An Evening Prayer

This morning in a devotional time, I pulled an Episcopal resource, "The Book of Common Prayer" off the shelf.   As I turned the pages, I found an evening prayer that at one time not too long ago I prayed at night when my head settled on the pillow.  The changing seasons of life took me away from that discipline and as I moved forward into what was ahead, I left the prayer behind.  It was a surprise to find it again this morning.  It brought back some good memories and an awareness that I wanted to return once again to making this prayer a part of my evening discipline.  

The prayer from "The Book of Common Prayer" reads, "Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep.  Lord Christ, give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous, and all for Your love's sake." Amen."  The prayer took root in my heart during a season of being a caregiver when sleep was often hard to find.  More than I had been was I aware of people like nurses who worked in the night, of people who were weeping beside loved one, and of those who were watching for the morning to finally come to take the darkness away.   

It was also a prayer that served me so very well in praying for others.  I knew those, and still do, who need rest and blessing, comfort and mercy.  As Jesus prayed, "lead us not into temptation" so is it a good thing to pray that those who live only with its joys to be shielded from the darkness that is ever lurking.  This prayer of days past is going to become a part of the days that are present.  It is a prayer easy to memorize and pray in those moments when we put ourselves in God's hands one more night.

He is Still Here

According the Genesis the devil and the evil which he seeks to do in the world God has created has been around since the beginning.  In the Garden called Eden, he tempted Adam and Eve.  In the wilderness near the Jordan River, he tempted Jesus.  When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He taught them to pray, "deliver us from evil, or "deliver us from the evil one." (Matthew 6:13).  When the Apostle Paul wrote the church at Ephesus, he included an admonition and warning.  "Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil...For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against...the spiritual forces of evil..." (Ephesians 6:10-12).  

Even though we pray that prayer about being protected from evil each Sunday when we gather for worship, no one really seems to take the devil seriously.  The devil C.S. Lewis reveals in "The Screwtape Letters" takes great delight in our quest to make his presence and power irrelevant.  The angels in the Kingdom of God might have had some concern about the God is dead movement decades ago, but the demons of the evil one take delight in our living as if he does not exist.  Given our culture one wonders if anyone, even the church, really regards the evil one as a serious and dangerous threat.  

Actually, the world is full of the chaos of evil.  We live in an age of constant warfare.  A spirit of division permeates our society.  People seem more interested in retribution and anger rather than reconciliation and forgiveness.  Ordinary folks like us who want to do the things that please Christ still find ourselves doing the things we do not want to do.  The ugly and mostly ignored word, sin, is still as present in our world as the evil one himself.  It is not just the world which needs the Savior Jesus Christ, but each one of us for Satan still "seeks to work us woe."  

Hearing the Voice

One of my favorite Biblical stories is found in the third chapter of I Samuel.  It is the story of a boy on his way to becoming a priest who would anoint Saul as the first King of Israel.  In the darkness of night the Lord called out to the young Samuel who was "ministering to the Lord under Eli."  (I Samuel 3:1).  Three times the Lord called his name and each time he went to Eli's bed thinking that it was his voice that was sounding throughout the Temple and into his heart.  Finally, Eli, the priest, told the boy, "Go, lie down; and if He calls you, you shall say, 'Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.'"  (I Samuel 3:9).  

In our day there are at least a few obstacles to hearing the Lord speak.  The first is becoming convinced that the Lord does speak.  Too many times the sound of His voice is unheard because our hearts are not open to hearing. We no longer have ears to hear what cannot be heard with the ears of birth.  A second obstacle is overcoming our fear of being in the silence.  Our lives are flooded with noise and visual distractions.  It is a hard thing for many of us to put ourselves in a position where the Holy Spirit can filter out the chaos so that we can begin to hear the whispering voice of God.  A third obstacle has to do with discernment.  There are many voices which can be heard when we do enter into the silence and it often takes time to know which voice belongs to God.  

If we are serious about learning to live in a world where God speaks to be heard, it requires that we go forth with a faith that declares His voice can be heard and a spirit that is willing to wait patiently and with expectancy.  There is no need for us to become spiritually tongue tied when we talk about hearing the voice of God.  While that voice is not likely to be heard like the sounds of those voices around us as we practice the disciplines of stillness and listening, there will come that time when His voice is not heard from the outside but from the inner place where His Spirit abides.

Just a Child

After Samson pulled the pillars on the pagan temple built by the Philistines to honor their god, Dagon, the era of the judges ended in Israel.  In that vacuum came a time of  political chaos as tribes vied for powers over others.  As we turn the pages and move away from the book of Judges, we see a time when priests like Eli and later Samuel would hold sway over the forward movement of the nation.  As the story of Samuel unfolds, we see Israel moving away from battling tribal chieftains to a time when Israel wanted a King so they could be like other nations.  

At the very beginning we read the story of the barren woman, Hannah, striking a deal with God. "O Lord of hosts,...if you will give to Your servant a male child, then I will set him before You..." (I Samuel 1:11).  The Scripture says the Lord remembered her prayer and she conceived and gave birth to a son whom she named Samuel.  True to her vow, when the boy was old enough to be weaned, he was as she said, "lent to the Lord, as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord,"  (I Samuel 1:28) and left at the temple of Shiloh to serve under the guidance of Eli.  

Thus, a boy was put in a place where God would prepare him to become a priest and shape a nation.  It is a story which brings to mind a word which the Lord spoke to the prophet, Jeremiah.  "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet..." (Jeremiah 1:5).  I remember many from my college days who were boys as was I when the Lord called:  Tom, Wayne, Gary, Rex, Jack, Jim, and Harold.  Like the boy Samuel, they were each brought to a place which God used to prepare them for what was ahead.  We can never know what God is doing in the heart of some young boy or girl who sits in the place of worship with us.

A Welcomed Break

Anyone reading the Scripture from Genesis to Revelation will find a welcome change when they turn the last page of the book of Judges.  The next book to be read is a story full of the human drama.  There is loss and grief, there is loyalty that goes beyond boundaries normally imposed upon people, there is the drama of a journey, and there is a love story that become a part of God's unfolding plan of redemption through Jesus of Nazareth.  

Ruth, a woman of Moab married a Jewish man who had journeyed from Israel with his mother to her homeland due to a famine in Israel.  When he died, Ruth chose to leave her homeland and return to Naomi's home in Bethlehem.  It makes for an interesting story for a number of reasons.  One, of course, is that Boaz, the Hebrew, marries Ruth and they have a child named Obed who is the grandfather of King David. The gospel of Matthew traces the genealogy of Joseph, the wife of Mary, the mother of Jesus with the words, "Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David." (Matthew 1:5-6).  As the book of Ruth closes, we are catching a glimpse of the unfolding, but not yet, revealed plan of God for the salvation of the world.  

Another thing which makes the story of Ruth so compelling and relevant is the way it illustrates how different  people can live together peacefully, with respect for one another, and even with love for one another.  It is the story of broken barriers. What a change this is from the book of Judges where differences are resolved through bloodshed and power.  In this world of ours so filled with division, here is a reminder that differences need not engender hatred, prejudice, and violence.  People can live together in peace.  It is possible.  It is even possible in the divided communities in which we live.

Afternoon Wanderings

Honestly, I am not sure how I got there.  Or, why.  Nonetheless, I have been wandering around the last few days in the Old Testament book known as Judges.  The historical setting is after Joshua's death.  The people of Israel are entrenched in the Promised Land, but they are surrounded by tribes of people ruled by minor kings who have no desire to share the land with them.  In the centuries after the strong leadership of Joshua, the Hebrew people survive more like a loosely knit society without any centralized leadership.  In this political vacuum, the twelve judges appear one after the other.  

They are not judges as we use the term today; instead, they were military or tribal leaders upon whom the Spirit of the Lord more or less rested.  They were at best a strange lot.  The first one, Othniel, was one whom the "spirit of the Lord came upon" (Judges 3:10) and his leadership gave the land 40 years of peace.  The next one, Ehud, (Judges 3:15) was known as a left handed man who stuck a short sword in the belly of a fat king.  Another is remembered as one who killed six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad.  The only female judge was Deborah.  Other than Samson, Gideon is likely the most well known.  All the rest are there on the pages of Judges, as Oliver Cromwell, said, "warts and all."   

To wander in the chapters of Judges is to wonder what God was thinking about if these flawed people were His choices for the leadership of His people. Some of them did terrible things.  I wondered about this until I ran into myself in the mirror.  Who among us can understand the mind of God?  Who among us can figure out why God uses such obviously flawed people to lead people toward His purposes?  Not I.  I do not understand.  Pausing there before the mirror only makes me wonder even more!

Straining Forward

The Scripture has words within it that speak directly to the heart.  There are words that are clear and impossible to misunderstand.  Their meaning is clear.  The Scripture is also a book filled with images which speak surely if not directly.  The images are bearers of truth which require not just a reading, but some pondering.  While some of the words blow us over, the images of the Scripture are more likely to wash over us with a soft and gentle stirring of the heart.  

They come to us in a way that invites us to sit with them and become a part of them.  The images left for us in the Word by the Spirit invite us to be soaked more than shaken.  They invite us to walk slowly into truths not yet seen.  I was reminded of this as one of the images of the Apostle Paul came to mind this evening.  In Philippians 3:13, he wrote about "...straining forward to what lies ahead."  Is this not a word which speaks of Abraham as he left the land he knew as home?  Is it not a word which fits Moses as he led the Hebrews out of Pharaoh's grasp? Is it not a word which describes Peter, James, and John as they moved from being fishermen, to disciples, to Apostles, to missionaries?  

Is not this "straining forward to what lies ahead" what we are all about as followers of Jesus?  We know not what is ahead.  We only know Who is ahead.  As one set on going after Jesus, we are constantly looking in the way He is going for it is the way He is leading us.  Long ago many of us heard and sang that gospel song which said, "Where He leads me I will follow..."  Like Abraham and all the others who came after him, we knew not where His leading was going to take us, but we were bent on following and getting there.  And so, we strain forward to whatever lies ahead.

The Embrace of the Savior

It surely must seem to some that I am just an old preacher who longs for days which exist only in my memory.  Perhaps, I come across as one who is too judgmental about the church as it moves into an era of ministry which is so different than the one I knew.  I have no argument with anyone who reaches such conclusions.  The younger version of myself was not always open and receptive to the words of those pastors and preachers upon whose shoulders I stood every time I stood in the pulpit.  The truth is I do not hope and pray for the past to be re-invented, but that the church would once again become intentional about inviting people to experience a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  

A preacher whose sermons I hear often keeps talking about the need to connect head and heart.  Of course, he is right, but it is also true that the church of our day is too much about the head and not enough about the heart.  Knowing the right thing to do is not the same as being the person who does the right thing because of a heart changed by a relationship with Jesus.  The church puts the cart before the horse when it calls people to serve Christ in the world before connecting them to the Christ in such a way that His living presence is known in their heart.  We call people to go to the ends of the earth without the fuel to get there and without the spiritual life which will enable them to stay once they go.  

My conviction is that our problems are not political or psychological, but spiritual.  So many are wandering without a destination and without an awareness of home.  More and more I am convinced that there is more spiritual hunger out there in the world as well as in the church than most of us think could be possible.  I long for the church I remember to become the church that not only provides a safe place, but one that also invites people to know that home is within the loving embrace of the Savior.   

A Fear of the Church

There are no doubt some churches where emotionalism runs rampant.  There are communities where the measure of a worship gathering is the emotional response.  The stronger the expressions of emotions, the more the Spirit is at work is something which might be said.  However, in so many of our mainline churches of the day, an emotional response on the part of someone is a fearful thing.  In the years of being out of the pulpit I have heard powerful testimonies which ended with a "thank you very much, now let's get back to the order of worship" kind of response.  I have also heard sermons in which the Holy Spirit was so present that people were on the edge of their seats eager to respond only to have the benediction pronounced.   

Being one who has led worship services for over forty years, I appreciate the need for worship that is intentional and orderly. The problem is that sometimes we are so married to the order of worship that the Holy Spirit has no room to slip into the room with a new plan.  At all costs the mainline church wants to avoid any appearance of being charismatic, or even evangelistic.  Of all my laments for our contemporary church, the loss of invitational sermons and an atmosphere that encourages people to make a personal response for Jesus is the greatest. The assumption seems to be that everyone who is in the church on Sunday morning is already locked in to being a disciple of Jesus.  I have always maintained there are too many who are Christians by assumption rather than decision.  

While there is nothing wrong with baptisms of infants and members of the annual Confirmation group, I long for the day when the baptismal waters are constantly being stirred because people are being touched to the core by the power of the Holy Spirit, the grace of God, and the love of the Lord Jesus Christ.  A church that is not baptizing new believers needs to be asking "Why not?"  A church that is not encouraging people to experience something more in their spiritual journey is missing the mark.  A church afraid of people shedding tears of repentance has lost its way. 

The Prayer Box

Along the highway out in the country not too far from the farm is something on the side of the road which is as striking as the roof tops on barns which shouted out, "See Rock City.'"   It may not command to be seen, but it is planted above the mailbox on the edge of the road as it waits for daily mail.  It is actually a half size replica of the mail box and has written on it in red letters, "Prayer Box."  Every time I pass that way and I have often in recent years, I think I should stop and meet its owner.  

It also sets me to wondering.  It is obviously there for people to leave prayer request.  Is it part of a church's prayer ministry, or is it some individual's response to God?  Could it be some house bound person's way of praying for the community and the world?  The tire tracks in front of it tell the tale of people stopping and putting something in the box. It is not just an ornamental statement of faith, but something useful for the Kingdom of God.  I wonder how many prayer requests are put in the "Prayer Box" each week and if there is any communication between the person praying and the person in need of prayer?  For those of us who might be tempted to say that due to our circumstances there is nothing we can do for God, this pint size prayer box speaks volumes.  

I remember a worn out saint at the end of her days who had pictures of the church staff stuck to a mirror over a dresser so she would be reminded to pray for us each day.  I shall never forget a widow of limited financial means who canceled a magazine subscription so she could give to the church's mission project.  What we do for God may sometimes seem to be small and insignificant, but in the Kingdom all the mustard seeds that are planted bear fruit a hundred fold. 

Come, Mortal.

"Mortal, I have come, it is time."

"Time for what?" I quickly said.

"Time for you to come and leave

what is behind for what is ahead."

"I cannot.  Go away.  Leave me be

for I have things to do, places to go, 

a life full of stuff not yet done."

 

"Go!  Go now, and quickly!" I said, 

I have no time for You in this day."

"Ah, but do you not yet know

that time is not what you have?

The times that comes and goes

is now no more and all that is left

is the time set aside for leaving."

 

"Call me not, Mortal, for I am more.

See these words that are on my walls,

I have a name, I have titles and awards.

I am honored by others, respected, too.

When I speak, others know to listen.

Call me not, Mortal, for as you see,

I am not just anyone, but someone."

 

"Mortal, all you say matters not, 

it is time. Not for anyone or someone,

but for you it is the appointed time."

"Please, wait a day," I cried aloud,

"I have things to do for those I love.

Important words I have not yet said."

"Mortal, come now." And so I went. 

A Horrible Story

Hidden in the pages of the Old Testament book of Judges is the story of Jephthah, a mighty warrior of Gilead.  It is such a horrible story.  It seems to defy understanding.  "...the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah..." (Judges 11:29), but still he was afraid as he stood on the eve of a great battle with the Ammonites.  In an effort to secure the victory, he made a vow to the Lord, "If You will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious...shall be the Lord's, to be offered up by me as a burnt offering." (Judges 11:30-31).  When he returned home victorious his daughter, his only child,  comes out  of the house with timbrels and with dancing.  (Judges 11:34).  The story ends with the Scripture simply saying of this warrior and father, "he did with her according to the vow he had made."  (Judges 11:39).    

Try as we might to make it spiritually palatable and some commentators do, it is a story that is so repulsive it makes us sick to read it.  The only way to make any sense of the story is to see it as an example of how sin can destroy us and all those we love.  The Lord did not require the vow.  It was already in His heart to give the victory to Jephthah.  The vow was Jephthah's decision.  Human sacrifice was clearly forbidden by Yahweh. (Leviticus 18:21, Deuteronomy 12:3, 18:10-12).  Baal worship which was practiced by the tribes of the region as well as the Hebrew people themselves from time to time allowed for human sacrifice.  Jephthah's vow was not something required or desired by the Lord and was birthed from the sin in his heart.  It could reap nothing but destruction.  

What may seem like an ancient barbarian story that has no relevance actually has a great deal of relevance.  It speaks to those of us who try to live in the world that calls us to get ahead and accumulate at any cost while Jesus calls us to put self aside for the sake of the Kingdom of God.  Standing in both worlds is impossible.  We must decide where we want to stand.  Jephthah speaks to us of the disaster inherent in the sinful choice.  

Sixty Years on the Road

It occurred to me a few days ago that it has been sixty years since I knelt by my bed in a Methodist parsonage and received Christ into my life.  While that moment was not my first encounter with God, it was the one that has carried me through this long journey.  When I was seven years old, my father died which resulted in a conclusion that there had to be a God and there had to be a heaven.  I could not conceive of any other alternative.  At age seventy-eight, I still stand by the conviction of my childhood except now I would not use the words, "had to be."  Instead, I would use the words "there is." 

I was baptized at age nine by a pastor who my mother would later marry and the influence he had on my faith journey could never be measured.  Though baptized I can only confess to dabbling with what it meant to be committed to Christ during my teenage years.  I went to many altars during those years, but nothing really took with holding power until that night in the Alamo parsonage.  I have not made that moment of beginning the whole of my story, but being the beginning, it will always be an important part of it.  

While there are many people of faith in Christ who speak not of a moment of beginning, but of a lifetime of not knowing what it is to live without loving God, we are all somehow mysteriously given a life which can only be described as a new creation.  While there are many who have cast a strong and lasting shadow of influence on our life, there is not one who has worked the miracle of change and transformation as has Christ Jesus.  Like the father of the prodigal son parable, He is the One who enables us to know home.  We were marked with His holiness at conception and though we choose wandering, He waits with patience for us to turn toward the home He has been preparing and holding for us.  I am grateful for both his patience and His grace. 

A Freight Train of A Word

I cannot really say that I remember hearing the word before I arrived at Asbury College in 1968.  It is a word that carries enough letters to be a long freight train.  I ran into again a few days ago as I was reading a daily devotional from Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost for His Highest."  I started using the devotional guide back in my Asbury College days and ever since it has been no further than a reach away.  After his death in the early part of the 20th century, Oswald's wife actually compiled the readings from his talks, writings, and devotionals.   

A few days ago I read, "Sanctification is not my idea of what I want God to do for me; sanctification is God's idea of what He wants to do for me and He has to get me into the attitude of mind and spirit where at any cost I will let Him sanctify me wholly."  It is a word that brings to mind I Thessalonians 5:23 which says, "May the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly..."  The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible has the word "wholly" reading "entirely," but in this instance I am going to hang on to the way I memorized the verse.  For many of today's believers that freight train of a theological word is scary.  It is scary because it is misunderstood.  

The sanctified are not some group of spiritually elite souls removed from the trials and temptations of life, but those are seeking the help of the Holy Spirit so that they can leave a life of total surrender to God each day.  Though both Scriptural and Wesleyan, it is not really preached or taught in a way that calls those committed to Christ to step into a life of absolute abandonment to God so that the Holy Spirit is free to do with us, to shape us, and to lead us regardless of our own desires, wants, and wishes.  

A "Do Over"

What is done is done and cannot be done again.  As one of John Wesley's worn out preachers, I look back from time to time and wish I could do some things differently.  I was always convinced that worship was one of the most important ministries of the church and worked in a very intentional manner to be faithful to that conviction.  Having said this, there are still things I would do differently if I could be given a "do over."  One of those things is that I would make more space for the Sacrament.    

I know our historical tradition is one of a pulpit centered ministry.  Circuit riders preachers showed up, but certainly not every Sunday.  Though Wesley encouraged the Methodists of England to go to the Anglican Church for weekly communion, such never happened in the rapidly expanding American frontier.  In the South in which I lived as a boy, the Holy Sacrament never really had the place of importance that it did for Wesley.  When I was ordained the church in many places offered the Sacrament only quarterly.  In the span of the years, the first Sunday became a Communion Sunday which is the practice of most Methodist churches of the day.  

While the Sacrament was offered with more frequency, some of the back room conversations revealed a strange reluctance.  In some places people stayed home because it was not real church.  Preachers often lamented the way first Sunday offerings were down because of lower attendance.  And even now, the liturgy is so neglected that most have forgotten "The Prayer of Humble Access" and the Prayer of Consecration is done so quickly it would be missed by God if He blinked His eyes. The moment of the Sacrament is no longer entered into reverently, but raced through as it must be done by noon.  If I had a "do over," I would be more intentional about reversing what was then a trend, but is now something that has been incorporated into the life of the church as normal and enough.

A Different Rhythm

Years ago I taught several sessions about worship to a group of young preachers.  It was mostly about how to lead worship.  Looking back is to realize what I offered was mostly about how to do worship.  While there was nothing wrong with what I presented back then, if I were to do it over today, some things would certainly be different.  The passing of some twenty years, the experiences of those years, and hopefully the way the Holy Spirit has been nudging me to move has revealed some things that apparently were invisible to me back then since I seem not to have seen them.   

While I know it sounds redundant, worship should create a place for worship.  The church seems to have moved far away from worship even though what it does still goes by that name.  Worship is more synonymous with entertainment and performance.  It is so choreographed that the Holy Spirit has no room to wiggle in.  It creates spectators instead of participants.  The rhythm is a hurried one.  There is always movement.  Seldom is there any silence, or time for being.  Even though the walk by communion participants are invited to kneel at an altar after receiving the Sacrament, the very atmosphere is one of come quickly and hurry to your seats.   

There is no place for being anymore.  Maybe it never existed.  Maybe it existed only in a memory that is filled more with fantasy than reality.  Maybe it is the part of worship for which my heart longed, but could not find.  What gave birth to all these thoughts on worship was attendance at a service of worship in another tradition where the preacher sat down after the sermon and there was simply silence for what seemed like several minutes.  No one jumped up to announce a hymn; the people just sat in a silence that gave opportunity to reflect on what had been proclaimed as the Word of God.  It made me think that the church needs to find a different rhythm for worship, one that allows not for doing, but being.

The Unresolved

When Jacob fled the home of his father, Issac, it was to escape the wrath of his brother, Esau, whom he had cheated out of his birthright.  As he walked that road of looking over his shoulder, he acquired many of the things men seek to acquire, but there finally came a time when the desire for home could no longer be ignored.  As he prepared himself to meet his brother, he was fearful.  

On the night before the meeting, he sent his wives and all his possessions ahead across the final stream to be crossed.  He was at that moment separated from his two wives, his eleven children, and everything he possessed.  Everything dear to his heart and all the wealth which gave his life identity was on one side of this stream and he was on the other.  The Scripture says, "Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak."  (Genesis 32:24).  It was a strange wrestling match.  All through the night the struggle continued.  Just before the sun rose, the struggle ended with Jacob being "...struck...on the hip socket at the thigh muscle."  (Genesis 32:32).  Jacob limped till the day he died.

It is strange that the story identifies the one who wrestled with Jacob as a man.  (Genesis 32:24). Jacob knew differently for during the struggle, the man said, "You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for  you have striven with God..." (Genesis 32:28) and later Jacob would say, "...I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved."  (Genesis 32:30).  It is a story full of mystery.  Certainly, it is possible it is the story of a dream which reflected Jacob's fear of possible retribution from his brother, but it could have been a dream of a life which had been lived with the guilt that had been a part of his life since the day he decided to take his life in his own hands instead of trusting God with it.  Perhaps, you and I have had such dreams as we wrestled with the unforgiven issues in our own life.

Crucified

When I read Paul saying, "...the world has been crucified to me and I to the world," (Galatians 6:14), I could not help but remember the Desert Fathers a few centuries later who spoke of going to the desert as a way of escaping a shipwreck of a society.  In both cases the word is separation.  Both realized life in Christ and life in society is not possible.  Of course, this sounds strange because everything we have learned about the Christian life calls us to be the presence of Jesus in the world.   

We remember, too, something Jesus said in the passage known as the High Priestly Prayer.  As we read John 17:14-16 we hear Jesus praying, "I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world.  I am not asking You to take them out of the world, but I ask You to protect them from the evil one.  They do not belong in the world, just as I do not belong in the world." Again we find a word about separation and belonging.  What Paul was declaring is that we cannot allow ourselves to be influenced, directed, and controlled by the values of the world and for Paul the only way to maintain this way of life was to consider himself one to whom the world had been crucified which means it, therefore. no longer has any bearing on how he lives.  

The Apostle Paul calls us in many places to the surrendered life, the abandoned life, the life where all that matters is serving and living for Christ.  The kind of crucifixion of which Paul speaks is one where things like accumulating, looking out for number one, and climbing some ladder which makes us feel more important no longer have any influence over us.  The kind of crucifixion of which Paul speaks is the one where the Holy Spirit has absolute control over our heart.  Only then is our self seeking and self serving ego crucified.

A Call to Pray

Over the forty-three years of my preaching ministry, I have served ten different congregations.  Some were small, some were not so small, and some were larger.  They were all different; however, one thing they all had in common were problems.  As we read the Apostle Paul's letter to the churches of Galatia, we see that Paul had the same kind of churches.  Though he left them for other missions, he still felt responsibility for the spiritual life of the churches into which he had poured himself.  Paul spends a good portion of the first part of the letter defending his apostleship.  

Apparently, there were those who said he was a pretender instead of someone with real authority like Simon Peter.  As we read into the letter, his dismay, disappointment, and anger become obvious.  He is a shepherd who has been accused of not caring for his sheep.  "Some...are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ,"  (Galatians 1:7) he told them.  He was astonished that the people had allowed themselves to be led astray by false teachers who were actually declaring him to be the false teacher.  So real was the danger that Paul wrote, "I am afraid that my work for you may have been wasted."  (Galatians 4:11).  

He reminds them of their previous kindness toward him.  They did not scorn or despise him because of his physical infirmity.  The goodwill of the past was gone and now he was seen as the enemy.  Despite the things which are falsely being said and accepted about him, he wrote, "I wish I were present with you and could change my tone, for I am perplexed by you."  (Galatians 4:20).  Some may say that the letter Paul wrote to the Galatians is an angry letter, and indeed it is, but it is also a letter which comes from a broken heart.  He loved the people and cared for them even though they were speaking ill of him.  It is a word which reminds us to pray for our preachers and spiritual leaders instead of talking about them.  

A Transforming Passage

When we read that section in Galatians about the fruit of the Spirit, we must realize that it is not about us, but about the Holy Spirit,   There was a time in my life when I read these characteristics of those who live by the Spirit and decided that those words would speak of my daily goals.  I thought I could do a makeover that would enable me to be such a person.  I would be loving. I would be joyful.  I would be a person of peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, and self control.  (Galatians 5:22-23). I approached the fruit of the Spirit like we approach New Year's resolution.  Everyone knows how long that works.   

Here is the thing.  We cannot do for ourselves what only the Holy Spirit can do in us.  This passage is not setting forth a list for us to accomplish; instead, it speaks to us about the way the Holy Spirit can reshape the life of one who lives the abandoned life.  The abandoned life is the one in which the will of God takes  precedence over the desires of personal ego.  I may be able to make myself respond over the short haul with kindness and love, but the problem comes in the unplanned and spontaneous moments.  It is in those moments that most of us all fall short.  

This passage is a transforming passage because it speaks of the way the Holy Spirit seeks to take our heart and make it into something that begins to resemble the heart of Jesus.  If our lives are going to truly reflect the life of Jesus, it will not be because of what we do, but because of how we have allowed the Spirit to transform the motivational core of our spirit.  The fruit of the Spirit is seen in us not according to what we plan to do, or strive to do, but according to the way the spontaneous moments give expression to what is happening in our heart because the Spirit abides there and is given complete control.

One or the Other

A reading of Paul's letter to the Galatian Christians reveals that the Apostle put all people into two categories.  It had nothing to do with being Jew or Greek, male or female, slave or free.  There were those who chose to "live by the Spirit" (Galatians 5:25) and there were those who live to "gratify the desires of the flesh." (Galatians 5:16).  It is clear that it is an "either-or" choice.  The two life choices are not compatible.  Anything less than an absolute surrender to the life in the Spirit means that the choice is to gratify the desires of the flesh.  There is no room for any kind of compromise in the heart.  

While it is true that Jesus was talking about wealth when He said, "No one can serve two masters..." (Matthew 6:24) it is equally as true that we cannot live according to the Holy Spirit and the life of the flesh which the evil one entices us to embrace.  The Scripture characterizes those who live according to the flesh by saying, ""Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fortification, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these."  ((Galatians 5:19-21)  What is described here is the undisciplined, out of control  life of a self seeking ego.   

On the other hand those who live by the Spirit are bearers of "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control." (Galatians 5:22-23)  These characteristics are called "the fruit of the Spirit" meaning that they are produced from within the heart by the Holy Spirit. Those who choose life in the Spirit submit themselves to the controlling influence of the Holy Spirit so that their hearts begin to resemble the heart of Jesus.  Those who live according to the Spirit live not to satisfy the undisciplined ego, but to live according to the will of God.  Such is our choice.

The Higher Way

In his letter to the churches of Galatia, Paul calls them to a higher way.  The higher way as Paul spoke of it did not begin with the Jewish law.  According to the Apostle, the law was of value in that it served God's people as a disciplinarian "until Christ came."  (Galatians 3:24).  The law's value is affirmed as we hear Jesus saying in the Sermon on the Mount, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have not come to abolish, but to fulfill. (Matthew 5:17).  

As important as the law was to the Jewish people, it was meant to be a light which led the people of God forward until the Light came as flesh among us.  The Incarnation changed everything.  No longer would righteousness be defined by doing; instead, it would defined by a faith response to what God did through His son on the cross.  The law was confined within the constraints of a specific time.  Faith in Christ opened up the doors of eternity. The law divided people into two groups.  There were Jews and there were Gentiles.  There were the people of God and there were the heathens.  

With Christ all the divisions were shattered, "for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith....There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus."  (Galatians 3:26-28).  When Christ came the exclusivism of the law was replaced by the inclusive faith in Christ that opened the door for everyone regardless of the way old labels had provided for separation.

The Table of the Hypocrites

Simon Peter was Jesus' right hand man.  He is one regarded with super saint status.  Of course, we also know he was a man with one or two flaws.  Like the other disciples, he became more concerned about status instead of serving.  When Jesus needed someone to pray while He went apart to pray, Peter went to sleep.  When Jesus was being tried, Peter was out in the courtyard warming himself in front of a fire and mixing his language with a few expletives to prove he was not one of the disciples of Jesus.   

It might seem to some that Peter had gotten all the kinks worked out on his walk with Jesus on the beach.  On the Day of Pentecost this disciple who had been filled with the blowing wind of the Spirit preached a sermon which converted over three thousand people.  Those who are tempted to think that the baptized in the Spirit Petehad arrived at some super state in his spiritual life only need to read what Paul reported in his letter to the Galatian Christians.  Paul tells a story which tells of a Peter who still struggled with what people thought of him.  "But, when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face...for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But, after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction." (Galatians 2:12). 

Peter ate with the Gentiles until a visiting group of Jewish Christians showed up and then he backed away from the table.  His behavior is, of course, a visual definition of hypocrisy.  Peter, like any hypocrite said he believed one thing, but his actions betrayed him.  He wore two faces, one to please the Gentiles and then another as he tried to please the visitors from Jerusalem.  Whenever we preach one thing and practice another, we end up sitting at the table of the hypocrites with Simon Peter.  It is like sitting on a barb wire fence.  It becomes very uncomfortable.

The Angry Apostle

The letter the Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatian Christians show us a "get in your face" kind of guy.  One thing he does not do is mince words.  No one in the room wonders what Paul is saying when he sits down.  He comes at you like a freight train!  From the very beginning, those who read the letter have a feeling that there is something different about what is coming.  There is no long section of blessings in the beginning.  In this way this letter is different from Ephesians, or Philippians, or Colossians.   

It is obvious that he is deeply concerned about the voices within the church which are undermining everything he has done and he is equally disturbed by those who hear those words as gospel truth.  Paul begins the letter by asserting that his authority as a prophet is not suspect.  In verse one he declares that he is "sent neither by human commission nor from human authorities, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead." Paul is not boasting or waving credentials in the air; instead, he is declaring that his authority is God given. Immediately, we run into Paul's chastising words, "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel."  (Galatians 1:6).  

Such verses are ever present through the letter. "I am afraid that my work for you may have been wasted," he wrote.  (Galatians 4:11).   "You were running well; who prevented you from obeying the truth?"  (Galatians 5:7) and "You foolish Galatians!  Who has bewitched you?" (Galatians 3:1) are two other examples of his anger, but none speaks of his anger as much as Galatians 5:12.  "I wish those who unsettle you would castrate themselves."  The church of our day could use a few voices like the Apostle Paul.

Crucified With Christ

An image based in Scripture gets very little attention these days.  In Galatians 2:19-20 the Apostle Paul wrote, "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who lives, but it is Christ who lives in me."  This verse is not acceptable for those who preach a comfortable gospel.  It is not for those who will sacrifice anything to make people feel accepted.  It is word which is often watered down to make it more palatable.  It is a word which leaves no margin for compromise.   

The image of crucifixion is, of course, not something people of our generation can visualize through their own experience.  We can read about it.  It is something so horrible and something so incompatible with our understanding of God as a God of love, that it is hardly mentioned in the church today.  Going through any kind of spiritual experience which resembles crucifixion is inconceivable.  Yet, here is Paul speaking of his witness by saying, "I have been crucified with Christ..."  

To be crucified with Christ as Paul speaks of it is an intentional decision.  It is not something to which we come by rambling.  It is a moment of choosing a letting go of what is past so that we can enter fully into what is ahead.  To be crucified with Christ speaks of finality.  There is no going back.  It involves a commitment to go forward into whatever it is that is ahead of us that we cannot see so long as it is according to the will of God.  It is about choosing His will over our will.  It is not an easy way and few really choose it.  To be crucified with Christ is about abandoning all rights to self  and choosing Jesus with no conditions and no reservations.

Jesus Alone

While my seminary experience has faded in the unfolding of decades of living, but there are a few things that became so much a part of who I am that they are impossible to forget.  One class I always remember is a quarter long course on the letter Paul wrote to the church at Galatia.  In addition to the daily lectures our class project was to write our own commentary on the letter which involved reading Galatians in several different translations, extensive commentary research, and word studies.  

Whenever I found myself in a situation of needing to lead a Bible study on short notice, Galatians was my first and natural choice.  While the Bible has relevance for the contemporary church, the letter Paul wrote to the Galatian churches is amazingly relevant.  The primary heresy which afflicted the church was what I have come to speak of as the "Jesus Plus Theology."  There were those in the church who were declaring that while faith in Jesus was a good thing, it was also necessary to submit to the Jewish practice of circumcision.  For the Apostle Paul, it was either the law which was a dead end street, or faith in Christ which provided the abundant life.  

Paul was quite emphatic.  In the fifth chapter we heard him saying, "Listen!  I, Paul, am telling you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you...For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision or uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working through love." (Galatians 5:2, 6).  His anger over false teachers leading the church astray is best heard when he said, "I wish those who unsettle you would castrate themselves."  (Galatians 5:12)  Even after all these centuries, faith in Jesus is the necessary and primary response for anyone who seeks to walk after Christ.

A Seldom Used Gift

Recently I heard some poetry read that I had previously read.  Read not once, but many times.  As I listened carefully to the verbal rendering, I began to hear things I had not heard during the many readings. It sent me to thinking about the way I have often read the Psalms.  I read them like I read everything else.  I read them silently.  Not a sound is heard except for the turning of pages.  It occurred to me midst the reading of the poetry that reading silently may not be the best way to experience the Psalms of the Old Testament.  

One thing leads to another.  Perhaps, the  prayers I offer to God would be better if they were heard by ears other than His. Maybe there is value in my ears hearing the thoughts of my heart even as He does.  It might also help us when our minds began to wander.  Our quiet time does not have to be quiet.  It can be filled with our voice directing our thoughts to God in a more intentional way.  Somewhere a very long time ago, we were taught to pray by thinking our prayers instead of speaking them.  Maybe a change would be a good thing.  

Another thought which comes to mind as we think our quiet times is interrupting the quiet with singing.  So many times during our devotional moments some hymn or song of faith comes to mind.  Would it be such a serious break with the personal pattern we have established for praying to break out singing a song of praise or a hymn of meditation?  We may not be the best singer, but nowhere is it written that God takes no delight in our attempts to worship Him with our singing?  God has given us a voice and it seems to be one gift that we use the least in our private moments with Him. 

The Singing Dead

Back in the day when my seat in the sanctuary was the pulpit chair, I was the first one to hear the music from the choir as it left the choir loft and headed toward the upper confines of the balcony.  I loved being so close to such good music.  I am not sure if the Minister of Music who directed the choir realized I often sang softly along with the choir during their anthems.  If they did, no one ever chastised me.  I simply could not help myself.  

Even though the pulpit chair is no longer available to me, I am still prone to do a one man sing along either with the choir, or during a piano or organ prelude.  Since I usually sit on the first or second row, I figure soft singing will not bother anyone and so far no one in authority, or who sits beside me has told me to hush!  I indulged myself this past Sunday morning when the pianist was playing an old gospel hymn during the offertory. I had not heard "At the Cross" in such a long time.  "At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away.  It was there by faith I received my sight, and now I am happy all the day."  Maybe it sounds like a little sappy to some, but for me it was like fresh cool water being poured over my soul.   

John Wesley encouraged those who worship the Methodist way to sing.  The preface in the Methodist Hymnal has his seven directions for singing.  Number 4 is "Sing lustily and with good courage.  Beware of singing, as if you were half dead, or half asleep, but lift up your voice with strength."  I love to sing.  I wish I could do it better.  I wish we did more singing in our church and I wish, too, that it did not sometimes sound like the singing dead, singing.

Give the Best

When I was going through a dark and difficult time, I ceased attending worship at the church I normally attended and went instead to the local Episcopal Church.  What I needed was to be immersed in a service of worship that was more liturgical than what I could find in my Methodist community.  The liturgy included such things such as prayers of confession, words that spoke of a faith as ancient as Abraham,  acts of worship that had served the church and its people for centuries, and the Sacrament.   

I felt a need to be connected to the community of faith and immersion in a liturgy that was not trendy, but one rooted in an ancient spiritual heritage.  I have often lamented the lack of liturgical worship in my own denomination.  Some folks think any prayer read from a book of worship lacks the power of a spontaneous prayer.  A prayer which used to be prayed often in Communion services enables the gathered people to pray, "Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, maker of all things, judge of all people: We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we from time to time most grievously have committed, by thought, word, and deed, against thy divine majesty..."  

I continue to believe that many our contemporary worshipers would find meaning and spiritual power in such words. Unfortunately, the opportunity is seldom afforded them.  The church has become too conscious of the twelve o'clock hour to risk running past it with the benediction still not pronounced.  Worship is not something to be choreographed as it is in many places.  When such happens, our hurrying society may seem pleased, but so much is being missed.  Worship is about offering our best to God which is something many worship leaders seem to overlook in favor of entertainment.  

A Bone to Pick

There are a few bones I am always ready to pick with the church that ordained me, but its open Table is not one of them.  In fact, whenever I come to the moment of Holy Communion, I am grateful for a Table where everyone is welcome.  As I received the Sacrament today and watched others go to the altar, kneel, and receive this means of grace, my heart was filled with gratitude.  One of the hardest things to understand is how some can deny the Sacrament to some and still say they welcome everyone.  

When we read the gospel story of Jesus sharing the meal with the disciples, there is the admonition to "Do this in remembrance of Me." (Luke 22:19).  There were no conditions and requirements spoken on that night.  It saddens me that in some churches, people are excluded.  In many churches of our day, there is a  theology of communion that is much like the " Jesus plus theology" which Paul condemned in the church of Galatia.  When children are excluded because they are not old enough, or when someone is denied the Sacrament until Confirmation, or when membership in a certain church becomes a requirement, it is questionable if the Table from which the Holy Meal is served is really the Lord's Table.  

In the day of Jesus, there were hundreds of rules and regulations in addition to the Ten Commandments which were imposed upon the people.  There were the Commandments given by God and then there were the religious rules created by the religious authorities.  Much the same has happened today in the church.  So many of the things the church declares to be requirements have nothing to do with what the Scripture says; instead, it is the rulings of some church body.  No one should be denied the means of grace offered to them through the Sacrament, but there are still some among us who say otherwise.

The Plan

The plan to advance the gospel is older than the gospels.  It goes back to the time of Jesus.  It did not require an advertising campaign.  There was no upper level hierarchy to fashion a program to be implemented at the local level.  It was a program which required no funding.  It was simple and nothing about it smacked of the complex.  The gospel writer Luke tells us about it.  "Then Jesus called the twelve together...and sent them out to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal."  (Luke 9:1-2).   

Mark adds that Jesus sent them out two by two (Mark 6:7). There is also a record of their return after finishing the mission.  "On their return, the apostles told Jesus all they had done."  (Luke 9:10).  There is a word here we often miss.  Jesus is interested in what we do in His name.  He is interested in what we do to advance the Kingdom.  It is not just the Apostles who have been called to go out in service, but each one of us who accepted the calling Christ has placed on our life.  

It is not just about what Jesus would do, but about what each one of us is willing to do in His name.  Everywhere we go, we go in His name.  Everywhere we go there is an opportunity to advance the Kingdom.  Everywhere we go there is an opportunity to express the love of Christ, to model the love which has transformed our life, and moments for offering acts of healing and compassion.  The plan of Jesus to change the world includes each one of us.  We are a part of what God is doing in the world and there is much to do.