Instructions, a Reflection on Acts 1:1-11

Repeat:

He was a man who taught and worked and died. He appeared to travelers and disciples. We don't experience him in the way that they did. Yet, we continue to experience him. In the Christian calendar, we mark the 40th day after Easter as the day of the Ascension of the Lord.

They had listened to his teaching. They had asked him when things would be the way they wanted them to be.

He told them that the Holy Spirit would visit them and bestow power upon them.

He vanished from their sight.

But not from their lives.

Another Repeat:

If you had been living in that time and place where the itinerant healer and preacher was crucified, would you have been able to foresee that his teachings would be remembered 2,000 years later? How likely would it have seemed to you that from a small bunch of scared followers, a world-wide religion would develop?

How did it happen?

A clue is in this passage from Acts. After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples he had chosen to be his apostles. He told them that they were going to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to be witnesses to the ends of the earth."

They were. And they did.

from Psalm 47:
Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.

Daily Prayer, Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Morning
Sing praises to our King, sing praises.

Invitatory Psalm 84
....
O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob!
Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed.

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than live in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
....


Read and reflect on Psalm 36


Daily Lectionary Reading, Acts 1:1-11

Lectio Divina

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet. He chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob whom he loves (Psalm 47:3-4).

Midday Psalm 119:49-56

Prayer for today:
Risen and ascended Christ,
you surround us with witnesses
and send us the Counselor
who opens our minds to understand your teaching.
Bless us with such grace
that our lives may become a blessing
for the world now, and in the age to come. Amen.
(from RCL Prayers, Fortress Press)

Evening
Psalms 55, 59, 60, 62

Worship Resources for Ascension Day

The GBOD has Resources for Ascension Day including sermon suggestions, prayers, and a litany.

Ascension, a Reflection on Luke 24:44-53

The other gospels don't tell us about Ascension; so, every year we turn to Luke.

Here's what I posted last year (which was an excerpt from the year before):

And then to this group of disciples who have been huddled together in fear and, even in the joy of recognition, have been disbelieving, he now commissions them, "You are witnesses that the Scriptures have been fulfilled."
....
Commission--I am sending upon you what my Father promised. Stay here in this city until that power comes.

While they are waiting, they gather in the temple.

I'm thinking that many of us Christians have gotten stuck in that period between Ascension and Pentecost. We have known the presence of Christ. We have heard and believed the promised made to us. We're expecting something great to come among us. We are gathered together in great joy to continue our worship of the Lord. We love church and we love the Lord and we love each other. But....

He reminds them that the part of our Bible we call the Old Testament is valid--and necessary for their understanding. We aren't supposed to cut off a large part of the Bible and we aren't supposed to cut off a large part of our neighbors--The risen Christ said to them that they were to include in their witness all nations. Does "all nations" include the people who live on my block that I have never even spoke to? Does "all nations" include people who are of a different socio-economic level?

Daily Prayer, Monday, May 30, 2011

Morning
Sing praises to our King, sing praises.

Invitatory Psalm 95
....
O come, let us worship and bow down,
let us we kneel before our Maker!
For you are our God,
and we are the people of your pasture,
and the sheep of your hand.
….

Read and reflect on Psalm 34

Daily Lectionary Reading, Luke 24:44-53

Lectio Divina

And he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem" (Luke 24:47).

Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy. For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome, a great king over all the earth (Psalm 47:1-2).

Prayer for Today:
Precious Love,
your ascended Son promised the gift of holy power.
Send your Spirit of revelation and wisdom,
that in the blessed freedom of hope,
we may witness to the grace of forgiveness
and sing songs of joy with the peoples of earth
to the One who makes us one body. Amen.
(from RCL Prayers, Fortress Press)



Midday Psalm 119:41-48

Evening
Psalms 46, 48, 49

Appealing to God, a Reflection on 1 Peter 3:17-22

When writing to these Christians who were suffering harassment, he reminds them that Christ also had suffered but had continued to evangelize.

He then uses an example whose meaning is still being debated--comparing the rescue from the flood with rescue from sin by baptism. God waited patiently while Noah built the ark that would save eight persons. Baptism is an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Rather than trying to be the person that will finally settle the arguments over this flood/baptism tie, I'm instead going to return to what seems to be the main purpose--to speak to Christians who are suffering unjustly. Here's what Beverly Gaventa says in Texts for Preaching:

In the face of any suffering, whether caused by human inhumanity, by disease, or by nature, the available answers always fall short. What Christians can assert with 1 Peter, as with Christians of every time and place, is that God stands with those who suffer and that God ultimately triumphs over that suffering.

Daily Prayer, Sunday, May 29, 2011

Morning
Blessed be God,
you have not rejected my prayer
or removed your steadfast love from me.

Invitatory Psalm 24
The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it,
the world, and those who live in it.
....


Psalms 32, 33

Daily Lectionary Reading, 1 Peter 3:17-22

Lectio Divina

For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God's will, than to suffer for doing evil (1 Peter 3:17).

I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will pay you my vows, those that my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in trouble (Psalm 66:13-14).

Today's Prayer:
In the peace of the risen Christ, let us pray to the Lord:
that our risen Savior may grant us victory over all our enemies, seen and unseen ...;
....
that he may fill us with the joy of his holy and life-giving resurrection ...;
that he may provide through us for those who lack food, work, and shelter ...;
that by his love, wars and famine may cease through all the earth ...;
....
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(excerpted from UMBOW 397).


Evening
Psalms 44, 45

Reaction to Criticism, a Reflection on 1 Peter 3:13-16

Peter is advising new Christians how to react when non-Christians criticize them. The essence of the advice is for them not to worry about it but be ready to answer any questions. And if they do respond to the attacks, they are to do so with gentleness and reverence.

Do we find this advice helpful to our modern congregations? What are the criticisms that onlookers make against the church (or churches) today? Paul said for Christians not to fear what their critics fear. What do our critics fear? What are we afraid of? How do we respond to criticisms? What if our congregation is not criticized? Does that mean outsiders think we are doing everything right? Or, does it mean that we are doing anything that anybody even notices?

Daily Prayer, Saturday, May 28, 2011

Morning
Blessed be God,
you have not rejected my prayer
or removed your steadfast love from me.

Invitatory Psalm 67

God, be gracious to us and bless us
and make your face to shine upon you,
that your way may be known upon earth,
your saving power among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.

The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, has blessed us.
May God continue to bless us;
let all the ends of the earth revere you.

Psalms 26, 27, 29

Daily Lectionary Reading, 1 Peter 3:13-16

Lectio Divina

But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated (1 Peter 3:14).

For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried (Psalm 66:10).

Prayer for Today:
Give us the courage to be your followers, your representatives, your agents in the world. Protect us from any slurs or slights, and strengthen us not to respond in kind, but rather to respond kindly. Amen.

Evening
Psalm 35:1-3, 9-28; 38

God Has Heard My Prayer, a Reflection on Psalm 66:8-20

This portion of Psalm 66 begins with a call to prayer, "Praise God who has saved us."

Next, the psalmist addresses God: "You have tested us. You have burdened us. You have let people mistreat us."

What this psalm models for us: 1) Life may have difficulties; we don't have to pretend that it doesn't. 2) We are allowed to complain to God about these difficulties. We don't have to pretend that they're good for us or that we deserve them--at least, all of them, anyway.

Then, it models for us what happens after we have come through whatever the difficulty was that we were complaining about. The psalmist gives credit to God, "You have brought us out." This gratitude is further demonstrated, "I will come to your house with burnt offerings. I will do what I promised to do if you helped me."

After these promises to God, the psalmist again addresses other persons: "Come listen to what God has done for me. I prayed. God heard."

I left out verse 18, "If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened" because I'm not ready to deal with it today.