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The Forgotten Furnace Prayer….Is One We Need to Guide our Worship/Liturgy!
Devotional Thought fo the Day:
26 “Blessed are you, and praiseworthy, O Lord, the God of our ancestors, and glorious forever is your name. 27 For you are just in all you have done; all your deeds are faultless, all your ways right, and all your judgments proper. 28 You have executed proper judgments in all that you have brought upon us and upon Jerusalem, the holy city of our ancestors. By a proper judgment you have done all this because of our sins; 29 For we have sinned and transgressed by departing from you, and we have done every kind of evil. 30 Your commandments we have not heeded or observed, nor have we done as you ordered us for our good. NABRE Daniel 3:26-30
481 Take a good look at the way you behave. You will see that you are full of faults that harm you and perhaps also those around you. Remember, my child, that microbes may be no less a menace than wild beasts. And you are cultivating those errors and those mistakes—just as bacteria are cultivated in a laboratory—with your lack of humility, with your lack of prayer, with your failure to fulfill your duty, with your lack of self-knowledge… Those tiny germs then spread everywhere. (1)
Perhaps I had read the Bible passage in red as a child, as I grew up in the Catholic Church. I know I haven’t recently, for I usually use protestant (evangelical) translations of Scripture, which have a few differences in the Book of Daniel. The passage has been there, and Luther quotes it several times. I have to admit, as I read it – I came to love it, it resonated deeply and pointed me to Jesus.
I find it remarkable, as the three men are sitting in a furnace, and they are heating it up, that they pray in this way. Their prayer doesn’t start with calls for vengeance, or even a call for deliverance. They aren’t calling God to blast their enemies.
It starts with their confession – and the acknowledgment that God has every right to punish them for how they turned their backs on Him.
In the midst of their trauma, in the midst of being tortured and persecuted, the three men turn to God and admit they are guilty, and God has every right to punish them. They even recognize that the commandments are for their good, to guide them in life that is lived well and full.
They didn’t obey; their people didn’t obey.
They deserved God’s judgment, and they recognized it.
So they turned to God, confessed their sins and depended upon His character, His mercy, His love. Assured of His mercy, the second hymn will be a joyous song of praise – sung in the presence of the Son of God.
How we need this spirit to be replicated in us today. That when oppressed or persecuted, when struggling we recognize that we deserve much worse, (this is our confession) we are then encouraged to depend on the mercy of God to deliver us ( the sermon), and then have a celebration in the presence of the Son of God (isn’t this what communion really is?)
Rather than striking out at those we perceive to be our enemies. Rather than calling down God’s wrath upon them, rather than trying to justify ourselves, what if our first reaction was to pray that we be forgiven. What kind of joy would come from this? What sense of serenity found in Christ Jesus? To be rid of the germs our guilt and shame, and the beam that blocks the vision.
What an incredible prayer (I highly suggest reading the entire thing) What an incredible statement of dependence on God, and the effect of it on life.
May we learn to pray and worship this way…even in the midst of the fire…
Escriva, Josemaria. The Forge (Kindle Locations 1834-1838). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Lord, You Want Me To Preach on What?
Devotional Thought fo the Day:
7 You seduced me,* LORD, and I let myself be seduced; you were too strong for me, and you prevailed. All day long I am an object of laughter; everyone mocks me. 8 Whenever I speak, I must cry out, violence and outrage I proclaim; The word of the LORD has brought me reproach and derision all day long. 9 I say I will not mention him, I will no longer speak in his name. But then it is as if fire is burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones; I grow weary holding back, I cannot! Jeremiah 20:7-9 NAB-RE
If vocation comes first, if the star shines ahead to start us along the path of God’s love, it is illogical that we should begin to doubt if it chances to disappear from view. It might happen at certain moments in our interior life—and we are nearly always to blame—that the star disappears, just as it did to the wise kings on their journey. We have already realized the divine splendor of our vocation, and we are convinced about its definitive character, but perhaps the dust we stir up as we walk—our miseries—forms an opaque cloud that cuts off the light from above.
In the passage I am preaching on this week, there is what is called a gospel imperative. In other words, a command of God that only can be realized and heard within the fullness of the gospel. It has to be heard in a life of prayer, a life which realizes we stand on Holy ground.
“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good” Galatians 6:9
The first quote, from scripture above, is one of my ten favorite passages in scripture. It probably could be described as my life verse, at least it is one I experience a lot. For working in God’s kingdom is as wearing as building stone walls, or managing a university bookstore in the first weeks of class. It is worse, physically tiring, mentally exhausting and spiritually draining.
If a pastor neglects God, if he is too busy for time in prayer, if he is too busy for devotional time (as well as the business of studying scripture to preach and teach it) he will reach Jeremiah’s position quickly. We can reach the point that St Josemaria describes, where the dust we stir up in our journey distorts and even eclipses our view of Christ, our understanding of His love for us.
Of course, this isn’t just about pastors, for we are not the only ones who do good. It is true for every believer, for every perosn who trusts and depends on Christ. For that is what the faith is, need to cling to Christ (Jeremiah describes it as our being as clingy as underwear!) because He is our source of life, and of serenity and joy.
The answer to burnout, the answer to not seeing Christ is to know Him, to know the fire of the Holy Spirit that burns within us. TO depend on that rather than what we see and observe. It is what saints and mystics call the interior life, This is why St John of the Cross advises staying where we are at, making no dramatic change. We are to keep praying, to keep receiving the sacraments even when the storms of life blind us, when Satan assails us. We need to be patient and seek God, remembering that He is our refuge, our fortress, our sanctuary.
It is from this place that we can find His strength, where we find the dynamo that is the Holy Spirit indwelling in us. For dwelling in Christ we can keep on doing good, we can keep on loving the unlovable, we can be patient with those struggling, and guide them into the very presence of God.
For we know where He is… we know where Holy Ground is. We know where He has put His Name… fo we have met Him at the cross and been united to Him there.
AMEN!
Escriva, Josemaria. Christ is Passing By (Kindle Locations 1146-1151). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Prayer: The Required Grace…?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
11 Just as [under] shorts fit tightly around the waist, so I intended all the people of Israel and Judah to hold tightly to me. I did this so that they would be my people and would bring praise and honor to my name; but they would not obey me.” Jeremiah 13:11 (TEV)
To pray, as the Second Commandment teaches, is to call upon God in every need. This God requires of us; he has not left it to our choice. It is our duty and obligation to pray if we want to be Christians, just as it is our duty and obligation to obey our fathers and mothers and the civil authorities. By invocation and prayer the name of God is glorified and used to good purpose. This you should note above all so that you may silence and repel any thoughts that would prevent or deter us from praying. (1)
For those familiar with Luther, and the Lutheran understanding of Law and Gospel, the words in blue may sound strange and confusing. This sounds like a harsh use of the law, something that would lead to condemnation, something that is so demanding that all it can lead to is guilt and shame.
For many do not pray as they should! It is overlooked, dismissed as activities that are based in pietism. And if these words were not in Luther’s Large catechism they would be dismissed. Instead, I think they are simply ignored.
There is a part of us, the part that doubts God is listening, that doubt God cares, that finds prayer, whether prayers laying burdens down or hearing from God as we listening in prayer, as we meditate on His word, as burdensome and boring. We see them as something that saints might do, but by no means required beyond the prayers that are read at church.
Luther realized the necessity (so did Melanchthon – see his comments in Article XIII of the Apology of the Augsburg Confession! ) of prayer. But that necessity isn’t borne just of pleasing God. God didn’t commission us to use His name just so He would be glorified. The glory comes when we respond to His hearing, to His answering the prayer. Praise issues from our lips when we realize the comfort and peace the world cannot give, the comfort and peace that is possible only as we realize the merciful serenity that can be experienced in the presence of almighty God.
It is the answer to the cry of our heart that brings us to worship. This is why prayer is a requirement – because we need this means of grace, we desperately need what it delivers.
It is serendipitous (always wanted to use that word) that on the day I encounter Luther’s words, I encounter the words of the prophet Jeremiah. For indeed God wants us to know how close to us He is, how close to Him we are! This is the life of prayer – to cling to God like we are his underwear, as bizarre as that metaphor sounds! (and oh the comments that could be made…)
We need to be that close, we have to, in order to survive mentally, spiritually, even physically. For our life begins to spiral out of control as we separate ourselves from our Lord who is our life. We replace knowing God with knowing about Him, then we replace that knowledge with our own speculation and desires, as we make an idol in our image.
Cling to God, stalk Him, be persistent, wrestle with Him.
For He is our God, our Father.
And a great place to begin is with this little prayer of St Josemaria…..
383 Dear Jesus, I do want to correspond to your Love, but I am so feeble. With your grace, I will know how to! (2)
AMEN!
(1) Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 421). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.
(2) Escriva, Josemaria. The Forge (Kindle Locations 1501-1503). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
A Very Needed Lesson in Church Leadership..
Discussion Thought of the Day:
12 After Jesus had washed their feet, he put his outer garment back on and returned to his place at the table. “Do you understand what I have just done to you?” he asked. 13 “You call me Teacher and Lord, and it is right that you do so, because that is what I am. 14 I, your Lord and Teacher, have just washed your feet. You, then, should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set an example for you, so that you will do just what I have done for you. 16 I am telling you the truth: no slaves are greater than their master, and no messengers are greater than the one who sent them. 17 Now that you know this truth, how happy you will be if you put it into practice! John 13:12-17 (TEV)
12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?” 13 Jesus replied, “Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted, 14 so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.” 15 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Explain to us the parable that says people aren’t defiled by what they eat.” 16 “Don’t you understand yet?” Jesus asked. 17 “Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer. 18 But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you. 19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. 20 These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.”
Matthew 15:12-20 (NLT)
“Today how can anyone deny the fact that some men of the church are in a state of moral ruin? The careerism and the temptation to worldliness that the successor of which Peter speaks so often are very real evils. Some people imagine that they are products of the pope’s imagination. Alas , clerical narcissism is not just a literary theme. The sickness can be deep-seated.
In order to turn the tide, we must first reform our interior life. The church depends on the purity of our souls.” (1)
The quote in blue comes from a book, basically an enhanced interview with a Roman Catholic Cardinal from Africa. His story is a remarkable blend of suffering and hope, of wisdom born from times of real persecution, and a desire to see Christ. This is the story of a man who came from a village in the middle of nowhere, became a priest and bishop in a place where his predecessors were jailed and murdered. His dependence on God was tried in a way we can’t quite imagine, here safe and comfortable in the USA.
His critique of leadership in his church is accurate, and perhaps even more accurate in the Protestant church, and in my comparatively little corner of the church universal known as the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. His presentation of where hope is found? It is also I believe accurate.
If the church is spoken of as being immoral, most would assume we are talking about either sexual immorality or fiscal impropriety. I am not naive enough to deny that exists, but the Cardinal speaks of something just as devastating. A sense of careerism, and a sense of clerical narcissism pervades the church today.
We see the results in the church, as parishes are closing, and others in steep decline. Where men are not entering programs that lead to ordination. Some will blame these things on finances, others on the decline of births among sections of the population. Some will say the decline is because they don’t appear to have the right sense of mission, or the appearance of the church, how it looks and sounds is not up to an ideal.
This is a sickness, and it is not imaginary. These attempts to fix it are attempts to clean up the appearance, to clean up the exterior, while the defiled nature is left intact. That is why a pastor or priest can easily fall into the sin of careerism, can quickly abandon the basin and towel and find the office and title, far away from the parish so appealing. (though we might on occasion return to give somone else a break)
So where is the hope? Cardinal Sarah pointed out these challenges given St Francis of Assisi and Pope Francis, and their focus on the interior life. To realize that the church does depend on the purity of souls. Not pure by their own work, but by a interior life that is simply depending on Christ Jesus.
There in meditating on His work as we are united to Him in Baptism,; it begins the cleaning fo the inside. There as we kneel and are given the body and blood in the Eucharist, we find ourselves being cleansed still. There as we deal with our brokenness and confess it, as we hear God absolving us, we find that the old nature has been nailed to the cross. That the old Adam was drowned in those baptismal waters, that we are free and able to die to self, to give our bodies over as living sacrifices.
This is where the church finds it hope. Not in men who are pure by the sweat of their own brow, but by men who are broken, yet, who find themselves at the cross. Who are drawn to Jesus who is lifted up, and find themselves being healed, who realize that healing is needed by those around them. The purity found in walking with Christ, in meditating on that which He has promised and accomplished.
The interior life is not something of our own making or sustained by our internal strength. It is the work of poiema found in Eph. 210, the work of art created in our lives by Christ. That is where the church finds its hope, for in shepherds who are so broken, who are the chief of sinners, if in them we see God at work, then the church has hope. As in their own healing they begin to wash others feet, as in their healing they bring healing to others the hope is magnified. The church then hears hope, It comes to know and share that hope with those who are around them.
Our church needs to be defibrillated, but that can only happen as hearts stone hearts are broken and removed, and hearts of flesh, filled with the Holy Sprit as God promised He would.
It is knowing the promise of God, the love and mercy we find as Christ is revealed, and depending on it, that we will find the hope for the church. May its shepherds learn to cry out what they teach others to.cry out. LORD HAVE MERCY!
(1) God or Nothing Robert Cardinal Sarah, Ignatius Press 2015 pg.100
Socrates and the Paradox of Spiritual Maturity
Devotional thought of the day:
25 Brothers, pray for us! 1 Thessalonians 5:25 (ESV)
318 Place yourself before the Lord each day and tell him slowly and in all earnestness, like the man in the Gospel who was in such great need, Domine, ut videam! —Lord, that I may see!; that I may see what you expect from me, and struggle to be faithful to you.
An oracle once identified the smartest man of his time, the philosopher Socrates. When asked about this Socrates thought and said the statement is not based on how much Socrates knew, but that Socrates realized how much he didn’t know.
Spiritual maturity is like that, the more mature we become, the more we need to pray, the more we need others to pray for us.
I think society has become confused as to what maturity is, about what it looks like. I think the problem has to do when we consider independence a necessary part of maturity. It is as if we measure maturity based on how much we can do for ourselves. That is because our ability to be independent parallels our physical and emotional growth, but that doesn’t mean being independent is an aspect of maturity, or for that matter is good.
I would tie interdependence to physical and even emotional maturity before I would think about independence.Being part of a community, being a part of family, being married, these things require interdependence. Maturity can require a giving up of self. A sense of sacrifice, a sense of commitment.
If that is true in regards to physical maturity, I would suggest that it is even more true in regards to spiritual maturity. That we don’t become independent of God, but that we see our life more connected to Him, as well we become more connected to the family of God!
Like Socrates view of his intelligence, a spiritually mature person will run to God in prayer, will not hesitate to ask others to pray for them.
That is the paradox, you become spiritually mature by becoming more dependent on God, more aware of His work in your life, more content and at peace, knowing the Spirit is here, and that this life is not all there is, there is something far more… The more spiritually mature we are, the more we end up appreciating the sacraments, the time where God’s grace is showered upon us. Likewise our time in meditation on God’s love, that marks as us His in baptism, and our time laying in His hands all our burdens, all the things that cause anxiety.
It’s not easy though, to take such time. Hence, the request for pray, even as Paul did. Please pray for me! And for all who minister to others.
Lord help us all to take the time, to know and to ponder this basic truth.
There is God, and we are His.
Knowing that, may we cry out for the mercy that will enable us to see you! AMEN!
Escriva, Josemaria. The Forge (Kindle Locations 1273-1276). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Do I Need to…. go to church, pray, confess my sins…etc
Devotional Thought of the Day:
41 Many of them believed his message and were baptized, and about three thousand people were added to the group that day. 42 They spent their time in learning from the apostles, taking part in the fellowship, and sharing in the fellowship meals and the prayers. 43 Many miracles and wonders were being done through the apostles, and everyone was filled with awe. 44 All the believers continued together in close fellowship and shared their belongings with one another. 45 They would sell their property and possessions, and distribute the money among all, according to what each one needed. 46 Day after day they met as a group in the Temple, and they had their meals together in their homes, eating with glad and humble hearts, 47 praising God, and enjoying the good will of all the people. And every day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved.
Acts 2:41-47 (TEV)
16 Ultimately, if we should list as sacraments all the things that have God’s command and a promise added to them, then why not prayer, which can most truly be called a sacrament? It has both the command of God and many promises. If it were placed among the sacraments and thus given, so to speak, a more exalted position, this would move men to pray. (1)
“Thy kingdom come.”
7 What does this mean?
Answer: To be sure, the kingdom of God comes of itself, without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may also come to us.
8 How is this done?
Answer: When the heavenly Father gives us his Holy Spirit so that by his grace we may believe his holy Word and live a godly life, both here in time and hereafter forever. (2)
Lord, since eternity is Thine, art Thou ignorant of what I say to Thee? or dost Thou see in time, what passeth in time? Why then do I lay in order before Thee so many relations? Not, of a truth, that Thou mightest learn them through me, but to stir up mine own and my readers’ devotions towards Thee, that we may all say, Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised. I have said already; and again will say, for love of Thy love do I this. For we pray also, and yet Truth hath said, Your Father knoweth what you have need of, before you ask. It is then our affections which we lay open unto Thee, confessing our own miseries, and Thy mercies upon us, that Thou mayest free us wholly, since Thou hast begun, that we may cease to be wretched in ourselves, and be blessed in Thee; seeing Thou hast called us (3)
The question is asked less of me now than in was in the 80’s or 90’s, and I am not sure whether that is a good thing or as I fear a bad thing.
In the 90’s I heard it more from college students and young couples, perhaps because their children asked it, “do I have to go church?”, “why do I havvvveee to gooo to chhhhhurch?” Or the “can’t I just worship God in the forest, or at the beach, or playing my music?”
Somewhere along the line I think the answer was changed from the real “why” to simply, “you have to”, and as we often do, we find excuses. The same of course goes for prayer, or for confessing our sins, or reading the scriptures. Even for pastors. Ask yours what he was reading this week, that wasn’t done for preparing for church or a Bible Study. (If you don’t want to embarrass them I have a friend named Rich that would be more than willing to!
Some say that we go to church/pray/commune/confess for God’s sake – that we go to serve. That is a crappy reason! It’s been seen as a crappy answer for a long time! It has a partner in crime, the reason that says we go to be served! (since it is all about us you know!) I would use a more guttural term for that one.
We don’t go to church so that someone “gets something” or is benefitted, Neither do we pray or study the scripture for its benefit. When we use them, we set ourselves up to fail, for often, if we get anything out of church, it is subtle, and takes a while to process and see the effects of going? We see ourselves struggling with the same thing, fighting the same anxieties. And who really believes that God is somehow “helped” by our presence, as if church wouldn’t be as glorious without our presence?
So then why do we go?
If it’s not because we HAVE to?
If it’s not because we benefit?
If it doesn’t benefit God?
It is because church, like prayer and communion is about the encounter. Any benefit is secondary to that encounter. God and His people, those being reconciled and healed, coming together as one body. It is that encounter that is life, it is, in every sense, a foretaste of our eternal life WITH God, and the angels, archangels, and all the community of heaven. That’s why the early church met, not just on Sunday and for a special few on Wednesday nights, but daily in the temple. They prayed together, they ate together, the worshiped and celebrated the Eucharist, and in doing so, encountered God and they encountered His people, even as they were being added daily….
That is why the sermon isn’t the best point, the gathering that begins in the passing of the peace, and flows through communion is. That is where we come face to face with the God who draws us to Himself. Note, I said draws US. Not the individual, not you and I. He draws US, and gives us a serenity that allows us to drop everything as we encounter God, and His people.
It is this encounter we need, it is this moment that transcends everything, God, and man, this is the life.
This is why… this encounter… this being with God.
This is what it means to be His church, the one’s whom the Father calls, by lifting Christ high, and drawing us to Him.
AMEN!
(1) Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 346). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press. Article XIII of the Apology of the Augsburg Confession
(2) Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 213). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press. The Small Catechism -: Article III
(3) Augustine, S., Bishop of Hippo. (1996). The Confessions of St. Augustine. (E. B. Pusey, Trans.). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
Will You Dare Pray this with Me?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
Who will set a guard over my mouth, an effective seal on my lips, That I may not fail through them, and my tongue may not destroy me?e Lord, Father and Master of my life, do not abandon me to their designs, do not let me fall because of them!
2 Who will apply the lash to my thoughts, and to my mind the rod of discipline, That my failings may not be spared or the sins of my heart overlooked? 3 Otherwise my failings may increase, and my sins be multiplied; and I fall before my adversaries, and my enemy rejoice over me?
4 Lord, Father and God of my life, do not give me haughty eyes; 5 remove evil desire from my heart. 6 Let neither gluttony nor lust overcome me; do not give me up to shameless desires. Sirach 22:27- 23:6 NAB-RE
11 *Give us today our daily bread; 12 and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;
13 and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one. Matthew 6:11-13 NAB-RE.
309 Doubts assail you, temptations, with that gloss of elegance about them. I love to hear you say how this shows that the devil considers you his enemy, and that God’s grace will never leave you unprotected. Keep up the struggle!
As I am working through the book of Sirach, I am amazed at the prayer life on display, and the hope of repentance he depended upon God granting him.. The prayer in the first quote above is an example. It is a prayer that would answer James’ discourse on the tongue, and Paul’s plea for a rescuee from this body of death in Romans. It is the plea for the fruit of the Spirit to develop in our hearts and minds.And it echoes the prayer Christ has taught us, in asking God to help us avoid temptation, to be delivered from the evil one, and that hard challenge of not striking back against those who’ve sinned us again, but forgiving them.
We would all say that we long for such a Christlikeness to be developed in our lives. I think that most of us would eagerly respond to that call, and the desire to live life walking with Jesus, and imitating Him.
But will we invite God to make it happen? Will we let Him set a guard over our mouths, will we let him discipline our tongue, mind, heart, eyes and desires? Will we accept His chastening and rebuking, recognizing it as His love? Will we make such a prayer our own, knowing the result of God’s law, the work of the Holy Spirit that we call sanctification?
Letting the Holy Spirit put to death the deeds of our body will not be easy, I cannot promise it will be painless. (Romans 8:13) Matter of fact, I am sure it will hurt, as war wages over our soul, and our sin which was nailed to the cross tries to keep us ensnared. (Hebrews 1:1-3)
But our hope is found in looking to Christ, in trusting the Holy Spirit to work within us, to comfort us, to comfort and quiet our souls, and to help us understand the work of Christ, which is our promise of sharing in the glory of Christ.
So, join with me in prayer, and ask God to transform us, that we would reflect the light of Christ to others who need to be healed and freed. And know this, through it all, your Master is with you!!!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria. The Forge (Kindle Locations 1247-1250). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Will God, Really? or Does the Church need to be there?
Will God, Really?
1 Kings 8
† In Jesus Name †
May the grace and peace of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ strengthen your dependence upon Hi m and help you pray, knowing God is here.. for you dwell in His presence.
Is it good enough for…
Twenty-seven years ago, I was looking in display cases in a store in San Dimas, Ca. I had already spent a lot of time in other stores, trying to find the perfect ring to go on Kay’s hand, when we got married on July 1st.
Although I didn’t have a lot of money, that wasn’t the issue as much as finding a ring that would make her smile, that she would proudly wear and that she would show off, saying, look!
I found it, got out my life savings… (which was last week’s paycheck) and purchased the ring. I remember thinking, until the time I saw her smile, will she find it good enough? Will it be good enough!
I have to think my anxiety was nothing compared to what Solomon was going through as he dedicated the temple. Can you imagine the pressure, for the dream was not just his dream, but King David’s dreams, and the fulfillment of a promise that went all the way back to Egypt and Moses, and even before that 4 centuries to the time when God made a covenant promise to Abraham, having him look up into the sky, to see the number of his descendants.
All of the Israel was there, to dedicate a sanctuary, the temple, to be the place where God would dwell with man.
And as he looks out on the people of God, his nervousness causes him to ask a question.
But will God really live on earth? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built!
We could, no, we should ask the same question here today, for this place, as we stand in this place, where God has put His name.
How can Concordia contain the presence of God, who cannot even be contained?
The answer is found in why the Temple was dedicated as the house of God, and to see this place dedicated to the same purpose!
Why Solomon had Faith God Would hear.
It is amazing to me sometimes, when people take a question like Solomon’s and only read the question, assuming that God would not answer, or that because Solomon asked, it meant the issue would be in doubt. I’ve heard people say that churches and sanctuaries dedicated to being the place where God meets people are no different than a forest, or a beach. Because God is everywhere, and therefore, any place is as good as another.
But Solomon doesn’t ask this in a rhetorical manner. He asks it because he knows the answer, the very character of God is to dwell with His people. He walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden, and was close enough to know Cain and talk to him. Enoch walked with Him, as did Noah, and of course Melchizedek, the prince of peace who would help Abraham know the prophecy about Jesus, the incredible Prince of Peace. He walked with Isaac and wrestled with Jacob. He met Moses, and dwell on Mount Sinai, and led His people as they struggled to be faithful in the wilderness.
And as Solomon mentions, God kept the promises made to David, Solomon’s father. That God always keeps the promises He binds himself to in covenant.
God always shows love to those He calls to be His own; that is why we are devoted to Him. It is because He doesn’t fail us.
And he doesn’t’ fail us because He dwells with us, not just because He is everywhere. He makes His home with us, in our midst, to care for us, love us, reconcile us to Himself
That we struggle to believe that is the nastiest side effect of sin, the belief that God won’t care about the people He created to be His own.
Which is why we put up buildings like this one, it is why Solomon built the temple; it is why Jesus cleared out the money changers and those who made a profit selling sacrifices in the temple.
Because these places where God has said, “My name is there”, where He urges us to call upon His name, is to be a place of peace, a refuge, a sanctuary.
Which is why we can pray here, which is why we feel at peace here at the rail, as God strengthens us, for He hears our cry, as He hears our Kyrie…our plea for His love and mercy.
Will God Really Hear my Prayer?
It took me a while to understand this passage, this prayer of Solomon. Because the very first thing he asks for is that God would hear all of the prayers prayed in the Temple – actually within the temple courtyards, and area 8 times the size of our Concordia property! A million people could easily fill the courts, and can you imagine how they would sound singing the Nunc Dimittis? How they praises would ring as they realized that God was welcoming them, drawing them into His presence!
What is so amazing, what needs to be realized is that when the people of God pray, the promise isn’t to give us the American Dream of Life, liberty, wealth, fame and the pursuit of happiness, the promise is to give us…
Mercy
Forgiveness,
Pardon,
To give us the loving comfort of realizing God doesn’t walk away from us, that He will cleanse us up, that he won’t bar us from heaven, but He will make us as clean and share His glory with us!
If we are devoted to Him, this only ensures a deeper devotion. A more single-hearted adoration of the God who comes and dwells among us. There is no great answered prayer than this,
You are my children, and I will love you and care for you, by the stripes Christ wore on His back, you are healed!
Will God Really Hear Theirs?
That is there in the prayer of the heathen that Solomon would have God really hear as well. We get distracted by the “grant whatever they ask”, in fact, I sometimes wonder if I can be a unbeliever for a day, get 400 or 500 prayers answered, and then believe again. ( We’ll talk about that in Bible Study!)
But they are to pray so that they can be in awe of God’s presence as well, so that can know and fear God, even as His people do. That is what Solomon prays for those who aren’t the people of God, who aren’t in the covenant, that are drawn to God by the work of the Holy Spirit.
That they would know Him, and come into this relationship, this wonderful relationship where God answers Solomon question with smoke so thick that they priests can’t do anything.
Smoke that testifies to His presence, just as the bread and wine, body and blood testify to the presence of Christ in this place.
Solomon asks, “will God really dwell on earth?”
God answers, “Be at peace, I am with you…” AMEN!
Has the Church Given Up?
Devotional Thought fo the Day:
20 Now may the God of peace— who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood— 21 may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen. Hebrews 13:20-21 (NLT)
8 In every church service I want the men to pray, men who are dedicated to God and can lift up their hands in prayer without anger or argument. 1 Timothy 2:8 (TEV)
372 If you persevere in your prayer, with “personal perseverance”, God Our Lord will give you all the means you need to be more effective and to spread his kingdom in the world. But you have to keep faithful: asking, asking, asking… Are you really behaving this way?
16 Ultimately, if we should list as sacraments all the things that have God’s command and a promise added to them, then why not prayer, which can most truly be called a sacrament? It has both the command of God and many promises. If it were placed among the sacraments and thus given, so to speak, a more exalted position, this would move men to pray
The first quote, from the book of Hebrews, is how we often end our service. It is a benediction, a blessing, but it is also a prayer. Interestingly enough, it is not a suggested to be used in most of the liturgies I have seen over the years, as I’ve researched liturgy and worship. There are others; the Aaronic Blessing is popular, so is one in a Trinitarian format, but not this one from Hebrews.
It popped into my mind, as I read St Josemaria’s words this morning, (the quote in green) And as I contemplated this blog, I started to think about prayer, especially prayer for God’s people to .. well be the people of God. To live life with Him in a way that brings God great joy.
I thought of the prayers that begin most of Paul’s letters and the prayers of Christ for the church. You see, this prayer/blessing of Hebrews does not stand alone. I also thought of a great book on Church Revitalization, and the author’s insistence on the prayer team, noting it is more importance than vision casting, or those who work the change. (I’ve seen that part often dropped as churches adapt the book to their own need)
Then I thought of the articles I read yesterday. Articles that talked about churches closing, and another about the dwindling numbers of seminarians, and church attendance. I thought of as well recent conversations with pastors, who talk of dry lives, and as well, struggle to see any benefit to prayer. Is there a correlation between our lack of prayer, and our observation of a church that is weak, sick, and even dying and our lack of persistent prayer? If we judged the effectiveness of the church based on the prayers of pastors and people, would we have to say the church has given up and surrendered?
Luther would say that we pray, not that God is hindered by its lack, but because we are. Our lack of prayer results in a supernatural pessimism, and even apathy. We know that prayer and faith go together, as we pray, so we depend on God to see those prayers addressed and answered in our lives, in our communities.
So why don’t we pray, and why don’t we pray as this passage and so many others indicate? Is it because we don’t see prayer as a sacramental act, a blessing where God comes and communes with us? If we did, as the Lutheran Confessions advise, and see Prayer truly as a sacrament, would it make a difference?
I think it would. It would stop us from seeing prayer as a duty, and see it as the wonderful blessing it is, we would persevere, not because it might manipulate God, but because of the peace that comes from knowing God is dealing with it. As we pray, the anxiety is reduced, our trust and dependence on God grows, and we become sure of God’s wisdom and strength at work. What a blessing this is! What a comfort!
if we would see the church grow, if we would encourage men to become pastors and encourage people to serve in the church and its ministries, prayer is the key. Fellowship with God that breeds and magnifies the trust that knows the transformation God works in us, and celebrates our union with God.
This is when ministry is at its strongest, when we are relying and depending on God, and we truly see His work in us, and the joy it creates.
My friends, hold up your holy hands, depend on God and ask Him to bless His people everywhere. AMEN.
Escriva, Josemaria. The Forge (Kindle Locations 1462-1465). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 213). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.
Do We Ignore This Prayer, Because We Do Not Want It Answered?
Devotional/Discussion Thought of the Day:
13 No temptation has come your way that is too hard for flesh and blood to bear. But God can be trusted not to allow you to suffer any temptation beyond your powers of endurance. He will see to it that every temptation has a way out, so that it will never be impossible for you to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 (Phillips NT)
“And lead us not into temptation.”
18 What does this mean?
Answer: God tempts no one to sin, but we pray in this petition that God may so guard and preserve us that the devil, the world, and our flesh may not deceive us or mislead us into unbelief, despair, and other great and shameful sins, but that, although we may be so tempted, we may finally prevail and gain the victory.
201 In a Christian’s life everything has to be for God—even personal weaknesses, once they have been put right! The Lord understands and forgives them.
As my devotions seem to be focused on prayer this morning, I once again find myself analyzing my prayer life, measuring it against that of scripture, and those like Luther and Escriva, men whose dependence on God I wish I could emulate.
Not because they were giants in knowledge, but rather because their ability to express their needs simply, to be honest about their thoughts and feelings. And because there are days where despair is my greatest temptation, as it seems they understand.
So when I came across, this portion of the Luther’s Small Catechism, I thought, besides in praying the Lord’s prayer, when was the last time I prayed that God would lead me not into temptation but give me the strength to endure it?
Not only when was the last time I prayed this petition for myself, but for my leaders?
Perhaps it is simply apathy. Said that, God promised it, time to move on, nothing to see here? Perhaps it is worse, the things I am tempted to do, to say, to think, I am too comfortable with, even as I realize they betray my weaknesses?
Do we consciously or subconscious omit this from our daily prayer because we want to avoid confronting that which tempts us, that which ensnares us, those sins that are all too common in our lives? Do we too easily give place to lust, or despair, to doubt God’s promise? Do we become to comfortable with being broken? Is it too easy justification for not living life in Christ? Is that why this is only prayed in our repetition of Christ’s prayer?
Are we afraid, that if we truly pray, truly desire that God would not lead us into temptation, that He will answer that prayer?
I like the point St. Josemaria makes, that we need to realize these weaknesses, yes even these temptations can be used by God, even as He is putting them to right. As we confess them, as we plead for Him to not lead us into them, we give Him the authority over them. Even as we realize we can’t overcome them, as we depend on Him, we find out that He has give us the victory! We will prevail not by avoiding the temptation, but by allowing Him to lead us through the temptation, showing us the way out, as we are crucified with Christ.
For at the cross is where sin and temptation lose their power, as Paul instructs the Galatians,
24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have put to death their human nature with all its passions and desires. 25 The Spirit has given us life; he must also control our lives.
Galatians 5:24-25 (TEV)
As we pray lead us not into temptation, what we are praying is the we realize that the Holy Spirit is not just the Giver of Life, but the Lord of it as well. That the Spirit calls us to know what Christ has taught us, that we are family, treasured enough by God that the cross becomes the revelation of that love.
The peace that God desires we know shatters the power of temptation and the sins that temptation would have us treasure, even as we learn to pray. This too is included in our prayer, Lord Have Mercy!
Amen!
Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (pp. 347–348). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.
Escriva, Josemaria. The Forge (Kindle Locations 896-898). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
