The Park Forum - Cultivating sustainable faith through Bible reading, reflection, and prayer. -

April 7, 2020April 6, 2020

Judas, Peter, and Satan

Scripture Focus: Proverbs 25.25-26
Like cold water to a weary soul
is good news from a distant land.
Like a muddied spring or a polluted well
are the righteous who give way to the wicked…

Luke 22.3-4, 21-23, 31- 34
Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus…

…But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!” They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this….

…“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”
Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”

Reflection: Judas, Peter, and Satan
By John Tillman

Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week are likely days on which Judas might have made his bargain with the religious leaders. Three gospel writers connect his motivation to do so to Christ’s rebuke of Judas when he complains about Mary of Bethany’s anointing of Jesus. This anointing could have occurred anytime between Sunday and Tuesday evening.

Luke and John tell us that “Satan entered” Judas (Luke 22.3; John 13.27). Some speculate that this indicates demonic possession or control over Judas. This is one possible interpretation, but we must remember that Jesus only a few chapters earlier said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan.” (Matthew 16.21-23) It is possible that Jesus was rebuking Peter with an exaggerative metaphor, but it is also possible that Jesus’ meaning was literal and Satan entered Peter to speak to Christ in the same way he entered Judas to betray him.

Demonic possession does not seem to be the intended meaning of either passage. Neither Judas or Peter behave similarly to other biblical accounts of demonic possession. It is far more likely that they were being targeted by and influenced by Satan. The outcome of this influence is determined by their response.

Christ warns Peter that he is being targeted, but that Jesus has prayed for him to be strengthened after he “turns back.” It is Peter, who later describes Satan to us as a “roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” Peter should know, as he felt that lion’s teeth in his own life.

It is dangerous for Christians to imagine Satan behind every tree waiting to leap upon us but it is also dangerous for us to imagine Satan as a metaphorical illustration or a harmless foe. Satan is a limited, yet dangerous, creature. He is not omnipresent, nor all-powerful. Scripture tells us that it is possible for us to resist him, causing him to flee. Judas and Peter are examples of two men influenced by Satan and how they reconciled or failed to reconcile with Christ.

Just as a flashlight will be aimed into the dark, any Christian who follows where Jesus directs, cannot fail to encounter evil. We are arrows being fitted for Christ’s bow. We are destined to contend with the enemy. How will we respond?

As we practice the presence of God, we are arming ourselves for the presence of evil. As we have written before, spiritual disciplines do not prevent tragedies in our lives, but they change materially how we respond.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Morning Psalm
…For with you is the well of life, and in your light we see light.
Continue your loving-kindness to those who know you, and your favor to those who are true of heart. — Psalm 36.11-12

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Proverbs 25 (Listen 2:56)
1 Thessalonians 4 (Listen -2:24)

Read more about Our Opportunistic Opponent
I doubt that the devil has horns. But the problem of considering demonic influence in our world does have two horns on which we can be caught.

Our Opportunistic Opponent

Read more about The Fragrance of Faith
Mary’s gift wasn’t practical. It was prophetic. It was a sacrificial gift. It was a lasting gift.

The Fragrance of Faith :: Readers’ Choice

April 6, 2020April 4, 2020

The Prince of Peace not Pacification

Scripture Focus: Proverbs 24.1-2
Do not envy the wicked,
do not desire their company;
for their hearts plot violence,
and their lips talk about making trouble.

Matthew 21.4-5
This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
“Say to Daughter Zion,
‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

*This week will follow the events of Holy Week in our reflections, tying them, where applicable to our daily readings.

Reflection: The Prince of Peace not Pacification
By John Tillman

After the triumph of Jesus entering Jerusalem, Monday, might seem anti-climactic to some of his followers.

During the triumphal entry, the more politically motivated and “patriotic” of Christ’s disciples must have sensed a growing momentum against the elitist immoral government. The palm branches they waved were symbols of the failed Maccabean rebellion and an expression of nationalistic, patriotic pride. Christ went out of his way to arrive in a manner that both fit this paradigm and shatter it at the same time. Riding into the city on a colt referenced a well-known Messianic prophecy and identified Jesus as the promised Messianic King. Many would also react with glee when he cleansed the temple, just as we would if authorities took down a price-gouging opportunist selling hand-sanitizer.

But on Monday all that energy seems to fizzle out. Jesus does not march on the palaces of the rich. He does not pull down and replace corrupt leaders or cast off Roman oppression. Things do not go the way people expected. In the Old Testament stories they were used to, when the king purified the temple, what followed was the defeat of Israel’s enemies and a period of political victory and peace.

Jesus, instead, remains consistent in representing the kind of kingdom he has been describing and demonstrating all along. The revolution Jesus enacts is a spiritual one and is greater than any temporal imaginings of the crowds or his more revolutionary-minded followers.

The revolution Jesus begins will defeat the enemy of Sin—a far more dangerous enemy than Rome.
The revolution Jesus begins will win a victory over death, not over human leaders who are destined to die anyway.
The revolution Jesus begins will bring to us eternal peace with God, not broker meaningless earthly “peace.”

The earthly definition of peace that we are used to is disingenuous. Like the ironically named “Ministry of Peace” in George Orwell’s 1984, we don’t want peace—we want to win wars. We want “Peace in our time” and on our terms. Many times we, like the Jerusalem crowds, might prefer a Prince of Pacification instead of a Prince of Peace.

As we anticipate Jesus’ arrival to our Jerusalem and as we follow him may we avoid the disillusionment that plagued Judas and other politically motivated disciples. Let us see Jesus as the Prince of Peace he truly is letting go of any dreams of earthly power.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
Deliverance belongs to the Lord. Your blessing be upon your people! — Psalm 3.8

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Proverbs 24 (Listen 3:47)
1 Thessalonians 3 (Listen -1:44)

Read more about Following Through Jerusalem
In our social media, drama-driven world, we often long for someone to silence our critics and win our battles. We equate winning arguments with advancing the kingdom.

Following Through Jerusalem

Read more about Tobiahs and Little Foxes
In a pre-visualization of Christ’s cleansing of the Temple, Nehemiah has to literally throw out the old baggage of the past (Tobiah and his belongings)

Tobiahs and Little Foxes

April 3, 2020April 1, 2020

Examine the Examen

Scripture Focus: Proverbs 21.1.2
In the Lord’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water
that he channels toward all who please him.
A person may think their own ways are right,
but the Lord weighs the heart.

Colossians 4.2
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

Reflection: Examine the Examen
By John Tillman

The Examen is not a prayer to change your prayer life but to change the rest of your life. The Prayer of Examen, first recorded by St. Ignatius, is a prayer that has been used throughout the Church since the 16th century. The Examen, like a good tutor, schools us in practicing the presence of God.

In this prayer, we reflect on our day, find God in the midst of everyday life, assess our motives, desires, struggles, and opportunities, and move forward into the future with repentance, faith, thankfulness, and joy.

There are many versions of the Examen. We have, over the years, published and used different versions of the prayer ourselves, including the version at this link. I have studied and used versions of the prayer from different writers and my own church pastors and find each iteration to be helpful. The Examen can be customized to fit the way you communicate with God, the time you give to it, and how you implement it and get it in your memory. The simplest, shortest way to summarize the Examen may be the following five words:
Awareness
Analysis
Admission
Acceptance
Anticipation

Below, let us follow a version of the Examen specifically adapted to the realities of life in a time of quarantine and social distancing.

Awareness:
Take a few moments to relax and release your mind from any concerns that you are holding on to. Just pause. Realize you are in God’s presence and have been continually. Even alone in your home (or surrounded and crowded by your sequestered family…), he is in our midst.

Once settled peacefully, thank God for his presence and ask for his grace to be more aware of him, especially in the next few minutes.

Analysis:
Review the past day and God’s presence with you. We may be socially distant from our friends and community, but God is not distant. When did you sense him? What opportunities did you take to interact with or act on behalf of Jesus?

Celebrate moments in which Christ’s grace, love, and righteousness shone through you. Humbly acknowledge that these moments were empowered by the Holy Spirit and not yourself.

Admission:
You will also recall shortcomings and failures. Confess sins with the knowledge that Jesus has forgiven you. Confess not just actions of sin, but motivations behind them. (Not just that you shouted in anger but that you have an unhealthy desire for dominance and control rooted in a failure to trust God…)

Acceptance:
Celebrate your forgiveness, reinstatement, and acceptance through Jesus. The good news, the gospel, is that although we fail consistently, in Christ, we are loved, accepted, and forgiven continually and that Christ is at work in and through us for our sanctification and perfection.

Anticipate:
Look forward to tomorrow, with faith and anticipation of the presence of Christ going before you and being with you.

Ask for grace to be more aware of his presence with you going forward, and close with the Lord’s prayer or another prayer chosen from scripture.

Our Father in Heaven, holy is your name.
Your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness,… make your way straight before me. — Psalm 5.8

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Proverbs 21 (Listen 3:12)
Colossians 4 (Listen -2:21)

Read more about Presence is Precious
The presence of God is a precious thing…Moses tells God, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us…”

https://theparkforum.org/843-acres/presence-is-precious/

Read more about Recalling the Failures
Christ sees more failure in us than even we know, yet he re-calls us—he calls us to himself again, and again, and again. Christ re-calls the failures.

Recalling the Failures

April 2, 2020March 31, 2020

Presence is Precious

Scripture Focus: Proverbs 20.24
A person’s steps are directed by the Lord.
How then can anyone understand their own way?

Colossians 3.15-17
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Reflection: Presence is Precious
By John Tillman

In Tuesday’s post, we referred to “breath prayers” as preparing us for the “next discipline.” While we want to make clear that we don’t feel there is a hierarchy of disciplines, with one “better” than another, some of them do tend to lead to learning another. In that sense, a “next discipline” that naturally flows from breath prayers would be “practicing the presence of God.”

That doesn’t mean it is easy or automatic. Practicing the presence of God doesn’t have a catchy name or an easy path to mastering it, but walking this path leads to a spiritual awareness and purposeful pattern of living, embodied prayer that transforms first the believer, then our world around us.

The presence of God is a precious thing in the pages of scripture. It was shown in a pillar of cloud and fire. It settled over a tent of meeting to speak to Moses. The presence of God does not mean we are sinless or perfect. Moses sinned. Aaron sinned. Joshua sinned. The presence of God is a gift of grace made available to those who seek it, recognizing it as the precious thing that it is.

Moses, in the tent of meeting, tells God, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here…What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” (Exodus 33.15-16) The presence of God distinguishes us as his people.

When we practice the presence of God, we are acknowledging that God no longer tabernacles in one tent to serve an unruly group of twelve clans. He no longer makes his home in a golden Temple to bless the rule of one nation. When we practice the presence of God we are resting and celebrating in the astounding truth that God’s Holy Spirit which filled Solomon’s Temple, now fills us. We are confessing that the Holy Spirit that fell on sinful Moses, sinful Samson, and sinful Saul, falls and dwells now upon us.

Practicing the presence of God means living as a tabernacle of the Holy Spirit, making everywhere you set your feet holy ground. Whatever you do, do in his name, and if you cannot do it in his name, do not do it. Whatever you say, say in his name and if you cannot say it in his name, do not say it.

Tomorrow we will look at one of the practical tools of prayer that can help us to carry with us our own “tent of meeting.” We can carry God’s presence into every Zoom conference and Facetime with friends. And once social distancing is in the history books, we can carry God’s presence into the world as we have been commanded.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; knit my heart to you that I may fear your Name. — Psalm 86.11

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Proverbs 20 (Listen 3:19)
Colossians 3 (Listen -3:09)

Read more about God Who Speaks
Christ makes his appeal to the world through us, so let us be appealing in the way we serve and in the way we speak.

God Who Speaks

Read more about Breathing Prayers
Repeating these prayers throughout one’s day keeps one’s mind connected to Christ, keeps one’s steps closer to his will, and readys one’s heart…

Breathing Prayers

April 1, 2020March 31, 2020

Mustard Seed Prayers

Scripture Focus: Colossians 4.2
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

Ephesians 6.18
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Philippians 4.6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Reflection: Mustard Seed Prayer
By John Tillman (Prayer by Melissa Tillman)

There are some things which electronics cannot improve—some systems in which analog beats digital. Our previous car had no power-anything. Locks, windows, and seats all had to be moved manually. When it comes to the seats, my wife and I miss the manual adjustment. One swift movement— kachunk—was all it took for us to switch drivers. With the powered seat, we have to wait, listening to the electronic motor whirr. For me, this also involves cramming myself uncomfortably into the tiny space and waiting as it slowly expands. Even though it is only for a few seconds, we are accustomed to instantly moving from one to the other, and that makes it an annoying inconvenience. Power seats are an annoying waste of time.

Into this new crack of “waiting,” my wife injected the tiny seed of a prayer, similar to a breath prayer. At first, it was just to keep herself from being cranky about the powered seat—something similar to, “Keep me safe.” But it grew. It became a prayer that supported us through great difficulty and motivated us in tough decisions. We prayed the prayer at funerals, at weddings, when donating to causes, and when beginning difficult experiences. Soon it became a living prayer for our family. Many families have a “life verse,” but this became a “life prayer.”

“Lord, please keep us safe, keep us sane, help us focus.
Let our time, money, and energy
Cover all that we need to do
And all those we want to bless.”

Into any uncomfortable time of waiting, such as the one we are all in now, inject prayer. It is okay if it is not fancily worded. It is okay if it is selfish. It is okay if it is just a request. But don’t let it be just a stale repetition. Let it be like a seed that can grow.

As God speaks to you, adjust your prayer. As new needs arise, adjust your prayer. As better wording occurs to you, adjust your prayer. Allow your prayer to be shaped and rewritten by your relationship with God and all that you learn and experience in God’s Word.

A prayer of a few words, thrown into an inconvenient crack in your life, can grow like a mustard seed into a towering tree that can provide spiritual shelter and sustenance for you and others.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
I will give great thanks to the Lord with my mouth; in the midst of the multitude will I praise him;
Because he stands at the right hand of the needy, to save his life from those who would condemn him. — Psalm 109.29-30

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Proverbs 19 (Listen 3:09)
Colossians 2 (Listen -3:45)

Read more about Breathing Prayers
Out of your relationship with God, you can also write your own breath prayers.

https://theparkforum.org/843-acres/breathing-prayers/

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Read more about Prayer for Purpose, Community, and Freedom :: Guided Prayer
As we face a lengthening road through this crisis, we focus on prayer.

https://theparkforum.org/843-acres/breathing-prayers/