Gospel for May 22, 2022

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
John 14:23-29
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Jesus provides insight into the inner workings of the Trinity, and also reiterates the Great Commandment of love, and promises peace to those who follow him.

To be a follower of Jesus is not merely a matter of belief, but also obedient love.

Here’s the background for today’s Scripture passage.  Judas (not Iscariot) has asked Jesus how he will reveal himself exclusively to the disciples:

Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?” (John 14:22)

Jesus answers:

“Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.  Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.”

Jesus makes two truths very clear here. First — that those who truly love Jesus keep his commandments, and are loved by the Father for Jesus’ sake.  And second — Jesus illustrates the intimate relationship he has with the Father.

Together, the Father and the Son will dwell within the disciple.  And Jesus is very clear that what he teaches comes directly from the Father.

Jesus also forecasts his own departure by promising the coming of the Holy Spirit:

the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.

Notice that the three Persons of the Trinity are all included here — the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father, but he is sent under the authority of Jesus (in my name), and the Spirit’s teaching will reinforce the teaching that Jesus has offered.  The Holy Spirit is not going to bring a new teaching that is contrary to the teaching of Jesus.

The term Advocate has a specialized meaning.  The Holy Spirit is the Paraclete, which means the Counselor — or more literally, One Who Stands Beside. (The term Advocate is frequently used today for attorneys in a courtroom who speak on behalf of their clients.)

Jesus is also very keenly aware that this is his last opportunity to teach and strengthen his disciples before he is arrested and crucified.  So he wants to reassure them in the face of the coming stress:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

How can they possibly have peace, and be untroubled when Jesus is going to suffer so?  Here is the answer.  Jesus isn’t just going to die — he is going to be raised to life, and he will also come again at the end of the age:

You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’

Jesus recognizes his dependency on the Father:

If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.

But ultimately, Jesus is telling the disciples all these things so that when the drama unfolds they will be able to hang on:

And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.

APPLY:  

Faith is more than mere intellectual assent to a few well-crafted propositions.  Faith is grounded in a relationship with God, and is expressed in loving obedience.

We see the relationship of the follower of Jesus expressed in the dynamic relationship of the Trinity:

Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them…But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.

Because of the follower’s relationship with God, the follower has faith, obedient love, guidance from the Holy Spirit, and peace when faced with uncertainty.

RESPOND: 

Back in the 1970’s, when I was emerging from adolescence, this is the question that was posed by those inviting me to follow Christ:

Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus?

For a “cultural Christian” who had grown up in church, this was a startling question. What it meant was that faith was more than just a creed, or an affiliation with an institution.  Faith became a matter of personal knowledge of Jesus.

Later, I realized that when I submitted to follow Christ, the entire Godhead had come to dwell in my life.  That was a radical realization!

But that is exactly what Jesus promises us:

Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

For those who had grown up in a fairly arid religious environment, this was indeed Good News!

Lord, I thank you that you have come to dwell in my life, and have made a home within me.  Empower me to trust in you, to love you, and to express my love in obedience to you.  And grant me your peace.  Amen.

PHOTOS:
""Peace I Give to You..." ~ digital paint effect" by Art4TheGlryOfGod by Sharon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for May 22, 2022

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

The simplest summation of this passage is one word — restoration.

So many of the elements of the Garden of Eden are present and are perfectly restored — and perfected — in this passage.

Of course, there is a noticeable difference.  The ideal world of Genesis is described as a Garden.  The fulfillment of all things at the end of history is described as:

the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.

However, this is a city remarkable for its lack of spectacular religious architecture. It is simply not needed because God’s presence permeates the entire holy city:

I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.

And in my reflections on Psalm 67 (the Psalm reading for this week’s lectionary selection), I noted the shekinah of God, which is variously described in Scripture as the face, the presence, the shining, and the glory of God. This shekinah is completely manifest in the holy city:

 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

Just as the Lord once was described as:

walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze (Genesis 3:8):

so God’s presence dwells in the midst of his people.  And the Lamb is the lamp, which is consistent with Jesus’ description of himself:

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

Also, we note that this ultimate vision of the holy city is inclusive. The holy city is not exclusive based on ethnicity, culture, race or tribe:

The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.

However, there are some criteria that are required for entrance through those gates. In this instance, some of those criteria are expressed in negative terms:

 But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

The positive criterion mentioned here is inclusion in the Lamb’s book of life — which is made possible by faith in the Lamb himself, Jesus.

In the next section of our passage, the allusions to the first garden become even more clear:

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city.

We are reminded of the river that flows out of the garden in order to water Eden.  Again, a significant difference is that that this river in the holy city is the water of life.  We remember the promise of Jesus to the Samaritan woman at the well:

“The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life” (John 4:14).

And of course, there is the description of the tree of life.  It was forbidden to eat from the fruit of the tree of life only after Adam and Eve had eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Now, in the holy city, the fruit of the tree of life seems to be available to all the servants of God:

On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

But the greatest blessing of all is to be identified with God and the Lamb, and to belong to him:

But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

Jesus has made it clear in the Sermon on the Mount that only those who are pure in heart shall see God.  God’s servants are those who have ultimately been purified by having:

washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:14).

APPLY:  

The holy city as described by John the Revelator is both a “new thing” and the restoration of all that was lost in The Fall.

Revelation promises:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more (Revelation 21:1).

But so many of the elements that are present in our passage represent a restoration of those blessings lost in Genesis.  This new life that is to come is both a continuation of life as we have experienced it, and yet it is a glorified life.  

RESPOND: 

There is a kind of rich, spiritual sensuality in this passage, in a sanctified sense.

I imagine seeing the glorious Light that permeates the holy city, that comes from the face of God himself.  I imagine dipping my hand in the cool, clear water of life that flows through the city, and drinking.  I can almost taste the fruit from the tree of life.

Obviously,  the imagery is intended to help us identify with the wonderful promises of heaven.

And, one thing that I had never really noticed until now — the fruit of the tree of life was never actually denied to Adam and Eve until after their disobedience.  Only the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was prohibited.  After their sin and fall, only then was it prohibited for them to eat the fruit of the tree of life.

I think this was actually a blessing.  To live forever without God in one’s life — which is the necessary consequence of unforgiven sin — would be hell.  But to be washed in the blood of the Lamb, and to be forgiven, and to become a citizen of the holy city — that  would be a blessing, when we, with Christ:

will reign forever and ever.

Our Lord, I look forward to the blessings of your holy city — the water of the river of life; the fruit of the tree of life.  But even more than anything, I look forward to the Light that permeates everything, and to being in your presence.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
"Light Throughout Scripture" by Tyler Neyens is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Psalm Reading for May 22, 2022

On Jewish tombstones you will sometimes see a symbol showing two hands arranged for the Priestly Blessing. [Description and photo by elycefeliz]

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 67
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This is a Psalm of blessing, first for Israel, then for all nations everywhere, and finally for all the earth.  The familiar notation, Selah, is a reminder that this Psalm is a hymn for the purpose of communal worship.

This emphasis on worship is reinforced by the opening verses of the Psalm, that include an allusion to the priestly blessing that the Lord instructed Moses to teach his brother Aaron:

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying,
Thus you shall bless the Israelites: You shall say to them,
The Lord bless you and keep you;
 the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them ( Number 6:22).

Worshipers hearing the first two lines of Psalm 67 would have been reminded of Aaron’s blessing, and most likely would have completed the blessing in their own minds.

However, the Psalmist expands the scope of blessing.  Not only is he calling upon God to bless Israel, he advocates that the truths of Israel’s God be spread throughout the world:

that your way may be known upon earth,
your saving power among all nations.

Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth. Selah

We are reminded that Israel has been blessed in order to bless all nations; that ultimately God is to be acknowledged throughout the world.  The nations represent the Gentiles (goyim) who also come to acknowledge the sovereignty of the Lord.

Moreover, this blessing also extends to the earth itself:

The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, has blessed us.
May God continue to bless us;
let all the ends of the earth revere him.

As the earth itself has been blessed by God, so it yields up its abundance in response to bless the nations; and even the earth itself worships the Lord!

APPLY:  

There is a kind of reciprocity that exists between those whom God blesses and their response to him in worship.

As Israel worships God, Israel basks in his blessing; as the nations worship God, they bask in his blessing; as even the earth — nature itself — worships God, the earth basks in his blessing.

We are reminded yet again that the unique blessing that Israel received as God’s chosen people was not to be hoarded, but to be shared.  They were blessed so they might be a blessing to other nations and to the earth.

There are four signal blessings that are mentioned:

• Salvation
• Justice
• Guidance
• Increase (or fertile abundance)

When these four blessings are present, the presumptive presence of God’s kingdom seems to be present.  When these are present, shalom — God’s peace — is present.

RESPOND: 

In my youth group when I was younger, we almost always ended our evening with the “Aaronic Blessing”:

May the Lord bless you and keep you;
May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you;
May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

I wasn’t exactly sure what it all meant at the time, but it gave me warm feelings.  I wanted to be kept by God — it suggested to me that I belong to God.

I liked the sense that God would make his face to shine upon me.  I had the image of his face shining like the sun upon me.  As I learned more about Hebrew thought, I discovered I wasn’t that far off.  The Hebrew word for face is also interpreted as presence.  And the shine may well refer to the Hebraic concept, shekinah. 

Shekinah is the concept of God’s unique presence that manifests his glory on us. For his face to shine upon us, and for him to lift up his countenance upon us is to turn his face toward us and to bless us.

In the words of the Christian singer Carman,

I want Some O Dat!

Our Lord, you have made your face to shine upon us, and have blessed us. May all nations, and the earth itself, praise you for all you have done! Amen. 

PHOTOS:
“Cohanim Hands – Preistly Blessing” by elycefeliz is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Reading from Acts for May 22, 2022

This mosaic from Ostia Antica gives one a glimpse of what a wealthy woman of Roman times, such as Lydia is said to have been, would have looked like. [Description & photo by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P.]

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Acts 16:9-15
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This passage is an illustration of how the apostles heard and heeded the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

At this time, Paul, accompanied by his usual companion Silas, and his protégé Timothy, had been on a mission trip through Asia Minor.  They had arrived in Troas on the coast of the Aegean Sea (Troas is also known more famously as Troy, the site of the legendary Trojan war a little more than one thousand years B.C.).

Paul’s original intent had been to go on a preaching tour of Asia, but for some reason he was prevented:

They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.  When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them (Acts 16:6-7).

No clear reason is given for the change of plans, but the interpretation of events is very clear — the Holy Spirit, aka the Spirit of Jesus — did not permit it.

Instead, the time had come to begin the spiritual conquest of a new continent — Europe.

As had happened with Peter and Cornelius, God uses a vision to communicate with Paul:

During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

Note that the obedience is instant — there is no hesitation in crossing the Aegean Sea and going to Macedonia.  Paul doesn’t doubt or question the vision at all.

It is interesting to note that prior to Acts 16:10, Paul, Silas and Timothy had been described in the third person plural: they.

As of Acts 16:10, however, the writer uses the first-person plural — we.

We may surmise that Luke, the writer of Acts, has left his medical practice and joined this traveling band of evangelists.  Henceforth, his account will be first-person much of the time. Luke’s ethnicity is believed to have been Greek, so Paul is very definitely becoming inclusive of Gentile followers of Jesus.

The first location of ministry in Europe is Philippi, described as a:

leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony.

This is fascinating, because Philippi, though situated in Macedonia, is very definitely a Roman city.  According to historians, Philippi had originally been established by King Philip of Macedonia, the father of the famed Alexander the Great, in 356 B.C.

Philippi reappears prominently in the annals of history in the battle of succession after the assassination of Julius Caesar, when Mark Antony and Octavius joined forces to defeat Brutus and Cassius in battle in 42 B.C.

Because of Philippi’s strategic importance as a port city, and its location on the Roman highway called the Egnatian Way, it became again an important city in this part of the Roman Empire.

Philippi had been colonized by retired Roman soldiers who could be counted on to help defend the frontiers if the empire was invaded. Part of the retirement “package” of Roman legionnaires was to receive a free gift of land somewhere on the edges of the Roman Empire.

But it is curious that Paul goes outside the gate and down by the river on the Sabbath day.   His usual tactic when bringing his ministry to a new city was to go first to the Jewish synagogue and seek to persuade his brethren of the Messianic nature of Jesus; and only later would he go to the Gentiles.

Did he not go to the synagogue because there was none in Philippi?  Did the Jews worship down by the river, where they might experience less harassment from the Romans and other Gentiles in Philippi?  Or were their numbers so few that they could gather in the open by the river?

Here’s what the Scripture says:

On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there.

We are told that Lydia, one of the women, was a businesswoman from Thyatira  — which is in the interior of Asia Minor, which Paul and his entourage had only recently left!

What is interesting is that Lydia is not only a traveling businesswoman who sells a very expensive purple cloth usually reserved for royalty , but she is also a worshiper of God. 

Worshiper of God is a technical term — sometimes we see it as God-fearers — which describes those who have come to believe in Israel’s God, but have not yet converted completely to Judaism.  Very likely, that is what Centurion Cornelius was as well.

Lydia, then, was ripe for conversion to this new message:

The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.

She and her household are quickly baptized, and offer hospitality and lodging to Paul and his entourage.

APPLY:  

The old cliché is true — “When God closes a door, he opens a window. ”

Paul may have been disappointed that he couldn’t take the Gospel into Asia and Bithynia; but he did not dwell on his disappointment for very long, or allow it to prevent him from following the next vision from God.

The “Macedonian Call” into Europe was actually quite significant.  This would introduce the Gospel into the intellectual, cultural, and political centers of the Greco-Roman world — Athens, Corinth, and even Rome itself!

By crossing the Aegean Sea, Paul was expanding the reach of the church from its oriental, eastern roots into the western world.  In a sense, the church was about to “come of age” as Christians began to wrestle with a very sophisticated philosophical and cultural heritage in the west.

Paul’s letters to the Corinthians, Romans, Colossians, and the Philippians themselves,  would come to be foundational documents of a faith that would become global in reach.

RESPOND: 

I find great ironies in this passage.  In 334 B.C., Alexander the king of Macedonia crossed the Hellespont from Macedonia into Asia Minor.  He began his conquest of the east with an army, cavalry, and navy, spreading Greek culture all the way to the edge of India.

In or around 49 A.D., Paul crossed the Hellespont going west, with only Silas, Timothy, and Luke, and began the conquest of the world through the Gospel of peace and love.

I also find it ironic that Paul had wished to spend more time in Asia, but was prevented — God instead led Paul to go to Philippi in Macedonia.  And yet he meets Lydia — from Thyatira in Asia — on the banks of a river in Philippi.

When we think of our lives and our paths, we may be able to look back and say that God was leading us, and say “so that’s what God was up to!”

The key is to be obedient to God wherever we may find ourselves, and let God direct our steps.

Lord, sharpen my spiritual sense of discernment so that I may hear the “Macedonian Call” that you may send.  And may I have the instant obedience that Paul had.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
"Roman matron" by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Gospel for May 22, 2016

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

John 16:12-15

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Jesus continues to explore the unique relationship within the Trinity, focusing more closely on the work of the Spirit of truth.

 In the verses prior to our passage for this week, Jesus has explained why his departure is a good thing for the disciples.  If he departs, he will send the Holy Spirit, the Counselor:

When he has come, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment;  about sin, because they don’t believe in me;  about righteousness, because I am going to my Father, and you won’t see me any more;  about judgment, because the prince of this world has been judged (John 16:8-11).

Jesus has revealed many truths to the disciples, but he is aware that they aren’t ready for all the truth that is to be revealed.  They can’t bear them now.  But the Holy Spirit will also reveal truths that come directly from the Father and the Son.

Note that the Spirit will not speak on his own initiative.  None of his teachings will contradict what Jesus has revealed.

What the Father has also belongs to Jesus, and the Holy Spirit speaks for both the Father and the Son, and glorifies the Son.  So there is a kind of interweaving network of relationship within the Trinity.

APPLY:  

When we try to speak or write about the Trinity, it is a little like trying to photograph a starry sky.  You can only focus on one small section of the sky at one time.  And so it is with the Trinity.

Here, all that we focus on is the role of the Holy Spirit as the ongoing communicator for God.  The Holy Spirit knows the mind of the Father and the Son because he is one with them — Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one God.  And yet because the Holy Spirit is a distinct Person, the Holy Spirit has a different role.

And yes, when we start to speak about the Trinity, we do begin to find ourselves unable to articulate it all clearly. As when we stare at the vast skies at night, with no light pollution, we are reduced to silence by it all.

We can know what the Holy Spirit reveals to us; but we may also find ourselves frequently in awed silence at what remains a mystery.

RESPOND: 

Nothing humbles me more when I speak of theology than trying to understand and explain the Triune nature of God.  So many modern Christians fall unwittingly into ways of talking about the Trinity that were declared heretical long ago in the church. I call that “accidental heresy.”

I do believe that there are some truths that the Holy Spirit has definitely revealed to us, as Jesus says:

when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming.

I feel pretty certain that the entire New Testament can be explained as the truth that the Holy Spirit would come to reveal, particularly when we remember that nothing was written down by the apostles until at least twenty years after the resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Spirit on Pentecost.

I certainly believe that the Holy Spirit was at work inspiring the writers of the New Testament from 50 A.D. to 100 A.D.  And I would like to believe that the Holy Spirit continued to work in the life of the church through the councils and the synods later, and in the church even today — provided we understand that the Holy Spirit doesn’t contradict previously revealed truth in the Scriptures.

But I still have to admit that I feel like a child when it comes to understanding the Trinity.  Perhaps Psalm 131 says it best for me:

Yahweh, my heart isn’t haughty, nor my eyes lofty;
nor do I concern myself with great matters,
or things too wonderful for me.
Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with his mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me (Psalm 131:1-2, World English Bible).

Our Lord, I don’t need to know everything; I know that I can’t know everything; what I need to know is what you need me to know about you and how you save and sanctify me, and how your love and light penetrate this present darkness.  Guide me into your truth. Amen.

PHOTOS:
"When the comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father. Even the spirit of truth which proceedeth from the father he shall testify of m" by allyhook is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for May 22, 2016

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

Romans 5:1-5

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

The Apostle Paul explores some of the positive consequences of being justified by faith.

As the old saying goes, “when you see a ‘therefore’ in Paul’s epistles, ask yourself ‘what is it there for.'”

So, if we back up a little and scan the first four chapters of Romans, we see that Paul has very systematically explained his doctrine of justification by faith.

Briefly summarized, what he has taught is that no one, Jew or Gentile, can be saved by works of the law, because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  God’s answer to human sin is to send his Son to pay the full penalty of the consequences of sin through his death on the cross.  So, through faith in Christ, those who believe are made righteous as a gift of grace for Christ’s sake.

What then is the consequence of faith in Christ?  Here is one:

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we  have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,  through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we  boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.

In other words, those who have trusted in Christ enjoy peace with God because they no longer need fear the consequences of sin— death and the wrath of God.

Not only do those who trust in Christ not need to fear death, but they also have the hope of sharing the glory of God! 

Paul continues with even better news:

And not only that, but we  also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,  and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Note that Paul doesn’t promise that there will be no suffering when one is justified by faith.  Rather, suffering can be a part of the process that God uses to enable the believer to grow in Christian maturity.

We can certainly see this truth, realized in Paul’s own life. He records his own sufferings as an apostle — he has been flogged, beaten with rods, stoned, shipwrecked, in danger, hardship, imprisoned (2 Corinthians 11:23-27).  And he even speaks of a personal affliction, which remains a mystery to modern scholars.  He asked God three times to remove this thorn in the flesh. 

God did answer Paul’s prayer, in this way:

he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power  is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong
(2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

Clearly, for Paul, justifying faith brings peace with God and hope for sharing in the glory of God, but also enables the believer to endure and even grow and triumph  as the result of sufferings.  This therapeutic process, that leads from suffering to endurance, which produces character, finally is manifested in hope.

And the Holy Spirit is described at work in this whole process:

because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

This love of God, like peace with God, is also a fruit of justification by faith.

APPLY:  

The three persons of the Triune God are all represented in the work of justification by faith.  Faith in Christ brings justification and reconciliation with God the Father; and the Holy Spirit is at work applying God’s  grace in all aspects of the believers life.

The practical application of the doctrine of justification by faith means that we are now at peace with God, and we share in the glory of Christ.

But what may be of inestimable comfort to those who suffer is the process that transforms suffering into hope.

Perhaps an analogy from athletics, or music, or any discipline that requires some form of sacrifice might be helpful.  A certain amount of suffering is necessary in order for the athlete, or the musician, to master a discipline — running, lifting weights, practicing scales, etc.  And the more “suffering” the athlete or musician experiences, the more they increase their physical or mental endurance.

Suffering and endurance produces experiences that build character.  Character is what remains when an individual has experienced stress and difficulty, and has emerged stronger and wiser.  A kind of “baptism by fire” like that which tempers steel.

And the character that has been produced by suffering has very likely taught the individual that hope overcomes even the toughest situations.  Paul certainly experienced hope in the midst of terrible suffering.

And we have the assurance that in the midst of all that we experience in the Christian life:

God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Whatever we may experience, God’s love will sustain us.

RESPOND: 

I must confess that I have not suffered much in comparison to many others.  I am generally not discriminated against because of my faith — certainly not in the way many Christians are in the Third World.

Physically, I have enjoyed pretty good health.  As a pastor, I have ministered to people who suffered profoundly because of illness or tragedy.

But experience teaches me that none of us will get through this life without some suffering.  I’ve certainly experienced temporary suffering, and grief because of lost loved ones.

I remember going through a tough time a few years ago when someone quoted the atheist existential philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche:

“That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.”

Of course that’s true — but I can answer that this truth is Biblical truth:

suffering produces endurance,  and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,  and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

And that is God’s promise!

Our Lord, I thank you that my trust in you results in peace, and glory; and that even my suffering may be sanctified so that you produce endurance, character and hope in my life. Please pour out your love in my life so that it may truly overflow to others.  Amen. 

 PHOTOS:
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Psalm Reading for May 22, 2016

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

Psalm 8

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Psalm 8 is the classic expression of the majesty of God. In just nine brief verses, David’s Psalm surveys the sovereignty of God over heaven and earth, contrasts the seeming insignificance of humanity to the vast heavens, and then firmly establishes the unique relationship of human beings with God.

The Psalm is addressed to the Sovereign God, as a Psalm of praise:

O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.

And then, there is a twist in the plot, so to speak.  Instead of describing the mountains or the oceans, the Psalmist speaks of the praises of the tiny and the most vulnerable creatures on earth:

Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
to silence the enemy and the avenger.

There is a paradox here — that the babbling of infants becomes a kind of fortress against malefactors!  The God who created heavens and earth and all that is in them values those things that seem so insignificant. Innocence defeats evil!

We can’t help but think of Mary’s Song in Luke’s Gospel:

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty (Luke 1:52-53).

There is a kind of inversion that recurs in the Scripture, where the small and insignificant are exalted, and the big and powerful are diminished.  We see this again in these next wonderful verses of the Psalm:

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have established;
what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
mortals  that you care for them?

Here, David is appropriately aware of human insignificance in contrast to the cosmos that stretches out on a starry night.  He asks the right question — how can God possibly even notice me in comparison to the vastness of the heavens?

And yet, as it is for the babes and infants, and the lowly and hungry, we might say the world is turned right-side up:

Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
and crowned them with glory and honor.

We are reminded of creation theology, which makes clear what the relationship is between God and humanity, and between humanity and creation:

You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under their feet,
all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

This echoes the creation theology of Genesis 1:26.

Then God said, “Let us make humankind  in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth,  and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

Human beings are subordinate to God, but are nonetheless just below God in the hierarchy of beings.  And with this exalted position comes great responsibility for all creatures.

Kings in ancient times placed their images in the lands over which they had dominion.  In a similar way, human beings are the living images who represent God’s dominion over the world, and act as stewards of it.

The Psalm ends with a refrain of the first verse, as David seems filled with wonder for what God is and what he has done for humanity:

O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

APPLY:  

When we turn our attention to the heavens, two things seem to be impossible.

First, it seems impossible for us to conclude that the cosmos came into existence by accident.  There  is mystery and wonder when we consider the origin story of the universe. But to conclude that all has come into being by random accident seems to require more faith than admitting that there was a creating mind behind it all.  And of course, from the Biblical perspective, that creating mind is God.

Second, it is impossible to look at the moon and the stars and not conclude that we are microscopic in comparison, especially as we have learned about the vast distances of space.

And yet. And yet.  And yet! We are created in the very image of God — which means that at our best, when we are living lives of love, reason, and justice, we are God’s representatives in the world.

The notion of the image of God was that humans were to be God’s ambassadors.  This is why we are given dominion over creation, because we are to be stewards of creation.  Our dominance over creation is not given so that we might exploit it, but so that we may care for it responsibly.

RESPOND: 

This Psalm provides a balance for me in my self-image.  On the one hand, I am keenly aware of how insignificant I can feel in the cosmos, and in the human world of celebrity and historical events.

I am reminded of a story about President Teddy Roosevelt.  He owned an estate called Sagamore Hill on Long Island in New York. As a man with deep passion for hunting, the outdoors, and nature in general, this was a favorite retreat for him.

One of the things he loved to do was to go outside on a starry evening with a friend and look up at the skies, identify the constellations, and speculate about the vast distances in the universe.  And then, when they had gazed awhile and grew silent with awe, he would say, “Well, I think we’re small enough now.  Let’s go inside.”

I always remember this tale when my wife and I go outside and look at the moon and the stars.  If Teddy Roosevelt, that larger-than-life hunter, writer, and statesman could recognize how small he was when looking at the stars, how small do I feel?

On the other hand, this Psalm reminds me of God’s regard for me, far above what I deserve.

I am reminded of Hamlet’s famous speech in Shakespeare’s play:

What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason!
how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how
express and admirable! in action how like an angel!
in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the
world! the paragon of animals!
(The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Act II, scene ii, lines 303-307)

This is an important balance to maintain — we are rightly humble in our relationship with God, but we are made bold by his grace that has created us in his own image and has saved us from the sin that damaged that image.

Our Lord, your creation leaves me speechless with awe, and I become aware of how tiny a part of it all I really am.  But then you remind me that you care enough for me to become a human being and die for me! That is truly awesome!  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
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Old Testament for May 22, 2016

Start with Scripture:

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

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OBSERVE:

The book of Proverbs is one of five books in the Bible included in the “Wisdom” genre (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes).  Wisdom literature deals with many aspects of the human condition — the problem of suffering;  the yearnings of the human soul for God;  the multi-dimensional human experience of anger, hope, romance, philosophical despair;  and often simply good, practical advice for living.

In this passage from Proverbs, the theme of Wisdom is introduced with the personification of Wisdom as a feminine character.  Wisdom is searching everywhere for those who are seeking understanding:

Does not wisdom call,
and does not understanding raise her voice?
 On the heights, beside the way,
at the crossroads she takes her stand;
beside the gates in front of the town,
at the entrance of the portals she cries out:
“To you, O people, I call,
and my cry is to all that live.

In verses 22-23, the tone becomes more speculative, even mystical.  Wisdom describes herself as an entity present with the Lord even before he began the work of creation:

The Lord created me at the beginning  of his work,
the first of his acts of long ago.
Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, before the beginning of the earth.

Wisdom describes herself as being in existence prior to the depths, or springs abounding with water,and before the mountains or hills were shaped.  She watched as the Lord circumscribed a circle on the face of the deep, set boundaries for the oceans and for the skies, and marked out the foundations of the earth .

We note that Wisdom is an observer in all this.  She is not described as the primary  agent of creation.  She repeatedly states that she was there at the beginning and watched it all take place.  The initiative and the work are carried out by the Lord.  She assists him, but the Lord is the creator.

Only in verses 30-31 does she state:

then I was beside him, like a master worker;
and I was daily his delight,
rejoicing before him always,
rejoicing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the human race.

Wisdom appears to have been created by the Lord to observe and to rejoice in his acts of Creation — perhaps so that she may later instruct the human race about the true source of creation.

APPLY:  

The personification of Wisdom as a feminine character is somewhat mysterious.

It may simply be a poetic device, a way to describe the nature of Wisdom that accompanies the creative acts of God from the beginning. It may be a reminder to us that God’s creation follows certain logical, intelligible principles of cause and effect, as well as order and purpose.  And it may serve to remind us that when we study nature as scientists we are in some sense studying theology because we assume that reason is at the heart of it all.

But some of the early church fathers interpreted this persona to be the same as the Word described in  the Prologue to John’s Gospel.  There, Jesus is described as the Word (Word is the translation of the Greek  Logos which can also be interpreted as the Mind or the Wisdom of God):

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being (John 1:1-3).

This interpretation seems a little problematical, though.

First, Jesus is clearly described as being one with the Father — although he has a distinct personhood. The Word was not merely passively observing the creation of all things, but was an active agent along with God the Father.

Second, we are told that Wisdom in Proverbs was created at the beginning; but the Gospel of John tells us that Jesus was begotten of God, not created :

the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

An alternate and more traditional translation is that Jesus is:

 the only begotten of the Father.

This is significant for Christian theology  because Jesus is uniquely the Son of God; he is, as the Nicene Creed says:

the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Third, of course there is the obvious observation — Jesus is male, and the persona of Wisdom is female.  But at least one early church father, Irenaeus, identifies Wisdom in Proverbs 8 with the Holy Spirit:

I have also largely demonstrated, that the Word, namely the Son, was always with the Father ; and that Wisdom also, which is the Spirit, was present with Him, anterior to all creation.
(Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 4.20.3 – Ante-Nicene Fathers 1.488.)

This is an intriguing possibility suggesting that the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, represents the feminine character of God.  Obviously this thought may seem a bit audacious, but we are reminded that in the very first chapter of Genesis, God creates humanity.

What does he say?

 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Genesis 1:26-27).

It is no stretch to suggest that we cannot completely understand the nature of God unless we begin to understand that both male and female together fully represent God’s image.

Although the imagery for the feminine aspects of God are somewhat rare compared to the masculine imagery, they are certainly present.  God is described as a mother eagle in Deuteronomy 32:11-12; a mother in Hosea 11:3-4; a mother bear in Hosea 13:8;  a comforting mother in Isaiah 66:13; a nursing mother in Isaiah 49:15; a woman in labor in Isaiah 42:14;  a reassuring mother in Psalm 131:2;  a woman in charge of her servants in Psalm 123:2-3.  Deuteronomy describes God as giving birth to Israel in Deuteronomy 32:18.  And Jesus describes himself as a mother hen longing to gather her brood under wings in Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34.

We must be careful about constructing a theology around these thoughts, especially because they haven’t been confirmed by the authority of orthodox Christianity over the millennia — however, they do provide a source of provocative meditation about the nature of God and God’s wonders.

Perhaps we should simply remember that Wisdom is God’s creation, and it is by wisdom that we seek to understand the world around us and God himself.

RESPOND: 

I am humbled when I reflect on the nature of the Triune God.  Greater minds than my own have meditated on the inscrutable character of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

I must admit that I am intrigued by the notion that the Holy Spirit might represent the more “feminine” nature of God.  If God has created us as male and female in his own image, then it does stand to reason that God’s nature possesses characteristics that we often identify as male and female.

As Hamlet said to his friend in Shakespeare’s play that dealt with supernatural elements:

“There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

I won’t go so far as to suggest that we refer to God as Father, Son and Mother — that is not the classical, orthodox reference for God.  But these reflections do challenge me to realize that God is far bigger and more mysterious than I can possibly comprehend.

Lord, by Wisdom you have created the universe, and set its frame and its boundaries.  And you have placed in our minds the sense of wonder and the capacity for intellect that leads us closer to you as we set our own minds to use wisdom.  We are also reminded of some other words of Proverbs: “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”  Increase my faith, my love, and my fear of you.   Amen.

PHOTOS:
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