Tag Archives: Jesus’ example

God’s Hope for the World

Living in the Spirit

June 15, 2022

Scripture Reading: Psalm 22:19-28

I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters;
   in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
You who fear the Lord, praise him!
   All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;
   stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
For he did not despise or abhor
   the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me,
   but heard when I cried to him.

From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
   my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
   those who seek him shall praise the Lord.
   May your hearts live forever!

All the ends of the earth shall remember
   and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations
   shall worship before him.
For dominion belongs to the Lord,
   and he rules over the nations. –Psalm 22:22-28

Most of us are probably more familiar with the first verse of Psalm 22 which Jesus quoted from the cross: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?    Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? Reading the remainder of the chapter suggests that he took comfort from that scripture even in the agony of a painful death. It takes the reader all the way back to their ancestor Jacob who knew God and attested to God’s support and brings the history of God forward for Christ-followers’ understanding of God’s continuing fidelity in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ. God’s vision of the whole world being blessed through his love continues to this day.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for your saving grace giving us hope in a world that is being challenged from every quarter. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Emulating Jesus

EpiphanyEpiphany
Celebration of God
Manifested in the World
January 6, 2015

 Scripture Reading: Genesis 1:1-5

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

The structure of the liturgical year is not biblical per se and not followed by all Christian churches, but it establishes a tradition of seasonal remembrances that rather follow the example set by the Israelites. They identify seven feasts to commemorate their lives with and through God: Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles. The beginning of this Jewish year of celebration is not the New Year but the feast of Unleavened Bread—the preparation time for the Exodus, God’s most profound act in their history. The beginning of the Christian year is marked by what is called Advent, the preparation time for the coming of one who will bring us healing and reconciliation—the birth of Christ.

The Christian year liturgical components are Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Ash Wednesday, Lent, Easter, Eastertide, Pentecost, and what is called Season following Pentecost, but what I call Living in the Spirit. Of all of those times Epiphany is probably the least familiar to Protestants by name but not by practice. It begins with the celebration of the coming of the Magi or Wise Men, which is often cast as the recognition of God’s inclusiveness of all God’s children. Epiphany is much more than that. It is a time to review the life and example that Jesus set for us while on earth. It is a time to see what Jesus’ priorities were, how he related to God, and how he loved. This is an important time because we are called to love like Jesus and it takes a lifetime to learn all the facets of his love.

Prayer: Lord during this time of Epiphany open my whole being to a greater sense of the ministry of Jesus Christ and show me ways I can best emulate him. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.