Sunday, March 28, 2010

A Long and Faithful Life

Psalm 46

1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. 6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. 7 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah. 8 Come and see the works of the LORD, the desolations he has brought on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire. 10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." 11 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah.

My father’s mother taught me by example what it means ‘to be still and know that I am God.’ She was raised Catholic but joined the Episcopalian church when she married my grandfather. For years, until she was in her 80’s, my grandmother would begin and end every day with an hour’s prayer. The Catholic Rosary’s words were ingrained in her: Blessed Mary, mother of Jesus, have mercy on me.... (This devotional is not about the theological rightness or wrongness of the Catholic prayers. I am sure most of us would agree that Mother Teresa will be seated closer to God than any of us.)

My grandmother had a heart attack when she was 89. We did not know whether she would survive as she lay in a coma. I decided to drive the six hours to Washington, DC, to spend a weekend with my father. We visited the hospital that Saturday. As we walked into the hospital room, my grandmother was mumbling. As I bent forward to kiss her cheek, I heard the words I had not heard from her mouth in several years: ‘Blessed Mary, mother of Jesus, have mercy on me....’ I smiled and immediately doubted words of prayer would be coming from my mouth if I was the one unconsciously murmuring words.

My grandmother died at the age of 91. I remember her preparing huge Sunday dinners, her taking me and my brother to the zoo, and the city sounds outside her apartment. But most of all I remember her devotion to her prayers. She was buried with her prayer book and rosary beads in her hands. She lived a long and faithful life.
God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day....


A Faithful Response: Visit/call/e-mail your grandmother if she is still alive.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Faith Sustains Us

Ezekial 17: 22-24

22 " 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. 23 On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches. 24 All the trees of the field will know that I the LORD bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. "'I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.'"

This passage may be an early messianic reference. The messiah will be for people of every kind. Or perhaps Jesus had this passage in mind when he told the parable of the mustard seed (Mark 4: 26ff). Faith only requires a tender sprig from the topmost shoots. God does the planting and nurturing and the tree produces the branches and fruit it was created to produce. The passage may also be a reference to Israel desiring to turn in upon itself and keep her faith rather than spreading Yahweh’s message. The Word of Christ is for everyone.

Just after Christmas, 1992, my family and I were traveling from Illinois to Maryland to spend a few days with my family. We were going to be a couple of hours late, so I stopped to call ahead. A baby-sitter for my sister’s three little children answered the phone and haltingly told me my brother-in-law had succumbed to the throat cancer he had been battling for two and one-half years. My sister became a widow at 28 with three children under the age of six. I remember sobbing, “It’s not supposed to happen that way!”

Today is my sister’s birthday (written for June 27, 1996). Since her husband’s death, my sister, who was a “C” student in High School, attended a two-year Nursing program and earned mostly “A”s on her journey toward the Associate’s degree. Her faith sustained her and continues to sustain her. I am proudly planning to drive up next month and watch her graduate.

Never claim your theology from one verse. Our relationship with God travels beyond the seemingly robotic image of verse 24. God does not sit up above us and push little “smite” buttons. If this is an early messianic reference, the vision offers shelter for all of us. Sometimes in the ,midst of life’s tragedies we might not feel Grace – the shadow of Grace shelters and sustains us.

A Faithful Response: Ask your brother/sister what are the top three experiences of his/her life.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

God's Creation

Psalm 8
1 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. 2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. 3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? 5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. 9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Frank Tupper taught Theology at Southern Seminary for over twenty years (he currently teaches at Wake Forest). One of his grand illustrations when speaking about the awesomeness of God is to magnanimously take a pen and place a dot on the wall of the classroom. He then proclaims we are like the dot and the large lecture room is like the universe. Then Frank tries to find the dot on the wall which is so insignificant to the rest of the room... and yet, he states convincingly: God cares intimately for each person! God is SO BIG – yet he cares for you…

God’s creation is amazing. We, being part of that creation, are also amazing. God does care for each of us. He wants us to care for his creation, also: “You make him to rule over the works of your hands” (v. 6a). We should rule over the animals and the rest of his creation as though we were the Sustainer. “All sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the seas” (v. 7-8). What else can this mean than that God also wants us to care for the fields where the beasts live and the heavens where the birds fly and the seas where the fish swim?

A Faithful Response: Share an instance in the coments area of when God’s love was very real for you.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

My Mom - Love Never Fails...

I Corinthians 13: 8-13

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

My mother passed away in July of 1992. The last few days of her life were spent in and out of a coma. Many medical professionals will tell you they are not sure what a coma patient is aware of so I occasionally read Bible passages to my mother.

I have always enjoyed I Corinthians 13 for its active articulation of love. But as I turned and began to read, suddenly my eyes filled with tears and my voice broke as I came to verse 11. “When I was a child”, I verbalized to this woman who had nurtured me since birth, “I spoke like a child, I thought like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways.” I haltingly continued to verse 12: “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.” I did not think I would see her face to face for many years and I sobbed all the more.

I believe in love that never fails. My mother’s life was her faith and her family. She did not attend college until later in life but she was a committed Christian who offered what talents she had to others in her life. She served in Vacation Bible School ten days before her death. What my mother possessed was left here but her love and memories will go on forever in our minds and with God.

“A special lady”, my father remarked as he knelt by her open casket for the last time. She was indeed. She loved me as only a mother could love a son and she introduced me to a Love greater than life itself. I will never forget my mother’s last words to me: “Love you,” she murmured softly as she drew my cheek to her lips. I replied, “You always have.”


A Faithful Response: Write a letter to your mom (if she is still alive) and tell her you love her.