Prayer for Unity, a Reflection on John 17:20-26

In his farewell prayer, Jesus asks that we may all be one.

He's preparing to give up his life and what he wants is for us to be not only each for him but each for each other.

This unity will both enable and demonstrate the love that God has.

God's love is not restricted or small; it is intended for the world.

Here's what Gail O'Day and Susan Hylen say in their commentary on John:

The words and work of believers are to be shaped by Jesus' life and death. As the one God sent, Jesus prays for those whom he likewise sends into the world. The relationship of the Father and Son shapes the relationship of believers to one another, and to God and Jesus.

Tangent: I'm trying to imagine what Christianity would look like if we, as in this prayer, were to become completely one. I don't think this is an argument against denominationalism any more than against congregationalism, but I think I had better think about it.

The unity of Christians would be instructive, Jesus says. The world is watching, is the modern phrase. And since they are watching, what do we think they see? How is your congregation demonstrating the love we receive?

Daily Prayer, Thursday, May 9, 2013

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.

Morning

Invitatory Psalm 150

Praise the LORD!

Praise God in his sanctuary!

Praise God in his fortress, the sky!

2 Praise God in his mighty acts!

Praise God as suits his incredible greatness!

3 Praise God with the blast of the ram’s horn!

Praise God with lute and lyre!

4 Praise God with drum and dance!

Praise God with strings and pipe!

5 Praise God with loud cymbals!

Praise God with clashing cymbals!

6 Let every living thing praise the LORD!

Praise the LORD!

[Common English Bible]

Psalm 125, 126, 127, 128, 129

Daily Lectionary Reading, John 17:20-26

20 “I’m not praying only for them but also for those who believe in me because of their word. 21 I pray they will be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. I pray that they also will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me. 22 I’ve given them the glory that you gave me so that they can be one just as we are one. 23 I’m in them and you are in me so that they will be made perfectly one. Then the world will know that you sent me and that you have loved them just as you loved me. 24 “Father, I want those you gave me to be with me where I am. Then they can see my glory, which you gave me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 “Righteous Father, even the world didn’t know you, but I’ve known you, and these believers know that you sent me. 26 I’ve made your name known to them and will continue to make it known so that your love for me will be in them, and I myself will be in them.” [Common English Bible]

Prayer for Today: God, our Creator and Sustainer, we pray for the mission, even the existence, of your church. Make us one. Give us the energy and the courage to show you to the world. Amen.

Midday Psalm 119:161-168

  

Evening

Psalm 135, 136

Power to the Church, a Reflection on Ephesians 1:15-23

"I pray that God will send you the Spirit," Paul writes to the Ephesians.

Here's what the Spirit does for the church: enlightens the eyes of your heart
--that is, helps you to catch on to what God intends for you to be doing and what God has already done for you.

To these early Christians as they began to form congregations and missions, he is emphasizing power and what power is to be used for.

To these Christians adjusting to their life after the crucifixion of Jesus, he writes of the power available to them through God. God put this power to work in Christ and has made him the head of the church. The church is the body of Christ, "the fullness of him who fills all in all."

When I read Boring & Craddock's People's New Testament Commentary, I am glad that I do. For example, here's their discussion of the phrase, "glorious inheritance":

The phrase refers to God's inheritance, not the believers'. In Old Testament theology, Israel as God's chosen people is often called God's inheritance (Deut 4:20; 9:26, 29; 2 Sam 21:3; 1 Kings 8:51, 53; Ps 28:9; 33:12; 68:9; 78:62, 71; 94:14; 106:5, 4-; Isa 19:25; 47:6; 63:17; Jer 10:16; 51:19). For the author of Ephesians, to be in the church is to be incorporated into the continuing people of God, Israel (2:11-12).

Daily Prayer, Wednesday, May 8, 2013

For God is the king of all the earth;

sing praises with a psalm.

Morning

Invitatory Psalm 100

Shout triumphantly to the LORD , all the earth!

2 Serve the LORD with celebration!

Come before him with shouts of joy!

3 Know that the LORD is God—

he made us; we belong to him.

We are his people,

the sheep of his own pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanks;

enter his courtyards with praise!

Thank him! Bless his name!

5 Because the LORD is good,

his loyal love lasts forever;

his faithfulness lasts generation after generation.

[Common English Bible]

Psalm 120, 121, 122, 123, 124

Daily Lectionary Reading, Ephesians 1:15-23

15 Since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, this is the reason that 16 I don’t stop giving thanks to God for you when I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, will give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation that makes God known to you. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart will have enough light to see what is the hope of God’s call, what is the richness of God’s glorious inheritance among believers, 19 and what is the overwhelming greatness of God’s power that is working among us believers. This power is conferred by the energy of God’s powerful strength. 20 God’s power was at work in Christ when God raised him from the dead and sat him at God’s right side in the heavens, 21 far above every ruler and authority and power and angelic power, any power that might be named not only now but in the future. 22 God put everything under Christ’s feet and made him head of everything in the church, 23 which is his body. His body, the church, is the fullness of Christ, who fills everything in every way. [Common English Bible]

Prayer for Today: God our Lord, open us to hear your call, open us to see the works of your power among us. Focus our attention on the work that you would now have us do. We give you thanks for the church, the body of Christ, that fills everything in every way. Amen.

Midday Psalm 119:153-160

Evening

Psalm 130

Empowerment, a Reflection on Acts 1:1-11

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 7, 2013

Sing praises to God, sing praises
sing praises to our King, sing praises.

Morning

Invitatory Psalm 84

How lovely is your dwelling place,

LORD of heavenly forces!

2 My very being longs, even yearns,

for the LORD ’s courtyards.

My heart and my body

will rejoice out loud to the living God!

3 Yes, the sparrow too has found a home there;

the swallow has found herself a nest

where she can lay her young beside your altars,

LORD of heavenly forces, my king, my God!

4 Those who live in your house are truly happy;

they praise you constantly. Selah

5 Those who put their strength in you are truly happy;

pilgrimage is in their hearts.

6 As they pass through the Baca Valley,

they make it a spring of water.

Yes, the early rain covers it with blessings.

7 They go from strength to strength,

until they see the supreme God in Zion.

8 LORD God of heavenly forces,

hear my prayer;

listen closely, Jacob’s God! Selah

9 Look at our shield, God;

pay close attention to the face of your anointed one!

10 Better is a single day in your courtyards

than a thousand days anywhere else!

I would prefer to stand outside the entrance of my God’s house

than live comfortably in the tents of the wicked!

11 The LORD is a sun and shield;

God is favor and glory.

The LORD gives—doesn’t withhold!—good things

to those who walk with integrity.

12 LORD of heavenly forces,

those who trust in you are truly happy!

[Common English Bible]

Psalm 97

Psalm 98

Psalm 99

Psalm 101

 

Daily Lectionary Reading, Acts 1:1-11

Theophilus, the first scroll I wrote concerned everything Jesus did and taught from the beginning, 2 right up to the day when he was taken up into heaven. Before he was taken up, working in the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus instructed the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he showed them that he was alive with many convincing proofs. He appeared to them over a period of forty days, speaking to them about God’s kingdom. 4 While they were eating together, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father had promised. He said, “This is what you heard from me: 5 John baptized with water, but in only a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
6 As a result, those who had gathered together asked Jesus, “Lord, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now?” 7 Jesus replied, “ It isn’t for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 Rather, 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 end of the earth. ” 9 After Jesus said these things, as they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 While he was going away and as they were staring toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood next to them. 11 They said, “Galileans, why are you standing here, looking toward heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you saw him go into heaven.”


Prayer for Today: O Lord, when we become fearful or anxious, remind us of your presence. When we become impatient, remind of your teaching. Keep us looking up. Keep us watchful for your return to our lives. Amen.

Midday Psalm 119:137-152

Evening

Psalm 115

Psalm 116

Psalm 117

The GBOD offers worship resources for Pentecost Sunday and Heritage Sunday

We have heard, but..., a Reflection on Luke 24:44-53

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 promises 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....

7th Sunday or Ascension Sunday?

copied from GBOD website:

Note: The Revised Common Lectionary presents two distinctive sets of readings for this Sunday (May 12)—Ascension Sunday and The Seventh Sunday of Easter. If you do not celebrate Ascension Day on May 9, you may wish to use the Ascension Sunday texts to bring prominence to this major celebration in the life of the Church. You and your planning team may also consider two other criteria in settling on the texts and focuses for worship on this Sunday:" 

You and your planning team may also consider two other criteria in settling on the texts and focuses for worship on this Sunday:

1. Immediate concerns: Where does your worshiping community need to focus more today, given the recent events in their lives and the lives of their communities -- on the Ascension itself, or on what comes next? Do they need doctrinal grounding/explanation (Ascension) or do they need assurance/encouragement to take the next steps in acting on God's mission where you are? (Easter 7). Both are valid.
2. Programmatic, Teaching Concerns: How does the choice of texts for today connect with the larger Eastertide plan and help you move from where you've been in the past weeks to what you plan to do with Pentecost and Trinity Sunday in the two weeks ahead?

Daily Prayer, Monday, May 6, 2013

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.

Morning  

Invitatory Psalm 95

Psalm 94

Psalm 96

Daily Lectionary Reading, Luke 24:44-53

44 Jesus said to them, “ These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law from Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled. ” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. 46 He said to them, “ This is what is written: the Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and a change of heart and life for the forgiveness of sins must be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 Look, I’m sending to you what my Father promised, but you are to stay in the city until you have been furnished with heavenly power. ”

50 He led them out as far as Bethany, where he lifted his hands and blessed them. 51 As he blessed them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. 52 They worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem overwhelmed with joy. 53 And they were continuously in the temple praising God.

Prayer for Today: O Lord, speak to us again. Open our minds to understand. Amen.

Midday Psalm 119:129-136

Evening

Psalm 110

Psalm 112

Psalm 113

Psalm 114