Lenten Devotional – Day 27

Friday, March 20, 2015

Today’s Scripture: Luke 4:16-21

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19)

In fact, Christ's image of the Kingdom of God motivated all that He did. (Cannato, Judy, "Field of Compassion," 2010). "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose." (Luke 4:43) Jesus does not preach here-after vision but rather a here-now Kingdom of God where God's will for all of humanity is being realized by the intention of human beings to join with God in co-creativity. Precisely when and how to do that is revealed to us each day. If we are looking for the kind of activities that may be involved, we can read the account in Luke of Jesus in the synagogue in Nazareth when the words of Isaiah were read. (Luke 4:18-21). - by Maryanne Rouse

  One of the most iconic symbols of the United States of America is Philadelphia's Liberty Bell. Even for those in the nation who have never seen the bell, its unsightly crack is known by all who know anything about the bell. The crack, first appeared just after its arrival in Philadelphia in 1752, as it was being rung for the first time. The Whitechapel Foundry in London had delivered a flawed product.

  What was to be done? Sending such a heavy object back across the Atlantic for repair was a daunting proposition. A couple of local foundry men, John Pass and John Stow, repaired the crack and inscribed their own names on its side.

  All was well for the next several decades. The Liberty Bell called the members of the Continental Congress to their meetings and was very likely rung on July 8, 1776, to mark the public reading of the Declaration of Independence. In 1835, as it was being rung to commemorate the death of Chief Justice John Marshall, the crack reappeared. This time, it was not repaired. In 1865, as President Lincoln's body lay in state in Independence Hall, the bell was placed near his head. The verse from Leviticus 25:10 inscribed on its side was visible to the thousands of mourners who filed by: "Proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all the inhabitants thereof."

  Some may think it strange that such a cherished national symbol should be marred by an obvious flaw. Yet, the flaw has now become a part of its character. It is emblematic of the country itself, which is not perfect. As this line from "O Beautiful, For Spacious Skies" attests, we can only turn to God, asking that, by grace, the broken may be made whole: “America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw, Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law.”

Lenten Devotional – Day 34

Q. 88. What are the outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption?

A. The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption are his ordinances, especially the Word, sacraments, and prayer, all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.

“So those who welcomed his message were baptized, ... They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2:41-42)

“...sacraments are more plainly designated, as when they are called the pillars of our faith. For just as a building stands and leans on its foundation, and yet is rendered more stable when supported by pillars, so faith leans on the word of God as its proper foundation, and yet when sacraments are added leans more firmly, as if resting on pillars. Or we may call them mirrors, in which we may contemplate the riches of the grace which God bestows upon us. For then, as has been said, he manifests himself to us in as far as our dullness can enable us to recognize him, and testifies his love and kindness to us more expressly than by word. - Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin, Book 4, Chap. 14, Sec. 6

  They “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). The word “devoted” is a rather long, compound Greek word. It means to “be strong toward.” The early Christians were “strong toward” certain things, namely, the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking bread and prayer.” In other words, they were people of the Word and people of Community.

  Notice that the apostles and the new Christians spent a lot of time in prayer. In prayer we’re able to express our longing for a deeper walk with God. We’re able to “picture” what kind of experience we want and hope for during the day ahead. Morning prayer helps us set the tone for the entire day. Evening prayer allows us to express thanks, review the day, to look for the surprises God has left us to teach, instruct and lead us to His Holy Presence.

  The apostles as disciples in the gospels were not really known for their clarity of thought and the richness of their vision. They didn’t get it most of the time. They seldom had ears to hear what the Spirit was saying to them. But the resurrection and Pentecost changed all that. Now they taught with authority. The pieces had all come together. And the early Christians couldn’t get enough of what they had to share. They were people of the Word — unabashedly and without apology.

  And they were also people of Community. They hung out together, which no doubt was a source of strength, courage and support. They ate in each other’s homes. They sold their possessions and shared with each other. How strong is that! They knew that to find their way in the world, they needed support from the community. So they ate together, prayed together, studied together, and no doubt began to observe the sacraments together.

One Strange Herd

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — Jews or Greeks, slaves or free — and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. … Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” (1 Cor. 12:12-13, 27)

   One day, my grandchildren wanted me to watch the movie, “Ice Age.” “Ice Age” is an animated movie about a wooly mammoth named Manfred, a sloth named Sid, and a saber-tooth tiger named Diego. These three unlikely companions discover a little boy and unite on a common mission to return the baby to his father.

  While on their journey they realized that they are on top of an erupting volcano, which was melting the glacier bridge on the ice field. Diego jumps to reach the others and falls short, he loses his grip and falls. Manfred unwilling to let Diego perish leaps into the chasm and tosses the tiger to safety. Diego is moved by Manfred's compassion, courage and sacrifice in this dangerous rescue.

  “Why did you do that?” Diego asks. “You could have died trying to save me.”

  Humbly, the mammoth responds, “That's what you do when you're part of a herd. You look after each other.”

  Reflecting on the circumstances that brought these three together, Sid muses aloud, “I don't know about you guys, but we are one strange herd.”

  Whenever I think of the church, I often think of this odd collection of individuals God has called together for His purposes to become His church, “this one strange herd.” The church is called out into the world by Christ as a expression of all that is good, acceptable and perfect in God's sight. God is His wisdom calls together the strangest collection of people full of failures, faults, sins and shortcomings but still remains confident that we can become Christ's church.

  Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his book, “Life Together” speaks about this one strange herd, “If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have been placed, even where there is no great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith, and difficulty… then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Christ Jesus.”