Today's scripture readings from the Book of Common Prayer were interesting: Psalm 30, 32, 42, 43; Deuteronomy 7:17-26; Titus 3:1-15; and John 1:43-51.
A sample of a few verses that stood out to me:
Psalm 30:7-12 (NRSV)
7 By your favor, O LORD, you had established me as a strong mountain; you hid your face; I was dismayed.
8 To you, O LORD, I cried, and to the LORD I made supplication:
9 "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?
10 Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me! O LORD, be my helper!"
11 You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
12 so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever.
Psalm 32:6-7 (NRSV)
6 Therefore let all who are faithful offer prayer to you; at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters shall not reach them.
7 You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. Selah
Psalm 42:5-7 (NRSV)
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him...
Psalm 43:3 (NRSV)
3 O send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling.
Deuteronomy 7:17-19 (NRSV)
17 If you say to yourself, "These nations are more numerous than I; how can I dispossess them?"
18 do not be afraid of them. Just remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt,
19 the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the LORD your God brought you out. The LORD your God will do the same to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.
Titus 3:3-7 (NRSV)
3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another.
4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,
5 he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
6 This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
John 1:43-45 (NRSV)
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me."
44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth."
The common thread through today's readings is the vulnerability and weakness of our own soul and the power of God -- displayed in its fullness in Jesus Christ's finished work delivered to each of us through his grace by the Holy Spirit.
Why is it so hard for me, possibly us, to embrace weakness? God's statement to the Israelites is that in taking the land that he is giving them, they should in no allusion assume that they can/will do this in the energy of their own will (flesh). The Psalmist cries out to God simply because he comes to end after end of himself and feels the loneliness and vulnerability that can only find comfort and solace in God. Paul writes to Titus to remind him that once we lived in the weakness and lostness of our own selfishness...without even realizing what we were doing...but God broke through into that selfishness with the saving grace of Christ Jesus' work. Jesus comes to each of us and simply says, "follow me".
Give up the right, the presumption, that I/we can make it through this life in the energy, intellect, will and hope of our own strength and power, and embrace the weakness that comes in knowing Christ Jesus as savior and victor.
As we prepare for the first Sunday in Lent tomorrow, let's pray:
"Father of mercy and might, save us/me from myself. Bring me over and over again to that place of childlike dependence upon you. You are good, your mercies endure forever; your faithfulness reaches to the skies, and your wisdom and strength are what I trust in. Expose to me the follies of my own selfish assumptions and keep saying to me over and over again, 'come follow me'. Amen"
A sample of a few verses that stood out to me:
Psalm 30:7-12 (NRSV)
7 By your favor, O LORD, you had established me as a strong mountain; you hid your face; I was dismayed.
8 To you, O LORD, I cried, and to the LORD I made supplication:
9 "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?
10 Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me! O LORD, be my helper!"
11 You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
12 so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever.
Psalm 32:6-7 (NRSV)
6 Therefore let all who are faithful offer prayer to you; at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters shall not reach them.
7 You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. Selah
Psalm 42:5-7 (NRSV)
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him...
Psalm 43:3 (NRSV)
3 O send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling.
Deuteronomy 7:17-19 (NRSV)
17 If you say to yourself, "These nations are more numerous than I; how can I dispossess them?"
18 do not be afraid of them. Just remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt,
19 the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the LORD your God brought you out. The LORD your God will do the same to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.
Titus 3:3-7 (NRSV)
3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another.
4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,
5 he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
6 This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
John 1:43-45 (NRSV)
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me."
44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth."
The common thread through today's readings is the vulnerability and weakness of our own soul and the power of God -- displayed in its fullness in Jesus Christ's finished work delivered to each of us through his grace by the Holy Spirit.
Why is it so hard for me, possibly us, to embrace weakness? God's statement to the Israelites is that in taking the land that he is giving them, they should in no allusion assume that they can/will do this in the energy of their own will (flesh). The Psalmist cries out to God simply because he comes to end after end of himself and feels the loneliness and vulnerability that can only find comfort and solace in God. Paul writes to Titus to remind him that once we lived in the weakness and lostness of our own selfishness...without even realizing what we were doing...but God broke through into that selfishness with the saving grace of Christ Jesus' work. Jesus comes to each of us and simply says, "follow me".
Give up the right, the presumption, that I/we can make it through this life in the energy, intellect, will and hope of our own strength and power, and embrace the weakness that comes in knowing Christ Jesus as savior and victor.
As we prepare for the first Sunday in Lent tomorrow, let's pray:
"Father of mercy and might, save us/me from myself. Bring me over and over again to that place of childlike dependence upon you. You are good, your mercies endure forever; your faithfulness reaches to the skies, and your wisdom and strength are what I trust in. Expose to me the follies of my own selfish assumptions and keep saying to me over and over again, 'come follow me'. Amen"
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