am tasting faith and love that spring from hope. I see brokenness around me always and this present brokenness, which I know will be put to rights, inspires me to express love, trust, and faithfulness in my walk with you and for the sake of others. Your word is alive in me. What more do I want?
I also pray that the power of the gospel, which is foolishness to paganism, will continue to spread in our world, the only hope our world has. Help me and my brothers and sisters in Christ, in our various societies of Jesus, to increase in our faith and undrstanding of the unlimited truth that is the gospel. This is good news about you, it’s you, and by default is unfathomable. Give me my share of it. I trust you for it. Give my borthers and sister in Christ their shares of it and together we will be the wiser for it. Amen. Christ have mercy.
CDP 2
May 8, 2009
Celtic Daily Prayer has been our chosen way at Missional Order to order our days. We have chosen to order our days around four spiritual pauses to focus our hearts, souls, and minds on the only Ground of our being: father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is a valuable way to help us be intentional about growing in grace. Experience tells us that without intention it is impossible to accomplish the vision of Christ likeness we so desire as those intent on doing life with God. A garden untended grows wild. A life untended grows stale.
Today’s readings from CDP are all about intention. Here they are:
Psalm 42:11 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.
A conversation with ourselves is an essential way of attending to our inner thoughts, feelings, and attitudes. Whatever that conversation yields is placed in hope into the hands of God. By default, O Lord, make me to always hope in you.
Jeremiah 21:8 Furthermore, tell the people, This is what the LORD says: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death.
We come to forks in the road daily, hourly, even more often. Choosing the way of life must be a deliberate action. The inner voice always cries out for the right choice unless the cares of this world have choked it out. Our baser parts heed the wrong voice for a wrong choice leading to interrupted relationality with the Lord. A moment of decision sets the course of a day, even a life. You bid me, my Lord, to tell the people. So I tell, first my soul, then the soul of others: Mind the little decisions.
2 Corinthians 11:3–4 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.
Deception is constant. It is as constant as our wills are determined on devotion to Christ. The cosmic forces that seek to thwart our attention away from God, Jesus, and the gospel are not only real but also disguised. It takes the wisdom of Solomon and the patience of Job to be discerning. Lord Jesus Christ make me discerning of anything that would come between us and merciless in eliminating it from my life.
[May] I find Thee enthroned in my heart,
my Lord Jesus.
It is enough.
I know that Thou art throned
in heaven.
[May} My heart and heaven are [be] one.
Alistair Maclean
Praying Colossians 2
May 6, 2009
1:3 We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,
1:4 since we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints.
Prayer: Lord, I give thanks to you in my prayers this morning for the faith of brothers and sisters in Christ. I only know a few of them. Most live in countries I will never visit. I know not their names. I know not their struggles. Many may be barely holding on to their faith. Many are strong even in the midst of persecution. I do know their faith. Let this knowledge suffice for now. I am united to them and they are to me in you. I rest me in this thought.
I also thank you, Lord, that I hear of the love many of my brothers and sisters have for you and for their neighbors. I thank you that daily I have those who love me and those I love close at hand. Without this love, this world would be unbearable to us. With the love you shed abroad in their and my heart, we can overcome this world. May this attitude of thanksgiving for the saints always trump any negative thoughts I have. Amen. Christ, have mercy.
Guided Prayer Retreat
May 4, 2009
Do you ever desire to set aside more time for prayer? Maybe even a whole day dedicated to listening and discovering what God is saying? But perhaps you haven’t been certain on how to best organize such a day. Or maybe you thought it would be helpful to participate with like minded people in such an endeavor.
If this is the case in your spiritual journey, then we hope you can join us for a one day guided prayer retreat on Thursday, June 4th here in Kansas City. We will be meeting from 9:00am to 4:00pm at the Tall Oaks Conference Center. Tall Oaks is located in Linwood, KS half way between Kansas City and Lawrence. For a map and directions to Tall Oaks you can go here.
Our prayer “guide” for the day will be Dr. Liam Atchison. Liam has been a seminary professor and church planting pastor, and is an historian and teacher. He and his wife Precious co-authored a book called Grief, published by NavPress. Liam is a graduate of Kansas State University, where he received his PhD in the history of hermeneutics, and Dallas Theological Seminary, where he received a Master of Theology. He was founding editor of the Christian cultural journal Mars Hill Review and has written a number of articles on history and on spiritual growth. He is the founder of Emmanuel House, a graduate theological study center in Manhattan, KS and Lincoln, NE that emphasizes knowing God and knowing ourselves as a theological basis for becoming effective readers of the biblical text, people, and culture.
Liam directed the biblical counseling program at Colorado Christian University in the halcyon days of the 1990s, where Dr. Larry Crabb was both a colleague and mentor. Liam went on to be a founder and the academic dean at Western Conservative Baptist Seminary’s Seattle (Now Mars Hill Graduate School) campus, before founding Emmanuel House in 2002. He was the ancient history teacher at K-State from 2005 to 2008, when he was nominated for Professor of the Year by his undergraduate students (he didn’t win, but what was cool was that the national professor of the year won!). A coffee snob from his years in the Pacific Northwest, Liam sees baseball as a spiritual exercise, loves telling stories, and seriously, seriously bleeds purple.
The cost of the one day retreat will be a very reasonable $15 (which even includes lunch!). If you are interested in joining us or have questions please leave a comment or email me at brad.brisco@gmail.com
Hope you can join us on June 4th.
Praying Colossians 1
April 29, 2009
Are you in the habit of praying the Scripture? What’s it like for you?
Missional Order is about three common commitments we are encouraging ourselves and our readers to make. We take four time daily to pay attention to God and to pay attention to our lives. The second commitment we have made is continually work with God on the transformation of our character to become more like Christ. We have turned from our old lives to follow Christ and grow in Him for the rest of our lives. We do so intentionally. Our third commitment is to live missionally. Believing that we are on mission with God and that God accomplishes his mission through Christ’s followers in the world.
Continuous formation or conversion happens when our lives are bathed in Scripture. Not just reading for information but praying our way through the Scripture for transformation.
So I am starting a series to pray through the letter to the Colossians and encourage you to do the same. Both the morning and evening prayers make space for prayer. Praying through Colossians will fit well in that space. My focus in these prayers as far as I determine the direction of my prayers is Jesus. I will use the Message version.
1:1-2 I, Paul have been sent on special assignment by Christ as part of God’s master plan. Together with my friend Timothy, I greet the Christians and stalwart followers of Christ who live in Colosse. May everything good from God our Father be yours!
Prayer: Jesus, you picked Paul when he was your ennemy, had mercy on him, changed him, and gave him his mission in God’s master plan. You did a great job. No one could do it better. I thank you that you are doing the same for us who follow you today. Together with brothers and sister in Christ strenghthen us to serve you wherever we live. We confess with Paul that everything good comes from you to us to flow to others. Enrich us with that same goodness. Let it reside deeply in us and transform us. Let it flow through us by Christ’s powerful presence in and through us by the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Rule of Benedict 27
April 26, 2009
I have been going through the Rule of Benedict off and on (mostly on) over the last couple of months. I resume today with verses 22-28 of Chapter 4. A good commentary on the rule of Benedict is Preferring Christ by Norvene Vest.
Chapter Four of the Rule begins with the love of Christ. But love of Christ is accompanied always by obedience to Christ. The rest of chapter 4 are points of obedience. Review the previous posts for more information.
Verses 22-28:
Not to gratify anger: not to harbor a desire for revenge, not to foster guile in your heart, not to make a feigned peace, not to forsake charity. Not to swear, lest perchance you perjure yourself; to utter truth your heart and your mouth
Comments: Two reactions to anger: Negative and positive. On the negative side is to refrain from certain actions bad and good; on the positive side to only speak truth. Anger is a puzzle for many. Paul says “be angry and sin not” seemingly being OK with anger which does not lead to sin. In Colossians, the same Paul says to put away anger or to kill it (3:1-7). Jesus prohibits any expression in anger in Matthew 5.
In psychology, we are asked to manage our anger by acknowledging we are angry and that anger is a secondary emotion, which stems from hurt, fear, false expectations, or illusion of control. Normalize anger (everyone gets angry), set goals for people in relationships with you that are realistic, and respond instead of react by making yourself some room to think and confuse the stimulus and the cause of anger (which resides within). Psychology may also encourage the expression of anger as appropriately as possible. is that enough? All of these are good things. They help in a pinch. But is there no rescue plan from anger?
What’s the Christian to do? What do you do with your anger?
Prayer: Lord, I cannot prevent the emotion of anger from being in me. I cannot eradicate it. Help me to put it to good use from the betterment of others and myself. Help me to respond without anger as a first response to when I am wronged. Christ, have mercy. Amen.
What do you do?
April 23, 2009
What do you do when you sense an oppressive enmity settling on you? I have been feeling such an enmity lately and today’s morning prayer helped a lot.
Readings for Day 23
April 23
Psalm 57:1-11 Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed. 2 I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills his purpose for me. 3 He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me; Selah God sends his love and his faithfulness. 4 I am in the midst of lions; I lie among ravenous beasts– men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords. 5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth. 6 They spread a net for my feet– I was bowed down in distress. They dug a pit in my path– but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah 7 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music. 8 Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. 9 I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. 10 For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. 11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
1 Samuel 27:1But David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”
James 5:13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.
Whoever “they” are in the Psalm (unspecified) they are no match to what God sends from heaven: to “they” he sends rebuke; to me he sends His love, His faithfulness, His Hesed. I can hardly wait for the day to unfold to be surprised where I will find this love, faithfulness, and hesed.
Thanks Papa. Your mercy endures for ever.
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