4-2-12

Week Six – At the Tomb with Jesus

After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come; see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, “He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.” This is my message for you.’ So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’ And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.’
                                                                                    Matthew 28:1-10

Jesus is dead and buried.  It is a total disaster as far as his followers are concerned.  Jesus excited their hopes for the kingdom of God, he gave them reason to believe that what God had promised to his people through the prophets would come to pass.  But now he is dead.  Disasters abound – death, disappointment, and doubt.

Many of us face disasters: financial, relational, parental, marital, as well as physical and psychological diseases.  Disasters rip rest from our sleep, hold us captive until the morning sun dawns, and makes us wonder if we can possibly move on.  And we all face the disaster of death.

…Beyond death is the new life of resurrection.  And beyond personal disasters there breathes the new life of Jesus’ offer of forgiveness, Jesus’ offer of presence, Jesus’ offer of faith and Jesus’ offer of a mission.  Beyond personal disaster there is hope.

                                                                        from The Jesus Creed p. 290

Formation Prayer:  On this day, O God, we express our deepest praise for the power of the resurrection, for raising Jesus Christ from among the dead as the firstborn among all those who follow him in the resurrection.  Through Jesus Christ, Lord of the living.  Amen.

3-26-12

On the Mountain with Jesus
Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’—not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’ When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.
                                                                                                                            Luke 9:28-36

As we near the city gates on our journey toward Jerusalem and the events of Holy Week, we might ponder with some trepidation and dread the suffering that Jesus will inevitably undergo for the sake of the sins of our human fraility. The Transfiguration, which chronologically occured well before these events, is a foreshadowing of both the suffering on the cross and the glorious victory over death that comes on Easter. Dr. Scot McKnight answers the dread and the fear of the upcoming suffering of Christ with reminder about the foreshadowing of hope that occured on the mountain.

But why is Jesus transfigured?  Jesus does not need an “experience” with God to be assured that there is an eternity for himself.  Jesus is transfigured to reveal to Peter, John and James life’s deepest mystery.  The transfiguration of Jesus is for others – for you and me.  Jesus anticipates for his followers that he will pave a path through the valley of death, that he will bore a hole through the tragic, thick steel wall that we call death.  It is a path for us to walk on and a hole through which we can enter the Great Beyond.  In the Transfiguration, Jesus takes his disciples by the hand and lets them take a step or two on that path, to see that the path truly exists.  He also leads them to the hole, lets them peer through it to the vast land of eternity.
                                                                                                                             from The Jesus Creed, p. 259

Formation Prayer:  Loving God, we want neither suffering nor death.  But, because of your Son’s revelation of the glory that is in us and the glory that awaits us, we can face each day, knowing that the glory exceeds the suffering and the death.  Grant us the grace of seeing through other people to the glory you have planted in them.  Through Jesus the Lord.  Amen.

3-19-12

In the Wilderness with Jesus

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But he answered, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” ‘

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,
“He will command his angels concerning you”,
  and “On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” ‘
Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ‘

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour; and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! for it is written,

“Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” ‘
Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
                                                                                                                   Matthew 4:1-11

On the spiritual journey, one confronts, again and again, what it means to be called by God for God’s good purposes. This journey of self-reflection and discovery is what, in the Christian faith, we call vocation. Dr. Scot McKnight writes how Jesus’ faithfulness – his trust, his patience and his obedience – during his testing in the wilderness is our example for discerning and claiming our own vocations.

Every vocation is a test by God. If the general vocation of all Christians is the Jesus Creed, then our love for God and love for others will be tested. Jesus’ own vocation of loving God was tested severely. When the rest of those baptized by John cross the Jordan to enter the Land, Jesus turns around, faces the wind, and heads into it. He has just been declared Son of God in front of others, by none other than God. One would think he would charge up the road to Jerusalem to let the elites in on the revelation. But not Jesus. No, before Jesus crosses the Jordan and enters into the Land to offer the kingdom to his people, the Spirit of God drives him into the wilderness to test his vocation. Here he is prepared for what God has called him to do: offer the kingdom – the society in which the Jesus Creed transforms life – to his people. When we think “vocation for God,” we need also to think “test by God.”
                                                                                                             from The Jesus Creed, p. 248

Formation Prayer: Creator God, we confess that we rely upon our own resources to overcome temptation far too often. Instead, bring into our mind the perfect obedience of Jesus so that we might take courage in his obedience for us. Through Jesus Christ, Amen.

3-12-12

Kingdom Values

Matthew 5: 1-11 When Jesus* saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. ‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely* on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The society of the kingdom is a society that pursues justice because it loves God and others. Dr. Scot McKnight shares this teaching on the relationship of kingdom values and the Jesus Creed

Formation Prayer:
God of all people, grant that we might see that justice is loving God
and others and that, in understanding this,
we might pursue justice in our world.
Through Jesus, the establisher of justice.  Amen

3-5-12

The Work of Prayer

 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for works.  And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.   Romans 8:26-27

On developing a discipline of prayer, Dr. Scot McKnight writes:

Prayer is hard, it gnaws into our schedule, and it can be as much a source of frustration as satisfaction.  Brother Lawrence, who has probably encouraged more people in prayer than anyone in the history of the Church, found routines in prayer dry and dull.  He was bluntly honest about his own perplexity with prayer.  Such honesty about prayer by a champion of prayer encourages us all in our own struggle to pray.

At the bottom, prayer is simple.  It is loving communication with God.  All we need for prayer is an open heart.  But that doesn’t mean there aren’t prayer sessions that drag, times when our lips are uttering graceful words while our minds are murmuring clumsy thought.  “Struggle” is the true news about prayer.  The good news for us is that it was a struggle with prayer that gave rise to the Lord’s Prayer.  The disciple were struggling with their own prayer lives.  After observing Jesus pray, one of his disciples said, “Lord teach us to pray.”  To help them with prayer, he gave them a prayer; Christians call it the “Our Father” or the “Lord’s Prayer.”

                                                                                    from The Jesus Creed p. 14

Formation Prayer:

Lord, give us love, love for you and for others.
Show us your love, show us the love of your Son for us,
and show us how we might love others.
Turn our love for you and others into prayer,
the kind of prayer that honors your Son. 

Through Jesus, the Lord.  Amen