I read this prayer about Soul Rest today and it is worthy of passing on. It is based on Psalm 62:5-8:

Yes, my soul finds rest in God; my hope comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.

Here is the prayer:

Gracious Father, nothing compares with being certain of your love for me. The peace I have knowing I no longer have to perform or pretend with you about anything is incomporable. Today, in particular, I’m thankful for the freedom to pour out my heart to you. Because the gospel is true, I don’t have to measure or monitor my words with you. You don’t judge my prayers. You purify them as they meet you at the throne of grace. How I praise you for such standing in grace!

Here’s what’s going on inside of me today. I feel a restlessness that I cannot really attach to any one thing. There’s a floating disquiet, a nibbling anxiousness, a low rumble of dread that’s just hanging there. It could easily morph into something much bigger if I’m not connected to you in a fresh and vital way.

So today I echo back to you King David’s longing for soul rest, and I make his prayer mine. ‘Soul, find your rest in God alone! Don’t medicate with anything else. Don’t minimize or supersize your restlessness. Just go to Jesus. Go to Jesus right now!’

Lord Jesus, bring your centering presence, your stabilizing mercy, your calming peace to my soul. Kiss my heart with the gospel, and it will be enough.

You are my rock, my salvation, my fortress, my honor, my refuge, and a whole, whole lot more. I pray today with hope and anticipation.” – Scotty Smith

In this prayer I hear echoes of St. Augustine and his prayer that our souls find rest in God alone. Rest in Him today!

While there will always be some disagreement as to what happened when during these days of Holy Week, Mark 14 links to stories together that frame the events of the week.

The first picture Mark paints is that of a woman who comes to the house of Simon the leper in Bethany and anoints the head of Jesus. Now, there are several things about this that I find fascinating. First, Jesus goes to eat with Simon, a leper. This had been the pattern of Jesus throughout his life, no reason for that to change now. He is always going to those on the margins of society and extending grace.

This woman takes a costly jar of nard, and she breaks the alabaster jar and purs out the ointment on the head of Christ. Extravagant, yes! But such was the depth of her love as she had obviously experienced the grace of forgiveness which was beyond cost.  Her deed continues to be told!

The second picture also continues to be told. Judas plots to betray our Lord. Here is what I find surprising. Much of our discussion about Judas centers on his motive. He did it for the money; he was a thief; he had become convinced that non-violence was not the right path; he was afraid for his own future….

But Mark’s emphasis is not on Judas’s motive, but on his membership among the twelve. For three years he had been among the twelve. For three years he had seen the miracles. For three years he had observed grace in human flesh. For three years…

For three years Jesus had treated Judas no differently. For three years Jesus had loved Judas as he had the others. When Jesus announces that one will betray him – they do not look at Judas. Instead, they ask “Is it I?”

Holy Wednesday gives us two stories that speak to us of the grace of humility. I hear echoes to Paul’s words in 1 Cor. 4:7 – What do you have that you have not received? And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?

Aquinas said that humility is truth. It is living out the deepest truth of things: God is God, and we are not. Nouwen says that when Jesus talks about faith, he means first of all to trust unreservedly that you are loved, so that you can abandon every false way of obtaining love.” I wonder, what are the false ways we seek love?

Holy Wednesday gives us two stories that could not be more different. Such is the wonder of this week. May the grace, humility and the love of the woman be yours this day and in the days to come. May we bring to Jesus all that we are and all that we have!

Holy week is here! Holy Week is the oldest celebration in the life of the Christian Church. This is a week that invites us to remember Jesus and all the events of the last week of His life. this is a week that invites us to live in the shadow of the cross in unique ways.

As a minister, this is an incredibly busy week and I fear that in the “stuff” of this week I may lose the sense of wonder and awe this week should contain.

So, I pause to write this morning. I write in order to better remember. Yesterday was Palm Sunday – the day Jesus enters Jerusalem and sets in motion the rest of the events of this week. Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!

For our Lord, Monday of Holy week was quiet – at least as far as we know in Scripture.

I read these words from Brian Coulter a few years ago in a devotional called “Be Holy.” He writes: “…Jesus asks us to keep alert in the midst of this uncertainty. He tells us to keep this kind of holy focus…Often, though, we are pulled into the anxieties and distractions of our world. We stop trying to be holy because we are busy…or we’re scared.”

As he concludes “we do not know with certainty what the future will bring, we do know with certainty that our God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.” So, let’s keep awake and alert and look for opportunities to serve as our Lord did not come to BE served, but TO serve!

That seems like such a simple question, but I suspect there are many answers we might give. If we are honest with ourselves, we quickly fall into a performance-based mentality. God will love me if…

I am reminded of the words of the prophet Micah (words that are embroidered on one of my preaching stoles):

“With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?

7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

This morning I read in Jeremiah 7 about the people of God who thought they were good, righteous and safe because the Lord’s temple was there. But in verse 5 we read this:

For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another,

6 if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt,

7 then I will dwell with you in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors forever and ever.

This echoes the words of Micah. I wonder how we are really doing? God’s concern is one of justice. God values mercy. He wants us to welcome the refugees and strangers in our midst, not send them back. We have all the resources of the Creator God to enable us to do just this. May we become the welcoming presence of Christ to all who bear His Image.

What a great start to my day! I saw the full moon still hanging in the morning sky on my drive today. I was reminded of the beauty all around me and the joy of knowing that His steadfast love is brand new to me again this day.

Then I opened a new book of prayers (sorry Joyce Johnson) and read this prayer about pain, suffering, and hope.

“As much as I would like to tune out, numb out, and check out, the gospel compels me to keep my heart present in the overwhelming distress and dimensions of the crisis in our world. …We have only our hope that you, our God, do not lie. In the cries of a whole nation of people, in the moaning of its fragile land, you bid us hear the faint but sure cry of hope…I abandon myself to your promise that one day the whole earth will be covered with the knowledge of the glory of God; one day the barren places will have trees again and those trees will clap their hands; one day desolate hills will seem like dancing mountains…because of this hope we will not tune out, numb out, or check out. We will seek to show up. Lead us, King Jesus. Lead us into your work of redemption and restoration. What will it mean to love mercy, do justice, and walk humbly with you in the broken places of our world?”

Holy week is here! Holy Week is the oldest celebration in the life of the Christian Church. This is a week that invites us to remember Jesus and all the events of the last week of His life.

As a minister, this is an incredibly busy week and I fear that in the “stuff” of this week I may lose the sense of wonder and awe this week should contain.

So, I pause to write this morning. I write in order to better remember. Yesterday was Palm Sunday – the day Jesus enters Jerusalem and sets in motion the rest of the events of this week. I was challenged in a sermon by Dan Hutchison regarding living the Lordship of King Jesus. Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!

For our Lord, Monday of Holy week was quiet – at least as far as we know in Scripture. But, there were a few events that took place. As Jesus is on his way back, after spending the night at Bethany, he sees a fig tree that has no fruit on it. Mark reminds us that it was not the season for the tree to have fruit, so it was an unusual comment by our Lord.

If we do not connect it to the next scene – that of the cleansing of the temple – Jesus appears to be simply a petulant man, angry because he was hungry. But the fig tree is connected to the cleansing of the temple. As temple worship had become barren and empty, so too the fig tree.

I read these words from Brian Coulter a few years ago in a devotional called “Be Holy.” He writes: “…Jesus asks us to keep alert in the midst of this uncertainty. He tells us to keep this kind of holy focus…Often, though, we are pulled into the anxieties and distractions of our world. We stop trying to be holy because we are busy…or we’re scared.”

As he concludes “we do not know with certainty what the future will bring, we do know with certainty that our God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.” So, let’s keep awake and alert and look for opportunities to serve as our Lord did not come to BE served, but TO serve!

Some of my dear friends think Ash Wednesday and Lent are not for the Reformed church. I could write much on this idea, but want to simply focus on Ash Wednesday since that is coming in a few days.

Do we need to be reminded of our mortality? Scripture bids us often to be heavenly minded. We are exhorted to not set our affections on things on earth. We are told that while God is eternal, this life is a vapor. We are told to number our days that we might apply our heart to wisdom.

In a day when society is enamored with beauty, fitness, living longer, and a quest for the “fountain of youth”, I find the need to be reminded of the brevity of this life a very necessary thing.

I can get so focused on this life and the stuff of this world that I forget. I forget that there is an eternity to live for and to live in light of.  I forget that things and stuff are passing away, but there is that which remains.

Here are the words of Psalm 90:

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. 2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. 3 You return man to dust and say, “Return, O children of man!” 4 For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. 5 You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: 6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. 

Then – listen to how the writer ends the song:14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 15Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. 16 Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. 17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!

Let our work count – let it be effective for eternity. Teach us, O Lord.

Sacred Spaces – as a minister I have the rare privilege of being invited to the bedside of those who are near death. I do not know of a more sacred space in which to spend my time.

Today I had just such an opportunity. I anointed her with oil and reminded her that she was God’s child, loved by Him. In life and in death we belong to God and to our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.

When we say that, we are quoting from the Heidelberg Catechism Q1. Here it is in the full text:

What comfort is found in those words that echo over the years with the rich truth of God’s grace!

We are his! Sacred spaces… While the death bed is a sacred space, so is each day of our life if we understand and live the presence of God! In LIFE and in DEATH we belong to God.

Live this day in the shadow of the cross, delighting in the love of God and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Last year I wrote that I am one of those who still fly the flag with pride. This seems to be falling out of favor among many. I fly the flag because it is a reminder to this grandson of Swedish immigrants that this country was built on Freedom. This country continues to remain the greatest experiment of human freedom. This flag speaks to me of freedom. Freedom to welcome the stranger into our midst. Freedom to have my regular haircut by an American who is a Palestinian Muslim. Freedom to remember those who died to defend those very ideals.

Now, I grant that this has not always gone well. We have abused those very freedoms we love so dearly. We have failed to honor and love those made in the image of God. We continue to be plagued with racism. We continue to struggle with many national sins and our failures are many.

But I still fly my flag. I fly my flag because it reminds me that we live in a country where we can own our failures and be called to repentance with no fear of punishment or imprisonment.

As I fly the flag I breathe a prayer that God might shed His grace on us and lead us with the light from above.

Yes, we often live in and react from fear rather than from faith. We are prone to seek peace through violence and find security in things rather than in God. We abandon the hungry, the sick, and the homeless and we pursue wealth at all costs. Forgive us Lord for our hubris and our short-sighted behavior. Yet you love us still.

That is why as I fly my flag I breathe a prayer that God would mend out every flaw. Our sins and our flaws are many – but God’s grace is abundant and free. May God mend our every flaw!