Turning Our Hearts to Calvary

Friends, as we turn our hearts toward Calvary, it would serve us well to begin (or to continue if this is already a part of your devotional life) to pray the prayer of examen, a practice initiated by St Ignatius. (For a description of this go to https://hamewith.org/2023/12/confessional-prayer/)

 This prayer gives us time and space to ask the Holy Spirit to search our hearts and to bring present to us any way that we have not honored God or others and have sinned as a result of that dishonor. But before we go there, we need to quiet our hearts to enter more deeply into the most perfect and extravagant love of our Triune God, Father, Son and Spirit. (To give words to their incredible uniqueness and unity, I’ve included a link to the creed here – https://hamewith.org/2025/03/the-athanasian-creed/

 John 3:16 For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. (NET)

I’m afraid that this verse has become so familiar to us that we rarely take time to enter into the profound truth spoken here. This can be, as we allow it, an opportunity to let beauty and truth enter deeply into our souls. Take some time now to read this slowly, as integrated persons (head and heart) allowing the Holy Spirit to bring forth its eternal truth. This is lectio divina, the act of entering deeply into the meaning of Scripture.

“When we do lectio divina, we read Scripture in line with its divine character – as we always should.” Hans Boersma.

Boersma goes on to say, “the search for meaning (that is to say, exegesis) is a search for God, not an attempt at historical reconstruction. And if exegesis is a knocking and searching for God himself, then lectio divina is simply what we do when we rightly handle the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15).” (Pierced by Love: Divine Reading with the Christian Tradition, p 14-15).

While it’s natural for us to read this passage for ourselves, I would encourage you to read it as well, as a member of the Church, the Body of Christ. Pay close attention to John’s reference “God loved the world.”

Let’s turn our hearts to Philippians 2: 5-11, where Paul tells us that Christ emptied himself (v. 7) in order to become like us. This is not the place to think about the theological connotations of kenosis, although a rigorous study of that is highly recommended! Paul tells us that Christ emptied himself, took on the form of a slave, becoming like us. His calling from there was to be obedient (to the Father), even to death on a cross.

What kind of love is this? Though it may seem rhetorical, we should let the truth of this profound love deeply impact us. Take the time to reflect, to meditate (chew on) and pray through this passage. Consider its beauty and truth. Boersma calls us to “true contemplation, the contemplation that has as its heart’s desire – “I sought Him whom my soul loveth” (Song of Solomon 3:1) (Pierced by Love, p. 167).

5 You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, 6 who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. 8 He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross! 9 As a result God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow – in heaven and on earth and under the earth – 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (Phi 2:5-11 NET)

Boersma continues the idea of contemplation by saying – “the soul feels the delight of the Word’s caresses” (Song of Songs, 3:1) (Boersma, p. 167). Allow the Word (John 1:1) and the Scriptures to profoundly minister to you and embrace all that they offer. It is the unique task of the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to the glory (and love) of the Father and the Son.

As we begin to allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to us any sin, any way that we have dishonored God or others, remember this: “…participation in Christ means abandoning our pretenses, openly acknowledging our identities as sinner in bondage, and in the same moment realizing with a stab of piercing joy that the victory is already ours in Christ, won by him who died to save us. (Rutledge)

The action of God precedes our consciousness of sin, so that we perceive the depth of our own participation in sin’s bondage, simultaneously with the recognition of the unconditional love of Christ…” (Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, p. 171).

This is enough for the day. The Crucifixion does indeed call forth our needs to confess sin, but before we get there, let’s allow the Love of the Trinity to pierce our hearts and souls. Let me leave you with this thought: “At the risk of oversimplifying, for Paul the sequence is not sin-repentance-forgiveness, but grace-sin-deliverance-repentance-grace” (Rutledge, p. 192).

Let this version of the hymn,” O the deep deep love of Jesus” bring rest to your soul.

  1. Hans Boersma, Pierced by Joy: Divine Reading with the Christian Tradition (Lexham Press, 2023), 14-15.
  2. ibid. p. 167.
  3. Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2015), p. 171.
  4. ibid. p. 192.

The Athanasian Creed

Now this is the catholic (Christian) faith:

    That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity,
    neither blending their persons
    nor dividing their essence.
        For the person of the Father is a distinct person,
        the person of the Son is another,
        and that of the Holy Spirit still another.
        But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one,
        their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.

    What quality the Father has, the Son has, and the Holy Spirit has.
        The Father is uncreated,
        the Son is uncreated,
        the Holy Spirit is uncreated.

        The Father is immeasurable,
        the Son is immeasurable,
        the Holy Spirit is immeasurable.

        The Father is eternal,
        the Son is eternal,
        the Holy Spirit is eternal.

            And yet there are not three eternal beings;
            there is but one eternal being.
            So too there are not three uncreated or immeasurable beings;
            there is but one uncreated and immeasurable being.

    Similarly, the Father is almighty,
        the Son is almighty,
        the Holy Spirit is almighty.
            Yet there are not three almighty beings;
            there is but one almighty being.

        Thus the Father is God,
        the Son is God,
        the Holy Spirit is God.
            Yet there are not three gods;
            there is but one God.

        Thus the Father is Lord,
        the Son is Lord,
        the Holy Spirit is Lord.
            Yet there are not three lords;
            there is but one Lord.

    Just as Christian truth compels us
    to confess each person individually
    as both God and Lord,
    so catholic religion forbids us
    to say that there are three gods or lords.

    The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten from anyone.
    The Son was neither made nor created;
    he was begotten from the Father alone.
    The Holy Spirit was neither made nor created nor begotten;
    he proceeds from the Father and the Son.

    Accordingly there is one Father, not three fathers;
    there is one Son, not three sons;
    there is one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits.

    Nothing in this trinity is before or after,
    nothing is greater or smaller;
    in their entirety the three persons
    are coeternal and coequal with each other.

    So in everything, as was said earlier,
    we must worship their trinity in their unity
    and their unity in their trinity.

Anyone then who desires to be saved
should think thus about the trinity.

But it is necessary for eternal salvation
that one also believe in the incarnation
of our Lord Jesus Christ faithfully.

Now this is the true faith:

    That we believe and confess
    that our Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son,
    is both God and human, equally.

     He is God from the essence of the Father,
    begotten before time;
    and he is human from the essence of his mother,
    born in time;
    completely God, completely human,
    with a rational soul and human flesh;
    equal to the Father as regards divinity,
    less than the Father as regards humanity.

    Although he is God and human,
    yet Christ is not two, but one.
    He is one, however,
    not by his divinity being turned into flesh,
    but by God’s taking humanity to himself.
    He is one,
    certainly not by the blending of his essence,
    but by the unity of his person.
    For just as one human is both rational soul and flesh,
    so too the one Christ is both God and human.

    He suffered for our salvation;
    he descended to hell;
    he arose from the dead;
    he ascended to heaven;
    he is seated at the Father’s right hand;
    from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
    At his coming all people will arise bodily
    and give an accounting of their own deeds.
    Those who have done good will enter eternal life,
    and those who have done evil will enter eternal fire.

This is the catholic faith:
one cannot be saved without believing it firmly and faithfully.

The Power of the Cross: Reflections for Lent

Friends, it is the middle of Lent 2025 and we begin to turn our faces to Holy Week. I find myself in need of lifting my eyes to what Christ crucified truly means to us, His Bride. In the worries of the day, I have not slowed my heart down, I have not stopped to contemplate both the cost and the wealth of what was purchased for me (and for us) at Calvary. Will you join me in turning our eyes, our attention, our prayers toward the Cross on the hill?

This is a beautiful hymn by Sovereign Grace and I was moved not only by the refrain, but by the opening line of each stanza. “Oh to see my name written in the wounds” was a line that I found myself singing, but I had forgotten the context and the actual name of the song. How happy I am for search engines! I found balm for my restless soul, as I let each stanza and every refrain envelop me with the truth of what Christ has done on the Cross. I pray it is inspiring to you as well. Listen to this version as you read and pray through the hymn.

Oh to see the dawn of the darkest day
Christ on the road to Calvary
Tried by sinful men, torn and beaten then
Nailed to the cross of wood

This the power of the cross
Christ became sin for us, took the blame, bore the wrath
We stand forgiven at the cross

Oh to see the pain written on your face
Bearing the awesome weight of sin
Every bitter thought every evil deed
Crowning your blood stained brow

This the power of the cross
Christ became sin for us, took the blame, bore the wrath
We stand forgiven at the cross

Now the day light flees, now the ground beneath
Quakes as its maker bows his head
Curtain torn in two, dead are raised to life
Finished, the victory cry

This the power of the cross
Christ became sin for us, took the blame, bore the wrath
We stand forgiven at the cross

Oh to see my name written in the wounds
For through your suffering I am free
Death is crushed to death, life is mine to live
Won through your selfless love

This the power of the cross
Son of God slain for us, one above, one across
We stand forgiven at the cross.

photo by Photo by Wim van ‘t Einde on Unsplash

 

The Suffering of Exile

As we follow the story of our Lord’s life we shall see that there is nothing at all that men can suffer that he did not suffer too. One of the greatest miseries which men endure is that of banishment from their own country. Thousands of men and women and children were driven from their homes in the last war, and may have never been able to return to them, and the people of Israel have endured the wretchedness of exile over and over again all through their history. And the sorrow of exile was the first of the sorrows that came to Our Lord.

Elizabeth Goudge, God So Loved the World, p. 36-37.

Christ Revealed

If we are to participate into the very heart of Epiphany, to the very soul of its meaning for us, we need to do more than hear the Scripture account of the Magi. We also need to participate in a meditative way in the entire service of worship into which this story has been placed because this piece of the unfolding mystery of salvation is the key to the shape of our spiritual experience between now and Lent. Even as our Christmas spirituality was shaped by the dominant theme of the incarnation, so now our Epiphany spirituality will be shaped by the overriding theme of Christ’s manifestation as Savior of the world. Even as the incarnation finds its continuation in us through our union with Christ, so the Epiphany of Christ is extended in us through the practice of Epiphany spirituality. Our Epiphany journey can start at no better place than the Epiphany service of worship.  (Ancient-Future Time, p. 76)

Webber, Robert, Ancient-Future Time: Forming Spirituality through the Christian Year. Baker Books, 2004.

His Life is the Light of Us All

“A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.” 1

These are the first lines of a beloved (by me anyway!) poem by T.S. Eliot written after his conversion to Christianity. Simply titled The Journey of the Magi, Eliot describes the events surrounding their journey to greet the newborn king of Israel. I love these lines because they picture the hardness and courage needed for such a journey. Eliot’s poem is rich in metaphor and as the wise men come close to the end of this journey he writes of them coming into a temperate valley with flowing streams, and three trees on a hill.

Take a moment and put yourself into this place, even on those camels – where the journey is hard and cold, but the sweet smells of summer call – and you find yourself wanting to move faster and faster toward deliverance and salvation. They almost blew it – going straight to Herod to get directions because of course Herod would know where the new king would be. Surely, he too would want to meet the “consolation of Israel.” Almost frantic now, they left in a hurry and saw the star that would lead them to their end. Eliot says “and so we continued, and arrived at evening, not a moment too soon. Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.” From Matthew’s account (2:1-12) we see “they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.”

This was the first encounter (as far as we know) of Gentiles encountering the Christ. And for them it was such an epiphany, such a manifestation and a revelation of the salvation that would be for all the world it took them to their knees in worship. This is Epiphany and for the church it’s a time where we acknowledge all the ways that Christ has been revealed as Savior and Lord to us. For the wise men, it was a revelation of glory – and glory is so often linked with light in the Scriptures.

Consider these verses from John  – and by consider I mean read them in a sacred slow meditative way. Light a candle, listen to a beloved song. (I highly recommend O Magnum Mysterium.) Even better, have someone else read them to you! Or you read them to someone else! I love, love it when I hear stories read aloud.  I have had a crush on Garrison Keillor’s voice for a very long time. I loved it when Leanne Payne in the context of a teaching would tell a story from her own life that not only brought the teaching to life – it became an incredible way God revealed Himself to us who were there listening.

Sorry, I got off course – here are the verses from the gospel of John. Think glory, think revelation, think light.

John 1:4-5 – In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:9-10 –  The true light, which gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world and the world was made through him., yet the world did not know him.

John 1:14 – And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:18 – No one has ever seen God. It is God the only son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made Him known.

John 8:12 –  Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” ( ESV)

What stirred in you in this reading? How did God reveal Himself to you? What phrases or words touched your soul? Scripture is alive! And God reveals Himself to us through His Word.

There are other miracles associated with Epiphany but I think I’ll stop here. In fact, let’s all stop and listen and look for and receive what God chooses to reveal to us. We too, along with the shepherds or the wise men, and Simeon, and Anna, can see Jesus – and bend our knees in worship. Corporately or in our own devotional times can pray as we come into God’s presence – “Lord, reveal yourself to us… in our struggles, in our suffering, in our joys, in our worship.” May the cry of our hearts perpetually be: “Make yourself known, Lord, this day and every day.”

1 Eliot, T. S. The Journey of the Magi. Faber & Gwyer, 1927.
Featured Image – courtesy of Mike Labrum – Unsplash.
Eliot’s poem can be found in this link:
https://hamewith.org/2025/01/the-journey-of-the-magi-2/(opens in a new tab)

The Journey of The Magi

“A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.”
And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires gong out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty, and charging high prices.:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we lead all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I have seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.

T.S. Eliot

Rule of Life 2025

Happy New Year! I begin this year with what became a significant part of my formation in Christ over the last few years. As the title suggests, this practice is called a “rule of life”. Many people find choosing one word for the year helpful, others choose practices or resolutions. This idea of a rule of life is ancient going back to monasteries and convents early in the life of the church. In recent years this practice has become for many an alternative to the typical New Year’s resolutions. If you want to see what’s out there on this subject, google it and you will find several sites and/or books on this. I wrote on this practice in January 2024 and have included a link to that post.

https://hamewith.org/2024/01/rule-of-life

Personally, it has been a rich encounter in prayer and dialogue with God and others. I am not good at setting what seem to be unrealistic goals or resolutions that by the end of January I am discouraged and end up setting the rules aside. I believe there is an actual name for that – called Quitters Day and it happens on the second Friday in January! The rule of life is a marker or signpost that takes me deeper into my Christian formation. Below are some very significant markers for me. Yours might be very different than these. But I encourage you to take this season and prayerfully consider where God might be leading you on this part of your journey.

Baptism

…that [I] may remain faithful to my baptism, living by it, making it always the source and the power of his life, a constant judgment, criterion, inspiration, “rule of life.”1  

Photo by Ante Hamersmit on Unsplash

St Patrick’s Breastplate

I bind unto myself today
The strong name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One, and One in Three.

I bind this day to me forever,
By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation, (Christ with us and in us)
His baptism in the Jordan river, (his identification with us)
His death on the cross for my salvation; (forgiveness of sin)
His bursting from the spiced tomb; (new life)
His riding up the heavenly way; (taking us with him into heaven)
His coming at the day of doom; (his glorious return)
I bind unto myself today.

Calling

My calling in this season of life is to share the wisdom God has carved out of me (carved into me) through His sanctifying work – whether in joy or sorrow, suffering or peace, absence or presence.

By identifying my calling in this season of life, I believe it provides a great signpost not only to my intentions but to the decisions I will make about how I spend my time, and my resources.

I have wavered on this calling so many times just in the last few years and have often believed I should stop doing something that’s so hard and makes me feel vulnerable. I had prayed about this many times and after a time of prayer with some very encouraging friends I went back to the Lord and this is what I heard in response to my cry! I will say, that I was very unsure about including this, because it is so personal and I feel very vulnerable sharing it. But I do so as an encouragement that God does speak to us when we have doubts or feel shame about what He is calling us to do.

Little one, I am not asking you to be special or profound – but to look at your life – all the crooked ways made straight by My grace and power. Dig deep and there you will find living water. Even the scent of water is enough to share. I am not asking you to share what I have done in someone else’s life. It’s your story that you’ve been given to share.  Word from 10/29/23.

Prayer

(from last year’s post on rule of life, which I still find meaningful today.)

Give me a grace that precedes, follows, guides,
sustains, sanctifies, aids every hour,
that I may not be one moment apart from thee,
but may rely on thy Spirit to supply every thought,
speak in every word, direct every step,
prosper every work, build up every mote of faith,
and give me a desire to show forth thy praise;
testify thy love, advance thy kingdom.
I launch my bark on the unknown waters of this year, with
thee, O Father, as my harbor,
thee, O Son, at my helm,
thee, O Holy Spirit, filling my sails.

        The Valley of Vision (a compilation of Puritan Prayers), Arthur Bennett.

My rule of life came out of  dialogue not only with God, but also out of dialogue with my own soul and what I needed most. And if these things I’ve included in my rule of life are meant to characterize my life I must find ways that help me live that out. I’m allergic to the word resolutions (especially this time of year!) but they can help engage our wills as we seek to live out our desires. While I haven’t specifically included this in my rule of life, I have been convicted about how I love (more specifically how I don’t love) others in the holy and honorable way they deserve to be loved. For a talk I gave several years ago I put together a set of life together resolutions – and I realize how much that can help move me from “I would like to love better,” to actually finding concrete and specific ways to do so.

This will take you to the post on “life together resolutions.” https://hamewith.org/2025/01/life-together-resolutions/

When I take Schmemann’s statement on baptism to heart,  I hope it’s clear that I am not literally referring to my own baptism. Even though I was an adult, I have no clear memories of that time. That saddens me. I had only been a Christian a short time and it happened in a lake on my college campus. But our baptisms, (remembered or not!) picture so completely our formation in Christ.

Living out our baptisms was the way Leanne Payne talked about wholeness in Christ. It means as Peter says in 1 Peter 2:24 – “He himself bore our sins on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.” Each day I believe we have the opportunity to die to self and sin, confess it, receive His forgiveness and grace and rise up as one who has been given the fullness of life! We know as Paul said in Galatians 2:20 – “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. The inexorable hope of glory!

This version of St Patrick’s Breastplate is meaningful to me because it tracks the whole life of Christ and thus the whole life of the church as we live out the significant acts of His life. “I bind…” – I don’t just affirm, I don’t just agree… I take this truth to heart. The image I have is of Odysseus tying himself to the mast of the ship that he might not yield to the temptation of the sirens.

When we mark and honor all that happened in the life of Christ every aspect becomes a part of our daily confession. For those who follow the Orthodox tradition , “the focus is on a Person (Christ) and the life He lived – the arc of Christ’s life beginning with his taking on human nature, his birth, his growing up, his ministry and his teachings, his death on the Cross, his third day resurrection, his ascension into heaven, his sending the Holy Spirit, and his glorious Second Coming. ” 1

So, as often as I pray this version of this part of St Patrick’s prayer – I can see myself – tying myself to the mast of Christ’s work on my behalf – all of it.  As I do that,  in much the same way it helped Odysseus, I am strengthened to face the temptations and trials of this life.

Lastly, as I regularly review my rule of life in prayer – I am made more aware of my need to find spiritual practices that give me “boots on the ground.” I must align what I do with what I feel God calling me to do. So it impacts how I spend my time, my resources, my body, mind, soul and spirit! But how well I engage with the spiritual practices I feel called to is not the goal -simply part of the means to living out what God has led me to in my rule of life. Some of those practices include confession of sin (I have two lovely partners who help me with this!), lectio divina (sacred reading), study of the Scriptures, and of course prayer. There are other practices I might be called to in particularly difficult times.

I’ll end with what I wrote at the end of the post on rule of life that I wrote in January of last year.

May it start in us through the song God has sung over us through all our days. May it spring from a place of hunger, and a desire for transformation that can only result in our becoming like Him. May we be resolute in casting off any hindrance, any sin, any relationship that inhibits His sanctifying work in us. May we live out our baptisms every day. From the moment we wake up to the moment we fall asleep may we remember to take our place in His death and in His resurrection – through prayer, through confession, through practicing His presence, through virtue, and through love.

1 Alexander Schmemann, Of Water and the Spirit.
2 Robert Arakaki https://orthodoxbridge.com/2014/03/11/taking-the-incarnation-seriously
Feature image – Photo by Reuben Hustler on Unsplash

Life Together Resolutions

· I shall marvel at and cultivate the work of the Holy Spirit in my own life, while forbearing the flaws, faults or problems in my neighbor’s life.

· As much as I am able, I shall be quick to forgive, acknowledging that I too have great need for forgiveness.

· I shall honor the Holy Spirit’s activity in my neighbor’s life even when it doesn’t seem evident!

· I shall seek to keep the unity of the Spirit in humility and love, by refusing to slander or gossip about my neighbor.

· I shall seek to acknowledge my wrongdoings and sins against others and ask often for forgiveness.

· I shall acknowledge that each one of us is fearfully and wonderfully made and delight in all the ways we are different.

· As much as it is up to me, I shall guard the unity of the Church and work hard to protect her reputation.

Prayer of Confession – Week Two Advent 2024

This week as we honor the gift of peace we have received through Christ’s birth, it might be good to take some time to look at what hinders that indwelling peace. I think we might agree that anxiety in our culture has reached an epidemic level. Two verses from the New Testament, I believe, help us turn to the One who gives us the peace that brings wholeness and well-being.

Paul in Romans 8:15 – “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba, Father!”

 And John then in 1 John 4:18 – “there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”

In the verse from 1 John, “perfected” might be better translated as completed or fulfilled. You could say John is saying – “freedom from fear is ours because God’s love for us has been fulfilled (in Christ!)”  The context for this verse is found in the verses that preceded this – (and for that matter, the verses that come later). John is not talking about imperfect love as if there was something we could actually do to counteract fear in our lives.  Looking at the verses that come right before verse 18  – I love what John says about this kind of love –

10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.

God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God and God abides in him.

1 John 4:16 (ESV)

I’ve included these two passages in this particular prayer of confession because anxiety breeds a lot of shame – and what we see in both Paul and John is that love is the antidote to fear. We are promised a Father in heaven –  because of what Christ has done for us we now call him, Abba, dear Papa… And we are told in the passage from 1 John that the way through fear and anxiety is to receive the kind of love that leads to abiding in Him. 

All this to say, that when we come to the prayer of confession in our theme of peace, I think it’s unproductive to simply say – “repent of your fear or anxiety.” I’m not saying there isn’t a need to repent of any attitude that keeps us from receiving all that God has done for us in Christ. I just don’t think that’s where we start.

As we look to the Holy Spirit to reveal our hearts let’s be open to seeing the ways our sins against others, ourselves or God keep us bound to anxiety. Here are some questions that might help us be specific in our confession and thus to go on to receive His forgiveness.

Are there ways you try to manage our anxiety through unhealthy practices? In our confessions of sin last week, I talked about defensive mechanisms that keep us numb. – over-using our phones, binging on shows (I do love my murder mysteries), scrolling through social media, over or under eating… These are all ways we might try to manage our anxiety. Here are a few others:

  • Do you compare yourself to others? This can almost be unconscious, because we do it so often. We walk into a room and immediately measure ourselves against others there. We’re better, smarter, cooler, whatever.  Or we’re painfully aware of how we don’t measure up –  we will  never be that smart, good, cool, whatever…
  • Do you judge others harshly – out of an attempt to mask your judgment of yourself?
  • Are there self-destructive patterns of behavior you engage in while trying to mask anxiety?
  • Do you hold onto unforgiveness because you believe you could never measure up to what you “think” God demands of you?
  • Do you find that your thoughts spiral down in paralyzing ways?

Prayerfully consider these questions as you come into this prayer confession. Confess, repent, receive and then come back to a place where you can abide in His love for you! And let that assurance bring you the kind of shalom peace Christ has purchased for you. That kind of love and peace Christ gives us restores in us wonder and  worship. There is no other god like our God!

…we cannot talk about sin for very long without being drawn into doxology. Were it not for the mercy of God surrounding us, we would have no perspective from which to view sin, for we would be entirely subject to it. That is the reason for affirming that wherever sin is unmasked and confessed, God’s redemptive power is already present and acting. Fleming Rutledge

Begin by centering your heart in God’s presence… Give thanks to Him that you do not need to hide anything from him. Affirm that He is faithful and good, and his mercy and grace are “new every morning.” The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness” (Lam. 3:22-23). 

Now let Him begin the process of searching your heart. Are there ways you have not honored Christ this week? Where were your thoughts and desires not centered in Him? How have you failed in obedience to Christ?

Then, simply confess in as specific a way you can the sins that trouble you. Don’t rush through this process. Simply rest in God’s presence as He does this.

Now choose to let this go and receive Christ’s forgiveness for you. Remember – “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9)

Receive His assurance of pardon –  7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ . (Eph 1:7-9 ESV)

And finally commit this confession to the Lord. As you rest in His forgiveness ask Him how to walk this out. Ask for the supernatural power of His Spirit to give you what you need to move forward. “Cast your burdens unto Jesus!” Friends, I couldn’t resist this video – I remember singing it often during Pastoral Care Ministries schools!

 Please note here, I realize there often is a need to get professional help in dealing with anxiety disorders. I am not trivializing that by giving you “five points to freedom from anxiety.” Please know that God is deeply concerned about what you need. And whether it’s spiritual help or psychological help you need – please reach out to get the help you need!