The Hatred of the World

  • March 25, 2015
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  • Bethany Jenkins

Today: A Lenten reflection and prayer guide to prepare our hearts and minds for Holy Week. Curated by Bethany Jenkins.

John 15.18-20
[Jesus said,] “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.”

Lenten Morning: Letter to an Unnamed Prison Guard | by William Tyndale

(When Tyndale was imprisoned for clinging to his belief that “faith alone justifies before God.”)

I beg your lordship, and that of the Lord Jesus, that if I am to remain here through the winter, you will request the commissary to have the kindness to send me, from the goods of mine which he has, a warmer cap; for I suffer greatly from cold in the head, and am afflicted by a perpetual catarrh, which is much increased in this cell; a warmer coat also, for this which I have is very thin; a piece of cloth too to patch my leggings. My overcoat is worn out; my shirts are also worn out. He has a woolen shirt, if he will be good enough to send it. I have also with him leggings of thicker cloth to put on above; he has also warmer night-caps. And I ask to be allowed to have a lamp in the evening; it is indeed wearisome sitting alone in the dark. But most of all I beg and beseech your clemency to be urgent with the commissary, that he will kindly permit me to have the Hebrew Bible, Hebrew grammar, and Hebrew dictionary, that I may pass the time in that study. In return may you obtain what you most desire, so only that it be for the salvation of your soul. But if any other decision has been taken concerning me, to be carried out before winter, I will be patient, abiding the will of God, to the glory of the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ: whose spirit (I pray) may ever direct your heart. Amen.

Biographical Note by John Piper in his book, Filling up the Afflictions of Christ: “We don’t know if his requests were granted. He did stay in that prison through winter. His verdict was sealed in August 1536. He was formally condemned as a heretic and degraded from the priesthood. Then in early October (traditionally October 6), he was tied to the stake and then strangled by the executioner, then afterward, consumed in the fire. Foxe reports that his last words were, “Lord! Open the King of England’s eyes!” He was forty-two years old, never married, and never buried.

Lenten Evening Prayer: The Daily Examen
1. Opening prayer of invitation: become aware of God’s presence (2 minutes).
2. Review the day with gratitude (3 minutes).
3. Pay attention to your emotions (3 minutes).
4. Choose one feature of the day and pray from it (5 minutes).
5. Closing prayer: look toward tomorrow (2 minutes).

Today’s Readings
Exodus 36 (Listen – 4:47)
John 15 (Listen – 3:20)

Lenten Reflections
Part 3 of 5, read more on TheParkForum.org

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Kindness is Key

  • March 6, 2015
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  • Bethany Jenkins

Luke 20.17b
[Jesus said,] “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”

Psychologist John Gottman “can predict with up to 94 percent certainty whether couples … will be broken up, together and unhappy, or together and happy several years later.” What’s the key? Kindness, he says. 

“There’s a habit of mind that [the together and happy] have, which is this: they are scanning the social environment for things they can appreciate and say thank you for. They are building this culture of respect and appreciation very purposefully. [The broken up, the together and unhappy] are scanning the social environment for partners’ mistakes.”

In the parable of the tenants, a man leases his vineyard to tenants and then goes abroad. When the harvest arrives, he sends his servants one-by-one to collect fruit from the tenants. But the laborers do not welcome the servants — they beat some and kill others. 

Jesus concludes, “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’ 

“But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.”

In the face of their contempt, the landowner is kind. This is kindness — that God bore with great patience the rejection of his people, sending prophet-by-prophet until finally he sent his Son. 

“Could God, would God, overcome his cherishing, admiring, treasuring, white-hot, affectionate bond with his Son and deliver him over to be lied about and betrayed and abandoned and mocked and flogged and beaten and spit on and nailed to a cross and pierced with a sword like an animal being butchered?” John Piper asks. “If he would, then whatever goal he is pursuing could never be stopped.”

Prayer
Lord, your habit of mind is to scan our hearts for Christ. Yet we confess that we often show contempt for your kindness and forbearance, not knowing that your kindness is meant to lead us to repentance. For on the cross we see that we are so sinful that Christ had to die and so loved that he chose to die. Forgive us for presuming on the riches of your kindness, and empower us to be kind to others. Amen.

Images of Faith
Part 5 of 5, read more on TheParkForum.org

Today’s Readings
Exodus 17 (Listen – 2:30)
Luke 20 (Listen – 5:07)

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This Weekend’s Readings

Saturday: Exodus 18 (Listen – 3:54); Luke 21 (Listen – 4:18)
Sunday: Exodus 19 (Listen – 4:04); Luke 22 (Listen – 7:58)

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To Be Known As Great

  • February 6, 2015
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  • Bethany Jenkins

Mark 9.35
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

I’m nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there’s a pair of us – don’t tell!
They’d banish us, you know.

How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!

–  Emily Dickinson

Our celebrity culture loves somebodies and banishes nobodies. We are obsessed with actors, athletes and, yes, even pastors. As a result, most of us – even if we are not egocentric maniacs – want to be somebodies. It may be for a fleeting moment, a few times a year, or every time we have to wait in line at a restaurant in the West Village. We long for “an admiring bog” to recognize us. Our culture says that we can become somebodies by, for example, having high Klout scores or attending prestigious universities. But what does the gospel say?

Jesus never criticized anyone’s quest for greatness. In fact, God made us in His image, and He wants our lives to be meaningful and significant. Yet something happened that distorted our pursuit of greatness. John Piper says that it has been corrupted into a longing not merely to be great, but “to be known as great” [1].

Even the disciples argued about who was the greatest among them. Jesus said, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” He then showed them that being the “servant of all” meant serving the biggest nobodies of all – children: “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.” Why children? Because children do not care about Klout scores or universities. They care about getting what they want and, when they do, they must be taught to give thanks. Therefore, as Piper concludes, “Children prove, more clearly than any other kind of people, whether you are truly great or not – whether you live to serve or live to be praised.” [2]

Prayer
Lord, we often do not pursue true greatness by being servants of all. Instead, we long for “an admiring bog” to praise us. Forgive us and crucify our impulse of self-exaltation. For we know that the greatest Somebody who ever lived came to serve, not be served. Therefore, since we want to become somebodies in your kingdom, we long to become servants of all. Amen.

Christian Identity
Part 5 of 5, read more on TheParkForum.org

Today’s Readings
Genesis 39 (Listen – 3:08)
Mark 9 (Listen – 6:16)

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This Weekend’s Readings
Saturday: Genesis 40 (Listen – 2:10); Mark 10 (Listen – 6:42)
Sunday: Genesis 41 (Listen – 7:30); Mark 11 (Listen – 3:59)

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Footnotes

[1] John Piper. “Receiving Children in Jesus’ Name.” Desiring God. 23 February 1992. | [2] Scripture referenced: Mark 9.37

Personal Forgiveness vs. Public Justice

  • January 30, 2015
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  • Bethany Jenkins

Mark 2.5
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

There is a difference between personal forgiveness and public justice. While personal forgiveness is concerned with the relationship between victim and offender, public justice is concerned with the relationship between public and offender. Sometimes, however, the line gets blurred. In our criminal justice system, for example, victims can present evidence at sentencing hearings to convey the harm they have experienced as a result of the crime in question. Although some of them express their personal forgiveness at these hearings, the criminal justice system does not encourage it because, regardless of how the victims may feel, the public has an interest in making sure justice is done. [1] 

The Jewish scribes of the first century may not have used our judicial terminology, but they did understand the difference between personal forgiveness and public justice. This is why when Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven”, they were outraged. As Mark tells us, “Some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ‘Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’” They understood that Jesus was not talking about personal forgiveness; after all, what had the paralytic done to him? The scribes understood that Jesus was offering public justice; he was speaking on behalf of God the Judge himself.

Jesus knew it too. He said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” This was God-in-charge in a new dimension. His kingdom was not just about healing physical ailments; it was also about something much more crippling – namely, the forgiveness of sins.

Prayer
Lord, our sin is our biggest problem because you love justice. In your holy presence, we confess our sins and acknowledge that our hearts are prone to sin and consciously yield to it. Yet Jesus bore our sin on the cross and, thereby, satisfied your requirements of justice. Therefore, he is able to declare, “Your sins are forgiven.” Lift up our eyes to him as we rejoice that your kingdom is about healing our crippled bodies and souls. Amen. [2]

Justice Through Christ
Part 5 of 5, read more on TheParkForum.org

Today’s Readings
Genesis 31 (Listen – 7:47)
Mark 2 (Listen – 3:54)

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This Weekend’s Readings

Saturday: Genesis 32 (Listen – 4:40); Mark 3 (Listen – 3:41)
Sunday: Genesis 33 (Listen – 2:59); Mark 4 (Listen – 5:01)

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Footnotes

[1] Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U.S. 808 (1991) (holding that victim impact statements are constitutionally admissible in court so that the victim is seen as an individual). | [2] Scripture references, in order of appearance: Mark 2.6-7; Mark 2.8-11

 

Justice and Injustice

  • January 27, 2015
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  • Bethany Jenkins

Matthew 27.13-14
Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor. 

“Are you the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked. Caiaphas, the Jewish High Priest, had brought the accusation using Jesus’ own words from the Parable of the Tenants (Matthew 21.33-45). Jesus risked losing his freedom, possibly his life, if he affirmed the charge. The religious elite likely couldn’t imagine a scenario where a man would go to that length. If he denied the charge he might escape legal consequences but, most importantly, he would lose his influence with the people. 

“The universe held its breath as it waited for Jesus’ answer,” imagines Scottish theologian William Barclay. Surely Jesus wanted justice. The trial was anything but just. Jesus’ reply to Pilate revealed an expectant and quiet trust in the face of injustice. “You have said so.” With that, just two words in Greek, Jesus spoke his first and last of the trial. [1]

Even Pilate sensed the injustice of the moment and offered to spare a man’s life as a sign of mercy. First he presented Jesus, in whom he could find no fault. Then Pilate brought them Barabbas, a known violent criminal. Jesus had already prayed to his Father, “your will be done.” The people cried out for Barabbas. In no subtle way, the freeing of the criminal Barabbas was a sign of the people’s foolishness. But it was also more than that. 

In Christ’s condemnation for Barabbas’ freedom we see a foreshadowing of everything God was working on all along.

Jesus seemed expectant for God to bring justice, even in the injustice of this world. Barabbas, whose Greek name translates “son of the father,” walked free because Jesus laid down his life. Barabbas wasn’t the only one to go free that day. All the guilty were set free through the sacrifice of the One, Holy innocent. 

Prayer
Father, thank you for giving your only Son on our behalf. He endured the worst injustice and absorbed the blow of your justice. He laid down his life, defeating sin and evil, and offered his victory to anyone who would accept. We stand in awe of your sacrifice. We want to sit under your goodness and justice. We fall at the foot of your throne and offer our lives to you.

Justice Through Christ
Part 2 of 5, read more on TheParkForum.org

Today’s Readings
Genesis 28 (Listen – 3:17)
Matthew 27 (Listen – 8:45)

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Footnotes

[1] William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, 2:392.