Author: tbc

In Christ Is Life, Philippians 2:5-11

This passage of scripture tells us how Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and up to Golgatha started. It was a journey that began with Jesus emptying himself of all that was his in heaven. The next step was to take “the form of a slave, being born in human likeness” (v 7b). The journey continued, fueled by more humility as he “became obedient to the point of death-even death on a cross” (v 8). Verse five calls us to have the same mind in us that was in Christ Jesus when he began and continued the journey.

Christ-followers, this is a big part of what it means to follow Jesus. Emptying ourselves of reputation and position and entitlement is evidence of the right mind, not of having lost our mind. It is the trail head, the path of humility, the journey of Christ-following. Calling upon God’s grace, we too often opt out of this particular approach to Christianity. Lent comes around to give us a season in which to reconsider that decision.

The journey might be described in other terms for us. How does “journey from being the lord of our life to humbly imitating the life of the Lord” sound? Why would someone begin such a journey? The answer is “for the love of God, and the sake of the world.” It was Jesus’ motivation, and it just may be what separates Christianity, the movement, from Christ-following, the commitment. We are called away from the righteousness of causes and works to the righteousness of Christ. Humility seems to be the ingredient that makes the difference. Christ humbled himself and calls on those who would be Christ-followers to do the same. Salvation is a person, not a concept.

Humility, the kind found in Christ and his followers, is exalted by God to the point and end that every knee in heaven and earth should bow before Jesus and every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord. This all finally comes back around to giving the glory to God the Father. The journey is from the glory of God the Father to the glory of God the Father, and we are both called and implored to join the journey (vv 5 and 11).

In Christ is life. In Christ is the relationship with God that our hearts seem to know is needed. In Christ is peace. It cannot be found at any level, anyplace else in the world. We cannot be both sinner and savior. Jesus, fully God and fully man, could be. That’s a humbling thing-for Jesus and for us. But God exalts the humble, those whose humility is Jesus’ humility. It results in glory that is God’s glory and in life that is Jesus’ life in us, through us, and attributed to us as righteousness.

Humility: one cannot set out to attain it. One gives up the project and submits to Christ-likeness as a way of life. There is all kinds of glory in that, and it all belongs to God. Humility saves us from humiliation-that sure result of glory we would heap upon ourselves.

Let the mind of Christ be in me.

 

 

A word about the series

The Lenten season has always inspired many people to create everything from poems, art and music to a completely new direction in their lives.  This Lenten season Tabernacle will be exploring many of those creations in the hope of inspiring you to compose in a medium that is natural for you.   The paintings in the Sanctuary are of the Biblical Stations of the Cross.  The artist, Grieg Leach, completed them in 2010.  They will help us to visualize the events leading to the crucifixion of Jesus.  In addition to the paintings there is a Lenten devotional booklet, Return to Me, which is available in print or online.  The Stations of the Cross also inspired these devotions, written by Terry York of Baylor University.   Living with these two bodies of artistic expression based on the Biblical Stations of the Cross throughout the season of Lent should help us as we seek to return our lives to God by walking with Jesus though his final days.

Pray, read, think and return to God.

 

 

 

All scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible.

Copyright © 2013 Birnamwood Publications (ASCAP)

A division of MorningStar Music Publishers, Inc., St. Louis, MO

All rights reserved.  Printed in U.S.A.

www.MorningStarMusic.com.

 

My Times Are in Your Hand, Psalm 31:9-16

The psalmist is crying his eyes out. His soul and body are exhausted, and his whole life seems to be a dark cloud. His enemies, friends, and neighbors seem to have bonded in their opposition to him. Distress and depression this deep has a color to it-a deep blue gray that envelopes his entire life.

Yet this description of his current state of mind and heart is being poured out to God. The psalmist has just enough emotional energy left to ask God for a bit of grace. In fact, there is grace in the verbal regurgitation. The thought that the words have somewhere to go is a bit of grace. The hope that the words might be received at that place is a moment of relief, but the heavy darkness of mind and soul remains.

This state of being is not unknown in our time. This state of being is not unknown in the Church, and can be found in both pew and pulpit. Lent is supposed to be a season in the life of the Church that gives voice to such emotions. But, it can also be a time that seems to mock the distress, as those who do not suffer from it try to imagine it as the last days in the life of Christ are remembered and honored.

Another small burst of energy has the psalmist whisper, “But I trust in you, O Lord.” (v 14) Then comes verse 15 with its poetic turn on the word “hand.” “My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.”

Specific suggestions to God, in prayer, about how you or your loved one might be delivered, have emptied you of words. There are no more. There is some faith left, but little emotional strength and no words. At that point, we put our plight in God’s hands. “God, you love my loved one more than I do. I turn him/her over to you. God, you love me beyond description and reason. I turn what’s left of me over to you. I’ve told you how I want this problem to be solved. Now I simply give it to you.” You know this prayer. It’s often prayed in the depth of the night when you can’t sleep. The psalmist prayed a version of it in verse 15. We are not alone in this.

The One to whom we pray never sleeps. The Lord’s face will shine when nothing else will. “Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love.” These words of verse 16 constitute a prayer that will put you to sleep.

The night starts to break out in stars. The clouds move out under cover of darkness, and God’s steadfast love brings calm and peace. The problems still exist, but they are confined to the day and grasp of God’s hand. You still care and you still pray, but now under blue skies and renewed sunshine. This is deliverance and peace. This is real faith at work in real life. This is real light shining in real darkness. Enemies and persecutors, adversaries and acquaintances have to take their case to God.

“My times are in your hand” is a wonderful prayer, especially when you’ve had some hard times. See how the blue lightens in to clear skies and hope that stretches from horizon to horizon. That almost makes the darkness worth it.

I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.”

 

 

A word about the series

The Lenten season has always inspired many people to create everything from poems, art and music to a completely new direction in their lives.  This Lenten season Tabernacle will be exploring many of those creations in the hope of inspiring you to compose in a medium that is natural for you.   The paintings in the Sanctuary are of the Biblical Stations of the Cross.  The artist, Grieg Leach, completed them in 2010.  They will help us to visualize the events leading to the crucifixion of Jesus.  In addition to the paintings there is a Lenten devotional booklet, Return to Me, which is available in print or online.  The Stations of the Cross also inspired these devotions, written by Terry York of Baylor University.   Living with these two bodies of artistic expression based on the Biblical Stations of the Cross throughout the season of Lent should help us as we seek to return our lives to God by walking with Jesus though his final days.

Pray, read, think and return to God.

 

 

 

All scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible.

Copyright © 2013 Birnamwood Publications (ASCAP)

A division of MorningStar Music Publishers, Inc., St. Louis, MO

All rights reserved.  Printed in U.S.A.

www.MorningStarMusic.com.

Teaching and Learning, Isaiah 50:4-9a 

To be a good teacher, one must first and always be a good learner. You don’t have to teach very long to discover that your students are your most immediate teachers. This is true at every level of teaching, in both formal and informal settings. This truth can be humbling in a deep and enriching way, or it can lead to humiliation for the teacher who thinks they have nothing more to learn, especially from a student. Isaiah knows this and sees every awakening into a new day as a call to be both a listener and a learner. He declares that it is the Lord who opens his ear. Because of that, he listens all the more intently.

This openness to listen and learn turns violent in this passage. And we cannot read this passage without seeing Jesus at his mock trial. Jesus takes Isaiah’s openness to listen and learn to heart. Humility may well face humiliation when it confronts the haughty and insecure. Here, in this passage, and in Jesus’ living it, humility faces humiliation seemingly in obedience to God. Isaiah was not rebellious and did not hide his face from spitting. Before we can ask it, this passage of scripture answers the question of how far we have to take the humility to which God calls us.

But humiliation cannot put humility to shame because the Lord God is our help. Therefore, we can commit ourselves fully to humility in response to God’s call on our lives to teach the world about Jesus, to live the gospel, and to believe with our lives the teaching of Christ. He who vindicates us is near (v 8).

Teachers, be learners. Learn humility from Jesus, even as his humility leads to humiliation on the cross. On the cross, Jesus’ humility put sin-s humiliation to shame. Learn the truth about humility. It is costly; it is Christ-like; it is the hope of the world. We have been called to it. We are to grow in Christ-likeness. It is a humbling thought, soaked in the possibility of humiliation by a world that cannot tolerate more than small doses of humility.

 

Opponents and adversaries can rise up, but they cannot remain standing when confronted by the Lord God who is near us and helps us. The Adversary’s great victory was his great defeat-the cross. Humiliation cannot defeat humility; God will not allow it. So we wade in, living lives made ever more humble by ever increasing Christ-likeness.

Sin would humiliate us and shame us, declaring us guilty beyond redemption. But the one who teaches teachers to listen, the one who invites us into every day to learn, the one who calls us to humility is near us, with us, and helps us. And humility in us teaches the world about the shame of humiliating others in any way. How can we teach when there is so much to learn? The Lord God helps us.

Open my ears, set my face like flint, and help me.

 

 

 

A word about the series

The Lenten season has always inspired many people to create everything from poems, art and music to a completely new direction in their lives.  This Lenten season Tabernacle will be exploring many of those creations in the hope of inspiring you to compose in a medium that is natural for you.   The paintings in the Sanctuary are of the Biblical Stations of the Cross.  The artist, Grieg Leach, completed them in 2010.  They will help us to visualize the events leading to the crucifixion of Jesus.  In addition to the paintings there is a Lenten devotional booklet, Return to Me, which is available in print or online.  The Stations of the Cross also inspired these devotions, written by Terry York of Baylor University.   Living with these two bodies of artistic expression based on the Biblical Stations of the Cross throughout the season of Lent should help us as we seek to return our lives to God by walking with Jesus though his final days.

Pray, read, think and return to God.

 

 

 

All scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible.

Copyright © 2013 Birnamwood Publications (ASCAP)

A division of MorningStar Music Publishers, Inc., St. Louis, MO

All rights reserved.  Printed in U.S.A.

www.MorningStarMusic.com.

 

 

Rev. Dan Schumacher leads us in worship as we focus on Mary’s last interaction with Jesus as he hangs on the cross.

The Master-s Voice: Luke 19:28-40

This passage of scripture should sound familiar. Just yesterday, our reading in Psalm 118 foreshadowed this event. Jesus is riding into Jerusalem, under no coercion other than his love for people.

A key player in Luke’s account is the owner of the donkey colt. With no more explanation than “The Lord needs it,” the owner allowed Jesus’ disciples to lead the donkey away. What did the donkey’s owner know or sense or see? It is possible that the owner had a keen sense of what was right, a sort of Spirit-led intuition in this instance. Jesus knew that this owner would sense the importance of giving up the donkey. Somehow this suggests a spiritual bond between Jesus and the owner.

There is a spiritual bond between Jesus and every person who knows that Jesus is “the Lord” (vv 31 and 34). The simple phrase, “the Lord needs it,” resonated in the heart of the owner. For Jesus’ ministry to go the last little segment of its way, the heart of an ordinary person had to understand at a deep level that “the Lord needs it.” Don-t you wonder if the disciples were curious about the ease with which they obtained the donkey from the owner? Perhaps they just brushed off the incident as another remarkable or puzzling moment in a life of following Jesus.

Has this thought ever occurred to you: “The Lord needs this from me”? Perhaps the thought came concerning something as general as more faith or deeper obedience to his teachings. Perhaps the thought occurred in a specific instance in which someone needed your help. The voice was quiet, the nudge gentle, but unmistakable nonetheless. Such moments or notions come more often the more we listen and learn to discern the Master’s spirit in the matter. Some call it the Master’s voice.

Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a willing person’s intuitive “yes.”

Perhaps the owner recognized the disciples and knew whom they were talking about when they said, “the Lord.” Even so, their master walked everywhere he went; why did he suddenly need a donkey? That would have been a valid question, but the Lord doesn’t always check with us or answer our questions. The Lord needed it. The owner gave it to him.

It may well be that as you read this passage of scripture you sense exactly what the owner of the donkey sensed all those years ago. It’s the same Lord who asks. It’s the Lord whose ministry continues through the work of the church. It’s the Lord who still works with and through the obedience of ordinary people to complete his ministry. That’s who calls and nudges even in our time. Jesus asks us to participate in his ministry of dying for the people. We often sense the rightness of his requests, but we also often find a bit of logic to divert obedience.

Now is the time to confess this particular sin and to begin to listen and discern more carefully, to obey more readily, and to follow a bit more closely. What a privilege it would be to see our donkey in the parade.

Help us to listen and to discern your quiet nudging and urging within our hearts.

 

A word about the series

The Lenten season has always inspired many people to create everything from poems, art and music to a completely new direction in their lives.  This Lenten season Tabernacle will be exploring many of those creations in the hope of inspiring you to compose in a medium that is natural for you.   The paintings in the Sanctuary are of the Biblical Stations of the Cross.  The artist, Grieg Leach, completed them in 2010.  They will help us to visualize the events leading to the crucifixion of Jesus.  In addition to the paintings there is a Lenten devotional booklet, Return to Me, which is available in print or online.  The Stations of the Cross also inspired these devotions, written by Terry York of Baylor University.   Living with these two bodies of artistic expression based on the Biblical Stations of the Cross throughout the season of Lent should help us as we seek to return our lives to God by walking with Jesus though his final days.

Pray, read, think and return to God.

 

 

 

All scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible.

Copyright © 2013 Birnamwood Publications (ASCAP)

A division of MorningStar Music Publishers, Inc., St. Louis, MO

All rights reserved.  Printed in U.S.A.

www.MorningStarMusic.com.

 

Enduring Love: Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29

Hosanna. “Save us, we beseech you, O Lord” (v 25). This scene in the Psalm, lived out in the gospels as Jesus entered Jerusalem, has as its “sound track” the combined cries of praise and prayers for salvation. This is our experience of Lent in a nutshell. We enter the discipline of Lent with humble hearts, asking for forgiveness and restoration from the Christ who is about to be executed; yet, we remember from last year’s cycle that, indeed, salvation comes. This is not just a Lenten dichotomy; it is life itself.

Our praise pulls along some pleading, and our pleading anticipates praise in response to answered prayer. This is honest, inevitable, and human. Verse 24 tells us, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” This is at the heart of our dichotomy. This day, even if it includes difficulties and darkness, is the day the Lord has made. This day, even when it calls us to examine ourselves before God and we come up short, is the day the Lord has made. In spite of our inconsistencies, the sun continues to rise, and the Lord keeps on making new days and inviting us into them. God brings the dawn even on our dark days. God’s gift is the promise of a new day in which hope rises with the sun.

Verse 28 can be used as a prayer in protest on days when such a prayer is needed. It is a simple prayer that can be prayed into our darkness. It is a prayer that can be shouted in frustration and cried in despair. It is similar to Psalm 22:1, which Jesus prayed from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Pray the determination and stubbornness of Psalm 118:28 when you are angry with God or feel alone. Lent is a time of restored honesty with God, and God can handle it.

His steadfast loves endures forever. However much we would like to channel that love into a change agent in life’s hard circumstances, we finally rely on what it is, and rest in it. His steadfast love endures forever. It endures our distraction away from God. It endures our indifference and our doubts. It suffers with us and rejoices with us, and accepts our praise and our protest. His steadfast love endures forever.

And then the worn thin church word “forever” finally gets our notice. His steadfast love endures forever. It doesn’t miss a beat, even in death, no matter what or whose death it is-our dreams, a loved one, our own, even Jesus. His steadfast love endures forever. Go ahead; enter into life “in the name of the Lord.” His steadfast love endures forever.

“Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord” (v 26a). That is Jesus; that is Jesus in us. What a blessing to know that whatever we walk into, it can be said of us, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” Peace and strength come with us, even if pain rides along. Forgiveness and grace surround us, even if frustration is in the air.

“O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good” (v 29).

Thank you, Lord, for your steadfast love that endures forever.

 

A word about the series

The Lenten season has always inspired many people to create everything from poems, art and music to a completely new direction in their lives.  This Lenten season Tabernacle will be exploring many of those creations in the hope of inspiring you to compose in a medium that is natural for you.   The paintings in the Sanctuary are of the Biblical Stations of the Cross.  The artist, Grieg Leach, completed them in 2010.  They will help us to visualize the events leading to the crucifixion of Jesus.  In addition to the paintings there is a Lenten devotional booklet, Return to Me, which is available in print or online.  The Stations of the Cross also inspired these devotions, written by Terry York of Baylor University.   Living with these two bodies of artistic expression based on the Biblical Stations of the Cross throughout the season of Lent should help us as we seek to return our lives to God by walking with Jesus though his final days.

Pray, read, think and return to God.

 

 

 

All scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible.

Copyright © 2013 Birnamwood Publications (ASCAP)

A division of MorningStar Music Publishers, Inc., St. Louis, MO

All rights reserved.  Printed in U.S.A.

www.MorningStarMusic.com.

 

Wash My Feet: John 12:1-8

“She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial” (v 7). It might seem a bit morbid to prepare for Jesus’ burial, to keep his death in mind. But here Jesus commends Mary’s focus. The popular wisdom is that congregations are built on the happy things about Christianity. “Who,” I’ve heard it asked more than once, “wants to come to church to be made sad?” “Sunday morning should be a party.”

To be mindful of the death and burial of Jesus is to stay close to the Savior’s deepest love and lessons. This is what love will do; this is the servant’s strength. This is where humility is seen in its most intense form. The death of Jesus isn’t important just to give the resurrection its backdrop. The death of Jesus gives the resurrection its message: Love cannot be defeated.

To be mindful of the death and burial of Jesus is to keep the gift of life in proper perspective. This is not a dark dampening of joy, but an enrichment of joy. To be mindful of the death and burial of Jesus is to live with an awareness of the holiness of personal sacrifice.

But it may also be that Mary’s preparation for the burial of Jesus was not a conscious preparation. It may be simply that treasuring time with Jesus was as present to her in the days of his living as it would be in the dark days of his entombment. Perhaps she wasn’t thinking of his death, but was thinking of the richness of his life. Perhaps her act of worship was of the same reverent essence as acts of mourning would soon be. Jesus knew that Mary’s anointing of his feet would take on meaning in a short while, whether or not she knew it.

Grieving at Jesus’ death and burial is connected to the resurrection joy of our current day worship in more ways than just contrast. Could it be that our grieving at Jesus’ death and burial brings an authenticity and holy decorum to our liturgies of joy? Grieving and joy live close to each other.

Jesus and the poor live close to each other as well. Perhaps Judas needs to realize that those who anoint Jesus’ feet are most likely to give tender care to the poor as well. Humbling yourself before Jesus is great rehearsal for humbling yourself before the poor. If Judas were to practice on me while I’m here, then he might really be concerned about the poor and grant them the ministry you grant me; he might even see me in them. Are you concerned about the poor? Wash my feet. Grieve for me. Then wash the feet of the poor. Then grieve for the plight of the poor. If you do this for me, you’ve done it for them; the transition is smooth.

Could it be possible that learning how to grieve and how to serve connect us more effectively to the culture that surrounds the Church than learning how to party? Could knowing the fragrance of grief and service be of more value than knowing what ministry programs 300 denarii could finance?

Mary teaches us how to love and to grieve and to worship in one act of costly humility.

Open all our senses to the presence of life and death in Christ.

 

A word about the series

The Lenten season has always inspired many people to create everything from poems, art and music to a completely new direction in their lives.  This Lenten season Tabernacle will be exploring many of those creations in the hope of inspiring you to compose in a medium that is natural for you.   The paintings in the Sanctuary are of the Biblical Stations of the Cross.  The artist, Grieg Leach, completed them in 2010.  They will help us to visualize the events leading to the crucifixion of Jesus.  In addition to the paintings there is a Lenten devotional booklet, Return to Me, which is available in print or online.  The Stations of the Cross also inspired these devotions, written by Terry York of Baylor University.   Living with these two bodies of artistic expression based on the Biblical Stations of the Cross throughout the season of Lent should help us as we seek to return our lives to God by walking with Jesus though his final days.

Pray, read, think and return to God.

 

 

 

All scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible.

Copyright © 2013 Birnamwood Publications (ASCAP)

A division of MorningStar Music Publishers, Inc., St. Louis, MO

All rights reserved.  Printed in U.S.A.

www.MorningStarMusic.com.

 

Love So Amazing: Philippians 3:4b-14

Isaac Watts, 1674-1748, read this passage of scripture and wrote the great hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” For him, the surrendering of “things” was a spiritual concept that could only be expressed in great poetry.

Much is written about letting go of the past when the past contains guilt and failure. Not as much is written about letting go of the past because of its success and accomplishments. We speak of averting or denouncing pride with a humble hope of hanging on to past accomplishments. Paul takes the Philippian Christians and us a step further. He suggests that, “,the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus as my Lord,” (v 8) is worth the necessary disengagement from what once brought us notoriety, respect, or esteem. The call on the life of all believers is the call toward Christ-likeness. This is not something that can be grasped by one hand while the other hangs on to the glory days of the past. Letting go of the past is a “down-sizing” that results in a special kind of freedom.

Denial is not what is called for here. What is called for is surrendering all that sets us apart as unique or special in times gone by. We are called to surrender that kind of self-identification and status to an identification that can best be described as Christ in us, or Christ-likeness, that causes people to see Jesus in every aspect of our lives and worldview.

Our identity and our worldview are costly items to give up in order to follow the teachings of Jesus. We work hard to make a name for ourselves, to establish a reputation, and to gain particular influence. Give that up for the ways of Jesus? Is it really necessary in order to be a good Christian? But a careful reading of this scripture does not press us toward the goal of being a good Christian. That term has too many cultural appendices that are not biblical and are not of the gospel. We are called to Christ-likeness, and that is a much higher goal, a much more costly surrender.

From this passage we get the challenge, the image, the poetry of the phrase “press on.” This encouragement breaks us loose from the backward pull of the past. These two simple words move us beyond any thoughts of self-righteousness. By pressing on, we never fully arrive, but neither do we stop, for we push toward Christ-likeness. That is the tendency of the disciple, the prevailing wind at the Christ-follower’s back.

For Paul, to know Christ is to share in his suffering, to become like him in his death. Paul longs for resurrection as well, but he does not wish to avoid the cost of discipleship on the way. Paul’s letter, now understood to be scripture, declares that there is no commitment to Christ if there is no accompanying agreement to accept the pain of transformed living in a world that, at best, simply doesn’t understand it.

There is resurrection on this trajectory, but at this point we only long for it, lean toward it, point to it, as a poem points toward truth. Watts wrote a great and rousing hymn that never sings of resurrection. It sings of love so amazing, so divine, that it demands our all, just by its shear immensity. Watts’ poetry gives us suffering and surrender that is about to burst.

Here, Lord, I give myself away, ‘tis all that I can do.

-from another poem of Isaac Watts

 

 

A word about the series

The Lenten season has always inspired many people to create everything from poems, art and music to a completely new direction in their lives.  This Lenten season Tabernacle will be exploring many of those creations in the hope of inspiring you to compose in a medium that is natural for you.   The paintings in the Sanctuary are of the Biblical Stations of the Cross.  The artist, Grieg Leach, completed them in 2010.  They will help us to visualize the events leading to the crucifixion of Jesus.  In addition to the paintings there is a Lenten devotional booklet, Return to Me, which is available in print or online.  The Stations of the Cross also inspired these devotions, written by Terry York of Baylor University.   Living with these two bodies of artistic expression based on the Biblical Stations of the Cross throughout the season of Lent should help us as we seek to return our lives to God by walking with Jesus though his final days.

Pray, read, think and return to God.

 

 

 

All scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible.

Copyright © 2013 Birnamwood Publications (ASCAP)

A division of MorningStar Music Publishers, Inc., St. Louis, MO

All rights reserved.  Printed in U.S.A.

www.MorningStarMusic.com.

 

Experiencing Joy: Psalm 126

Oh, to be counted again among “those who dream” (v 1). There are many who have been rendered dreamless by frustration, oppression, circumstances, health, and economic crises-setbacks of every sort. To dream and to hope are signs of spiritual and emotional health. Health can be restored.

This psalm is launched from a restoration and gives testimony to dreams and laughter. Just as with dreams, laughter is not a part of everyone’s life. You may know that all too well. This psalm also acknowledges “those who sow in tears” (v 5). For some, all energy is expended through tears. Pain is universal, and so too the tears it produces. Pain is personal; it isolates us. Some do their work every day through the tears of pain-whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, it’s still pain.

But the Lord restores the fortunes of Zion, the “nation” of those who believe. This passage has been used to hustle the poor. God is not a part of such deceit. Dreams, laughter, and joy are the fortunes of this passage and this God and these believers. Financial fortunes cannot protect dreams, laughter, or joy. This is proven over and over again.

Dreams, laughter, and joy are the signs that, “the Lord has done great things” (v 2b) for someone. But God dwells with the poor and the oppressed. Jesus came to confirm that, to teach us and show us the truth of it. God being with the poor, the depressed, and oppressed is why the psalmist can pray in verse 5 with such ease and confidence, “those who sow in tears [might] reap with shouts of joy,” and in verse 6, “those who go out weeping,shall come home with shouts of joy.” God is with them.

The rich are not connected to the poor by money handed down. The rich are connected to the poor by dreams, laughter, and joy shared as gifts from God. The poor can often minister to the rich through this connection.

Verses 5-6 tell us that those who weep bear the seeds of joy. Pause here for a moment in your reading. Those who weep bear the seeds of joy.

Those who weep do so because their hearts are still capable of caring. Those who weep are those who are still capable of dreaming. Those who weep have not forgotten joy. Indeed, one who sees God at work weeps for joy. Weeping and joy are close companions, whichever one is at the forefront at any given moment. Crying for restoration can become weeping for joy. What hope is here!

“Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves” (v 6). There is a harvest for those who weep. Their hearts are soft enough to receive restored dreams and laughter and joy. They know that God is with them and that they can participate in restoration. Mercy and justice bring joy to the heart of God. They bring joy to the hearts of the oppressed and frustrated as well. God’s desires match their desires.

When those who believe are reconnected to what is in God’s heart, they will be dreamers again. They will laugh again. They will, again, experience joy.

Restore our fortunes, O Lord; restore our dreams and laughter and joy.

 

A word about the series

The Lenten season has always inspired many people to create everything from poems, art and music to a completely new direction in their lives.  This Lenten season Tabernacle will be exploring many of those creations in the hope of inspiring you to compose in a medium that is natural for you.   The paintings in the Sanctuary are of the Biblical Stations of the Cross.  The artist, Grieg Leach, completed them in 2010.  They will help us to visualize the events leading to the crucifixion of Jesus.  In addition to the paintings there is a Lenten devotional booklet, Return to Me, which is available in print or online.  The Stations of the Cross also inspired these devotions, written by Terry York of Baylor University.   Living with these two bodies of artistic expression based on the Biblical Stations of the Cross throughout the season of Lent should help us as we seek to return our lives to God by walking with Jesus though his final days.

Pray, read, think and return to God.

 

 

 

All scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible.

Copyright © 2013 Birnamwood Publications (ASCAP)

A division of MorningStar Music Publishers, Inc., St. Louis, MO

All rights reserved.  Printed in U.S.A.

www.MorningStarMusic.com.

 

It Is like Spring: Isaiah 43:16-21

Don’t empower the things of old. The things that are in the past are a part of our story; that cannot be denied. But, the Lord says through the prophet, “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (v 19)

With those words, all the past that chases us piles up in a surprised and forced stop. It’s like a scene in a cartoon. All that is chasing us stops on a dime, crashes into each other, and piles up high under the force of inertia. And there we are to leave it, a monument to God’s power to overcome anything and everything that seems to want to devour or destroy us. Then, with that work done, God speaks with the freshness of spring, “I am about to do a new thing.”

The new thing is this-God is going to make a way through the wilderness and tell the jackals that chase us to sit, “lie down.” You know the wilderness. You know the jackals. Consider the promise. God’s way is as fierce as the wilderness and the jackals. God’s way is the cross. It is God’s Son on the cross, the One who said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” Our wilderness, our jackals: they may hound us, but they are no match for God.

It’s hard to believe. We would like to believe it, but when we put this little book down, we step back into our world. In verse 19 God whispers a question into the reader’s ear. “Do you not perceive it?” Don’t you sense the little seed that wants to sprout? In the reading of the scripture passage, don’t you perceive the presence of the new thing deep in you? It’s not big yet. You can’t even describe it. But something in the scripture took root when you read the words, “I am about to do a new thing.” This is the gift of Lent. Old things are put in their place, piled up, and left behind. The process is not easy; the uprooting is a bit clumsy and messy. But ground is prepared for something new to spring up, and for a moment you sensed it. It was something like a glimpse or a whisper.

God likens it to a drink of water in the desert (v 20). The drink pushes the desert back, provides a bit of refreshing, and gives hope. Did you perceive it in the passage? “The things of old” (v 18) are “of old,” aren’t they, at least for the moment of refreshing? What if the moment could be expanded, then expanded again, then a bit more? What if the “former things” (v 18) were made to run back to their cartoon junk pile again and again until they started to stay there? It sounds like the beginning of something new. Read the passage again and pray that its promise will be applied to your life. Then read it again and pray. A way is being cut through the wilderness, one promise and prayer at a time. The junk pile shrinks on the horizon behind you with each refreshing drink.

God promises “,to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise” (vv 20b-21). Praise blossoms in the wilderness when given enough water a little bit at a time. When the jackals go away and the chase ends, there is time and breath for praise. When life is perceived to be a new thing, it is like spring.

Do you not perceive it?

God, I give the old things to you. Do a new thing in me.

 

A word about the series

The Lenten season has always inspired many people to create everything from poems, art and music to a completely new direction in their lives.  This Lenten season Tabernacle will be exploring many of those creations in the hope of inspiring you to compose in a medium that is natural for you.   The paintings in the Sanctuary are of the Biblical Stations of the Cross.  The artist, Grieg Leach, completed them in 2010.  They will help us to visualize the events leading to the crucifixion of Jesus.  In addition to the paintings there is a Lenten devotional booklet, Return to Me, which is available in print or online.  The Stations of the Cross also inspired these devotions, written by Terry York of Baylor University.   Living with these two bodies of artistic expression based on the Biblical Stations of the Cross throughout the season of Lent should help us as we seek to return our lives to God by walking with Jesus though his final days.

Pray, read, think and return to God.

 

 

 

All scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible.

Copyright © 2013 Birnamwood Publications (ASCAP)

A division of MorningStar Music Publishers, Inc., St. Louis, MO

All rights reserved.  Printed in U.S.A.

www.MorningStarMusic.com.