A Prayer about Manic Mondays

by | Apr 26, 2021 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Work

A Prayer about Manic Mondays

Heavenly King,

We confess, 

too many of our Mondays are “manic” 

because we don’t still ourselves before you 

and remember 

that you are God, 

you are King, 

you are Lord. 

Too often, we serve little-l lords 

like bosses, children, friends, family, or to-do lists. 

We serve them, 

trying to win their approval

 or trying to prove we are winners. 

Turn our faces toward you. 

Bow our hearts before you. 

Send us into this world this week to serve you, 

loving you and loving others 

as you have empowered us to do.

As we do so, 

may our Mondays go from manic to magnificent. 

In Jesus’ magnificent name. Amen. 

Read Psalm 46:1-11.

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A Prayer about Being Kept and Blessed

by | Apr 25, 2021 | Church, Daily Prayer, Gospel living

A Prayer about Being Kept and Blessed

Merciful Lord,

This Sabbath day, 

we thank you for the many ways 

you have blessed and kept us:

You have blessed us 

with faithful churches and ministers 

who preach the good news about Jesus.

You have kept us 

with your guiding and guarding Word 

and with wise friends 

who bring us good counsel.

You have made your face to shine 

your grace and saving love upon our hearts 

as surely as the spring sun warms our faces.

You have shone your glory over us 

and soothed us with your peace, 

making us whole again.

Now send us out as mirrors 

of your glory and grace, 

reflecting your love 

to all we meet this week, 

bringing your saving and keeping light and love

into a dark and gloomy world. 

In Jesus’ gracious name. 

Amen.

Read Numbers 6:22-27.

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A Prayer about Being Extraordinarily Ordinary

by | Apr 17, 2021 | Bible study, Daily Prayer, Gospel living

A Prayer about Being Extraordinarily Ordinary

Father,

What an amazing true story!

The leaders of the council were angry 

because Peter and John had healed a man. 

They told them to not “speak to anyone in Jesus’ name again” (Acts 4:17). 

But Peter and John boldly refused, 

“Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? 

We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19-20). 

In the end, the leaders let them go 

because they were afraid of starting a riot if they punished them (Acts 4:21-22).

May we become extraordinarily ordinary people: 

May we be bold as Peter and John,

May we be ordinary people 

who, though we have no special seminary training, 

are recognized as extraordinary 

for one reason only—because we have been with Jesus. 

In Jesus’ risen name. Amen. 

Read Acts 4:1-22.

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A Prayer about Peace When We’re Afraid

by | Apr 15, 2021 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living

A Prayer about Peace When We’re Afraid

Risen Lord,

Thank you for the details you give us in Scripture.

Today, or this week, we’ve probably all been afraid of something—

letting someone down, getting a scary diagnosis, not getting a job soon…

[Ask the Lord to show you if there’s anything you’ve been afraid of this week….]

The disciples were gathered behind locked doors, 

afraid that the Jewish leaders 

might come after them next. 

And suddenly you appeared in their midst

 and spoke four simple but life-changing words:

“Peace be with you” (John 20:19). 

Locked doors can’t keep you away from us. 

Neither can our sin, guilt, or fear.

You love us. You died for us. 

You freed us—from sin, from guilt, from fear. 

You were raised to new life 

so that we might have peace with you. 

Help us to breathe deeply of your everlasting peace 

today and every day.

In your resurrected name. Amen. 

Read John 20:19-23.

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5 Ways to Keep Living the Resurrection

by | Apr 13, 2021 | Easter, Gospel living, Weekly Gospel Meditation

5 Ways to Keep Living the Resurrection

Is your resurrection wonder fading fast?

It is two weeks after Easter, and as always, Resurrection wonder is in danger of fading as fast as the pretty pastel eggs.

What do we do when the celebration of new life gets lost in the drudge of daily life? Remember the story!  As we look back at what the followers of Jesus did post-resurrection, we re-discover the joy of living the resurrection.

5 Ways to Keep Living the Resurrection

1. See the Lord and be glad!(John 20:19-20). Some might object, “But we can’t see Jesus the way the disciples could!”Jesus insists that with the Holy Spirit’s help, we can see him as well as the first disciples did. Read a book or passage of the Bible and remember the day you first understood it. Remember a story of how Jesus changed your life when all appeared lost.

2. Run to tell others (Matt 28:8). In 2014, the year after the Boston marathon bombing, the Boston Athletic Association, rather than decreasing the number of people allowed to run, increased the registration limit to 36,000—over 30,000 people entered to prove that “terror will not triumph.” We stake our lives on an even more astonishing message: Jesus rose from the dead. He defeated violence, sin, and death—the final enemy (Hebrews 2:14-15). We should walk, not run, to tell others this good news.

3. Risk to tell others (Luke 24:11)Will you risk mockery, apathy, or even pity for sharing this story of great news? The women ran back from the empty tomb to tell their own community, and those dense disciples thought their words were an “idle tale.” It is, admittedly, hard to believe this story, but we must tell it anyway!

4. Doubt and disbelieve; then stop disbelieving and believe (John 20:27). Poor “doubting Thomas,” who has been much maligned throughout history for demanding to see and touch Jesus’ scars before believing he had risen. How did Jesus respond to Thomas’s doubts? Simply, warmly. “Put your finger here…place your hand in my side.” “Do not disbelieve, but believe.” If you, like Thomas, feel the need to see the proof, persevere. And—look out—the Holy Spirit will sow belief into your heart. Do not disbelieve, but believe.

5. Feed his sheep (John 21:1-21). Reread Jesus’ loving encounter with Peter on that beach. Have you failed Jesus? (Yes.) Have you betrayed him? (Yes.) Are you sometimes a rotten friend like Peter? (Yes.) Then there’s good news! Jesus wants you to share the only story that will satiate the starved sheep of this world. This, as Romans 12:1 says, is our spiritual service of worship!

A Prayer for Living the Resurrection

Lord Jesus, We believe, help our dry, stale, unbelief. Help us to continue living in resurrection wonder, awed at the goodness of our God, awed at the kindness of the cross, awed at the gentleness of our Jesus. Thank you for feeding us your abundant grace; empower us to feed others with this good news. In Jesus’ resurrected name! Amen.

Further Encouragement

1. Read John 20:19-20; John 21:1-21; Matthew 28:8; Luke 24:11.

2. Listen to “Power in the Blood”.

For Reflection

1. Which of these ways of living the resurrection resonates with you today? What ways do you see God calling you to continue living the resurrection?

Love and Sacrifice in Our Many-Splendored Kingdom

by | Feb 23, 2021 | Devotional, Gospel living, Weekly Gospel Meditation

Love and Sacrifice in Our Many-Splendored Kingdom

….and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,

And you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” Revelation 5:9-10

Dr. Irwyn Ince, in his beautiful book, The Beautiful Community: Unity and Diversity and the Church at Its Best, recalls the day he first learned that his skin color differentiated him. The ten-year-old New Yorker had traveled with his family to Disney World for the first time. He was playing in a hotel pool with another young boy. The boy asked Ince to use his float, and Ince readily agreed. But when Ince asked his new friend if he could borrow his float, the boy said flatly, “No. You’re colored.” Ince, who grew up in a multiethnic neighborhood and had not known his color could be a hindrance, told his Indian-American teacher about the incident. She replied simply, “Well he doesn’t know that he’s colored too. White is also a color.” (The Beautiful Community, 13).

The story demonstrates an essential truth sometimes forgotten by the white Euro-Christian culture: the many-splendored kingdom of God will be  multiethnic, multiracial, and multi-variegated. There is, in fact, no dominant culture status in our heavenly kingdom. In order to begin growing more fully into our identity as priests of this kingdom, many of us need to do two things: first, search our hearts in prayer to see if there be any “grievous way” in us (Psalm 139:23-24), and second, spend more time imagining this many-splendored kingdom.

Some of us may need to hear and heed Frederick Douglass’ piercing observation: “Between the Christianity of this land, and the Christianity of Christ, I recognize the widest possible difference.”.⁠1  For example, as a white American Christian, I need to ask, “Do I prefer my dominant culture status?” Probably. Do I prefer the comfort and familiarity of “my way”  of doing church? Probably. Am I willing to experience discomfort for the sake of the current minority, so that our community reflects the beautiful community in which we will one day dwell forever? I hope so. As I humble myself in confession, the Holy Spirit reshapes me, making me more suited to dwell in the many-splendored kingdom of priests.

In addition to praying and searching our hearts, we also need to immerse our imaginations in this kingdom of priests composed of colorful characters from every tribe, language, people, and nation. As we read Revelation 5:9-10 and Revelation 19:6-9, we imagine the multicolored priests of the kingdom heading to a kingdom feast. A coffee-colored New Delhi woman robed in a turquoise and silver sari strolls arm in arm with a pale Okinawan woman robed in a scarlet and gold kimono. A midnight-black Nigerian woman decked out in a tangerine-colored tie-dyed wrapper is escorted by a sun-browned Mexican vaquero sporting his best black cowboy boots. The kingdom feast features a lavish spread of the most delectable foods in the world—Turkish delight and fried turkey, seaweed salad and Salade Niçoise, peanut curry and collard greens, snowflake cake and apple strudel.

Dear friends, extraordinary wonders await us in the many-splendored kingdom. Let’s remember that we’ve already been recreated by Christ to be priests in this kingdom. And as we await the day when God’s kingdom will be fully consummated, let’s prepare for eternal life there by building beautiful communities made up of wildly diverse people with wildly diverse tastes. By God’s grace, may we taste of this kingdom delight today.

Prayer

Father, forgive us for the ways we seek comfort in our smaller stories of church and community. Open our eyes to see the beauty of your kingdom and prepare our hearts to worship in this many-splendored kingdom you are creating. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Further Encouragement

Read Revelation 5:8-10, 7:9, 11:9, 14:6; Ephesians 1:10.

Listen to “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing.”

 For Reflection

In what ways does your church and community reflect the many-splendored kingdom of God? In what ways could it grow in becoming more like this many-splendored kingdom?

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1 Quoted in “The Radical Christian Faith of Frederick Douglass,” D.H. Dilbeck,

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2018/january-february/frederick-douglass-at-200-remembering-his-radical-christian.html