Give each other a 'lift'

Prayer of Jerome (342)

Lord, thou hast given us thy Word for a light to shine upon our path;
grant us so to meditate on that Word, and to follow its teaching,
that we may find in it the light that shines more and more until the perfect day;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalms
Chapter 113

1

Hallelujah! ¹ Praise, you servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD.

2

Blessed be the name of the LORD both now and forever.

3

From the rising of the sun to its setting let the name of the LORD be praised.

4

High above all nations is the LORD; above the heavens God's glory.

5

Who is like the LORD, our God enthroned on high,

6

looking down on heaven and earth?

7

The LORD raises the needy from the dust, lifts the poor from the ash heap,

8

Seats them with princes, the princes of the people,

Acts
Chapter 1

15

During those days Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers (there was a group of about one hundred and twenty persons in the one place). He said,

16

"My brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled which the holy Spirit spoke beforehand through the mouth of David, concerning Judas, who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus.

17

He was numbered among us and was allotted a share in this ministry.

20

For it is written in the Book of Psalms: 'Let his encampment become desolate, and may no one dwell in it.' And: 'May another take his office.'

21

Therefore, it is necessary that one of the men who accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus came and went among us,

22

beginning from the baptism of John until the day on which he was taken up from us, become with us a witness to his resurrection."

23

So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias.

24

Then they prayed, "You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen

25

to take the place in this apostolic ministry from which Judas turned away to go to his own place."

26

¹ Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was counted with the eleven apostles.

John
Chapter 15

9

As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.

10

If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love.

11

"I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

12

This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.

13

¹ No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.

14

You are my friends if you do what I command you.

15

I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, ² because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.

16

It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.

17

This I command you: love one another.

 Reflection:

All our being is in the hands of God.  “From the rising of the sun, till its setting” and the whole night as well.  Whether He is acknowledged or not, he is at the forefront of all we do.   We often think of those that are called in a special service (pastor, missionary, theologian) in the kingdom of God as being the set apart ones, but the truth is, each one of us has been called by God.  Consider how much the Father loves the Son – Jesus says that as deeply as God loves Him, so He (Christ) loves us. It fully demonstrated in that Christ laid down His own life for us.  His call to us is that we would love one another in the same way.  “You are my friends if you do what I command” – and this is the command: “Love one another”.  This is a love that is founded in the Glory of God.  Our Psalm reading stated:

 “The LORD raises the needy from the dust, lifts the poor from the ash heap, Seats them with princes, the princes of the people”.

Now when we look at each other, we might not see each other as the “needy from the dust, or the poor from the ash heap” – But the Psalmist is pointing out, that God who is all powerful and the Lord of Creation itself enters into the lives of His people in grace, mercy and compassion.  When he enters that relationship the rest of that encounter with him is that he ‘raises’ the person up – takes them from a low place and leaves them in a high place.

Likewise, our encounters with each other - when I engage you do I raise you up to a higher place – do you feel lifted, stronger, encouraged? Or, do I knock you down so that you feel like you’re in the dust and just been dumped into a burning ash heap?  This is part of the command of Love that Jesus gives us “As the Father loves me, so I you…”

By which ever manner we have come to be in this place working together … you have been “allocated to share in this ministry”.   It may not have fallen to you by the casting of lots, as with Mattias, but never the less, you have been chosen – how do you know? Well, for starters, you are here. We don’t know a lot about Mattias, other than he was one of the people that had been following the disciples from the time of the baptism of Christ. He “had accompanied Christ the whole time”.   We know nothing about him from before – or after, other than he was faithful person who was trusted enough to have his name forwarded as a replacement apostle, - his primary claim to fame is “the guy who replaced Judas” – that’s some shoes to follow.  Christian tradition reports that he faithfully and consistently preaches and advanced the gospel to his death. 

Our call is in the task that we have before us, whatever it might be, is to do our ministry  in a way that “accompanies Christ the whole time”.   Let us too seek to remain in Christ’s love in all we do.  In our conversations together, in the work that he has called to be in our hands let us be part of raising one another up.  

May those we encounter, whether by phone or in meetings, or support, or work with,  be lifted to a higher place because of their encounter with us- because Christ himself loves us with an unfailing love.

This command I give to you “That you love one another”.

  A Prayer of St. Clements

You, Lord, through your works have revealed the everlasting structure of the world. You, Lord, created the earth. You are faithful throughout all generations, righteous in your judgments, marvelous in strength and majesty, wise in creating and prudent in establishing what exists, good in all that is observed and faithful to those who trust in you, merciful and compassionate; forgive us our sins and our injustices, our transgressions and our shortcomings.

Do not take into account every sin of your servants, but cleanse us with the cleansing of your truth, and "direct our steps to walk in holiness and righteousness and purity of heart," and "to do what is good and pleasing in your sight" and in the sight of our rulers. Yes, Lord, "let your face shine upon us" in peace "for our good," that we may be sheltered "by your mighty hand" and delivered from every sin "by your uplifted arm"; deliver us as well from those who hate us unjustly.

Give harmony and peace to us and to all who dwell on the earth, just as you did to our fathers when they reverently "called upon you in faith and trust," that we may be saved, while we render obedience to your almighty and most excellent name, and give harmony and peace to our rulers and governors on earth.  Amen. 

Anyway, I was just thinking

Neil  

Where is your brother?

This week I am writing about ways that we can be more aware of God’s presence with us in our daily lives. One of the ways that I have found useful is to let God ask me certain questions when I am in prayer. In the last blog I wrote about letting God ask us “Where are you?” as he asked Adam in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3:8-9. God does not ask questions because he lacks information. He asks them because he wants us to think about the answer. In the very next chapter God asks someone else a question (actually he asks a few).

Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let's go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
“I don't know,” he replied. “Am I my brother's keeper?”
Genesis 4:8-9

There is a woman who works at the corporate office named Amy. She is the receptionist, so many of you have probably seen her or spoken to her on the phone. I didn’t meet Amy until she came to work in the office but as I was getting to know her it turns out that we had some common friends. She knew my friends Josh and Laura because they were from the same town. Now that the connection has been made every time I see Josh and Laura they ask “How is Amy?” Nothing ground breaking about that. I am sure most people have common friends from different contexts.

“Where is your brother?” God already knows about the murder. He wants Cain to answer. Just like Amy and I have common friends, every person we encounter is a common friend of God. They are dearly loved by God. Whether the people we encounter in our day know it or not, God loves them. Imagine if every time you entered into prayer God asked you questions like; “Hey, talked to your Mom since we last spoke. How is she?” or “At work today you saw Tim? How is he doing?” It would probably make us very aware of how we have treated those we encountered. It would also likely prompt us to pray for those we know who are in bad situations. It would make us look back and ask ourselves; did we build them up or rip them down?

A great way to do this is to do a prayer of reflection. Simply start to think backwards through your day to the last time you prayed. It is easier to do this starting from where you are and thinking backwards rather than starting from when you woke up and going forwards. Pray over your day. Think about the conversations you had, the encounters, the moments you were aware of God’s presence and the moments you wish you had been. Lift up the prayer requests of those you spoke with. Ask for forgiveness for things you shouldn’t have done or said. Let God ask you “Where are you?” and “Where is your brother?”

Reflective prayers take some practice but it is a great habit to get into. When I am in the habit of doing it I find I am much more aware that God is with me throughout the day. Lately I have been letting God ask me where I am and where my brothers and sisters are each time I pray. I find this a good way to try to “pray without ceasing”.

I also find that concentrating on these two questions gets to the heart of the “greatest commandments”.

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
Mathew 22:36-39

Mark Wallace

Where are you?

As a member of the Pastoral Ministries team I often get asked to open in prayer at various meetings I attend. I guess it is just a part of my job description. Of course I don’t mind doing it. Sometimes though when I am asked to pray in public like that I get a feeling that reminds me of when my wife and I were dating. For a while we had a “long distance relationship”. During that time we would go stretches without seeing each other. Sometimes when we finally were able to be in the same room there were a lot of family or friends around so that we could not really talk about some of the things we wanted to. Whether it was tension between us about something, or a great moment we wanted to share, it would have to wait. It was sometimes odd to have the typical light conversations in a group when we wanted to go sit in the corner and talk about what was really on our minds. That is the way I sometimes feel when I begin to pray in public. There is sometimes something I haven’t spoken to the Lord privately about (sometimes good, sometimes bad) and speaking to Him in public brings it to the forefront of my mind. Of course the difference between public prayer and a long distance relationships that God is always available for me to speak to. I just haven’t done it.

In the blog this week I am writing about ways to be more conscious of God’s presence in our minute to minute lives. One way I have been trying lately is to let God ask me two questions whenever I pray. The first question is a question that God asks in Genesis chapter 3.

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" Genesis 3:8-9 (NIV)

“Where are you?” I always take special note in the Bible whenever God asks a question. God obviously knows where they are so why does He ask? He asks because He wants Adam to answer. This question gets to the heart of that feeling when I pray in public. Where am I and where have I been since I was last aware of His presence? I don’t only ask this in a convicting way. I am glad to say it is not always with shame that I think of what I have been doing. Often it is me remembering difficulties that I have gone through that God has resolved without my asking. Other times it may remind me of a situation I am going through that I need to pray about. I have found though that the more I begin my prayers with that question, the more I am aware that God is with me in-between. I have always struggled with how I can “pray without ceasing” but I have found that this helps.

Mark Wallace

God is with us.

About a year ago my daughter Eliana, went through a phase where she didn’t want to use a spoon or fork to eat her food. Being two and a half at the time she found it much easier to use her fingers to eat. My wife and I were constantly reminding her to use her utensils. Each meal was like a battle. During one supper while my wife was up from the table my daughter turned to me and said, “Don’t look at me daddy.” I thought this was strange so I turned my head away but I could still see her in my peripheral vision. She slowly reached her hand (with no spoon in it) towards her plate. I turned my head back towards her. She pulled her hand back and said “Don’t look at me Daddy”. I turned my head away again and her hand extended and grabbed some food. I turned back to her and said “Use your spoon Eli.” She answered, “I told you not to look at me daddy!” In her mind it was I who had done the wrong by watching her break the rule. She had thought that it isn’t really wrong if they don’t see me, and it is very inconvenient that they are always watching. I think this is sometimes how I view God.

The flip side of this is that my daughter, being a preschooler, gets frustrated very easily over simple things. (Putting on her shoes for example.) When she has difficulty her response is generally to fall on the floor crying as if she is totally defeated. Oftentimes my wife or I will be right beside her during these times. We will usually say something like, “What is wrong. Use your words. If you are having trouble I am right here, just ask me for help.” We find it very frustrating that she just flies of the handle while we are right there willing and able to help her. I think this is sometimes how I treat God.

God is always with us. He always sees us. Usually we would think of this in the negative way. It makes us feel guilty that he has seen us sinning. If we were more aware of his presence perhaps we wouldn’t sin so much. The other situation is also true though. When a little problem (that doesn’t seem little to us at the time) comes up we forget that a loving all-powerful being is with us and wants us to ask for his help.

I started to think about this again recently because I was asked to preach at my home church about faith in the workplace. It was a hard topic for me to address because I felt odd as a person who works in a Christian workplace addressing a group that mostly works in a secular environment. The best thing I thought I could offer them is that God is always there. In fact I had a cynical thought: The main difference is that most people work with people who do not believe that their all powerful maker is with them and I and my Christian co-workers often act as if our all powerful maker isn’t with us.

So how do we change this? How can we be more aware that God is with us every moment of every day? How can we have that knowledge to keep us from doing the things we are ashamed of him seeing as well as be comforted by his presence and seek his aid rather than letting things drive us to despair?

For the sake of blog length I will have to leave most of my answers to these questions to the next few blogs, but rather than raise a problem and offer no solution I will give you some practices that I or others I know have found useful. One way that God’s children have used as a reminder of God’s presence is fasting and as a call to prayer. Fasting gives us that tangible ache that reminds us to focus on God. (For more on fasting you may want to read this blog: http://chdevotions.blogspot.com/2008/02/lent.html ). Another way is to have a “touch piece”, something you carry with you (a small cross in your pocket, a WWJD bracelet) that every time you touch or see reminds you that God is with you. One last idea that I heard from a preacher (I think it was Bruxy Cavey, the teaching pastor at the Meeting House) is to set your watch to go off at strange intervals (i.e. Every 23 min) and every time it beeps simply take a few seconds to realize that God is with you.

Those are just some suggestions. Over the next two blogs I will write about some tips for our prayer lives that can make us more aware during our days that the Lord is always with us.

Mark Wallace