Comfort and Joy

Posted on December 16, 2013 by themondayprayer

God rest you merry, Gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay,
For Jesus Christ our Savior
Was born upon this Day
To save poor souls from Satan’s power,
Which long had gone astray,
Which brings tidings of comfort and joy.

“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”, (Author unknown, from lyrics printed and sold at the Printing Office on Bow Church Yard, London, circa 1760).

PRAYER: (from the Lectionary)

Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself, in His Name we pray. Amen.

SCRIPTURE: (Luke 1:46-46, also called Mary’s Song, or the Magnificat)

And Mary said:

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”

PRAYER FOCUS: Comfort and Joy

Mighty Christmas, Dear Friends!

Sound a bit odd, does it? Well, it’s what we’ve been singing all these years. Perhaps the word “merry” means more than we may have thought.

Webster’s online dictionary defines merry as: 1) Overflowing with good humor and good spirits; jovial; inclined to laughter or play; 2) Cheerful; joyous; not sad; happy; or 3) Causing laughter, mirth, gladness, or delight.

Merry is a happy word, evocative of images of friends and family celebrating in front of a fireplace, singing and laughing, sporting colorful sweaters and rosy cheeks. But being merry used to mean more…

The word has always conveyed a sense of happiness, but long ago it also meant to be “mighty” or “powerful” or “strong.” Robin Hood’s band of merry men might have been happy, but the adjective descriptor meant that they were a force to be reckoned with. A great singer was a merry singer. A powerful ruler was a merry ruler.

The popular hymn “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” emerged in the 15th Century, in London, and was perhaps the most beloved of the early Christmas Carols. With a catchy and upbeat melody, its lyrics speak in joyful terms of the birth of Jesus. They announce the most positive and encouraging story the world has ever known. It is easy to imagine friends, families and neighbors rejoicing together, singing this carol, even dancing to it.

Being merry meant more to them than simply being festive. Similarly, the word “rest” meant more than a pause to relax; it signified the act of being kept or made well. In more recent times the comma has been moved. God rest you, merry gentlemen doesn’t mean the same thing as God rest you merry, gentlemen.

In modern context we might say, “May God make you mighty, Gentlemen!”

You see, in the context of the times, this carol reflected encouragement to some very dismayed fellows, indeed. Life in 15th Century London was no picnic. Famine and pestilence drove people from the countryside into the city. As the poor flocked to the growing metropolis, social ills came with them. Think Poverty and its handmaidens: Alcoholism, Hunger, Debt, Crime and Punishment, Broken Families, Workhouses for the children. Morality plunged to what were unprecedented lows.

And if the 15th Century gave people access to new ways to ruin their lives, and vices were as close as the end of the street, how much accessible are they to us in the 21st Century?

In our time, one third of humans still lack access to clean water. The specter of hunger will haunt 800 million this very day. Immorality is rampant. Marriage and sex are being progressively cheapened; families are falling apart. Our churches are being targeted, our faith mocked. Drugs and alcohol abuse lurk ever nearer to our precious children. Government leaders and their friends grow rich and powerful while the poor languish. Arguably, the 15th Century had nothing on the 21st Century in terms of dismay.

Like them, we need tidings of comfort and joy.

Suddenly the old carol begins to makes perfect sense. When they sang this hymn, it was also a prayer, born in the midst of poverty and despair. Their hope, and ours, comes from the same place–the coming of Jesus, to save us from Satan’s power.

“Comfort and joy” is not a response to pretty lights and the anticipation of gifts under the tree. Comfort comes from the reminder that the Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us; it is the amazing knowledge that He loves us with an all-surpassing love. Joy is the certain knowledge that He is here, with us, now, and will right the wrongs of the world in His own time. In the meantime, in our time, He has asked us to follow Him and to share the good news.

The carol’s last line–bringing tidings of comfort and joy–that’s our job.

So, Christian, let us prepare our hearts and prepare His way. And to the church’s Intercessors, you dear Prayer Warriors, you faithful, irreplaceable servants of the Living God—thank you, God bless you, and may you see the heavens full of His Glory.

It’s Monday Morning. A Mighty Christmas to you! God rest you merry.

For unto us a child is born,
Unto us a son is given,
And the government will be upon his shoulders.
And his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. -Isaiah 9:6

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Why We Wait

Posted on December 9, 2013 by themondayprayer

“In the First Advent, Christ the Lord comes into the world. In the next Advent, Christ the Lord comes as Judge of the world and of all the world’s thrones and pretenders, sovereignties and dominions, principalities and authorities, presidencies and regimes, in vindication of His Lordship and the reign of the Word of God in history. This is the truth, which the world hates, which biblical people bear and by which they live as the church in the world in the time between the two Advents.” —William Stringfellow (20th Century Lay Theologian and Christian Activist)

PRAYER: (from the Lectionary)

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

SCRIPTURES: (from the Lectionary)

Isaiah 35:1-10
James 5:7-10
Matthew 11:2-11
Psalm 146:4-9

Meanwhile, friends, wait patiently for the Master’s Arrival. You see farmers do this all the time, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, patiently letting the rain do its slow but sure work. Be patient like that. Stay steady and strong. The Master could arrive at any time.

Friends, don’t complain about each other. A far greater complaint could be lodged against you, you know. The Judge is standing just around the corner.

Take the old prophets as your mentors. They put up with anything, went through everything, and never once quit, all the time honoring God. What a gift life is to those who stay the course! (James 5:7-10, The Message Bible)

PRAYER FOCUS: Waiting.

A woman’s car stalled in traffic. She opened the hood and searched in vain for the problem. Meanwhile the driver behind her began to lean on his horn. When she had enough, she walked back to his car and offered sweetly, “I don’t know what’s wrong with my car. But if you want to go look under the hood, I’ll be glad to stay here and honk for you…”

Why is it so hard for us to wait?

Everywhere we go we have to wait: in traffic, in stores, at the airport, for the doctor, for a baby, for the internet to come back up, for sermons to get over. With all of this waiting, you’d think we’d be better at it.

In Advent, we are waiting for the arrival of Jesus the Christ, the promised Messiah. In this week’s Lectionary Prayer we are confronted with our human desire to hurry and speed things up. We pray that God will “speedily help and deliver us”. Send us your mercy, Lord, and please hurry!

However, our Epistle from James exhorts us to patience as we wait for the Lord’s arrival. James says to be prepared, to remain steady and strong. He offers two examples for us to emulate: farmers and prophets.

Consider how they are alike. Both exhibit qualities of patience and forbearance. Both prepare the ground for what will be sown.

Once a farmer’s seeds go into his fields, there is nothing he can do to accelerate the harvest. The diligence of his care can affect the size and the quality of the harvest. But the farmer has no control over the speed at which his crops grow and ripen. He must wait for the results.

Like the farmer, the prophet must sow his message and then wait. The harvest timing of a prophet’s work is also in God’s hands. Prophets put up with a lot, and they don’t quit.

James also exhorts us not to complain about each other (ver. 9). It’s not that uncommon to find someone grumbling about the failure of a harvest, especially if the complainer hasn’t had his/her shoulder to the wheel.

Successful farmers work hard. They get up early and work long hours. They till the soil for weeks prior to planting, adding nutrients, amending it and adjusting its chemistry until it is optimal. After the fields are planted there’s more work to do tending them and preparing for the eventual harvest. Farmers are too busy staying “steady and strong” to complain much.

Why is it good for us to wait?

Because what God does in us while we wait is often as important as what it is we’re waiting for. And patience is perhaps the most underrated virtue.

It’s Monday Morning. In this season of Advent, let us prepare our hearts in prayer to receive the good things the Lord wants to grow in our lives. Like the farmer, let us add the nutrient of God’s Word. Amend it with reflection. And let us wait patiently for the Master’s Arrival.

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Preparing the Way

Posted on December 2, 2013 by themondayprayer

If you board the wrong train it is no use running along the corridor in the opposite direction. —Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1938.

PRAYER: (from the Lectionary)

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer, Amen.

SCRIPTURES: (from the Lectionary)

Isaiah 11:1-10
Romans 15:4-13
Matthew 3:1-12
Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them:

“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3: 1-2, 5-12)

PRAYER FOCUS: Preparing the Way.

John the Baptist is perhaps the most overlooked character in the Advent story. And yet, aside from our Lord Jesus Himself, John is most central. He was sent to announce the imminent arrival of not Jesus the babe, but Jesus the Messiah. He called the children of Abraham to repentance, and to prepare the way of the Lord.

In classic prophet fashion, John was direct and blunt. “Brood of Vipers” is what he called both the liberal left (Sadducees) and the religious right (Pharisees) of two thousand years ago. He was pretty hard on the political establishment, too.

The Sadducees were the prevailing political and religious sect of the day. They had abandoned the literal interpretation of Scripture and disavowed both the words and the warnings of the prophets. They didn’t believe in the afterlife or in angelic beings. They had adopted Greek (modern) dress and ways of thinking, as well as a condescending attitude towards those who clung to more traditional religious values. Consisting largely of the Hebrew educated class, Sadducees were politically correct and politically active. They favored accommodating foreign cultures and pagan religions, all under the guise of tolerance and open-mindedness. The Sadducees had, in most theological respects, ceased to be Jewish and become an “all-inclusive” religious club.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Pharisees were passionately committed to the strict interpretation of every letter of Jewish Law. They were models of religious zeal who prided themselves on the excellence of their prayers, their many and public acts of charity, and their moral rectitude. The most abundant descriptor paired with the word Pharisee is “hypocrite”, from the Greek hypokrites, which means an actor, or the wearer of a mask. To the Pharisees, appearances were everything. The Pharisees were people who knew the word of God, but in their striving for appearances, completely missed the point.

The point here is simple: both factions had lost their way. John warned them that the One that will follow him would come with a winnowing fork and with fire. He called them all, regardless of political stripe, to repent and to bear fruit. Prepare the way…

John’s call to repentance is no less powerful, no less accurate, today, in our time. Our Lord and Savior hasn’t changed His mind on what is and what is not sin. He still calls His children to bear fruit for His kingdom. And He is still separating wheat from chaff—one for the granary, the other for the fire.

As we approach the second week of Advent, Christian, consider what that warning means in your own life. Are you bearing fruit? Are you wearing a religious mask, or are you walking out your faith with integrity? Have you let your allegiance to worldly politics eclipse your allegiance to Jesus Christ? Both John and Jesus excoriated Sadducees and Pharisees alike for being spiritually dead, and for leading people astray.

These are things to pray over this week. Heed the warning of John the Baptist. Prepare the way of the Lord.

It’s Monday Morning. What is the destination of the train you’re on? Advent is a great time to step off the wrong one and get on the right one. When the train arrives, let us each be found in the Lord’s granary.

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Advent and the Armor of Light

Posted on November 25, 2013 by themondayprayer

“God becomes man. Man does not become God. The human order remains and continues to be our duty, but it is consecrated. And man has become something more, something mightier. Let us trust life because this night must lead to light. Let us trust life because we do not have to live it alone…God lives it with us.” —Father Alfred Delp, German Jesuit priest executed by hanging in 1945 during the final days of World War II, accused of participating in an assassination attempt on Hitler.

PRAYER: (from the Lectionary)

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

SCRIPTURES: (from the Lectionary)

Isaiah 2:1-5
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:36-44
Psalm 122

Wake up! Wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light (Romans 13:11b-12).

PRAYER FOCUS: Advent and the Armor of Light.

We don’t like alarm clocks. Not even a little bit. The alarm’s ringing confronts us with the choice of continuing our slumber, remaining asleep in the warm land of our dreams, or arising to embrace the cold reality of the new day. In the New Testament kairos (Gr: καιρός) means “the appointed time in the purpose of God”, the time when God acts. It differs from the more usual Greek word for time, which is kronos (Gr: κρόνος).

Next Sunday is the start of Advent. The holiday season is nearly upon us. Bright shiny holiday decorations are popping up everywhere. Party plans and travel arrangements are being made. Most of us will be spending more time in the markets and stores.

Unfortunately, those of us in the West will spend time arguing and worrying whether Nativity scenes should be allowed in public, whether Christmas is too commercialized, or what is the proper term for the brightly-lit trees standing over the pile of presents. Should we greet each other with, “Merry Christmas”, “Season’s Greetings”, or “Happy Holidays”?

We find ourselves increasingly drawn into a culture war defined by the tension between our Christian traditions and the noisy—and often silly—objections of secular-Progressives. Somewhere in all the discordant noise the true significance of Advent seems to get crowded out.
Advent is a time of preparation, a time of awakening.

Our quote today comes from Alfred Delp, a German Jesuit priest who spoke out against the Nazis in the 1940s,and who was implicated in an assassination plot against Hitler in 1944. As Father Delp sat in prison in awaiting his execution, he wrote this about Advent:

Here is the message of Advent: faced with Him who is the First and Last, the world will begin to shake. Only when we do not cling to false securities will our eyes be able to see this Last One…only then will we be able to guard our lives from the frights and terrors which God has let the world sink to teach us. It is time to say, “It was night, but let that be over now and let us be ready for the day.” The world today needs people who have been shaken by ultimate calamities and emerged from them with the knowledge and awareness that those who look to the Lord will still be preserved by Him, even if they are hounded from the earth.

The Advent message comes out of man’s encounter with the absolute, the final, the gospel. It is thus the message that shakes—so that in the end the world shall be shaken. The fact that then the Son of God shall come is more than a prophecy; it is also a decree, that God’s coming and the shaking up of humanity are connected. The great question to us is whether we are still capable of being truly shocked or whether it is to remain so that we see thousands of things and know they should not be and must not be, and that we get hardened to them. How many things have we become used to in the course of the years, of the weeks and the months, so that we stand unshocked, unstirred, inwardly unmoved?

Perhaps we forget in our modern era that the original culture war began a long time ago. One-third of the angels in heaven were cast out and condemned for their rebellion against Almighty God. Adam and Eve, and through them all of humanity, were drawn into the cosmic clash when they entertained the Serpent’s deceitful question, “Did God really say that…?”

The birth of the Christ child wasn’t God’s singular response to right the wrongs of worldly sin—it was the beginning of a journey that took His only begotten and beloved Son to an excruciating and humiliating execution. God’s answer to the culture war came not in Bethlehem but on Calvary; not in a manger but on the Cross.

We also forget that the same prophecies foretelling the birth of the Christ child in Bethlehem also tell us that there will be a Second Coming of Jesus the Christ. And it will not look anything like the humble manger arrangement cast in the controversial Nativity scenes. According to the prophets (Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel), according to angels (Acts 1:9-11), and according to our Lord Himself (Matt. 24:27-31), in the next Advent He will come in power and glory and light and majesty, with a roar of thunder that will shake the foundations of the heavens and the earth.

Wake up, Christian! The night is nearly over. The day is almost here.

It’s Monday morning. Arise and embrace this day. Are there works of darkness the Lord wants you to cast aside? Are you ready to wear your armor of light in the public square? Let us begin this season by praying, from the Lectionary, “Almighty God, give us grace…”

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Christ the King

Posted on November 18, 2013 by themondayprayer

The brutal fact is that in this Christian country not one person in a hundred has the faintest notion what the Church teaches about God or man or society or the person of Jesus Christ…Theologically this country is at present in a state of utter chaos established in the name of religious toleration and rapidly degenerating into flight from reason and the death of hope.
― British Author Dorothy L. Sayers, in Creed or Chaos?: Why Christians Must Choose Either Dogma or Disaster

PRAYER: (from the Lectionary)

Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule, we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

SCRIPTURES: (from the Lectionary)

Jeremiah 23:1-6
Psalm 46
Colossians 1:11-20
Luke 23:33-43

PRAYER FOCUS: Jesus Christ the King

Alert- you have only 36 shopping days until Christmas. Maybe only 35 by the time you receive this.

That’s probably not news to you.

In all the shopping malls and all the Big Box stores, preparations are being made to ring in the Christmas season in a very commercial way- with cash registers pinging and money tills jingling, filled to overflowing with sales.

The new controversy this year revolves around which stores will jump the gun, daring to open their doors on Thanksgiving Day itself. The old controversies remain– whether advertisers will mention Christmas, whether clerks will dare to wish shoppers a “Merry Christmas” or just a “Happy Holidays”, and whether there is altogether too much emphasis on Santa Claus in the Western traditions of Christmas.

It’s all about putting Christ back in Christmas, isn’t it? But that’s not a really new controversy. It’s been going on for well over a thousand years–at least since the Council of Nicea in the fourth century. And it was Santa Claus himself, no less, who made the point first.

This next Sunday, November 24, marks the end of the Christian Liturgical calendar for the year. It has become known as Christ the King Sunday, which is a festival proclaiming the divinity and the supremacy of Jesus Christ. Christ as King. Christ as Lord. While the Feast of Christ the King isn’t an old tradition, it is not an insignificant observance, for upon this point all of Christianity turns.

As this week’s Lectionary Scripture reminds us:

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:15-20)

The Divinity of Jesus Christ is by no means a new discussion. In A.D. 325 The First Council of Nicea debated and settled precisely this point. However, at one point in the proceedings, a Bishop from northern Egypt named Arius argued that Christ was not divine, but rather, was a mere creature as was the rest of humankind. The Council gave him the floor to make his argument, and he did so in a relentless flood of sophistry. A second bishop named Nicholas, a man widely known for his acts of generosity and kindness to poor children, grew frustrated with Arius’s words and thoughts. Nicholas stood up and punched Arius in the face, which stopped the heresy right then.

Now that’s one way of putting Christ in Christmas!

But that sort of violent confrontation was not acceptable to the Council, even in the fourth century A.D., and the outburst got Bishop Nicholas thrown into a prison cell to cool off. However, he was soon released, and he eventually became venerated as Saint Nicholas, from whose acts of kindness and selfless giving the legends of “Santa Claus” are taken.

Please do not think for a moment that the Arian heresy that Jesus was not divine went away in AD 325. We hear it repeated each time some well-meaning person tells us it doesn’t matter what we believe, as long as we are sincere. Or that Jesus was a great teacher, or a very influential rabbi. Or that giving to others is the real reason for the Christmas season. Or tells us we are bigoted, or worse, for claiming His Divinity.

If Jesus Christ is King, our lives should be about seeking and serving His kingdom.

In the words of the prophet Isaiah:

For unto us a child is born,
Unto us a son is given.
And the government shall be upon his shoulders.
And his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end. (Isaiah 9:6-7)

Christianity is about this amazing reality: That the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. That He died for us, and rose again that we may be reconciled to Himself.

Jesus didn’t do this because he was a great teacher or a great moral leader. He didn’t come to inspire St. Nicholas in acts of generosity or to inspire a holiday. Or to make us better people. He did it because he loved us. And because he is Christ the King.

It’s Monday Morning. Saint Nick believed in Jesus Christ the King. Do you?

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“Light Such a Candle”

Posted on November 11, 2013 by themondayprayer

Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out. —Hugh Latimer, to his friend Nicholas Ridley, as they were being burned at the stake for their Christian beliefs (1555).

PRAYER: (from the Lectionary)

“Blessed Lord, who caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.”

SCRIPTURES: (from the Lectionary)

Isaiah 65:17-25
Psalm 98
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
Luke 21:5-19

PRAYER FOCUS: Learning Scripture

This week’s Lectionary Prayer was written in the mid-16th century by a man named Thomas. It is a prayer that has stood the test of time for more than four centuries. In 1556, five months after the deaths of Latimer and Ridley, Thomas was also burned at the stake. Before he died he left us a five-point prayer that he believed would guide those who followed him.

Hear, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the Scriptures.

Most of us first hear the Word spoken by another person—a parent or family member, a priest or a preacher, possibly a teacher or a friend. Someone who loves us. The Word is first heard in community, in relation to another person or a group of people. So begin most journeys of faith.

Reading the Bible deepens our understanding. We begin to discover Who God is, to embrace His amazing love, to explore the solid reasons we can hope and trust in Him. When we read the Bible, we are writing into our minds something Holy and Eternal and Faithful and True.

In the 1500s, the word “mark” meant to pay attention. Today, in context, we would read “mark” as an exhortation to write in or on something. If you are uncomfortable “marking up” your Bible, get another one that you’ll be comfortable making notes in. Think of marks as signposts you leave for yourself along your journey of growth and discipleship.

Learning often begins with memorization. Memorizing Scriptures lays an important foundation for the structure of faith, but it is more important to grow in your understanding of what the scriptures mean. “Keep my words and store up my commands within you…and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart” (Prov. 7:1-3). Write God’s Word on your heart.

As humans, we become what we consume, both in the physical and the spiritual sense. During digestion, our bodies break down food and absorb it in order to sustain and to build our own living tissues. If we don’t eat, we will starve. Likewise with Scripture, we read it, meditate on it, and absorb it so that it becomes part of our own living spirits. God’s Word is then reflected in our beliefs and our choices. If we don’t feed our spirits, we will wither.

The “Thomas” who wrote this week’s Prayer was a leader of the English Reformation during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. His full name was Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1532 to 1534. Cranmer authored The Book of Common Prayer, still in use today, and from which this week’s prayer is taken. During the political and sectarian turmoil that followed the royal succession of Mary I (daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon) Cranmer was tried for treason and heresy. He was sentenced to death along with fellow Anglican Reformists Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley.

Bishops Latimer and Ridley were burned at the stake in Oxford, in October 1555. Archbishop Cranmer was executed in the same manner, at the same spot, five months later. A small area cobbled with stones forming a cross in the center of Broad Street outside the front of Balliol College still marks the site.

In losing their lives, the faith and courage of Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley bore the testimony Jesus called his Disciples to. They held fast the blessed hope of everlasting life.

In our Lectionary Gospel passage from Luke, Jesus is forewarning the Disciples of what is to come. He tells them that other people will hate them, that:

“They will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. And so you will bear testimony to me. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict” (Luke 21: 12-15).

It’s Monday Morning. We live in a world increasingly hostile to our faith. This week, Christian, you will be bombarded by words and attitudes that contradict what the Bible assures you is true. Do your homework. Do your heart-work. Hold fast the blessed hope.

TMP Note: Please be in prayer for the people of the Philippines impacted by Typhoon Haiyan. Pray for their safety and provision, for rescue and resources. Pray for the Church in the devastated areas, and for our brothers and sisters in the Faith mobilizing relief even now.

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The Next Generation

Posted on November 4, 2013 by themondayprayer

Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children. —Charles (Chuck) Swindoll, American pastor and author.

PRAYER: (from the Lectionary)

“O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom, Amen.”

SCRIPTURES: (from the Lectionary)

Job 19:23-27
Psalm 145:1-7
2 Thessalonians 2:1-5
Luke 20:27-38

I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts. They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty—and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They tell of the power of your awesome works—and I will proclaim your great deeds. They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. (Psalm 145:1-7 NIV)

PRAYER FOCUS: The Next Generation

Who or what is the most powerful force in forming your child’s faith in God?

“I grew up in the Episcopal Church…but my belief was superficial and flimsy. It was borrowed from my archaeologist father. Leaning on my father’s faith got me through high school. But by college it wasn’t enough. From my early 20s on, I would waver between atheism and agnosticism, never coming close to considering that God could be real. My world became aggressively secular. My group of friends was overwhelmingly atheist…” —Kirsten Powers, American news commentator and columnist.

Ms. Powers wrote in Christianity Today (“The God I Can’t Write Off”, November 2013) about how she came to faith in Jesus Christ. The arc of her faith is tragically familiar. Two generations ago, such a testimony of a weak faith succumbing to secular behaviors and atheism would have been an exception, not the rule. Not today.

A Barna Group study between 2007 and 2011 of 18- to 29-year-olds who had been active in a Christian church at some point in their teen years underscored the failure to prepare young people for real life in a world that is increasingly hostile towards their faith. Nearly three in five of these young Christians walked away from both their church and their faith, either permanently or for an extended period of time, beginning at age 15. (www.barna.org, the Faith That Lasts Project)

Christian theologian and author John Piper writes,

“It is the Biblical duty of every generation of Christians to see to it that the next generation hears about the mighty acts of God. God does not drop a new Bible from heaven on every generation. He intends that the older generation will teach the newer generation to read and think and trust and obey and rejoice. It’s true that God draws near personally to every new generation of believers, but he does so through the Biblical truth that they learn from the preceding generations.”

Who is the most powerful force in forming your child’s faith in God? The Biblical pattern is for parents, especially fathers, to serve as the primary teachers and shapers of their children’s minds and hearts. Parents impart to their children the framework for faith. You can’t just drop them off at church youth group and expect them to grow into viable Christians. The process of discipleship requires more.

Parents who exalt God in their daily lives will almost always commend to their children how to exalt God in theirs. Churches that praise God will transfer to the next generation the joy of expressing praise to God for His awesome beauty or His matchless love. But dry, unemotional, indifferent teaching about God – whether at home or at church – just isn’t compelling. In fact, it’s boring. And that was precisely the largest single complaint quoted in the Barna study.

Discipleship flows from the Godhead. The Church’s role is to first strengthen the faith of parents, to help disciple and equip parents for discipling their children. Simply stated, parents can’t teach what they don’t know. If parents aren’t living the values and behaviors they say they believe in, the children are unlikely to even borrow that faith, much less cling to it when real trouble strikes. The spiritual development and condition of parents is far more important than any church youth program. Indeed, the best children’s program is likely in their own living room. What’s more important on a weekend—sports or Scripture?

The Church partners with parents in discipling children. Fun youth activities do matter. But teaching sound Biblical doctrine matters more. The program focus should be on teaching them to understand Scripture and how to pray. Young Christians need to have a safe space where they can ask questions and express doubts, to challenge their parents and their pastors why they believe what they believe. The next generation needs to hear about the awesome things God has done for the current one.

Christian, it’s not enough for your children to hear what is important. They need to hear WHY it’s important—and why it’s important to you.

Because it does matter what you believe; all religions are not the same, all religions do not lead to God. There is good and there is evil and the line between them is neither relative nor fuzzy. Children who are anchored in Biblical truth are less likely to fall for deception and lies. Young people who know how much they are loved—by their parents, by their church, by their Lord and Savior—are far less likely to be tempted into cheap substitutes. Such a generation is more likely to offer a powerful and living counterpoint to a culture in decline. Indeed, such a generation is likely to destroy the works of the devil. And so we must pray.

The Psalmist Asaph writes, “We will not hide these from [our] descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done” (Psalm 78:4).

It’s Monday Morning. This week you’ll have opportunities to engage your faith, to practice what you believe in. How are you expressing that to the next generation of Christians?

“So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.” 2 Thessalonians 2:15.

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How Long, O Lord?

Posted on October 28, 2013 by themondayprayer

He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.
He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.
—from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834)

PRAYER:

“LORD, we pray not for tranquility, nor that our tribulations may cease. We pray for thy Spirit and thy love that thou grant us strength and grace to overcome adversity through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, Amen.” –Girolamo Savanarola, 15th century Italian cleric.

SCRIPTURES: (from the Lectionary)

Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4
Psalm 119:137-144
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
Luke 19:1-10

How long, O Lord, must I call for help? But you do not listen! “Violence is everywhere!” I cry, but you do not come to save. Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted. (Habakkuk 1:2-4, NLT)

PRAYER FOCUS: Praying for Christians in Iraq

“How Long, O Lord?”

These words have hung over the question of suffering and evil since the dawn of time. They challenge the very bedrock of our faith. For some the mere existence of suffering and evil raises the question of God’s existence.

Among Christian believers, we often fail to give much thought to the twin problems of suffering and evil until we ourselves are confronted by it. By then it is usually too late. If our thoughts are not well formed, if our ingrained beliefs are not consistent with the truth God has revealed in the Bible, when the “dark night of the soul” hits us it can shake the foundations of our faith.

And yet it is in the midst of suffering and evil that God’s grace and glory is magnified. With this in mind, we turn to modern-day Iraq. [TMP Note: We acknowledge that the church is also persecuted in places like China, Iran, Syria, Nigeria, and Egypt. We point to Iraq because we have deeper contacts there at this time.]

Saint George’s Church in Baghdad is one of the few Christian outposts remaining in a country that as recently as 2003 was home to more than 1.5 million Christians. St. George’s is headed by our dear personal friend, the Rev. Dr. Canon Andrew White, called “The Vicar of Baghdad.”

St. George’s has a congregation of over 6,000, disproportionately women and children, due to the deaths of so many men in the ongoing violence. Canon Andrew is deeply involved in peacemaking. He sits on the Iraqi High Council of Religious Leaders, an interfaith group of key influential leaders committed to peace and reconciliation.

Canon Andrew White has gained a wide following on Facebook where he updates his friends and followers with what’s going on in Baghdad. Here are some posts from the past ten days.

• October 17th: OVER 200 KILLED TONIGHT WHILST PRAYING. Tonight’s massacres have been quite unbelievable with over 200 killed including 80 Shabach (a minority living near Mosul) and the bombs are still going off. Lord have mercy upon us.
• October 20th: Over 60 killed in a terrible suicide bombing at a Baghdad café. Lord have Mercy.
• October 27th: Hordes killed in Nineveh and Baghdad. After a few [relatively quiet] days the violence returned with horrendous force. Scores have been massacred in Nineveh and Baghdad. The violence is just so terrible nobody knows what will happen. We just cry out Lord have Mercy.

Whether due to biased journalism, or because the deteriorating situation runs counter to someone’s preferred political narrative, most of the carnage in Iraq has gone unreported in the Western News Media. The BBC, perhaps a lone standout, reported this morning:

Several car bombs have exploded around the Iraqi capital Baghdad, killing at least 39 people, officials say. Separately, a bomber blew himself up in the northern city of Mosul near troops queuing at a bank, killing 14 people. As well as those killed, at least 100 people were injured in the attacks. More than 30 people were hurt in the Mosul blast, which was the single most deadly attack of the day.

Countrywide violence… fueled by sectarian divisions, has reached its highest level since 2008. Almost 1,000 people were killed and more than 2,000 wounded in September alone, according to the UN. Hundreds more have been killed in October.

In a rare moment of journalistic candor, the BBC lamented that “compassion fatigue” has resulted in decreased demand for news from Iraq.

Canon Andrew’s reply to the BBC was:

We are still here, [we are] not fatigued and [we are] not leaving. Pray for us and all the saints who are left in Iraq.

We at St. George’s live surrounded by fear. Believers in the Almighty are not exempt. We [struggle] with personal fear, relationships, health, finances and even salvation. We do not live in fear for one reason only: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears is not perfected in love” (1 John 4:18).

Although most of the Iraqi violence is sectarian between Sunni and Shia Muslims, St. George’s is never untouched. Whenever a bomb goes off a wife wonders if her husband was nearby and prays for his safety. A father prays that his wife has safely made it home from the market. Children stop and pray for their parents. Christians pray for their Muslim neighbors. These prayers are lifted up many times a day.

In the midst of punctuations by bombings and assassinations, the work and the mission of St George’s goes on. The church is the distribution point for food and medicine to thousands in the congregation and to thousands more in their local community in Baghdad.

In this God is glorified.

God’s grace is magnified because Christians who live under the dark shadow of suffering and evil daily overcome their fears and do the Lord’s work in a dangerous place. They love each other and they love their neighbors more than they love themselves. Their love is casting out fear. Despite having little, they share everything. They praise God for each new day. When they pray “give us this day our daily bread” they mean today’s bread. When they ask God to “deliver us from evil” they know what that looks like.

How Long, O Lord?

It’s a fair question. One that a member of St. George’s Church in Baghdad might ask.

It’s Monday Morning. This week, pray for strength and grace to overcome adversity wherever Christians are confronted by suffering and evil–like Iraq–and where you live. Ask God to bless the peacemakers.

[Header Photo courtesy of St. George’s Church in Baghdad. Canon Andrew White teaching the children how to sing “God Gave Me Happiness That Does Not Exist in the Whole World”]

The Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East (FRRME, FRRME America)

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Lord, Have Mercy

Posted on October 21, 2013 by themondayprayer

A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you’re looking down, you can’t see something that’s above you. –C.S. Lewis

PRAYER: (from the Lectionary)

“Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.”

SCRIPTURES: (from the Lectionary)

Joel 2:23-32
Psalm 65
2 Timothy 4:6-18
Luke 18:9-14

The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ (Luke 18:10-13 NLT)

PRAYER FOCUS: Lord, have mercy on me…

How do you function as the people of God when you are living in the middle of a godless culture? How do you stand against a political power that is at best indifferent, if not openly hostile, to your religious beliefs?

If you are a Christian living in the 21st Century, you might have pondered these questions. And you’d have a lot in common with the Pharisees of Jesus’ time.

The Roman occupation of Israel created more than a national political problem for the Jewish people. It generated a whole set of spiritual and cultural problems, as well.

The Israelites had four options:

1. Fight the foreign occupation (and its culture). That was popular. One of Jesus’ disciples, Simon the Zealot, was of such a persuasion. The problem was, the Romans had already defeated the Hebrews militarily and it was nothing for them to crucify suspected resistance fighters.
2. Collaborate with the enemy. You go with the flow. “When in Rome, do as the Romans do…” The Tax Collectors were some of these people, shaking down fellow Jews for the benefit of the Romans. The Sadducees were also collaborators, politically and theologically, going along to get along—“it’s all good.”
3. Withdraw and escape. Disappear into the desert or the hills. Insulate your family and church from any contact with either the pagan culture or those who live in contact with it. These were the Essenes (who gave us the Dead Sea Scrolls).
4. Stand fast and stick it out. You do the best you can to rally your community, your church and your family to live out your faith as best you can without compromising the very ideals you believe in. You pray that God will deliver you from your enemies and you wait patiently. You maintain your distinctive dress and speech, your integrity in dealings with people, and observe your holy rituals such that it gives honor to your faith and your culture. This is the hard path, the true path–the path of the Pharisees.

The Pharisees were descendants of those faithful Jews who kept their faith alive and traditions intact during the Babylonian exile. They were the spiritual pillars of their community. They were the moral guardians of their culture. To borrow a contemporary expression, the Pharisees were in the world but not of it.

So, how did these disciplined, learned, and well-meaning people come to be at the forefront of our Lord’s multiple and stern rebukes?

Hold that thought…

In our Lectionary Gospel passage Jesus addresses a group of Pharisees. The parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector deals with prayer. But here the problem is not the Pharisee himself, but the content of his heart—his attitude—as he prays. The story serves as a rebuke not just to the Pharisee(s), but to all who become confident of their own righteousness to the point of looking down on everybody else.

There was much to commend this Pharisee. He was free from overt and intentional sins. He was not unjust in any of his dealings. He was not an adulterer. He fasted twice a week, and so glorified God with his body. He gave tithes of all that he possessed, according to the law, and so glorified God with his worldly finances.

The Pharisee is sure that he is a blessing to God: “I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector (presumably nods in that direction). He went up to the temple to pray, but was so full of himself and his own goodness that he thought he had no need of God’s favor and grace.

His real prayer is “God, I thank you that I am so marvelous.” Just for good measure he adds, “…better than that vile tax collector over there.”

In contrast, the tax collector knows he approaches a Holy God, the Great I AM, the Almighty. He comes in humility, stands at a distance, trembling, afraid to lift his eyes to heaven. While the Pharisee had stood boldly at the front and addressed God, the tax collector beat his breast in sorrow. His prayer was short and to the point: God, be merciful to me a sinner.

Then Jesus told the Pharisees, “who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else”(v.9) that the sinful Tax Collector and not the “good” Pharisee went home justified before God (v.14).

One more time, Christian: How did the Pharisees come to be at the forefront of Jesus’s multiple and stern rebukes?

In a word: Pride.

Conceit. Self-righteousness. Arrogance. Holier-than-thou-ness. Perhaps you’ve heard these words applied to Christians. An out-of-use word for that attitude is Pharisaical.

It’s the same sin that brought down Lucifer. God hates our pride. He wants us to hate it, too.

Twentieth century British theologian G.K. Chesterton wrote, “If I had only one sermon to preach, it would be a sermon against pride.”

Two thousand years have passed since the first telling of the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. But we are in no way different from the characters Jesus described. The harder we try to live holy lives in the midst of an indifferent or hostile World, the more the Church stands out against a culture of immorality and idolatry, the more we must realize our desperate need for God’s mercy and grace. For just like the Pharisee, our enemy is pride. And just like the Tax Collector, our only authentic prayer should be “Lord have mercy…”

It’s Monday Morning. May the Lord bless you and keep you; may the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; may the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace (Num. 6:24-26).

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Love Letters

Posted on October 14, 2013 by themondayprayer

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else. —C.S. Lewis

PRAYER: (from the Lectionary)

“Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.”

SCRIPTURES: (from the Lectionary)

Jeremiah 31:27-34
Psalm 121
2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
Luke 18:1-8

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel—After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts. I will be their God, and they shall be my people (Jeremiah 31:33 KJV).

PRAYER FOCUS: God’s Love Letters

The prophet Jeremiah lived through the last days of his civilization.

The Babylonians had first invaded Israel, then Judah. The army of Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem and reduced the much of the city to rubble, including the Temple. As was common in those days, the victorious Babylonians killed or carried off into slavery the royal family, the priests, prophets, and most of the Hebrew population. Survivors of the fighting were heartbroken—ravaged by grief and loss.

This was Judah in 586 BC.

Yet God had not abandoned his people. God spoke to and through Jeremiah. “I will be their God and they shall be my people.”

These words provided desperately-needed hope to the survivors of the invasion. The God of Creation would re-create them. The God of Exodus would deliver them once again. The merciful, tender loving God would forgive all their sins and absolve them of the sins of their ancestors. Father-God promised his children a new covenant and a new beginning.

Throughout the Old Testament, the heart represents not only the seat of emotions like hope and love and joy, but it is also the basis of character, including the mind and the will. That’s what got the children of Israel—the survivors—captured and carried off into Babylonian Exile. Despite repeated warnings from a long and distinguished line of prophets, their hearts remained set against God and against His ways. Jeremiah complained that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? (Jer. 17:9, KJV).

This has gotten people in trouble since the beginning. Our hearts just aren’t right.

Bible Scholar Matthew Henry sums it up like this:

The heart, the conscience of man, in his corrupt and fallen state, is deceitful above all things. It is subtle and false. It calls evil good and good evil, puts false colors upon things, and cries peace to those to whom peace does not belong. It cheats men into their own ruin…they are self-deceivers, self-destroyers. Herein the heart is desperately wicked; it is deadly, it is desperate. The case is bad indeed, and in a manner deplorable and past relief, if the conscience which should rectify the errors of the other faculties is itself a mother of falsehood and a ring-leader in the delusion.

So, is there no hope? Are we left in despair, to suffer with our crooked hearts?

Not at all, dear Christian! Not at all.

Almighty God has great things in store for us. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jer. 29:11). God has put His Word in our minds and written it in our hearts. Unlike the exiled Hebrews, we are living under the New Covenant, in the grace of the Cross. As promised, Father-God has written us a letter of love and then placed it in our hearts and minds.

The Apostle Paul refers to this in his second letter to the Corinthians, “You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Cor. 3:3).

Nineteenth Century Evangelist Charles H. Spurgeon wrote, “Even the fields, whether they are white with winter’s snows or golden with autumn’s crown of glory, still bear the impression, either of Divine Power or of Divine Love. God has written the whole world over—there is not a slab in the great palace of creation which is left unsculptured.”

Everywhere you turn, Christian, you will see God’s own glory revealed. The beautiful valley, that majestic storm, this perfect flower, the bird in flight, this morning’s sunrise—all love letters from a loving, pursuing Creator-God who wants to get your attention. Like a love-smitten couple carving their initials onto a tree, God has inscribed His declaration of Love throughout the universe around you.

Yet He saved His most awesome letter of Love just for you. And He’s written it in your heart.

It’s your choice, of course. You can choose to have a heart focused on things the world says are worthy of your attention – or you can choose to have a heart that is focused on God’s things. You can live a life that’s focused on what you think you need – or you can live a life that’s focused on what God knows you need. You can have a heart that is hardened to the things of God and not pay attention to God’s will for your life – or you can have a heart that yearns for God’s will and God’s ways.

God isn’t going to force you to have a heart for Him. But He offers it – and He deeply desires for you to take Him up on that offer. God wants you to make Him and His things your important things. He longs for us to turn to Him and seek Him.

How do we know this? Why, just look at all these love letters!

It’s Monday Morning. How’s your heart today? Say, is that His handwriting I see on it…?

“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)

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