2007 LENTEN
REFLECTION
Week following First Sunday in Lent
Acts 10:1-48
"But Peter said, ‘By no means, Lord; for I have
never eaten anything that is profane or unclean.’ . . . but God has shown me
that I should not call anyone profane or unclean."---Acts 10:14, 28b
God goes about changing hearts in many and varied ways.
This week’s example is Peter. Read
Acts 10. At this point Peter is
clearly the leader of the church. Now
God is about to do a new thing by including the Gentiles in the Kingdom of God.
However, Peter, had been raised to believe that he should
not associate with Gentiles because they were unclean.
So God had to change Peter’s heart so that he would do something
contrary to his current understanding about being a faithful follower of God’s
way.
To prepare Peter for this radical new departure God hits
Peter with a double whammy and then confirms it by a second double whammy.
In the first double whammy, God sends Peter a dream or vision about
eating all kinds of food, and then messengers from a Roman Centurion show up
inviting Peter to come to the home of a Gentile.
Luke tell us that this is more than coincidence.
This is God’s providence at work.
Peter realizes that the dream is about more food.
When Peter repeats the words of his vision in his opening statement to
Cornelius, it is clear to us that Peter knows what is going on.
Now God is about to confirm to for Peter and to those who accompanied him
that this radical step is God’s. The
second and confirming double whammy comes with Cornelius’ report about his own
vision and the falling of the Holy Spirit on the gathered Gentiles.
When Peter orders that the household of Cornelius be
baptized it is manifest that Peter recognizes God’s hand at work here.
We know that Peter’s heart has been changed by looking at what he does.
What can we learn from this?
(1) God will use several different ways of getting the message across to
us and will confirm it again and again. (2)
The evidence of a changed heart comes in changed behavior.
(3) God’s ways are not our ways. (see Isa. 55:8-9)
Prayer:
Lord God, show me your ways that I may learn to follow.
Amen.
2007 LENTEN
REFLECTION
Week following Second Sunday in Lent
Acts 16:6-15
"When they had
come opposite
Mysia
, they attempted to go into
Bithynia
, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow
them. . . . During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of
Macedonia
pleading with him and saying, ‘Come
over to
Macedonia
and help us.’"
--Acts 16:7, 9
Last week we looked at how God changed Peter’s attitude.
This week we will examine how God changes Paul’s heart by changing his
intentions. Read Acts 16:6-15.
Paul is at the beginning of his second missionary journey.
He is returning to churches he planted to report the results of the
Jerusalem
council. But when Paul and his
companions try to go to other parts of what we now call
Turkey
, Luke relates that “the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.”
Luke does not tell us how they were prevented from going north.
Maybe there was snow in the passes. Maybe
somebody got sick. Maybe the roads
were unsafe and no caravan to provide protection was going that way.
For whatever reason Paul could not go north. and Luke saw that as God
closing a door. But when that door
had closed, another soon opened. Prevented
from going north Paul continued west and soon reached the coast opposite
Greece
. Here he had a vision of a
Macedonian man asking for help. Paul,
prodded by God, changes his plans and now sets out for
Europe
.
My grandfather, who was a Presbyterian pastor, talked often
about how God’s providence works through the opening and closing of doors.
The family tells how all through
Westminster
College he had always gotten summer jobs easily.
After graduation he was deciding between medical school and seminary.
To afford medical school he needed a summer job that year.
That summer he could not find one and went to seminary.
My grandfather always saw his failure to get a job that summer as God’s
closing one door to him in order to open the other.
My son Jeremy was engaged to Bernice, a Covenant Player
from
Canada
. She had been sent to
Europe
that fall, and he requested to go in January. She
came home for Christmas and never returned to Covenant Players, breaking their
engagement in the process. Jeremy’s
reason for going to
Europe
had disappeared, but he went anyway and met Marie, his wife, a year later in
Germany
. God closed one door for him, his
marriage to Bernice, but opened another soon after.
Sometimes God closes doors and we beat our heads against
them. Soon we settle for something
like what we originally intended, only to discover that it is not at all what we
expected. Not to pay attention to
what God is communicating by closing doors is to set
ourselves up for continuing regrets.
What can we
take away from this? (1) When
intentions are frustrated and plans go awry, we should consider whether God is
closing doors to us in order to prepare us for other things.
(2) God often works through very ordinary happenings, like snowstorms and
airport delays or broken engagements. (3)
When secular eyes see coincidence at work, the eyes of faith see providence.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, open my eyes to see your hand in the events of my life.
Amen.
2007 LENTEN
REFLECTION
Week following Third Sunday in Lent
1 Samuel 25:2-42
David
said to Abigail, "Blessed be the Lord,
the God of
Israel
, who sent you to meet me today! Blessed be your good sense, and blessed be
you, who have kept me today from bloodguilt and from avenging myself by my own
hand! For as surely as the Lord the
God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had
hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there would not have been left to
Nabal so much as one male." –1 Samuel 25:32-34
David’s
heart was set on revenge. Read 1
Samuel 25:2-42. God had other plans.
God’s messenger to David was not a heavenly being or a vision, but the
wife of the man who had insulted David. Her
quick thinking not only saved her household from destruction, but also saved
David from incurring bloodguilt. The
past two weeks we saw that to change a heart may mean changing attitude or
intention. This week we focus on the
means God used to change David’s heart.
From
David’s recent encounter with Saul (see 1 Samuel 24) we know that David could
forego vengeance. This time,
however, David had fury in his heart, and was ready to slaughter not only Nabal,
but also all of the men in Nabal’s household.
Because David would not kill a woman out of hand, only Abigail could stop
him.
Abigail
was an intelligent woman married to a fool.
When she heard how her husband had insulted David’s men, she knew
immediately what the probable consequences would be.
She set out to stop David. Their
encounter on the road is a gem of storytelling.
Abigail is portrayed as a woman willing to risk everything on behalf of
her family. Her speech to David can
be read as sheer flattery, but in the context of the broader story it is a true
account of what God intends for David.
Abigail,
by her actions, changes David’s heart by bringing him back to his true self.
David, in his response to her, shows his understanding that in the end it
was not just Abigail, but God working through her, that changed his heart.
God
often works through people to change hearts.
John Calvin, the French theologian who is the father of Reformed
theology, was on his way to
Strasbourg
when he stopped overnight in
Geneva
. Farel, the leading preacher in the
city, heard that Calvin was in town and visited him.
He persuaded Calvin to remain in
Geneva
by declaring it to be God’s will that Calvin help him.
Calvin stayed and became the leader of the Protestant Reformation in
Geneva
.
Martin
Luther King, Jr. had come to
Montgomery
,
Alabama
, planning to be pastor for a few years before he moved to a college
professorship. E. D. Nixon, a local
union head and civil rights leader, goaded King into accepting leadership of the
Montgomery Bus Boycott. Nixon was
God’s agent in changing King’s heart.
Most
of us can name people in our own lives who have been catalysts for changes of
heart on our part. Thank God for
them.
Prayer:
Holy Spirit, move in our hearts that we may respond to those you put in our
path. Amen.
2007 LENTEN
REFLECTION
Week following Fourth Sunday in Lent
Acts 16:11-15, 40
A certain woman named
Lydia
, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of
Thyatira
and a dealer in purple cloth. The
Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.
When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, "If
you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home."
And she prevailed upon us. --Acts
16:14
-15
Two weeks ago we looked at this passage with our focus on
Paul and his change of plans which were occasioned by the intervention of the
Spirit. This week our subject is
Lydia
. Luke tells us that the Holy Spirit
opened her heart to listen to Paul’s message and that her heart was changed.
How do we know that her heart was changed?
We know because of her behavior. Read
Acts 16:11-15, 40.
Luke tells us two things that she does and implies a third.
First she and her household are baptized.
“What?” you say, “lots of folk are baptized and that is the end of
it.” Maybe now that is the case
but back then this was a serious step. But
even so, had it stopped there it would have meant little.
After her baptism
Lydia
offers hospitality to Paul and his companions.
Her home then became their headquarters for their work in
Philippi
. Given that she was a businesswoman in a lucrative trade she could afford to
practice hospitality. However, given
the controversial nature of her guests, it is quite possible that her
association with Paul and his companions could hurt her business.
Lydia
herself saw the connection between faith and action (or, to use the theological
terms, justification and sanctification) for she said, "If you have judged
me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home."
The third thing that
Lydia
does is to host the church in her house, most likely becoming a leader in the
church at
Philippi
. Verse 40 reads: "After
leaving the prison they (Paul and Silas) went to
Lydia
's home; and when they had seen and encouraged the brothers and sisters there,
they departed." That it is at
Lydia
’s home that Paul and Silas see and encourage the brothers and sisters (the
members of the church), implies that
Lydia
’s home is their meeting place.
Lydia
’s willingness to risk her standing in the community and her business in order
to be a leader of the fledgling Philippian church is the sure sign of her change
of heart.
John Calvin, the leading founder of the Reformed faith, was
clear that justification and sanctification belonged together.
In his commentary on Mathew 12:7 he said, "Believers truly worship
God by the righteousness they maintain within their society."
Jesus said, "By their fruits you shall know them."
Paul was clear that change of heart is exhibited in a life lived by the
fruit of the of the Spirit which is "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." (Galatians
5:22-23a)
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, may your Spirit sanctify me so
that I may live by the fruit of the Spirit.
Amen
2007 LENTEN
REFLECTION
Week following Fifth Sunday in Lent
Jeremiah 20:7-13
O Lord, you have enticed me,/ and I was enticed;/ you
have overpowered me,/ and you have prevailed./
I have become a laughingstock all day long;/ everyone mocks me. . . .
But the Lord is with me like a dread warrior;/ therefore my persecutors will
stumble,/ and they will not prevail./ They
will be greatly shamed,/ for they will not succeed./ Their eternal dishonor/
will never be forgotten. --Jeremiah 20: 7, 11
The longer he spoke God’s word of judgment on
Jerusalem
the more isolated Jeremiah became. Family,
friends, colleagues, even his church turned against him.
Sometimes he even felt that God was against him.
Read Jeremiah 20:7-13.
Jeremiah’s prayers of lament in chapters 11-20 show
Jeremiah’s struggle with his vocation and with God.
Here he effectively accuses God of raping him.
What kind of change of heart will enable Jeremiah to continue his
vocation in the face of this kind of despair?
What Jeremiah needs above all else is the reassurance that in the midst
of the struggle God is with him? This
prayer gives us Jeremiah’s affirmation that God is with him.
He concludes that lament with a fragment of a hymn of praise, convinced
that because God remains with him he must prevail.
The text does not tell us how Jeremiah came to know that God is still
with him. All we have are the
results of the change of heart that allowed Jeremiah to continue his prophet’s
role.
Other people have tried to describe what has happened to
them when they have received reassurance from God.
Martin Luther King, Jr. talks about a day in the midst of the
Montgomery
bus boycott when all seemed lost. A
bomb had even been thrown on the front porch of their home.
King sat in the kitchen that night trying to compose his resignation from
the committee that was leading the boycott when suddenly he felt a great peace
come over him and a sure sense of God’s presence filled him.
He knew from that moment that God was with him in his struggle for
justice for his people.
How many times have you heard someone describing a
particularly difficult time in their life and then have them say, “If God had
not been with me, I don’t know what I would have done.”?
It is when our own resources are totally exhausted that we need
desperately to know that God is with us. That
is when “change my heart, O God” is a cry of dereliction asking for the
assurance of God’s presence to get us through.
Prayer: Ever-present God,
in the midst of trouble and sorrow assure me that you are with me always.
Amen
2007 LENTEN
REFLECTION
Holy Week
Mark 2:1-12
When Jesus saw their
faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
--Mark 2:5
A change of heart takes many forms.
There can be a change in attitude or intention.
God can bring about the change through dreams and visions, through other
persons, through circumstances or through an assurance of God’s presence.
This week’s story about Jesus tells of a powerful tool for changing
hearts, the offer of forgiveness. Read
Mark 2: 1-12
They came looking for healing for their friend who could
not walk. Digging a hole in the roof
was a little drastic, but they were concerned for their friend.
Opening a hole in a sod roof big enough to lower a man through would have
caused a lot of debris to fall into the room below.
Jesus had to know what was going on, so he had plenty of time to prepare
his response.
What Jesus did surprised everyone.
Jesus already had quite a reputation as a healer.
I am sure most there would have expected him to reach out and heal the
man. Instead he sees their faith and
says to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Imagine yourself the man lying on the mat.
"All this trouble," you are thinking, "and all he does is
tell me my sins are forgiven. I came
here because I want to be able to walk again."
As it says elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus sees what is in
our hearts. He knows what we need at
the very depth of our beings. A new
beginning means that the old needs to be cleared out of the way.
Forgiveness does that. It
clears the way for a change of heart. Without
forgiveness old hurts and slights, both real and perceived, pile up like plaque
in arteries until the flow of blood that keeps the relationship alive is
blocked.
The most powerful witness that any congregation can make to
the heart changing power of God is to practice forgiveness in its own life.
We are often so worried about defending standards that we forget that we
are about forgiveness. After the
resurrection, according to John, Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit into the
disciples and gave them the power to forgive sins.
In the story of the woman taken in adultery, Jesus showed the proper
relationship between forgiveness and correction.
He says to the woman, "Neither do I condemn you.
Go and sin no more." First
comes forgiveness and then challenge. Forgiveness
clears the way for the word of challenge to be heard not as guilt inducing
condemnation but as an invitation to live a new and joyous life of response to
the love of God.
Jesus went on to cure that man in front of the very
skeptics who said that only God could forgive sins.
The time would come when Jesus would pray for those who were putting him
on the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are
doing." This Holy Week as we
remember those very words of Jesus, may we become those who practice
forgiveness.
Prayer:
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Amen.
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