Author: Jean

Repentance

It is one thing to love sin and to force ourselves to quit it, it is another thing to hate sin because love for God is so gripping that the sin no longer appeals. The latter is repentance, the former is reform. It is repentance that God requires. Repentance is a “change of mind.” To love and yet quit it is not the same as hating it and quitting it. Your supposed victory over sin may be simple displacement. You may love one sin so much (such as your pride) that you will curtail another more embarrassing sin which you also love. This may look spiritual, but there is nothing of God in it. Natural men do it every day. Jim Ellif

Confessional Prayer – Eastertide Week One

Remember to take some time to ask the Holy Spirit where He revealed God’s goodness to you this week. Where did you experience the power of the resurrection? (I am working on another post that will help make this more practical).

Almighty, eternal God! Forgive us our sin and lead us to eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Ulrich Zwingli

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. Thank Him that you “have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer [you] who live, but Christ lives in [you]” (Gal. 2:20).

Who is like a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression For the remnant of his inheritance He does not retain his anger forever, Because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea. You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers From the days of old.  Micah 7:18-20

Lectio Divina: Eastertide – A Heritage of Glory

Below you will find the lectio passage for this week; but I would encourage you to not only read this reflectively but take time to look at the context of this passage and then look for other passages in Paul that sound the same note. I’ve said this before (probably too many times!), Paul has taken the events of Christ’s death and resurrection, and made theology out of them! And then he makes that theology the language of our sanctification, our becoming in Christ. We can follow him in this as we read the Scriptures, identity the theological truths, and then let the Spirit form Christ in us through them. What a gift Paul was!

This is a fairly lengthy passage but it’s so good! It is probably a translation you might not be familiar with. May God “bring us to full knowledge of him!”

Ephesians 1:17–23 – May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him. May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, how rich is the glory of the heritage that he offers among his holy people, and how extraordinarily great is the power that he has exercised for us believers; this accords with the strength of his power at work in Christ, the power which he exercised in raising him from the dead and enthroning him at his right hand, in heaven, far above every principality, ruling force, power or sovereignty, or any other name that can be named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. He has put all things under his feet, and made him, as he is above all things, the head of the Church; which is his Body, the fullness of him who is filled, all in all. 

Step One – Read the passage slowly, attentively. Allow yourself to be taken in by the words – pay attention to any word or phrase that strikes you in the passage. (If you haven’t studied this passage, you may find this first reading will stir observation questions in you – such as who, what when, where, how).

Step Two – Read it again. Meditate and reflect on the passage. What is it in your life that needs to hear that word or phrase? Sit in silence for a time, attending to the thoughts, images and impressions that begin to come to you. Turn that into prayer.

Step Three – What is God saying to you? What do you begin to feel called to?

Step Four – How does God want you to live this passage out? What are you resolved to do?

I hope you are remembering to pause during the week or during each day to reflect on where you experienced God’s goodness and his resurrection power!

Resurrection Life!

We have ended the penitential season of Lent (for those of us in the Western church) and we can shift our thoughts and intentions toward the joy of what Christ has done in us and for us! We do not leave confession of sin behind us, but it seems appropriate to now add to our confessions the consciousness of the resurrected life. It can be as simple as intentionally taking time each day to reflect on the day we have had and ask God to show us where we experienced his goodness and the power of his resurrection. I don’t mean to imply that we should not have been doing that all through Lent, but now as our hearts turn toward new life we can shift our emphasis toward celebrating Christ’s resurrection power!

I’ve been using an app called lectio365 for prayer at the end of the day and I am enjoying it thoroughly! It’s spoken and there is a transcript of what is prayed alongside it. I had not realized before how powerful the spoken voice is but there’s something about it that deeply resonates with the hunger in my soul to hear the Father’s voice. In the nightly prayers, the readers encourage us to be conscious of the presence of God in our day in good and delightful ways. As well, there is a time to consider the sins of the day, and confess them to the Lord.

The prayer I’m writing below includes their brief nightly prayer of examen. I’ve added the part about resurrection life.

“Reflecting on the day that has passed, Lord, show me where you were at work in my life. In what ways did I experience your goodness and where did I hear you speak?” Lord, in what ways did I experience the power of your resurrection – whether in thought, word or deed?

I am not sure I could answer these questions even once today! I need the repetitive nature of the practice that then trains me to see what I have not seen in the past. Repetition teaches me to be aware of God’s presence throughout the day. I’ve made a commitment to do this daily until Pentecost Sunday (May 19, 2024).

I’m reminded of a set of resolutions that Clyde Kilby, a beloved professor at Wheaton College gave his students. Many of you are familiar with these resolutions. I believe what Dr. Kilby was trying to do with his students was to help them look up and out of their painful and over scrupulous introspections. This is what he wrote:

I shall open my eyes and ears. Once every day I shall simply stare at a tree, a flower, a cloud, or a person. I shall not then be concerned at all to ask what they are but simply be glad that they are. I shall joyfully allow them the mystery of what Lewis calls their “divine, magical, terrifying and ecstatic” existence.

What I love about this is that Dr. Kilby asked his students to look up to see the true, the good and the beautiful. This is so appropriate for resurrection living! You might ask – what in the world does this have to do with the resurrection?? Good question, I would say! I’ll answer that in a moment!

Paul, an apostle of the Resurrection – never separated the resurrection of Christ from his crucifixion – In almost every account in his letters, when he would speak of the efficacy of the Cross, he would follow it or precede it with a word about the power of Christ’s resurrection. Take a look at Philippians 3:10 – 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death… (Phi 3:10 ESV)

“Paul views the cross and resurrection as two inseparable parts of one great movement of grace, in with God deals with human sin and [enmity] and so reconciles humanity to himself.”

Ian Paul ~https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/pauls-understanding-of-resurrection-i/

We see this of course in the sacrament of baptism and in the sacrament of Communion. In baptism we go down into the baptismal waters as Paul says in Romans 6:3-7 – taking our place in Christ’s death, dying to our sins. And then in verses 8-13 of this same chapter – there is this glorious rising where we rise out of the waters having been set free from sin! A friend put it this way – “if the resurrection had not happened, we would have drowned in those baptismal waters!” And of course, we do this in the Eucharist – and then actually every time we confess our sins and go on to receive Christ’s forgiveness. It’s a death and life world for us!

Resurrection life means that sin no longer has claim on us! Paul goes on in chapter 8,

“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

Romans 8:11

Because Christ rose – the Holy Spirit now lives in us and gives us grace to live the new life we have been given! And that new life is nourished in us by practicing the presence of Christ – and by loving the true, the good and the beautiful. Sin has a grip and will have until Christ returns again, but it is not a death grip! Incarnational power leads us into freedom – God does the work, yet we must cultivate it through obedience, and grace, and love.

In many of our church traditions we are very familiar with the benefits of the Cross – forgiveness of sin, a right standing with God, freedom from the power of sin and death. Yet, we (I) struggle with owning and naming the power of the resurrection. Part of that is because, again in my evangelical tradition, we have holy week, Good Friday and then Easter – and then we’re done. Phew! In coming to love the rhythm of the liturgical calendar, I so appreciate that this time is now a season. Eastertide! And we have the leisure and grace to explore what resurrection life really looks like!

To return to the question above – what in the world does the resurrection have to do with loving the true, the good, and the beautiful? I would say – new life, a fertile heart, a new understanding of the body, and now being immersed in Christ’s life, death and resurrection gives us (as Anne of Green Gables said) “scope for the imagination!”

I’m leaving you with a quote from Dostoyevsky (which I have doctored somewhat) – “the infinity of the human soul–having been revealed in Christ and capable of fitting into itself all the boundlessness of [the risen Christ] –is at one and the same time both the greatest good, the highest truth, and the most perfect beauty.“

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Philippians 4:8 (ESV)

HAPPY RESURRECTION LIFE, FRIENDS!

photo by Marc Schulte, Unsplash

Christ is Risen!

As we turn our focus from the bright sadness of Lent and the wonder of the Cross, I pray that in this season to come we will move more deeply into what it means to live a resurrection life. We know it is not the life the prosperity gospel preaches, but if you are still with me, lets take the next 40 days (until the Ascension) and explore what Resurrection life looks like!

One element I would like to add to the regular practice of confessions is to consider any way, large or small, where we experienced Christ’s resurrection in our lives. In our time from Advent until now we have taken one day in the week to confess our sins. But I think now, it would be so good to include this added practice, even more often than that. Perhaps, before going to sleep each night , in whatever prayers you do, take the time to let the Holy Spirit to show you those moments of resurrection life you experienced or witnessed. I typically pray compline before I go to bed and I have found many resources that help me do that. I can give you resources if you’d like, or if you have ideas, share them here as well!

We might consider taking one of the passages in Scripture that emphasizes the Resurrection and memorize it. Certainly there are many we can both study and use lectio divina as ways to go deeper into Scripture.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. Though you have not seen him, you love him, and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:3-4a, 8-9.

Holy Saturday – The Day Between

In many traditions of the Church, today marks Holy Saturday – sometimes known as Easter Vigil. In all four gospel accounts this day is mentioned as the Sabbath between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. After Christ’s body is removed from the Cross Joseph of Arimathea is given permission by Pilate to bury him. In a few of the gospel accounts the women (Mary Magdalene and the “other” Mary) start preparing the spices and oils which will be used along with linen cloths to wrap his body. In the John account (John 19) it is actually Nicodemus who does this. But before the preparations are completed the Sabbath begins. And so the ritual is not completed.

I think it’s significant that there is this moment between two of the most profound aspects of our Christian faith. We know from the Apostle’s Creed that this is the day Jesus descended into Sheol. Remember all of the disciples thought Christ’s death was the end of it. Most of them had abandoned Jesus in his greatest hour of need. There was no vigil for them that Sabbath night. They gathered to grieve, to weep, to mourn the death of their dream. Not one of them seemed to remember what Jesus had said to them about his death. In the Mark account he predicts his death in three passages (Mark 8:31-33, 9:30-32, and 10:32-34). In those same passages he predicts his resurrection.

In many ways, Holy Saturday is a time of suspension. Hanging between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection it is neither fraught with grief or fraught with hope. It’s an in-between day. But I think we’ve all had our holy Saturdays – those seasons in our lives where we feel in limbo – perhaps even between death and life. A loss, a death, a marriage, a miscarriage, a job, a parent… Have you ever thought about those days between the Cross and the Resurrection? Why. Did God need that? Did we need that? For the disciples how ashamed most of them must have been. To abandon Christ after all they had experienced with him. And how confusing it would have been – to walk with the King into Jerusalem less than a week ago to being stunned by what happened at Golgotha.

Our own holy Saturdays can be a time when we cry out to God. I think we are given permission to bring to Him the tension of those struggles we have. It could be a time to sit in the many psalms of lament in the Scriptures (Psalms 4, 35, 79, 94, and so many more). The cry of our heart might simply be “How Long, O Lord”. I recently did a study of that phrase and was very surprised at how often it came up. Psalm 13:1 – “How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? God invites us to bring to him all that is in our heart – even our doubts or fears or pain or struggles.

 It is also a day of Sabbath rest – even more than a time – it’s a place of rest, where we might suspend our own struggles to simply find rest in God. Where we might remind our hearts that God is faithful. “But I trust in you, O Lord; I say you are my God” (Psalm 31:14). Most of the laments in the Psalms begin with sheer honesty – and yet end with trust.

As the preacher said – It’s Friday but Sunday’s coming! Our Christian Hope is established on Friday and fulfilled on Sunday! And in the meantime – there’s grace to rest, to be in God’s presence, to abide in faith. We all need Holy Saturdays – because in the testing of our faith we are told by Peter – “after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen!” (1 Peter 5:10-11).

Good Friday

What can one say? How do we even begin to grasp the import of this day for us? It can compare to no other day in the life of the Christian. I spoke tonight at our Good Friday service and used Mark 15:33-47 as the text. I went through the text but ended the talk with what I’m including below. This is such an intimate day, a life-changing day, I had to describe it as if I were there. I know that all of us cry out to see the Crucified Christ in life-changing ways. We know, though, that only the Holy Spirit can reveal Him to us. May it be so this night.

As I prayed about the message tonight, I thought about what it would be like to actually be there. At Calvary. So I did just that. I found myself at the foot of the cross. And this is what I saw, and this is what I heard. Maybe this is what He wants for all of us.

I am standing at the foot of the Cross on the hill of Calvary. I can only cry out to God, let this be done quickly, please… I am terrified of this darkness and of the quaking of the earth beneath me. It has lasted so long – but I am afraid to leave. I cannot leave. And then his voice. I heard these words that I didn’t even really understand – Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachtani. I know it though – from the words of the Psalm. What does it mean? I cannot grasp it all, but I hear it as the cry of my own heart – “Why oh why have you forsaken me?” I have been left in my sin, and my shame, and even in my suffering. I have been spat on, hit, cursed, and oh the pain… Your Word, Lord comes to mind again – you too were despised and rejected by others; you too suffered. Could all this around me be the fulfillment of your word? Even though you were struck down by God – was that for me? Did you take on my pain, my sin? Can it be that by your wounds, I am healed?

“oh to see my name… written in the wounds…”

– O that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence – as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil – to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence.

Later I find out – that in that time of darkness, that while the earth shook and the hot winds blew, the veil had been torn. From top to bottom it has been ripped! What does that mean? – Only the holy ones can enter it – surely not I or even my Lord. – But – oh yes! It is torn! The holy of holies is now open – wide open to receive me! To receive the world! If the world would only accept it.

I look around me and see the crowds… those who mocked but there were some who wept. I see a group of women standing apart from the crowds. They are the ones who weep. But where are the others? Those who followed him, those who were his friends.

I cannot leave, but I cannot watch – to see that sour wine pressed to his lips. And then… He died. He breathed his last breath – oh how I wish it were my last breath. It is finished.

They come for his body – but even then, I don’t want to leave. I am tethered to this place- this place of the Cross – for that is what it has become. I see now what I know I could never see on my own. I see that heaven is not only Christ centered, it is Cross centered. I see that my only hope in life comes in being tethered to this Cross. How could it be? That this horrific death could set me free? “oh to see my name written in the wounds… For in your suffering, I am indeed free.

It’s growing brighter—on the darkest of days – the sun returns, the clouds lighten, the wind dies down and the earth is quiet. I do not know what lies ahead, but in this place – I stand. I feel my heart settling down. – My grief is so great, but there is yet a peace. You, O Lord, bore wrath meant for me, you took the blame, you became sin for us, sin for me. And can it be that I stand forgiven?  Oh – the heavens cry out that even with all else lost, there is yet, even on this dark good Friday, the enduring, even eternal power of the Cross.

The Lord’s Prayer – Gethsamane

I’ve chosen to do something different with this Lord’s Prayer. Since Jesus taught us this prayer, I can imagine his teaching rose out of his personal relationship with the Father. I see this prayer unfolding in the way I think he might have prayed in the garden on the eve of his crucifixion.

Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed by thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day, our daily bread,
And forgive us our sins,
As we forgive those who have sinned against us.
And lead us not into temptation.
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
And the glory, forever. Amen.

My heavenly Father, to whom I yield my greatest praise, you indeed are holy. More than all, I desire to see your kingdom to come in full – and you know I want your will to be done – as hard and painful as it is for me in this place, on this night. If you could spare me this… yet my being craves one thing only – Your will. In this garden Lord, I confess my great need for the strength to face what is to come tomorrow. Forgive my enemies, Father – for they don’t even know what they are doing. I have pleaded that you spare me this trial, this testing, but again, I choose You. Deliver not only me, but the whole of creation from the evil one – whose being is set only on annihilation. I will do this which You have asked of me and so bring fully into your kingdom those you have given me. “I glorified you on earth, and now I pray that you would glorify me in your own presence with the glory I had with you before the world existed. (John 17:4) May all that you have given to me receive the gift of eternal life.  Amen.

The Passover Meal

“And then came words they had not heard before.

‘Take, eat; this is my Body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’

They must have looked up, startled. What did he mean?

They must have looked at his body, and remembered how ceaselessly it had been spent and given in the toil of love ever since they had known him. How his body would be given for them on the cross, broken for his children at every Eucharist until the world’s end, they could not know yet, but as they took the bread that he gave them, and ate it in wonder and reverence, there must have been a confused prayer in their hearts that their bodies too might become bodies of love to live and die for him.”

Elizabeth Goudge, God So Loved the World

photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel