Blog Archives
Can we be this Holy? In the face of our “enemies”?
Text of “Our Father” prayer with Trinity in central column (God the Father, dove of the Holy Spirit, Jesus) and Biblical and symbolic scenes in left and right columns. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional and Discussion Thought of the Day…
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your friends, hate your enemies.’ 44 But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may become the children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil. 46 Why should God reward you if you love only the people who love you? Even the tax collectors do that! 47 And if you speak only to your friends, have you done anything out of the ordinary? Even the pagans do that! 48 You must be perfect—just as your Father in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:43-48 (TEV)
Don’t say, “That person bothers me.” Think: “That person sanctifies me.” (1)
It still amazes me, how little we understand the power of the grace and forgiveness of Christ, how little we appreciate His desire to win the affection, the love of all those He loves. How willing God is to separate all of us from our sin, how much His will is that all would be transformed by the Holy Spirit.
And yet, to those we as our enemies, we are as vicious, we are cruel, we are as unforgiving as any one could ever be. The church has for too long… treated them as adversaries, mocked them, planned our strategic arguments. against them. the very ones we have to pray for, love, serve, and reach with the only thing that will give them hope.
This is our role in life, it is how we are to imitate Christ, who allowed His enemies to kill Him, that He might love and save them. What if He treated His enemies the way we treat ours? What if He gossiped and mock them behind their backs, rather than confronting the in love? What if He treated His enemies, His adversaries, US like that? We say we honor martyrs, we want to give ourselves for Jesus like they did… well are we ready to ask God to forgive our enemies their sin, even as Stephen did, even as the Lord’s prayer urges us to ask God to help with?
St. Josemaria makes an incredible point… that these very people that bother us, make us holy – because in order to treat them in the way that would bring God glory, we have to depend on God. We have to trust Him, we have to know He is with us, that the Holy Spirit will work through us to cut open their hearts – even as ours were. We can’t do it on our own, we have to love, we have to embrace them, and the pain they cause us, in order to love them in a way that will reach them.
Will we love them……. will we strive to see them forgiven and healed? Can we be that holy?
In Christ… as baptized believers, as those who would glorify God the Father…
yes…. for there is no other way…. to live, or to accomplish our task.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Location 534). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Related articles
- You must be a Theophilus (Loved/r of God before being a Theologian (justifiedandsinner.com)
- God is Watching over His People! (justifiedandsinner.com)
- If Faith=knowing Him, not just about Him…then Worship is… (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Do we have to have Mondays??? (justifiedandsinner.com)
Dare we pray…for mercy
Dove of the Holy Spirit (ca. 1660, alabaster, Throne of St. Peter, St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Discussion thought of the Day:
12 Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. Matthew 6:12 (MSG)
38 And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ 39 40 Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:38-40 (MSG)
In this life of ours we must expect the Cross. Those who do not expect the Cross are not Christians, and they will be unable to avoid their own “cross”, which will drive them to despair. (1)
If the atrocities that happened in Dr. Gosnell’s clinic sickened you, this blog may be difficult to read. Please know that even a I type these words, I am praying specifically for those who will struggle with this.
I think we, as the church, must pray for this man, we must cry out to God that God would bring Dr. Gosnell to repentance, to the very transformation that leads to life. I say this neither lightly, nor ignoring the horrors that occurred at his direction, at his hands. I as much as any, struggle with the abortion issue, because of the circumstances of my birth. If I was born 8-10 years later, society would have approved – heck – would have recommended that I be aborted. Having now met my birth mother, I am pretty sure she still would not have…yet….
Obviously we need to pray for Dr. Gosnell’s sake that he finds the mercy that can only come through the Holy Spirit circumcising his heart, through the hardness being excised. It would be a miracle as mind-blowing as any I’ve seen or heard of in my life, a conversion far more incredible than that of Chuck Colson, and perhaps even Dahmer. We cannot let this man go forgotten, we have to realize that sharing the gospel with him, and praying that God would raise up the chaplain who will minister to him in prison, is essential.
But, as we are taught to pray, we need to do it for our sake as well. We can allow ourselves to be hardened and callous to this man, we cannot just demand justice, ignoring that he too, is a life. If we do, if we are merciless – then we have turned into the same kind of monster we perceive him to be.
As St. Josemaria tells us – we have to expect this cross, we have to expect to bear the cross of ministering to the greatest of sinners. We cannot avoid it.
For if we do we fail and despair. If we do, we will convince ourselves that there is a limit to God’s grace, a limit to His reach, a limit to His ability to grant someone repentance.
And eventually, that limit will find itself growing – leaving more and more in the position of being beyond grace. Until we find ourselves outside the limit of His grace.
If we determine Gosnell can’t be reached – if we decide his reconciliation is not something we will pray for, bearing that cross, we will start down a dangerous path.
Dahmer was saved, as were Paul, as was King David, as are we…
Let’s pray for Dr. Gosnell, and for those involved in the abortion industry, for the victims, for those convinced that it is “okay”, for those who work and advocate for it.
That they would come to know the grace found in the only begotten son of God.
May we find God’s mercy to pray for them, to pray for Him.
Let us pray….
LORD HAVE MERCY!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 2748-2750). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Related articles
- FB Behavior and the Theology of the Cross… (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Do they know of your trust in God from your FB postings? (justifiedandsinner.com)
If Faith=knowing Him, not just about Him…then Worship is…
Lord’s prayer in Coptic language (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional THought of the day:
7 “When you pray, do not use a lot of meaningless words, as the pagans do, who think that their gods will hear them because their prayers are long. 8 Do not be like them. Your Father already knows what you need before you ask him. 9 This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven: May your holy name be honored; 10 may your Kingdom come; may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today the food we need. 12 Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us. 13 Do not bring us to hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One. For Yours is the Kingdom, and the Power and the Glory, Forever and Ever, AMEN! Matthew 6:13 (TEV)
It’s necessary to be convinced that God is always near us. Too often we live as though our Lord were somewhere far off—where the stars shine. We fail to realize that he is also by our side—always. For he is a loving Father. He loves each one of us more than all the mothers in the world can love their children, helping us and inspiring us, blessing … and forgiving. How often we’ve erased the frowns from our parents’ brows, telling them after some prank, “I won’t do it again!” Maybe that same day we fall again…. And our father, with feigned harshness in his voice and a serious face, reproves us, while at the same time his heart is softened because he knows our weakness: “Poor boy,” he thinks, “How hard he tries to behave well!” We have to be completely convinced, realizing it to the full, that our Lord, who is close to us and in Heaven, is a Father, and very much our Father. (1)
At the end of the Lord’s Prayer, there is what is called a Doxology, a time of praise and worship. Some translations leave it out – citing that it doesn’t appear in some manuscripts. Some do, taking the opposite approach that it appears in most. I don’t bother with those explanations… all that much.
It belongs there… IMHO… for it is the reaction of what happens when someone can let God be God, when they realize He is by their side, as St Josemaria says, ALWAYS. When we realize how loving He is, how merciful, how close to us, and our Father.
There are a few acronymns that would replace this prayer, this outline of prayer. ACTS is one, ITCP is another. They have been used for a while, but I think they rely too much on our intellect and strength. THey have us start where we should end – with adoration, with hearing how we are to live. They don’t start with the relationship, the prodigal finding himself in the Father’s arms, the mom begging Jesus to heal her daughter, Peter… downcast and distraught, realizing his betrayal.
I think we need to start where Jesus taught us to. To pour out to God our despair, our brokenness, trusting that He is our Father, and as we pour out that brokenness, as He lifts the anxiety, the guilt, the pain from our hearts, as He assures us of our protection and His love. It is then, as He lifts us up, as He calms us, as He reminds us of His love and peace… and His presence…
Then praise, and oh the praise.
I’ve often said we confuse the word translated as “believe/faith” with the gathering and storing of knowledge of God. It isn’t. It is trusting Him, finding ourselves in a relationship where we can depend,on God, and growing to the point where we turn to Him first, rather than trying to do this all on our own. Praise and Worship isn’t about what we do – it is the reaction to what He has done. It isn’t about being perfect enough in our performance, it is, having abandoned ourselves, living in Him, delighting in His presence, realizing we have been revived and healed and restored by Him, and living the life He has given us.
We have been delivered into God’s presence, and He has told us, He is our Father – the incredible picture that St Josemaria paints of the our Father, the one who patiently works with us, correcting us, encouraging and empowering us, who simply wants to walk by our side through life. Prayer is that conversation, that walk – that dance, as we together with God – enjoy His glory, enjoy His creation, and find ourselves led in this incredible dance of joy….
May you realize this day…how close you are to Our Father…
(1)Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 706-713). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Related articles
- Is Teaching People That They Must Go to Church Right? (justifiedandsinner.com)
- I Have Decided, to Follow Jesus! (Controversy? Not so much…) (justifiedandsinner.com)
