I’ve long been a fan of Flannery O’Connor’s short stories. She was a strong woman, a brilliant writer, and a sincere Christian. Her short stories have a prophetic sense about them as they unearth the complexity of life in the South with its strange amalgam of faith, tradition, and prejudice.
If you have 35 minutes or so, take some time to listen to the author read her short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” You’ll be glad you did.
Almighty and everlasting God, you found your martyr Justin wandering from teacher to teacher, seeking the true God, and you revealed to him the sublime wisdom of your eternal Word: Grant that all who seek you, or a deeper knowledge of you, may find and be found by you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
”(Hell’s) cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy’s (God’s) will, looks around upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.”
We had a wonderful Ascension Day Eucharist service this morning. It was good to gather together to confess our sins, to read and respond to Scripture, to pray together, and to come to the Lord’s Table. This morning’s homily was a Reflection on the Ascension taken from Lutheran pastor Otto Paul Kratzmann’s book The Pilgrim.
Now He was going home… In seven words the years of labor and sorrow end: “While they beheld, He was taken up.”… There were no bells and banners on earth, but surely all the trumpets on the other side sounded as they never sounded before… Surely the chiming golden bells of heaven sang their welcome, and angel choirs intoned the song of the throne: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdomand strength.”… On the anvils of God the nails had been forged into the scepter of a king… “He was taken up”… The angel hosts sweep to either side, leaving the way clear to the Eternal Light that no longer blinds the eyes of us who stand gazing after Him… He leads a procession which comes from the ends of time and space, all the harvest of all the white fields the world has ever known, the pilgrims of the night who come at last to the dawn of an everlasting day… “He was taken up.” The Child of the manger, the praying heart on the starlit lanes of Galilee, the hunger in the wilderness, the weariness of the Sychar Well, the tears of the Garden and the Hill, the thirst of the Cross - all over now… The robes of the Transfiguration once momentary, now clothe Him forever, and angels and archangels sound the great doxology of the Waiting Church: “Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.”…
An old story - perhaps too old for us to do more than glimpse its glory… And yet - we ought to remember it more clearly… It was the solemn moment in the story of God and man when the visible Christ became the invisible Christ… From that hour everything concerning Him became visible only to the eyes of faith… The final line of demarcation in the world - between those who believe and those who refuse to believe - was now clear… Men can say that all this is not true and use the mind of man to reject the mind of God, or they can know that God once walked among them and that they now have a Friend in heaven who knows all that earth and time and pain can do to man…
The Ascension did not take Jesus away… It brought heaven near… In the realm in which He now reigns time and space have no meaning… There is no up and down, no near and far, no darkness, and no distance in the world of faith… He is as near as yesterday’s prayer, today’s joy, tomorrow’s sorrow… His homecoming has made heaven a home for us who still walk far from home… Wherefore stand we gazing into heaven?… Our momentary task is here, but through the slow dimming of the years we see the evening lamps of home tended by the pierced hands of Him who has gone to prepare a place for us… Is there a better way to live - or die? … All that we have to do now is believe and follow.
Tonight at our small group we had a great discussion on the Ascension of Jesus and we watched this video clip from pastor and professor Darrell Johnson. Darrell has some wonderful insights on Jesus, Christianity in our culture, and the importance of the Ascension. I encourage you to watch it and would love to hear your thoughts.
Tomorrow is Ascension Day. I did not grow up celebrating the Ascension or being very aware of it other than what I learned in Sunday School. But the reality is we worship not only a crucified and resurrected Lord, we worship an ascended Lord. Our Gospel reading for tomorrow says, “While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy” (Luke 24:53).
Does his ascension fill us with great joy or great puzzlement? For many years it was puzzlement for me. But I now recognize that for Jesus, the One who gave up the heights of heaven to stoop low to win for us salvation, has returned home again. Now the line has been drawn between those who saw him with their own eyes and the blessed who have see him by faith! And now, because he has ascended, he reigns from on high and yet is closer than our next breath.
As the old Ascension Day prayer prays, “Almighty God, whose blessed Son our Savior Jesus Christ ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things….” May he fill us with his abiding life that we may go on our way with great joy!
To commemorate the feast of the Ascension of our Lord, we will celebrate the Eucharist during tomorrow morning’s 7:00 AM Morning Prayer service. I wanted to let you know, as the service may take a little longer than usual. Please join us if you are able.
As I’ve been reflecting on the Daily Office readings today, I’m struck once again by the brilliance of Jesus and what makes Christianity unique. In the Gospel Reading, as the Sermon on the Mount - the greatest sermon ever preached - is coming to an end, Jesus sums up the Law and the Prophets with this, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.“ (Matthew 7:12 ESV)
Why does this reveal his brilliance? Other well known teachers made this point before him and after him. Why does this reveal his brilliance. Well, is Jesus’ point the same point made by others? No not at all.
Let me explain. Jesus’ words are positive rather than negative. The posture that that sums up the Law and the Prophets is active and initiating. You DO to them what you want them to do to you. The other teachings are in the negative and in the passive: Do not do to others what you would not want them to do you.
Jesus’ brilliance is revealed in how he turns everything around. Actively thinking of others as ourselves and acting towards them in the way we would want to be treated is liberating. It delivers us from so much of our ethical hand wringing and relational worry. Jesus is saying consult your own interests first in regards to your relationships with other people. What would you want in this situation? Then, act that way. Reach out. Say a kind word. Offer encouragement. When we consult our own interests first and then turn to the other we are interestingly freed from our own interests.
Brilliant!
From the Spirit comes foreknowledge of the future, understanding of the mysteries of faith, insight into the hidden meaning of Scripture, and other special gifts. Through the Spirit we become citizens of heaven; we are admitted to the company of the angels; we enter into eternal happiness, and abide in God. Through the Spirit we acquire a likeness to God; indeed, we attain what is beyond our most sublime aspirations—we ‘become’ God.
It is interesting to note the idea of theosis (becoming deified, being made divine) in Basil’s writing. There are some substantial points of support in Scripture that describe what is realized as believers become so conformed to the image of Christ that they become like him in his godliness. For example:
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
Mind blowing stuff, here. Particularly when on most days, we can feel so far from the glory that awaits us. And yet we know that as we abide and remain open to the penetrating life of Christ into us, we are being changed.
From Mere Christianity.
Before leaving the question of divorce, I should like to distinguish two things which are very often confused. The Christian conception of marriage is one: the other is the quite different question-how far Christians, if they are voters or Members of Parliament, ought to try to force their views of marriage on the rest of the community by embodying them in the divorce laws. A great many people seem to think that if you are a Christian yourself you should try to make divorce difficult for every one. I do not think that. At least I know I should be very angry if the Mohammedans tried to prevent the rest of us from drinking wine. My own view is that the Churches should frankly recognise that the majority of the British people are not Christians and, therefore, cannot be expected to live Christian lives. There ought to be two distinct kinds of marriage: one governed by the State with rules enforced on all citizens, the other governed by the Church with rules enforced by her on her own members. The distinction ought to be quite sharp, so that a man knows which couples are married in a Christian sense and which are not.
Our Exodus reading this morning from Exodus 19:16-25 was preceded by yesterday’s affirmation from God for his people, “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”
Yahweh, in his plan to see his people set apart as a holy nation, was at the heart of his rescue operation to free them from bondage in Egypt. That is the way it is with the Lord: as he liberates us, he seeks to draw us closer to himself for his purposes. What’s more, God’s purposes for us are never only for our personal transformation but for the sake of others, the neighbor, and the world.
In the Exodus passage today, we see what a risky affair it is to be brought close to God. His presence has descended to Mt. Sinai and Sinai is burning. There was smoke and fire and thunder. Boundaries were clear. Only Moses and Aaron can come close. God revealed himself in great demonstration of power and ferocity! If the people came to close, “lest he break out against them.”
There has been a great deal of confusion by Christians on how to interpret the Law of Moses and by doing so, we miss out on great blessings. While Moses was the law bringer, Christ has delivered us into the way of grace and truth (John 1:17). However, he also made clear on a number of occasions that he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17)!
Does our freedom from the law mean that we are to be lawless? To borrow St. Paul’s words from Romans 6:1, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!” In fact our lives are to reflect the glory of God as we are transformed by the power of his grace (2 Cor 3:18).
What I am reminded of this morning is that in our approach to God, there needs to be some sense of orderliness. We should not think that we can breeze in and out, as we like. He wants us to draw near. Through Christ, he has made a way for this to happen. He has priested us through Christ to live into this role in his holy nation through the work of his son. But he is holy. When we irreverently approach him, or to personalize it, when I irreverently approach him, all too often I know that in my heart I am going to him for what he can give me. I have not appropriately postured my soul before the Living God. Yes, we call him Abba. Yes he loves us passionately and jealously. But he is holy.
Therefore, we are right to pray each Sunday at the beginning of each worship service at Holy Trinity a prayer known as the “Collect for Purity.” It’s an uncomfortable prayer - I don’t want my secrets out in the open but they are open clearly before God. In praying this prayer, we ask God to enable us to approach him as we ought.
Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Considering the events of the gathering at Sinai in Exodus 19, this careful, prayerful approach to our worship seems especially appropriate. Right at the start, we are reminded that God is quite different than us while being assured that in Christ we can approach him to love and magnify him.
[Updated] And as we approach the Lord with reverence corporately, why should it be any different when we do it personally? It is a good reminder to come as we are but realizing WHO it is we are coming to.
