Flesh and Spirit, Reflection on Romans 8:6-11

Repeats from earlier year:

God's law was intended to help humans live the kind of life and to have the kind of community that God wanted them to have. God's law outlined for them how to have the right relationship with God. Yet, being humans, they didn't do so well.

God has a new plan: Christ Jesus. "Those of you who cannot comply with the old law are not required to try. God's Son has dealt with sin. Life in the Spirit of Christ serves as compliance."

Eugene Boring and Fred Craddock, in The People's New Testament Commentary, suggest reading Deuteronomy 30 to remind ourselves of the life-giving original function of the law. They are also helpful in pointing out that the word that the NRSV translates as "flesh" refers to human life as a whole, rather than being limited only to our "lower nature," as translated by the NIV.

We English speakers read "You are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit," and think "He's talking about me. He's making promises to me about my life." Well, so he is, but he's talking to the me that is part of us. The Greek pronoun translated as you is in the plural. Paul is talking to the Christian community. "Church, you're not in the flesh. Church, the Spirit of God dwells in you. Curch, God's breath gives you life."

Daily Prayer, Sunday, April 10, 2011

Morning
God of all consolation and compassion,
your Son comforted the grieving sisters, Martha and Mary;
your breath alone brings life
to dry bones and weary souls.
Pour out your Spirit upon us,
that we may face despair and death
with the hope of resurrection
and faith in the One
who called Lazarus forth from the grave. Amen.
(from RCL Prayers, Fortress Press, 86).

Invitatory Psalm 24

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
Who shall stand in your holy place?
....
Lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O ancinet doors!
....

Psalms 52, 53, 54, 56

Daily Lectionary Reading, Romans 8:6-11

Lectio Divina

To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace....If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you (Romans 8:6, 11).

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered (Psalm 130:3-4).

Prayer for today:

O God, your glory is always to have mercy.
Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways,
and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith
to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word,
Jesus Christ your Son,
who with the Holy Spirit lives and reigns,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(UMBOW 333).

Evening
Psalms 78, 79, 83, 86

Basis for Hope, a Reflection on Psalm 130

I'm not good at memorizing, but as I read Psalm 130, I think I really ought to try to be.

This psalm begins with a plea to be heard. This plea is immediately followed by the acknowledgment that the one doing the prayer doesn't deserve to be heard.

When I am in pain, and the situation is due to my own fault, how can I expect God to help? Why would God want to step in to that situation? The answer in the psalm is that God forgives.

The psalmist remembers what God is done, and that knowledge enables hope that this trouble also will be overcome, that sins will be forgiven.

Outline of Psalm 130

Despair.
Pleading.
Memory of what God has already done.
Waiting. Hoping.
Preaching.

Daily Prayer, Saturday, April 9, 2011

Morning
God of all consolation and compassion,
your Son comforted the grieving sisters, Martha and Mary;
your breath alone brings life
to dry bones and weary souls.
Pour out your Spirit upon us,
that we may face despair and death
with the hope of resurrection
and faith in the One
who called Lazarus forth from the grave. Amen.
(from RCL Prayers, Fortress Press, 86).

Invitatory Psalm 67

God, be gracious to us and bless us and make your face shine upon us....
Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you....

Psalms 50, 51

Daily Lectionary Reading, Psalm 130

Lectio Divina
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord (Psalm 130:1).

Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications! (Psalm 130:2)

Prayer for today:

O Lord, when I am in despair, I turn to you. Forgive me for the times that I have forgotten you.
I remember what you have done for me. I ask you now to do more. Forgive me. Repair me. Support me. Amen.

Evening
Psalms 75, 77

A Necessary Element, a Reflection on Ezekiel 37:11-14

Ezekiel was speaking to people in exile. Was their home lost for them forever? Did the losses in their lives prevent them from worshiping God, from being connected to God? Could they still be a people? Does the despair that comes from the pain in our lives keep us from any hope?

The Lord comes to Ezekiel and asks, "Can these bones live?" Ezekiel says, "You know the answer."

The answer that the Lord gives him is in the form of an instruction, "Prophesy to these bones. Tell them what I am going to do."

Ezekiel does speak to the people. And as he does, those scattered bones come together, sinews and flesh and skin cover them. But, no breath.

This state of life works as a metaphor for our own times. A couple of examples: We can use it to despair of our economic difficulties or of the decline in organized religion--or in our particular denomination. We may still look the way we did in the past when things were better, but things aren't the same. We aren't as productive, we fear the future.

When there was no breath in those mortals, the breath of the Lord God came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet.

Daily Prayer, Friday, April 8, 2011

Morning
God of all consolation and compassion,
your Son comforted the grieving sisters, Martha and Mary;
your breath alone brings life
to dry bones and weary souls.
Pour out your Spirit upon us,
that we may face despair and death
with the hope of resurrection
and faith in the One
who called Lazarus forth from the grave. Amen.
(from RCL Prayers, Fortress Press, 86).

Invitatory Psalm 118

O Lord, you are my strength and my power;
you are my salvation.
....
I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the Lord.
....
Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through the
and give thanks to the Lord.
....

Psalms 41, 42, 43, 47

Daily Lectionary Reading, Ezekiel 37:11-14

Lectio Divina

I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act," says the Lord (Ezekiel 37:14).

My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning (Psalm 130:6)

Prayer for today:
O God, take our dry bones, reconnect them, breathe into them, and restore them to life. Amen. (adapted from UMBOW 375).

Midday Psalm 119:78-88

Evening
Psalm 74

Can these bones live?, a Reflection on Ezekiel 37:1-10

The Lord asked, "Can these bones live?"

I thought about Ezekiel's vision when I read the article ‘Religion’ is Going Extinct; Religion Isn’t by Louis Ruprecht.

A team of mathematicians concluded that religion was becoming as distinct as dinosaurs. But, there's extinct and there's, let's say emergent. Here's how Ruprecht interprets the data:

Now, if we take the language of “extinction” seriously—as we should—as well as the evolutionary theory it seems to presuppose, then a better way to read this data might be to suggest that a number of recognizably religious traditions are undergoing some significant modern mutations, such that the affiliations into which they are turning bear only a partial resemblance to what preceded them. Dinosaurs don’t just go extinct, they became birds—that’s the idea.

Daily Prayer, Thursday, April 7, 2011

Morning

God of all consolation and compassion,
your Son comforted the grieving sisters, Martha and Mary;
your breath alone brings life
to dry bones and weary souls.
Pour out your Spirit upon us,
that we may face despair and death
with the hope of resurrection
and faith in the One
who called Lazarus forth from the grave. Amen.
(from RCL Prayers, Fortress Press, 86).

Invitatory Psalm 150

Psalms 39, 40

Daily Lectionary Reading, Ezekiel 37;1-10

Lectio Divina

I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered the; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breat, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." (Ezekiel 37:8-9)

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope (Psalm 130:5)

Prayer for today:
O Lord, in times of despair, open our ears to your words. Bring us together. Inspire us with your Spirit. Amen.

Midday Psalm 119: 68-77



Evening
Psalm 69

Daily Prayer, Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Morning

God of all consolation and compassion,
your Son comforted the grieving sisters, Martha and Mary;
your breath alone brings life
to dry bones and weary souls.
Pour out your Spirit upon us,
that we may face despair and death
with the hope of resurrection
and faith in the One
who called Lazarus forth from the grave. Amen.
(from RCL Prayers, Fortress Press, 86).

Invitatory Psalm 100

Psalm 37

Daily Lectionary Reading, John 11:35-45

Lectio Divina

I know you always hear me. I say this for the benefit of the crowd standing here so that they will believe that you sent me (Common English Bible, John 11:42).

O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem. It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities (Psalm 130:7-8).

Prayer for today:

Dying, Christ destroyed our death.
Rising, Christ restored our life.
Christ will come again in glory...
Here and now, dear friends, we are God's children.
What we shall be has not yet been revealed;
but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is.
.....Amen
(from UMH 870)

Midday Psalm 119:57-67

Evening
Psalms 63, 68

Out of the Tomb, a Reflection on John 11:35-45

Excerpts from Written That You May Believe, by Sandra Schneiders:

....death is examined in its origin or cause, its nature as human experiences and spiritual reality, and its finality or purpose. ... The will of his Father, not human volition, controls life and death. Therefore, whatever death means, nature and human intention cannot be regarded as its ultimate causes because what they bring about, that is, physical death, is in some sense not death; and they cannot bring about death at all except according to God's will and design (page 175-76).

... Martha's confession of faith is in no way a response to the sign of the raising of Lazarus. It is a response to the word of Jesus revealing himself as the resurrection and the life. The sign comes after Martha's confession and does not function as a guarantee of her faith but as a crisis for the Jews who have gathered. Martha does not expect the sign (cf.11:38-39) any more than the disciples of any time or place can expect physical death to be overcome by miracle. Her faith like ours, responds not to the signs of the public ministry but to the revealing word of the present Jesus.... (page 106).

And then I read Jan Richardson's post about Lazarus on her blog, The Painted Prayerbook. I have copied an excerpt but hope you will read the rest.

Nobody goes into the tomb to pull Lazarus out; no one crosses into his realm to haul him to this side of living. Lazarus has to choose whether he will loose himself from the hold of the grave: its hold on him, his hold on it.

Only when Lazarus takes a deep and deciding breath, rises, returns back across the boundary between the living and the dead: only then does Jesus say to the crowd, “Unbind him, and let him go.” Not until Lazarus makes his choice does the unwinding of the shroud begin, and the grave clothes fall away.