The Presence of God

   Since I’m neither disciplined enough nor creative enough to come up with daily devotions on my own, I depend on a prayer book or two that include readings and suggested scriptures. That way I only have to deal with setting aside the time to read them and pray, which is enough of a challenge. Sometimes the books themselves can be confusing, like when they say the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost was between June 12 and 18, but that isn’t true this year. I think that was the Second Sunday.

   Anyway, the Psalm of Petition for the week included this:

      Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud,
      Be gracious to me and answer me!
  “Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!”
      Your face, Lord, do I seek.
      Do not hide your face from me.  –Ps 27
   It takes a conviction I don’t always have to be sure that God is ever-present. I’m in good company, I guess; the Psalmist often felt abandoned by God (“How long must your servant wait?”), but would then do an about-face: (“I sought the Lord and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears”).
   Brother Lawrence, in Practicing the Presence of God, makes the conviction sound doable. Writing about himself in the third person he says, “You must know, his continual care has been, for above forty years past that he has spent in religion, to be always with GOD; and to do nothing, say nothing, and think nothing which may displease Him; and this without any other view than purely for the love of Him, and because He deserves infinitely more.
   “He is now so accustomed to that Divine presence, that he receives from it continual succors upon all occasions. For about thirty years, his soul has been filled with joys so continual, and sometimes so great, that he is forced to use means to moderate them, and to hinder their appearing outwardly.”
   Brother Lawrence’s approach is fairly conditional: as long as one’s attention is focused on God and one lives righteously, God will be present. Deuteronomy gives us a little more latitude: Be strong and of good courage …  for it is the Lord your God who goes with you; he will not fail you or forsake you.”
   It takes a bit of Biblical chutzpah to claim the verse for our own. Moses was speaking to Israel just before he died, and the tribes were about to cross the Jordan into the promised land. Can we claim the instructions as our own? Why not - we claim Jesus' words to the disciples as ours all the time.
   So does one need to be constantly pleasing to God for him to show up (Brother Lawrence), or is God already present, and we need to find strength and courage (Deut 31:6) in the Lord?
   I prefer the latter; I’m no more disciplined in my focus on God than I am on setting aside time for devotions and prayer. Besides, it’s uplifting to know I’m never alone, never abandoned or forsaken by God.
   And if someone asks me who’s there, I can always say, “Us.”

 

 

 

 

 

Condemnation

I know. John 8:1-11 wasn't in the "earliest manuscripts," but it was part of my devotional readings for today, so read it I did. The passage about the woman caught in adultery still brought to mind the same questions a lot of people express : "Where was the guy, if she was caught in the act?" "What was Jesus writing in the dirt, anyway?" And finally the conclusion most come to after reading it: Jesus forgave this woman; and they add her to the list of all the other people Jesus forgave. But a closer reading says the forgiveness was implicit. "Go and sin no more" suggests  she wasn't exactly clothed in righteousness when she was caught out, but Jesus didn't explicitly forgive her. The real emphasis is on the word "condemnation." Jesus says, "Who is left to condemn you? ... Neither do I."

Paul says, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." We usually think of condemnation, in its religious context, as the accusation of sin, backed up by some kind of witness. In this case it had more immediate consequences. The condemnation and the testimony of witnesses against her would result in her being stoned to death. It wasn't the forgiveness per se that was at the heart of this conversation, it was the fact that Jesus saved her from death. And not an easy one, if her accusers postponed aiming for her head. In reality she owed Jesus, who shamed the teachers of the law and the Pharisees into backing  off, her life.

It isn't much of a leap to conclude that this became one more mark against Jesus when it came time to have him tried. Pharisees and teachers of the law who could recall the words of Moses in great detail would have no trouble remembering the times Jesus had pestered them until they had let other sinners off the hook. Let them off, but not forgotten the humiliation. Those memories helped seal Jesus' eventual crucifixion and death.

The New Testament writers brought it full circle. Jesus' lack of condemnation and his defense of them frees them from the sentence of death. It's not a bad way to begin the day.
Pastor Mike

Truckin' to Oregon

It's been a busy week. Driving to Oregon with my son David was a highlight. I rented a truck in Colorado Springs and friends helped load it with furnishings from our home to take to the townhouse in McMinnville. David flew to Colorado to help me make the 1500 mile drive. I attended a seminar on worship some years ago, and the presenter asked each of us to complete the sentence, "Writing a sermon is like ..." I wrote, "Driving across Wyoming." I should have added, "In a 28' truck." Both can feel endless. But David made the trip much more enjoyable. We regularly took turns driving and did a lot of catching up, not only through Wyoming but Utah, Nevada, and finally Oregon.

Now it's time to unpack, pray for Margie and Steve to arrive safely from Colorado Springs, and begin the work of Interim Pastor at First Baptist Church of McMinnville. The staff and leadership team have been most helpful as we prepare together for this congregation to make the transition from one pastor to the next. I attribute this willingness to the work of God's Spirit - equipping us to move forward, and shaping hearts, minds, skills, and the cohesiveness of community - as we celebrate Pentecost together at the start of a new ministry.