DAY 76

I BIND MYSELF TO THEE TODAY

ST. PATRICK’S DAY

Deuteronomy 30 & 31 and Mark 15:1-25

Today is St. Patrick’s Day, yesterday our city of Albany had its parade. Many had too much to drink and I found myself standing outside the Cathedral asking people not to use our lovely building (with all its convenient columns to hide behind) as a toilet.

The one police officer and I threw in the towel; I am now praying for a cleansing rain. I came in and opened to today’s readings: both dramatic. As I am typing this there is still much noise around the Cathedral. I knew this wasn’t what St. Patrick was about, but it did set me thinking about him, and today’s readings.

In the Old Testament God says “today I have set before you life and death, choose life.” Just like God to make it clear. In the New Testament the terrible ordeal that Jesus must go through in order for us to have life continues.

As I reflect on both passages I am reminded of a Hymn; St. Patrick’s Breastplate. It is a favorite at ordinations. While it is attributed to St. Patrick there is reason to believe it post-dates his life. Regardless, it begins with the verse, “I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity” – in essence it says “I bind myself to life”. It is a long hymn. Here is a link to it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxA2zOSAuxc

The second verse continues, “I bind unto myself today…His death on the Cross for my salvation…” It is the verse about Jesus’ life. I bind myself to Him today.

God is suggesting to the Israelites today that they choose life. The Gospel presents that Jesus is Life and for us to have life we must be “in Him”. We must, in the words of the hymn, bind ourselves to Him who is Life. It doesn’t make what is taking place around the Cathedral more acceptable, it does however help with perspective. I need to keep the big picture. I need to make sure I stay bound to Him who is Life. I need to present to others, even when unruly, the Man of Sorrows who died for them. This is in fact what St. Patrick did in his life. He writes in his confession that he considers himself uneducated – as I read his confession it does not seem to be the case. Nevertheless his method was to be present with people as he himself was bound to God.

It seems to me as Holy Week is approaching, that binding myself to the Cross is yet again offered. It is not at first blush pleasant. All the laws of the Old Testament at first blush don’t seem pleasant either. Yet what awaits us is Life - choose life.

DAY 75

SET YOUR ANCHOR

Deuteronomy 28 & 29 and Mark 14:54-72

I grew up around boats. Nothing too large and often we would anchor. The trick was getting the anchor to hold fast in the bottom of the bay. We would throw it over the side and try and “set it” which is a short hand way of working to get in to grab hold. Often times it would slip, that is drag along the bottom.

I got thinking about anchors, and how hard it was some days to get it “to set”. I got thinking about them not because of the 14 verses of promised blessings for obedience and over 50 regarding curses. Instead I got thinking about them because of one verse, 28:47. In it we read “because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness…” these curses will come upon you. Amid all these laws we find the key: the need for joy and gladness. It is joy and gladness that will anchor in the people’s hearts their desire to serve God.

Just as there were days I had real trouble “setting the anchor” I also know we cannot order someone to be joyful. God knows that too! So how, how is anything “anchored in your heart?” Some of us would answer love. The problem is I love my wife and I love pizza. This kind of love is closer to the kind we are to love our spouses with. This is not the kind of love we see on TV shows or read about in most novels. This is “everlasting love”; the Hebrews call it hesed. You will see that phrase in the Psalms (everlasting love). It comes from a lifelong relationship. It comes from time invested. Think of all the time God has invested in this nation and they in God: Years, 40 years, in the desert no less.

It is also the kind of love Peter had for Jesus. It is why Peter followed even if it was at a distance. But then fear took over. Peter denied…once…then twice…then again. Peter swore and invoked a curse…on himself. Peter remembered…remembered His hesed and broke down and wept. Weeping is a natural reaction when that which anchors your heart slips. Had Peter not wept it would have indicated he didn’t care, but he did. In the midst of this terrible failure, the weeping is really some good news.

Which brings me to us, you and me: there will be days that our “anchor will slip”. Be careful not to “beat yourself up”, run to God quickly. Most of the curses seem to be associated with forgetting God as if they are no longer even trying to stay anchored. You and I know what that looks like. There certainly is no weeping involved. It is when we err and instead of claiming ownership we rationalize, we explain, we even shift responsibility. Peter didn’t and we shouldn’t – on the boat when I was growing up and the anchor slipped we jumped up, ran to the line, and simply re-set it! Sure we had drifted and often we weren’t where we suppose to be; the good news was we stopped going the wrong way.

DAY 74

UNANSWERED PRAYER

Deuteronomy 25, 26 & 27 and Mark 14:27-53

While he was still speaking, Judas came…and so it begins with betrayal. I wrote about the weight of Gethsemane when we read Matthew’s account of this night. Today I want us to consider our moments…our moments when the prayers we have offered are seemingly unanswered. We all have them. They range from hospital waiting rooms, to school rooms, to the workplace. This night in Gethsemane was such a night.

Have you ever thought about this fact, the fact that God the Father said “no” to God the Son’s request. C.S. Lewis wrote of this situation. He most likely knew it well. His wife died of cancer. I know right now this might be hard for some to read because unanswered prayer is not some theoretical situation we gaze upon. No, unanswered prayer is a reality we all experience in some of the hardest moments of our lives.

“Some things are proven by the unbroken uniformity of our experiences. The law of gravity is one example. Now even if all the things that people prayed for happened, which they do not, this would not prove what Christians mean by the efficacy of prayer. For prayer is a request. The essence of request, as distinct from compulsion, is that it may or may not be granted. And if an infinitely wise Being listens to the request of finite and foolish creatures, or course He will sometimes grant and sometimes refuse them. Invariable “success” would not prove the Christian doctrine at all. It would prove something much more like magic – a power in certain human beings to control, or compel, the course of nature.

There are, no doubt, passages of the New Testament which may seem at first sight to promise invariable granting of our prayers. But that cannot be what they really mean. For in the very heart of the story we meet a glaring instance to the contrary. In Gethsemane the holiest of petitioners prayed three times that a certain cup might pass from Him. It did not. After that the idea that prayer is recommended to us as a sort of infallible gimmick may be dismissed.” (C.S. Lewis The World’s Last Night and Other Essays).

What then of prayer? Lewis has certainly dealt with the situation of “ask and it shall be given you” (cf. Matthew 7:7). Prayer, for me, is more than a request; it is my heart reaching out to God’s – and I believe God’s heart unites with it. Have you ever had a loved one come to you, tell you about a situation, a situation you could not “fix”. I think we all have. Has not your heart broken? If we as “finite and foolish creatures” have our hearts linked to those we love, then how much more will God’s unite with, and feel with, ours? Prayer is union with Him who loves us. This night in Gethsemane I believe the Father was completely there.

DAY 73

JUST TELL ME HOW

Deuteronomy 22, 23 & 24 and Mark 14:1-26

“Just tell me how…” has often been my prayer to God, “Just tell me how to be a Christian in the middle of the zaniness of my life!” I wonder if that is what the people are thinking in our Old Testament passage. Their life is a bit crazy. They are moving around, going into a new land, learning to farm, and more. On top of all that there are all these laws. As I first read them I struggled a bit with them (as I have in the past). I was thinking, “Do I really believe all these, is this what God really wants…?”

I conclude the wrestling is good. I am the guy who has stated that I am really trying to “live under the authority of Scripture”. So if I say that, then I need to work through these difficult passages. Then it hit me. Do I really want God to tell me every exact detail, look at how I am wrestling with the detail he gave the people in the Old Testament. Maybe this path of following Jesus is actually better because when our forebears had all the rules, they got it all mixed up.

That doesn’t mean the detail is wrong for their culture. In the middle of all that detail I see justice. Stoning people is not what I am talking about and the difference between how men and women were treated in the culture of that day certainly rubs me the wrong way. Yet peppered throughout it we find pretty unique laws for their day and age. Consider the one where if a woman is abused and there is no one to hear her plea for help then she is to be protected by the law. I don’t think the other cultures surrounding this new nation would have that kind of a law. Then there are all the laws about not exploiting the poor, not charging interest, etc.  There is a fair amount of decency in the middle of this long list; decency that was new to the world.

Mark’s Gospel today is full of important moments: the woman who anoints Jesus, Judas’ betrayal, the Passover, and Jesus’ institution of Holy Communion. Where do I begin? Let’s try and look at these four moments together. The anointing by Mary (Luke’s Gospel identifies her as Lazarus’ sister) is a remarkable pouring out of herself in worship of Jesus – and it is the exact opposite of Judas’ actions – extreme worship versus extreme betrayal! Then there is Jesus. He knows He is being anointed for burial and He knows He is being betrayed. His actions and concerns? He wants to celebrate a festive meal…you might say, “Really”. His answer, “Yes, really, go and get it ready, the Passover.”

He wants to do this because He wants to institute the new meal of freedom. That is what the Passover meal celebrates; the Exodus, the meal that took place before the march to freedom. Here we are having that meal the night before Jesus delivers us from all that enslaves us. And He does it while one worships and one betrays.

The witness of Jesus’ actions set in the contrast of those two extremes brings me back to the ANSWER to my question, “Just tell me how to do this…” Yes there are things that I need to do, but there is a starting point, and it is not with me, it is with Jesus. The first thing I need to “do” so that “I can do this Christian life” is to surrender to the reality that Jesus does it first – and what He does is everything – He and his mission will not be distracted by either the worship or the betrayal. In other words God is not distracted from His Love for you by what you are doing. He doesn’t love you more or less based on what you do. He has already done it.

The Christian life therefore begins not with doing, but with not-doing, with sitting and receiving; and with trusting that God really does have it all “covered”. Isn’t that the point of this big Old Testament story we are in the middle of? Isn’t that what God was asking them? First, first receive what God is giving – first trust God. The same is true for me (and you).

DAY 72

ON WATCH

Deuteronomy 19, 20 & 21 and Mark 13:21-37

Great concern for justice (cities of refuge, property markers, being a witness, being unwilling to fight in a war, female captives and rights of loved/unloved sons) and an odd little thing about trees (20:19-20). Yet it is Mark that I wish to spend most of my time on. I used to “stand watch”. “Standing Watch” or being “On Watch” was the phrase that was used to describe me being at my station and doing my job. Jesus today talks about being on-watch and staying awake. In my case to be “on-watch” meant you were trained and ready for all sorts of situations.

In Mark we continue in the reading which is largely about the Temple and its destruction. I want to suggest we pause and think about that for a moment. Tomorrow and the day after we will turn into Mark’s account of Jesus' last few days; there will be lots of action. You may even be finding these New Testament passages a little obscure and a little difficult, after all the Temple’s destruction was long ago.

There is a point to why Jesus is taking time with his disciples. They need to know: that the Temple will be destroyed, what to expect concerning some alarming happenings around that cataclysmic event, and in fact what they should be on the “look out for”. He is preparing them for being “on-watch”. And this is a big deal…quite possibly one of the biggest deals they will face after His death and resurrection because it has to do with the Temple.

I cannot over emphasize the importance of the Temple. You have been reading in the Old Testament about how God is choosing and shaping a people, His People. They are to be His Ambassadors’ to the world. The Tent of Meeting which you have faithfully read about in great detail is the predecessor of the Temple – yet the Temple is much grander. It represents God’s presence, His power, and more. Day after day sacrifice is offered in the Temple for the people.

If I asked you what is the central symbol of your faith you might say “the Cross”. I would. For me it is the empty cross. I have crucifixes (crosses with an image of the marred and suffering Body of Christ). I prefer an empty Cross because it reminds me both of the sacrifice and the victory of the resurrection. (sorry for that digression)

Now if you asked a Jewish person what the central symbol of their faith was they would say, “The Temple”. Remember how yesterday the disciples commented to their Jewish Rabbi Jesus about it! Jesus by all his comments, parables and actions (especially this last week in the Temple) is pronouncing judgment on it and prophesying about its destruction – this is huge.

What will become clearer in the days to come is that He is replacing the Temple with himself. He is the sacrifice. He is the means to God. He, by His Spirit will dwell not in a stone building, but in the temple of the human heart. He, Jesus, who is the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity will fulfill all the Temple was meant to and more; did I say HUGE!

So  Jesus is saying - pay attention. The bit about the fig tree is Jesus saying to his disciples (and not a forecast of the end of the earth) “you and I know when summer is coming; we can read the signs – so pay attention.” He says this generation will not pass away until it happens and He was right – in 70 AD the Temple was destroyed.

So what might there be for us, today, in this passage. I am suggesting it is not about the end of the world, but rather the destruction of the Temple. I think two very important things come to us today. The first I have spoken about regarding all the Temple stands for Jesus will now stand for. I cannot overemphasize this – look for all the symbolism in Jesus’ coming days.

Next, we must remind ourselves that we are on call to be alert; we are on-watch. The New Testament tells us other places that the judgment that fell on the Temple is a foretaste of the judgment that will fall on the entire earth. And in this second case, the New Testament says there will be no signs (so let’s stop trying to predict). So you are on watch!

DAY 71

PERSECUTION

Deuteronomy 16, 17 & 18 and Mark 13:1-20

It is estimated that every five minutes a Christian dies for their faith – one such man faced the threat of execution in Iran this week and garnered United Nations attention. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/03/13/iran-denies-christian-pastor-faces-execution-for-offending-islam/executed in Iran this week.

Mark 13:1-20 is often seen as a text that talks about the end of the age: full of details about facing people who oppose you. A careful read is needed; we need to stay close to the text. Jesus has just been in the Temple and in fact his disciples just pointed out how wonderful the Temple was. Jesus’ response?

Before we get to that answer, let’s ask, “What does the Temple stand for?” Not, “What should it stand for?” but rather “What is it actually standing for?” The answer is that it stands opposed to the Kingdom of God. It stands against justice and peace. It stands not as a “Light to the World” but rather as a self-serving source of nationalistic pride.

Should it therefore be admired? What might happen to something that was built at God’s direction when it losses the mission? With this situation framed, let’s return to Jesus’ response: “There will not be one stone left upon another…” He sees into the future the desolation of the Temple. It happens in 70 AD and the historian Josephus provides gruesome details. As Vespasian comes to the throne in Rome, Jerusalem is put under siege by his stepson Titus. They are starved. Josephus reports they ate their children. They fought over food and Jew killed Jew. Titus enters Jerusalem, burns the Temple, destroys the city and crucifies thousands of Jews…not one stone left.

Is this passage a prediction of the end of the world? It certainly was an accurate prediction of what would happen in the disciples’ lifetime to the Temple and to Jerusalem. What is Jesus’ point?

Let’s go back to the opening scene and then the question. The disciples tell Jesus how wonderful the Temple is. Jesus tells them not one stone will be left. They ask “When?”

His answer, “Don’t be led astray”, then he describes how bad things will get, and speaks to them about how they should respond when faced with persecution.

I think the point of this chapter for us, for all who will find themselves in situations where powers oppose the message of the Kingdom of God, is that it will get pretty bad. It did in Jerusalem. It will where we are. Don’t panic, don’t be led astray. Don’t worry when you go to trial…all of these things are the “birth-pangs”. What do “birth-pangs” lead to? New life.

Jesus has come to give new life and to inaugurate a new Kingdom. We live in a time when the Kingdom of God, its message and its power are spreading, but it is far from complete. We also live amid strife and even persecution because there are powers and principalities that oppose this Gospel of Love.

The result is much of what we read about today. More Christians died in the 20^th century then in the total of the 19 prior centuries combined. Currently the estimate is that one Christian dies for their faith every 5 minutes. Pray for the persecuted Church.

I know most of us who are reading this will not face such grave dangers. Praise the Lord for that. The question is “Have you been silenced?” The pressures in the Western world, the need for caution, the fear of promoting violence, and in fact the unsophisticated rudeness by Christians has in many ways silenced us. Pray we find our voice. Pray our hands of love reach those who are lost. Pray for the world. 

DAY 70

SCULPTING

Deuteronomy 13, 14 & 15 and Mark 12:28-44

In the readings of the Old Testament we again see God instructing and shaping his people. He is laying a lot on them. What to eat, what not to eat. He is chiseling or sculpting them into His people. There is amazing compassion in the law about the poor. Consider where it says, “there will always be poor among you” and then this phrase is surrounded by debts being cancelled, slaves being freed, not being sent away empty handed, etc. I think as humans we need help being shaped into caring for those in need. Still, it is amazing to ponder the spectrum from the rather stringent requirements about clean food, to the compassion for the poor.

The Gospel has a similar spectrum: we start with the Shema which we studied a few days ago and then we see it in action in the widow. The sequence in the text (as you know) is one that goes from the Greatest Commandment (where Jesus quoted Deuteronomy) to the question of “Who is the Christ?” and Jesus stumps them by quoting a Psalm, to Jesus then cautioning them about not being like the Scribes, to ultimately this amazing widow.

He is of course in front of the Scribes when he tells people not to be like them. He is not the author of the book How to win friends and influence people…although he is the author of The Book. I mentioned yesterday that it is about passion; this widow has it. It is about living the Great Commandment. The challenge is to do so not begrudgingly out of obligation, but rather out of response to God’s great love for us. Love the Lord your God; love is not a begrudging action…and yet for me to properly love means I need to change. I need to have chiseled off of me some hard and unhealthy attitudes. I need to have parts of my judgment sculpted and shaped into form with God’s.

It is his great love that is in operation in Deuteronomy. He is trying to shape and protect this very new nation that is to carry the message of God to the world. In Mark it is the same. Amid all the questions and all the tension of Holy Week in the Temple, Jesus calls his disciples over to him and points out the widow. He is not doing this in front of the people questioning him. It seems as if he has been able to “duck-out” for a moment and just watch. He is (and has been for three years) trying to shape and protect the twelve that will carry his message to the world. He finds a terrific teachable moment of the Great Commandment in the widow and seizes on it to share with his followers. He doesn’t want to waste an opportunity to help them.

The same is true for us. He doesn’t want to waste any opportunities to shape and sculpt us. So I am thinking what moments did He present me with this week which might be exactly for that purpose – how about you?