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"Running in Faith" is an electronic devotional guide written by members of Abiding Presence Lutheran Church. Each week, writers use their personal interpretation of scripture to write an inspirational message they hope will help readers take their Sunday faith into weekday lives. Your comments are appreciated and, when related to a particular devotion, passed to the writer. We hope you will share these devotions with friends and coworkers. We are always happy to add new names to our e-mail list. Please contact us if you wish your name to be added. |
At least since late elementary age, I have been a reader of the Bible. I started with the basic stories in Sunday school class. I learned the basic passages that summarize the Christian faith in confirmation class. I read basic passages about Christian life in community during the encounter group age of the 1970's. I took my first serious course on the Bible as a college freshman in 1980. I've also made many effective and not so effective attempts to read the Bible from Genesis 1 through Revelation 22. Regular scripture reading is not easy to sustain. There are the dry spells of the spiritual journey. There are the times when you're ready to give up as you move through parts of the Bible that seem foreign, confusing, and even tedious. People ask me all the time for strategies on how to regain interest in reading God's Word in the midst of disinterest, dry spells, boredom, or frustration. Where to resume when we find ourselves discouraged and bogged down? Here are a few suggestions:
Yes, we all get stuck in our daily Bible reading. Let us find ways to encourage one another to learn from the Word God's loving purpose for us and for all creation.
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When was the last time you thought to yourself, "I do not place any value on my own life"? If you did, the very next thought to occur to you would probably be, "I need help!" If you expressed a thought like that to a family member or friend, they would most likely be extremely concerned and then probably proceed to see whether or not you were serious. If so, they would likely suggest intervention by a mental health practitioner. What is the picture painted in Acts? First, an individual out of control - "I have no idea what will happen to me." Second, masochistic tendencies - "Imprisonment and persecution await me." And finally - someone with a death wish. Let 's back up and set the scene. Paul, after his conversion, had been to Damascus (They were keeping watch day and night in order to kill him. - Acts10:24), Jerusalem (They became determined to kill him. - 10:29); Antioch (They stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them.- 13:50); Iconium (A move was made by Gentiles, as well as Jews, to make attacks on them and to stone them. - 14:5); Lycaonia (They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the town, thinking he was dead. - 14:19); as well as Philippi (The magistrates had them stripped and ordered to be flogged and they were given many lashes and then thrown into prison. - 16:22) among several other stops. Finally Paul reached Ephesus, where he also encountered resistance, but persevered in helping organize the church. Now we read in Acts that he is ready to depart for Jerusalem again, where once more he will be beaten and arrested. (They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple ... while they were setting about killing him ... soldiers and centurions charged down on the crowd, who stopped beating Paul ... he took Paul into custody and had him bound with two chains. - 21:30-33). Paul clearly was a man who did not value his own life! He also was clearly a man on a mission, as we say in common parlance even today. Paul knew the price he would pay for his evangelism, and he accepted it willingly. How about us? We want to know where we are headed, we want to be in control, and we definitely don't want to go to prison. We certainly do not want to be beaten, flogged or stoned. Above all, we are taught from an early age to value ourselves and our lives. Look out for number one. Paul painted the opposite picture. He did not live for himself; he lived to bear witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. He was willing to suffer any hardship as long as it was in conformance with his mission. He lived out what Jesus himself had said, "For whoever saves his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." This is not a man with a mental illness; this is a man with his priorities truly straight. The world may not think so, but as Christians we know better. Most of us will not be called to undergo anywhere near the kind of trials that Paul underwent. It is not right to seek suffering, persecution, or martyrdom for their own sake, removed from the context of a truly necessary witness to the faith. However, we can all think of the times in our daily lives when we are called to forget about ourselves and live for Jesus Christ and bear witness to the good news of God's grace. The next time an opportunity like that comes up, remember Paul's story, to embolden yourself with the courage to act in the self-forgetful way that Paul might have acted nearly 2000 years ago.
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During a recent visit to the medieval art section (my favorite section) of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, I spent some time reflecting on a great stone archway that was originally at the entrance to the 12th century church at the Abbey of St. Laurent in France. It is interesting to note that, judging from the photograph of the church under the portal, this entrance to the church was the largest and most ornate feature of the entire church. Otherwise, the exterior of the entire church structure looked relatively simple, so that the eye (and the body) is drawn to the portal, making it an important symbolic and theological statement about the importance of church doors. This kind of grand, artistic portal or archway was common to medieval churches. In a more literal sense the door to the church (any church) is an access to worship God in the sure and certain signs given to us in the cross, font, table, and Word. But in a more symbolic sense, the door is Jesus Christ himself. Luke warns that this door is narrow, and that at some point it will even be closed, and though John lacks the warning, it is clear in his gospel that that the door (both literally and symbolically) has important implications to our faith. With such great theological significance given to the church door, it is easy to understand why the St. Laurent portal (and any church portal) would be made as grand and ornate as it was for such a simple church. In concrete terms, the door to the church is obviously both an entrance and an exit. However, theologically, Jesus' words in the Gospel according to John about coming in and going out and finding pasture change our perspective to see the door to the sanctuary or church as both an entrance and an entrance. The door is an entrance into the kingdom of God; the door is an entrance into the world. Christians are always entering one or the other. We enter worship to be strengthened and made whole by the sure and certain signs of God's grace, but we always are called out from there to enter the world, taking that certainty of the kingdom of God with us. This is the continual movement of Christian vocation---always entering, never exiting. Though Abiding Presence Church doesn't have a grand ornate stone archway as its main entrance like St. Laurent and other medieval churches, we do have some pretty remarkable artistic reminders that we are entering something important, either coming in or going out. The font at the door assures us that we are claimed and marked by God, and as we lift our eyes from the water they meet the cross suspended over the table at which we feast on the body and blood of Jesus Christ. We enter these doors to celebrate and be strengthened through these things; we enter these doors again to take these things to the world, wherever and however we are called to gather the fold as disciples of the Risen Lord.
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This year we have seen the earth change, the mountains tremble, the sea rage and foam. We have seen the devastation that these actions have had on our earth, on its people and in our hearts. Tsunamis, hurricanes, mudslides, earthquakes, wars, and famine have captured our attention and caused us to ask questions. Maybe some of those questions are about the existence or love of God. The writer of this psalm must have heard those same questions, or maybe even asked them. This psalm acknowledges that those questions arise when faced with destructive forces and unthinkable tragedies. And this psalm provides reassurance as well. God is the place of refuge, safety, and security. God is the strength we need to walk through tragedy and face hardship. As God's people, we proclaim this promise with our words and our deeds. We offer the word of hope and comfort and love and mercy in the name of Jesus. We offer ourselves and our talents to relieve another's suffering. We offer our money to assist with so many basic needs. And when the tragedy is ours, we receive those same gifts from the people of God. We will not fear, for God is our refuge and strength.
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Happiness is basically a choice which is not dependent upon situations or conditions. Each of us is responsible for our own happiness. Happiness can be enhanced by what occurs around us. We are more likely to be happy if we center our activities on others instead of ourselves. Dr. Archibald Hart, dean and professor of psychology of the Graduate School of Psychology, Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, suggests writing the following affirmations on cards, keeping them with you, and reading them periodically:
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