Tag: Proverbs

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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
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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
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Breathing Prayers

Scripture Focus: Proverbs 18.14
The human spirit can endure in sickness,
    but a crushed spirit who can bear?

Reflection: Breathing Prayers
By John Tillman

The social, financial, and mental health costs of this sickness are pushing our culture to the end of the ability of the “human spirit” to endure. We are worn out with anxiety. We are weighed down by ballooning financial burdens. We have lost jobs and profits and we are fearful of losing family, friends, and acquaintances.

How can we possibly endure? What can keep our spirits from being crushed? One source of unending strength and endurance may come through what Richard Foster calls, “Unceasing Prayer.”

Most of us know the famous Pauline verse, “Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5.17). It is merely the shortest of the many New Testament directives to pray unceasingly. (Romans 12.12; Ephesians 6.18; Colossians 4.2; Philippians 4.6; Hebrews 13.15; Luke 18.1) 

Few Christians, however, have taken steps to put unceasing prayer into practice.

One of the simplest methods for doing this—and therefore a good place to start—is called “breath prayers.” This practice is outlined in detail in Foster’s book, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home.

Breath prayers are simply short prayers which can be said “in a breath.” These are often taken from scripture. One famous breath prayer is adapted from Luke 18.13, “God be merciful to me, a sinner.” It is called the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” 

You can find your own breath prayers from throughout the scripture. Any scripture that God brings to your mind is useful as a breath prayer. A deep familiarity with scripture (made possible by regular and repetitive reading) will make this a more common occurrence in one’s life.

It is perhaps a little too long to be called a breath prayer, but one scripture-based prayer that my wife and I pray regularly is based on Galatians 5:22-23. “Come Holy Spirit, we pray that your fruit would be in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

Out of your relationship with God, you can also write your own breath prayers. They can come from complaints, from questions about the Bible, from sermons, from requests, or just a simple acknowledgment of need. Some examples of these may be, “God give me grace.” “God help me forgive.” “Christ, speak through me.” 

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 for the next discipline.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
Purge me from my sin, and I shall be pure; wash me, and I shall be clean indeed. — Psalm 51.8

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

Today’s Readings
Proverbs 18 (Listen 2:23) 
Colossians 1 (Listen -4:18)

Read more about Praying as Priests
As followers of God today, a part of our identity is as carriers of the blessings of God that are intended for the world.

Praying as Priests

Read more about Praying Through Betrayal and Failure
May we respond to boasts with humility, to deceit with the truth, to evil with good, and to harm with healing words of comfort and love.

Praying Through Betrayal and Failure
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Prayer for Purpose, Community, and Freedom :: Guided Prayer

Scripture Focus: Proverbs 17.3-5
The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,
    but the Lord tests the heart.
A wicked person listens to deceitful lips;
    a liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.
Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker;
    whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.

Philippians 4.11-12
I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

From John: Hong Kong was one of the earlier cities struck by the virus and the quickest to react with measures viewed as extreme by westerners. Their response to the virus is one of the most successful in the world, yet they are approaching 70 days with schools closed and have no immediate plans to open. They are cautiously taking it week by week, partly due to a second bump in infections as people have traveled home to Hong Kong from other destinations.

In the United States, we are just settling in for this long haul. At this time, some are busier than ever. Among them are teachers, medical workers, first responders, and government officials. But also, many are experiencing a widening margin of unaccounted for time with no work to give purpose, no community activities to provide relational depth and little freedom of movement leading to a feeling of being trapped.

Reflection: Prayer for Purpose, Community, and Freedom :: Guided Prayer
By John Tillman

The COVID-19 crisis is far from over and normalcy is not around the corner.

As we face a lengthening road through this crisis, this week we focus on prayer. In prayer, we can meet with the God who has a purpose for us and for everything we suffer. In prayer, we can join with a worldwide community to experience being one with God, just as Jesus promised we would. In prayer, we can experience freedom from sins that chain us to mindsets of scarcity, fear, greed, apathy, selfishness, and addiction.

Let us pray over the following scriptures and prepare our hearts to deepen our practice of prayer this week.

Prayer for Purpose, Community, and Freedom:

“The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,
    but the Lord tests the heart.”

You are testing our hearts today, Lord. Burn out of us whatever must go to make room for more of what you wish to plant in us. 

“A wicked person listens to deceitful lips;
    a liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.”

Deceitful and destructive speech is rampant in our world. We are addicted to it. We praise the cleverest put-downs, the harshest, destructive words, and the brusquest of manners. We are addicted to facts that are convenient to us, rather than convicting to us. 

Rebuild integrity in us. 
Renew a commitment to truth in us.

“Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker;
    whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.”

When times get their hardest, the hardest parts of our hearts are often shown. Keep our hearts soft and our words and actions loving toward the most vulnerable and most needy among us.

“A friend loves at all times,
    and a brother is born for a time of adversity.” 

You have shown us, O Lord, how to be a friend. Let us willingly limit our freedoms to lovingly help our brothers and sisters in this time of adversity. May we lay down our lives for our friends.

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

There do not exist circumstances in which we cannot be content, at peace, and joyful as we suffer along with our community and along with Christ who bears our burdens.

Come, Lord Jesus. Have mercy on us.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Prayer Appointed for the Week
Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep me both outwardly in my body and inwardly in my soul, that I may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen

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

Today’s Readings
Proverbs 17 (Listen 2:58) 
Philippians 4 (Listen -3:20)

Read more about Confession as a Crucible
The purpose of the crucible is to cause these things to rise so that they may be removed and us purified.

Confession as a Crucible

Read more about The Way of Love Amidst Fear
Fear is natural and one shouldn’t be ashamed of being afraid. However, the response of a Christian must be supernatural. 

The Way of Love Amidst Fear
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The Opposite of Hoarding

Scripture Focus: Proverbs 11.24-25
One person gives freely, yet gains even more;
    another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.
A generous person will prosper;
    whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.
People curse the one who hoards grain,
    but they pray God’s blessing on the one who is willing to sell.

Ephesians 4.28
Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

Reflection: The Opposite of Hoarding
By John Tillman

Hoarding in a financial investment sense (buying up enough of a commodity to influence its market price) can net speculative investors a profit, but can be considered a criminal act. Prosecuting speculative hoarders is rare because the line between prudent preparation for a crisis and attempts to corner the market are blurry, but high-level investors have gone to jail for hoarding commodities in the past. (One well-known example is Yasuo Hamanaka, the “Copper King” of the 1990s)

The more “street-level” hoarding we are seeing in reaction to COVID-19 is not motivated in an attempt to make illegal profits, but in a surrender to fear and panic. This type of hoarding begins with a fear of scarcity and creates the scarcity that was feared. Hoarders today can look at empty shelves of toilet paper or hand sanitizer and say, “See? I was right to hoard!” It’s a self-fulfilling, self- justifying mania and it has consequences.

Medical supplies such as masks, disinfectant wipes, and hand sanitizer being out of stock across the United States and manufacturers being unable to get more goods to market is causing a very real crisis for medical workers and their patients. In response, some governments are seeking to criminalize hoarding of medical supplies and other goods necessary to slow the advance of the virus.

Hoarding, whether criminal or not, is morally wrong because it withholds necessary goods from those who need them and causes panic and suffering for others. Just because hoarders take items from a store shelf, doesn’t mean that they aren’t also taking them from the hands of the elderly, those with health concerns, and those without the financial margin to “stock up.”  In this way, hoarding is similar to stealing, which Paul addresses in Ephesians 4.28. 

Hoarding is a natural response to fear. Being united to Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are not to give in to our natural responses, but instead to respond supernaturally. We can respond to fear, not in fear.

What is the opposite of hoarding? What is the opposite of panic and fear? What should the church be known for instead? 

Paul advised doing “something useful” and sharing “with those in need.” 

May we, with the help of the Holy Spirit, be known in this time of crisis as people of peace rather than panic, as people of hope rather than fear, as people who give to others rather than take from them, and as people willing to suffer that others may be comforted.

May the message of the gospel not be compromised by our acting as if God is not trustworthy, is not loving, and is not concerned with us.
Instead, may the manifold goodness of God be made known to the world through the deeds of our hands and the words of our mouths.
May we willingly limit and give up our freedoms for the good of others, as Christ gave up and limited himself for our good.
May our hearts always be open to others, even if the doors of our homes and sanctuaries must remain closed.
May we store up treasures in Heaven rather than goods on a shelf.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading
Jesus taught us saying, “Who, then, is the wise and trustworthy servant whom the master placed over his household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant if the master’s arrival finds him doing exactly that. In truth I tell you, he will put him in charge of everything he owns. But if the servant is dishonest and says to himself, ‘My master is taking his time,’ and sets about beating his fellow servants and eating and drinking with drunkards, his master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.” — Matthew 24.45-51

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

Today’s Readings
Proverbs 11 (Listen 3:41) 
Ephesians 4 (Listen -3:58)

Read more about Mind Your Manners
We want our world to work on our terms and provide for our needs. We’re selfish creatures.

Mind Your Manners

Read more about Peace in Crisis
Acting with prudent caution, we can fearlessly engage to aid our cities and communities, loving and serving with abandon.

Peace in Crisis