Archive for Ephemera
July 8, 2010 at 5:44 am · Filed under Ephemera
Introduction
One of the opportunities I have as the interim pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Beatrice, Neb., is to prepare a short column for a feature called “The Pastor’s Pen.” This installment appeared in the Beatrice Daily Sun on Thursday, July 8, 2010.
Scripture
“May my instruction soak in like the rain,
and my discourse permeate like the dew,
Like a downpour upon the grass,
like a shower upon the crops ….” (Deuteronomy 32:2, NAB)
Meditation
Maybe you can date yourself by remembering whose voice you hear in your mind’s ear when you recall the lyrics to “Rhythm of the Rain.” When you sing to yourself, “Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain / Telling me just what a fool I’ve been,” do you hear the Cascades from 1962 or Jacky Ward from 1978 or Dan Fogelberg from 1990? But no matter whose voice you hear, which era’s singer you recall, it’s easy to imagine listening to that rhythm as the rain falls, especially with the weather we’ve had the past several months.
For some of us, rain, at worst, inconveniences us. A passing shower means getting wet going from car to office. Sometimes the rains might mean the cookout gets moved to the garage. For others, though, the rain and the hail and the wind have poured out heartbreaking damage upon crops and brought challenging loss of livelihood. So it’s natural to want the rain to come conveniently, in just the right quantities in the right places at the right times. But listen! The falling rain tells us we are foolish to think we can control its coming and going.
Rain also speaks other messages and gives us other reminders. The Scriptures are full to the brim with references to rain and to water. That’s not surprising, given the arid climate of the lands where God’s people lived in the times recorded in the Bible. Look at one verse from Deuteronomy, which comes from a passage known as the Song of Moses. In this section, the leader who brought Israel out of bondage in Egypt, through the wilderness, and to the promised land, sings a song that is really a poetic sermon. He begins by asking God to make his words flow into the people’s lives like rain and dew, downpour and shower. He sings a kind of prayer asking God to drench his people, to soak them to the skin with the divine Word.
This is an image of blessing and abundant grace. God sends the showers of his instruction upon his people. He pours out his will upon them as inescapably as he sends the rains. As Christians, when we hear Moses’ words, we cannot help but be reminded of the waters of Holy Baptism. With this holy and life-giving water, God cleanses and renews us so that his instruction soaks into us like the rain.
So when the next storm blows in from the west and the next downpour falls upon us from the sky, the rains can remind us to give God thanks for his blessings and to wash our ears of faith so we may hear his instruction. In these ways, God refreshes us to live for his purposes. He permeates our lives like dew upon the ground, so that we may recall his blessings and give him thanks in all things.
July 8, 2010 at 5:35 am · Filed under Ephemera
Introduction
The Congregation Council at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Beatrice, Neb., where I am serving as interim pastor, opens its monthly meetings with devotions. These are the thoughts for the July 2010 meeting. The Psalm is the one appointed for the seventh Sunday after Pentecost. The council read it in choirs—men and women.
Invocation
In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Reading
Psalm 25:1–10
1To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
2O my God, in you I trust;
do not let me be put to shame;
do not let my enemies exult over me.
3Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;
let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
4Make me to know your ways, O LORD;
teach me your paths.
5Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all day long.
6Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD, and of your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.
7Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for your goodness’ sake, O LORD!
8Good and upright is the LORD;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.
10All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
Devotion
When I was young, I was a member of Troop 45, Boy Scouts of America.
Scouting was big in those days.
There were probably forty or so boys in the troop,
organized into four patrols of ten.
A bunch of dads served as scoutmaster and assistant scoutmasters.
What I loved most about scouting was camping.
We had a camping trip scheduled every month.
Sometimes we went to a campground,
but other times we went backpacking.
The Appalachian Trail ran along the ridges and valleys of the Appalachians in Lebanon County.
This is where we hiked.
We learned to stay on the trail, to check the feet of the scout ahead of us.
We did this for safety, because you could see loose rocks or fallen limbs.
We also did it out of respect for the environment;
it’s better for twenty-five people to walk on one trail,
then to tear through the woods and make new paths.
We learned the wisdom and safety
in following the path of an experienced and trusted leader.
The Psalmist invites us to follow the path of our Lord.
Our God marks his path in our lives with his truth and love and mercy.
He instructs us in the way we should go.
He leads us in humility to take the right path;
he teaches us his way.
He promises us that his paths are “steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.”
We’re invited to join our voices with the psalmist’s voice and pray,
“Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.”
Discussion
+ What do you see on the path ahead of us as a congregation?
+ What are the loose rocks and the fallen limbs?
+ Where have we wandered from the path?
+ What can we do as leaders to help our fellow members to follow on the path the Lord points out to us?
+ Which verse speaks to you personally? Can you share why?
Prayer
We want to follow you, Lord God, along the path you have chosen for us. Lead us to follow you in humility. When we stray from the trail, bring us back onto the path of your truth. Raise up in us a spirit of gratitude for your steadfast love and faithfulness. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
July 5, 2010 at 10:17 am · Filed under Ephemera
Introduction
One of the opportunities I have as the interim pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Beatrice, Neb., is to prepare a short column for a feature called “The Pastor’s Pen.” This installment comes from the Beatrice Daily Sun on Thursday, July 8, 2010.
Scripture
“May my instruction soak in like the rain,
and my discourse permeate like the dew,
Like a downpour upon the grass,
like a shower upon the crops ….” (Deuteronomy 32:2, NAB)
Meditation
Maybe you can date yourself by remembering whose voice you hear in your mind’s ear when you recall the lyrics to “Rhythm of the Rain.” When you sing to yourself, “Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain / Telling me just what a fool I’ve been,” do you hear the Cascades from 1962 or Jacky Ward from 1978 or Dan Fogelberg from 1990? But no matter whose voice you hear, which era’s singer you recall, it’s easy to imagine listening to that rhythm as the rain falls, especially with the weather we’ve had the past several months.
For some of us, rain, at worst, inconveniences us. A passing shower means getting wet going from car to office. Sometimes the rains might mean the cookout gets moved to the garage. For others, though, the rain and the hail and the wind have poured out heartbreaking damage upon crops and brought challenging loss of livelihood. So it’s natural to want the rain to come conveniently, in just the right quantities in the right places at the right times. But listen! The falling rain tells us we are foolish to think we can control its coming and going.
Rain also speaks other messages and gives us other reminders. The Scriptures are full to the brim with references to rain and to water. That’s not surprising, given the arid climate of the lands where God’s people lived in the times recorded in the Bible. Look at one verse from Deuteronomy, which comes from a passage known as the Song of Moses. In this section, the leader who brought Israel out of bondage in Egypt, through the wilderness, and to the promised land, sings a song that is really a poetic sermon. He begins by asking God to make his words flow into the people’s lives like rain and dew, downpour and shower. He sings a kind of prayer asking God to drench his people, to soak them to the skin with the divine Word.
This is an image of blessing and abundant grace. God sends the showers of his instruction upon his people. He pours out his will upon them as inescapably as he sends the rains. As Christians, when we hear Moses’ words, we cannot help but be reminded of the waters of Holy Baptism. With this holy and life-giving water, God cleanses and renews us so that his instruction soaks into us like the rain.
So when the next storm blows in from the west and the next downpour falls upon us from the sky, the rains can remind us to give God thanks for his blessings and to wash our ears of faith so we may hear his instruction. In these ways, God refreshes us to live for his purposes. He permeates our lives like dew upon the ground, so that we may recall his blessings and give him thanks in all things.
July 1, 2010 at 5:34 am · Filed under Ephemera
Introduction
This article is the July 2010 installment of my monthly message in the parish newsletter for Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Beatrice, Neb.
Daily Witness
The other day I stopped at the Beatrice Post Office to buy stamps for the Lincoln Stamp Club’s July newsletter. A few months ago I agreed to add the creation of this newsletter to my other responsibilities as the Club’s secretary. Because the newsletter goes to stamp collectors, they appreciate when the stamp on the newsletter is a commemorative and not a common issue.
I’d recently seen that the Postal Service had released a Kathryn Hepburn commemorative, and thought—given the ages of most of the members of the Club—that this would be a good choice. I found out from Bob, the clerk at the post office, that he was almost sold out of the Hepburn stamp and didn’t have the fifty I needed. But then he suggested a roll of Flags of Our Nation, featuring the Nebraska flag. That was the choice I made.
Somehow in the course of our brief conversation I mentioned the newsletter. Bob said, “Oh, I’m in a stamp club too.” It took only a moment for us to discover he was a member of the same club and actually receives the newsletter I write. This led to us comparing notes on our specialty collections and me asking whether he would ever consider presenting a talk on his collection at one of the Club’s meetings.
At this point, you might be asking yourself, “Where is he going with this rambling story?” That’s a good question. And the answer is that I was struck by how easily and how energetically I could engage in a conversation with a complete stranger when the topic touched on our shared passions. You have probably had a similar experience, whether it involves sports or antique cars or the latest best seller or ….
No, Not That!
But now envision yourself running into someone and somehow—through the twists and turns of the conversation—bumping up against your faith. Certainly we are passionate about our Lord Jesus Christ, about the new life we share in the Holy Spirit, and about the trust we have in coming, upon our deaths, to the endless day we will enjoy with the Father in heaven. But to talk about that with a stranger is an almost unimaginable scenario for most of us. In fact, we often find it hard enough to talk about our faith in church or even at home with a spouse or other relative. When we picture ourselves treading perilously close to the topic of our faith, we find ourselves pulling back, raising our hands in defense, and crying soundlessly, “No, not that!”
Beyond Fear
We typically fear what we cannot control, so it is natural, in one sense, to fear a conversation about faith. Once that topic arises, then God—without a doubt—is present and active and alive in the conversation. And we do not control him.
But while fear is natural, fear that shows we do not trust God to guide us is the kind of fear that we know to be the absence of faith. St. Paul reminds us:
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, [emphasis added] but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:15–17, NRSV)
This helps, because it reminds us that the Spirit bears witness with us when we share our faith with others. And really, of what or whom need we be afraid if God is our ally standing at our side? With him as our companion, we are free—free of fear of embarrassment, ridicule, injury, even death—to witness daily to others of our faith with the same intense passion we bring to our hobbies and pastimes.
Blessings!
July 1, 2010 at 5:29 am · Filed under Ephemera
Introduction
Holy Cross Lutheran Church began offering individuals the chance to ask questions about the Church, faith, theology, and the Bible by putting their queries into a Question Box. A question and answer appears in each month’s newsletter. This is the July 2010 installment.
Question
Is Jesus the only way to eternal life, and if so, what happens to people who do not believe in him? Please use the Scriptures in the answer.
Answer
St. Paul’s hymn in Philippians says, “Therefore God also highly exalted [Christ Jesus] and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9–11, NRSV) This tells us that God desires for all people to say, “Jesus Christ is Lord.” We trust that he will work this out in his own time and according to his own plan, revealed to us when Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6, NRSV) So, yes, Jesus is the only way to eternal life with the Triune God.
But in the meantime, we are left with the reality that not all people confess that Jesus is Lord or come to the Father through him. Some people doubt or deny that God exists. Others may say, “He may be your God, but I have made my own religion.” Still others follow the tenets of the world’s major religions, such as Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism.
We believe that God has made us with the capacity to respond to him, which includes the ability to say “yes” to his love, but also to say “no,” even if that answer will cause lasting separation, a gulf between us and God, and pain because of that estrangement.
This “what happens” question can cause us great anguish if we have a loved one who professes doubt or denial of the Christian faith. In such circumstances, we are called to pray, not so much that they “snap out of it,” but that God will live up to his promise to relentlessly pursue his children, no matter how far they may stray. As Jesus said, “The Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10, NRSV)
June 10, 2010 at 5:05 am · Filed under Ephemera
Introduction
The Congregation Council at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Beatrice, Neb., where I am serving as interim pastor, opens its monthly meetings with devotions. These are the thoughts for the June 2010 meeting. The Psalm is the one appointed for the third Sunday after Pentecost. The council read it in choirs—men and women.
Reading
Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Happy are those to whom the LORD imputes no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
While I kept silence, my body wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not hide my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”
and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
Therefore let all who are faithful offer prayer to you;
at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters shall not reach them.
You are a hiding place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with glad cries of deliverance.
I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
Do not be like a horse or mule,
without understanding,
whose temper must be curbed
with bit and bridle,
else it will not stay near you.
Many are the torments of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the LORD.
Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.
Devotion
There’s a famous scene in the movie, The Mission, where a 18th-century Spanish mercenary, played by Robert DeNiro, decides to give us his violent ways and to become a monk. He decides he needs to atone for his sins, so he drags a bag containing his armor and weapons through the South American jungle, up into the mountains, to the headwaters of a river where the mission is located.
In a wordless scene at the end of this ardous journey, a boy cuts the rope binding the bag to Rodrigo, and the former killer breaks down into tears of deliverance, forgiveness, and release.
Can you think of a time in your life when you have recognized your sin and asked God and those whom you had hurt for forgiveness? What a great release it is when we receive that word of grace, “I forgive you.”
This is exactly what the psalmist invites us to experience. We can feel the weight of a burden of sin in the words, “While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long.” (Psalm 32:3, NRSV) But at the same time, we can feel the relief that comes when we finally can say, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” (Psalm 32:5)
Forgiveness is a great gift from God. We can trust that he forgives us and gives us a new lease on life when we confess our sins to him.
Discussion
+ How have you responded when someone has come to you to confess having wronged you in some way?
+ If you have something to confess, what keeps you from making that confession either to God or to someone else?
+ Are there any sins that our congregation has committed as a community for which we should ask forgiveness?
+ What can we do as leaders to encourage confession?
Prayer
Help us, O God, to turn to you and to tell you our sins. When we have sinned against others, give us the courage and the humility to confess our wrongdoing. Give us new life by the Spirit of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
June 1, 2010 at 5:36 am · Filed under Ephemera
Introduction
Holy Cross Lutheran Church began offering individuals the chance to ask questions about the Church, faith, theology, and the Bible by putting their queries into a Question Box. A question and answer appears in each month’s newsletter. This is the June 2010 installment.
Question
What does the Bible say about practices that alter our bodies, like
+ wearing make-up
+ having tattoos
+ getting body piercing
+ undergoing plastic surgery?
Answer
Some of the questions that come to us are the same questions our ancestors in the faith asked. But many other questions stem from the times in which we live, so we may not find precise and direct answers to each question we may think to ask. This question, though, falls somewhere in the middle.
Genesis starts out by telling us that human creatures are God’s possession and that he made us as embodied spirits or enspirited bodies: “…then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7, NRSV). This tells us that we cannot separate ourselves into parts and say we do something to our bodies alone. When we alter ourselves physically, we cannot help but alter ourselves spiritually, and the other way around as well.
So then the question becomes, what is the intention of any alteration? Paul helps us to know the proper goal of any change we attempt to make in ourselves: “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20, NRSV).
This means that part of the answer to the question comes from examining the goal of the practice: does it glorify God? Some of the practices are easier to examine this way. Many tattoos feature symbols or texts. Do these forms of communication glorify God, witnessing to others that he is the Lord of our lives? At least one form of plastic surgery—circumcision—traces its roots to a sign of the covenant God made with Abraham and his offspring (Genesis 17:10–14). But since the first Council of the Church, held in Jerusalem, decided that Gentiles did not need to become circumcised to become Christian, this practice is not required (Acts 15). Reconstructive surgery has as its goal the restoration of one’s shape as made by God. Other kinds of plastic surgery may have as their goal the refashioning of one’s shape according to one’s own ideals rather than accepting and rejoicing in the distinctive way one has been fashioned by God’s creative hand.
Perhaps the most helpful passage in responding to this question is 1 Corinthians 8:1–13, where Paul discusses whether or not to eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols. He comes to the point of saying there is no rule one way or the other, “But take care that this liberty of your does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.” (1 Corinthians 8:9, NRSV). This would apply to the questions of altering our appearances by helping each of us to ask, “Does this change bring attention to me or does it help others turn to God?”
Background
What is the Question Box?
It’s actually several boxes. We will have a box in the narthex at church. The church’s mailbox is the second box. The third box is Pastor Frye’s e-mail inbox.
What goes into the box?
Briefly, your questions. You may use any of these boxes to ask Pastor Frye a question about faith and daily life, the Bible, our Lutheran background, events in the life of the whole Church, and practices at Holy Cross Lutheran Church.
What happens with the questions?
Depending upon the questions, Pastor Frye will respond to one or more questions in the newsletter each month.
What else can we expect?
Well, some questions about the faith do not have answers in this life. As one seminary professor once said, “Put that one in your hip pocket and ask God when you get to heaven!” Pastor Frye will not “fake” his answers. He will respect your confidentiality.
What do we do now?
Go ahead and ask your questions. Please sign your name, but indicate whether you wish your name to remain confidential or not.
What are the ways to share questions?
+ Use the box in the narthex and fill out one of the slips nearby.
+ Second, mail your questions to the church office:
Question Box
Holy Cross Lutheran Church
1918 Garfield St.
Beatrice, NE 68310.
+ Or send your question by e-mail, placing “Question Box” in the subject field:
pastorfrye (at) windstream.net.
June 1, 2010 at 5:29 am · Filed under Ephemera
Introduction
This article is the June 2010 installment of my monthly message in the parish newsletter for Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Beatrice, Neb.
A Change of Seasons
Flipping the calendar’s pages from May to June brings several changes of seasons—school ends and summer begins; the church year moves from the Easter season through Holy Trinity Sunday and then to ordinary time, the many Sundays after Pentecost; our parish’s ministries move into their summer patterns.
In a way, it’s a little like the change from December to January. That’s the traditional time for taking stock of one’s life, of making new beginnings. This month can work the same way for us. As we move into the season after Pentecost, we enter the time traditionally dedicated to focusing on the spreading of God’s Word, the growth of the Church, and on our maturation in the faith.
A Chance for Questions
So it’s a good time to take a step back from our lives and to ask some questions. Here are a few questions to guide your personal reflection. You can use these however works best for you. Some may find writing in a journal is a helpful way to focus. Others may find a partner in conversation. Others might make each question a beginning for a time of prayer.
+ Where have I felt God at work in my life?
+ What gifts have I received from God?
+ How is God calling me to use those gifts?
+ Whom do I know who does not believe in God?
+ How can I share my faith with others?
+ What cross is God calling me to carry?
+ Where does my faith lead to sacrifice?
+ What do I need to lift up to God in prayer?
+ Is God at the center or the edges of my life?
A Time for Reflection
One of the most powerful ways to help focus one’s spiritual life is through daily devotions. In many ways, making devotions a daily part of one’s life is a task of establishing a habit. This takes some discipline, some resolve to make a change in patterns to open up space in one’s life for a new action in the daily routine. This means that when and how devotions fit into life varies with each person.
I found that placing my devotions between two other firmly established habits helped me to make devotions part of my routine. I wake up every morning and I drink coffee each day as well. So two years ago, I tried spending some time in devotions after I woke up, but before I made that first cup of coffee. This has worked well for me. I’m not suggesting that everyone should do this, but that the notion of finding a way to commit to the discipline of devotions will bear fruit in your life.
A Pattern for Prayer
Once you decide to dedicate time in your life for devotions, the options for resources can overwhelm you. For the Christian, the Bible is the essential resource. A great place to start is with the Psalms. These texts have served as the prayerbook and the hymnal of God’s people for thousands of years. They will touch you with their tenderness, inspire you with their praise, shock you with their brutal honesty, and remind you of God’s lordship over every moment of life.
Our congregation provides several devotional booklets available quarterly on the rack in the narthex. Our hymnal, Lutheran Book of Worship, includes a variety of aids for devotions, including a schedule of daily Bible readings on p. 179. If you have access to the Internet, the options are just about endless. You can find out what readings are coming up in worship at www.elca.org/lectionary. And for example, another site, www.journeywithjesus.net, offers a mix of essays, book reviews, poetry, and reflections on the arts tied to the lectionary, our schedule for Sunday readings.
Please consider this message an invitation to start a habit or to renew an existing discipline. If you find a practice that works, let me know. I can gather and share the suggestions and wisdom of our congregation so that we all may grow together in our life of faith.
Blessings!
Pastor David Frye
April 23, 2010 at 5:41 am · Filed under Ephemera
Introduction
This article is the May 2010 installment of my monthly message in the parish newsletter for Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Beatrice, Neb.
The Old Saying
Somewhere in the dusty recesses of our memories rests the time when we first learned the saying, “April showers bring May flowers.” This year our April has featured more sunshine than showers, but the May flowers are here anyway, thanks to the snows of November, December, January …, well, you get the idea.
It helps to turn aside from the rush of our days, the blur of our schedules, and come to a rest, a stop. Put your life into park for a little while, turn off the engine, hide the keys, go outside and close the door behind you. Spend some time watching the tender young tree leaves quiver in the breeze, listen to the whushing of the wings of waterfowl as they fly overhead, close your eyes and turn your face to the heavens and feel the warmth of the sun shining upon your face.
These are the sensations of the season, this time of year poised between the ice of winter and the fire of summer. As the Philosopher reminds us, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven ….” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, NRSV)
A Time and a Purpose
Aside from the calming of our hearts, the soothing of our souls, the relaxing of our bodies that come when we pause and revel in the beauty of this season, we can use these sensations to remind us of the graces of the God who has made us and all of the creatures in this world.
Just as May falls between winter and summer, we live our lives between two times as well. We have been born into this world, born into sin. But in a way, our lives here and now are another time in the womb. When we reach full term, we will be born into the kingdom of God. There is nothing more “in between the times” than that, making our whole existence, from birth to death, a kind of May. Our lives are bursting into bud from the nourishment of the cross and the empty tomb. But still we have not yet emerged full-grown into the life eternal that awaits us in heaven.
Praying the Psalms
When we gather for worship and come to the time to hear God’s Word, it’s easy for us to glide by the Psalms. But just as we can gain a sense of God’s grace by admiring his handiwork in creation, we can recover gratitude for his blessings by listening to the psalms as prayers of God’s people and indeed, his whole creation.
Consider these few verses from the psalms appointed for our worship this month:
+ “Praise the LORD from the earth,
you sea monsters and all deeps,
fire and hail, snow and frost,
stormy wind fulfilling his command!”
(Psalm 148:7, May 2)
+ “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.”
(Psalm 67:6–7, May 9)
+ “The LORD is king! Let the earth rejoice;
let the many coastlands be glad!”
(Psalm 97:1, May 16)
+ “O LORD, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.”
(Psalm 104:24, May 23)
+ “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?
Yet you have made them
a little lower than God,
and crowned them with glory and honor.”
(Psalm 8:3–4, May 30)
Praying our Lives
Another saying—this one from St. Paul—reminds us, “Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) Sometimes this word seems to tell us we ought to go through life with hands folded and heads bowed. But remember that the full sentence in Paul’s letter says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (vv. 16– 18). This calls us to live with hearts tender and minds open to the graces of God. And when they touch us, we can say, “Thanks be to God!”
April 14, 2010 at 3:00 pm · Filed under Ephemera
Introduction
The Congregation Council at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Beatrice, Neb., where I am serving as interim pastor, opens its monthly meetings with devotions. These are the thoughts for the April 2010 meeting. The Psalm is the one appointed for the third Sunday of Easter. The council read it in choirs—men and women.
Reading
[A] I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice over me.
O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.
O LORD, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.
[B] Sing praises to the LORD, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
[A] As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.”
By your favor, O LORD, you have established me as a strong mountain; you hid your face; I was dismayed.
[B] To you, O LORD, I cried, and to the LORD I made supplication:
“What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit?
Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?
Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me! O LORD, be my helper!”
[A] You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever. (Psalm 30, NRSV)
DEVOTION: Hear, O LORD!
The psalmist’s honesty in conversation with God can sometimes surprise us. In this psalm, the writer bargains with God. The offer is this: If I am dead, I cannot praise you. So rescue me!
There are probably times in our lives when we want to make bargains or cut deals with God. Maybe we want to feel release from pain, or know healing from a disease, or experience the joy of a restored relationship. And so we try to work out an arrangement with God.
We don’t know whether God was persuaded by the psalmist’s offer. But we do know the psalmist was blessed with a joyful reversal: mourning turned to dancing and sackcloth gave way to party clothes. So even if we don’t feel like we have cut a deal with God, we can trust that God draws us up, heals us, restores us to life, turns our sadness into gladness, and dresses us up in celebration.
Discussion
+ How have you felt the ups and downs in your relationship with God? How have your known God’s anger? His favor?
+ Where would you say our congregation as a whole is right now? What supports your perception?
+ What comfort can we offer to individuals who are looking for God’s reassurance?
What can we do as leaders encourage our members as a group to trust in God’s saving help?
Prayer
Gracious God, you rescue us from the low places in our lives and restore our joy when we are sad. Help us to trust that you will save us and will show us your favor for a lifetime; through Jesus Christ our Lord we pray. Amen.
« Previous entries Next Page » Next Page »
