Offertory Prayers for March 2011

Betsy Schwarzentraub, Director of Stewardship, General Board of Discipleship of the United Methodist Church has written Offertory Prayers for March.

Transfiguration, a Reflection on Matthew 17:1-9

I've been reading Stanley Hauerwas' commentary on Matthew as the lectionary has led us through this gospel. And I'm glad that I am.

For example, he points out that "six days later" points us to the creation story so that Jesus' transfiguration is the seventh day thus bringing God's work to completion.

Peter, James, and his brother John are there on the mountaintop with Jesus. They witness his transfiguration. They see him changed, and they see Moses and Elijah. Peter, as usual, speaks first. He offers to build three dwellings. We aren't told explicitly what Peter had in mind, but we can speculate that he wanted to keep Jesus on the mountaintop--usually a significant place in the Scriptures--along with those two important figures, Moses who had led the people out of slavery and brought them the law from the Lord and Isaiah the prophet who told them the Lord's word as they emerged from exile.

Perhaps Peter was attempting to live out this passage from Leviticus 23:

33The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 34Speak to the people of Israel, saying: On the fifteenth day of this seventh month, and lasting seven days, there shall be the festival of booths to the Lord. 35The first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. 36Seven days you shall present the Lord’s offerings by fire; on the eighth day you shall observe a holy convocation and present the Lord’s offerings by fire; it is a solemn assembly; you shall not work at your occupations....

As Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud, a voice speaks to them, repeating the words spoken at his baptism (Matthew 3:13-17) "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased" and adds some words not heard at that time, "listen to him!"

The immediate reaction of the disciples is fear. They fall to the ground.

They have seen light, heard the voice, and they are scared.

Jesus responds to their fear by coming to them and touching them. He tells them to get up and not to be afraid. Thomas Long, in his excellent commentary on Matthew, reminds us that Jesus has touched the leper (8:3), the hand of the fevered woman (8:15), and the eyes of the blind men (9:29) and healed them. Thus, as Jesus can heal blindness, fever, and leprosy, so can he heal fear.

When they look up, Moses and Isaiah are not visible. It's time to leave the mountain. On the way down, Jesus tells them not to tell anybody about the vision they have witnessed until after the resurrection.

Fred Craddock, in Preaching through the Christian Year A, explains:
If the disciples understood who Jesus was only after the resurrection there certainly was no reason to assume the crowds could. After all, if the baptism and prediction of passion seemed a contradiction of the terms "Messiah" and "Son of God," how much more would the cross? The people are not ready for the Transfiguration story because the disciples are not ready to tell it.

And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

Daily Prayer, Monday, February 28, 2011

Morning
Invitatory Psalm 95

O come, let us sing to the Lord.
....
We come into your presence with thanksgiving
....
for you are a great God
....
We kneel before you, our Lord, our Maker!
We are the people of your pasture, the sheep of your hand.
....

Psalms 1, 2, 3, 5

Daily Lectionary Reading, Matthew 17:1-9

Lectio Divina

While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "this is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" (Matthew 17:5)

Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain? (Psalm 2:1)

Conclusion to Intercessory Prayer

You revealed your glory and presence
in your beloved son, Jesus the Christ.
In receiving our prayers,
reveal the glory and presence of your Spirit
alive in the world today,
free us from all doubts,
and empower us to act as a transfigured people. Amen.
(page 72, Revised Common Lectionary Prayers, Fortress Press).

Midday Psalm 119:1-8

Evening
Psalms 6, 7, 8

Judgment--Who and When, a Reflection on 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

Paul is writing to the Corinthians, a fractious community. They are critical of each other and also of Paul. We can read this letter historically to help us understand what Paul was trying to get the Corinthians to understand, and we can read it to help us to work through conflicts within our congregations.

Paul reminds them and us that, after all, it is not the congregation that determines how well and how faithfully he has served. Rather, the Lord is the one who does the judging. We may be reacting to what a minister is doing or saying today, but, in doing so, we should also reflect on the consequences of those actions. Some events are not immediately apparent.

Beverly Gaventa, Texts for Preaching:

For those Christians who find even the term "judgment" to be distasteful, Paul's comments stand as a powerful reminder that all human beings are God's servants and stand responsible before God for their behavior. No one escapes that accountability. For those Christians who, on the other hand, savor the prospect of judgment because they have already made judgments of their own, Paul's insistence that it is God who judges may cause the tongue to pause mid-accusation. Paul's not-too-subtle point is that God requires no help or recommendations about the judgments of others.

Or for a post that I wish I had written, see Nadia Bolz-Weber's take on this passage.

Daily Prayer, Sunday, February 27, 2011

Morning
Invitatory Psalm 24

Psalms 147, 148, 149

Daily Lectionary Reading, 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

Lectio Divina

I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. then each one will receive commendation from God (1 Corinthians 4:5).

O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time on and forevermore (Psalm 131:3)

.

Prayer for today:

O God of all the nations,
you manifested your love by sending your only Son into the world
that all might live through him.
Pour your Spirit on your Church,
that it may fulfill his command to preach the gospel everywhere;
send forth laborers into your harvest;
defend them in all dangers and temptations;
give the grace to bear faithful witness to you;
endue them with zeal and love, that they may turn many to righteousness;
through the same your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (UMBOW 314)

Evening
Psalms 144, 145

Hope in the Lord, a Reflection on Psalm 131

Psalms 120 through 134 all begin with the superscription, "A song for ascents." According to the notes in the Jerusalem Study Bible, there are several theories about the designation "ascents," the English translation for "ma'alah." Among these theories are the early rabbinic tradition that deduced that there 15 of these psalms to match the 15 steps of the Temple (see Ezekiel 40:26, 31). Some modern scholars connect these psalms to the return from exile. Others have a allegorist understanding; that is, the ascent is of the individual to God.

Psalm 131 begin with an assertion of humility, "O Lord, my heart is not proud nor my look haughty; I do not aspire to great things or to what is beyond me." I'm pausing here to ponder how honestly a typical modern can pray this psalm. Do we think a heart should be proud? Is it hard for us to admit that some things are beyond us? How willing are we to limit our aspirations? Or, I'm wondering if we, on the other hand, can pray this psalm quite honestly. Our humility is part of what drives us to our places of worship. Of course, we can't do everything. Of course, we don't understand why some things turn out the way they do. But, I'm still having trouble with the not-occupying myself part. I, at least, if not we, do tend to worry about a lot of things.

Back to the psalm.

The words of the psalm links the one on the way to the Temple (or on the way home from exile, or the one seeking the presence of God) to a small child with its mother. From an assertion of humility to an example of it. It's hard to come up with a relationship in which one party provides for the needs of the other--even when that other isn't behaving particularly well at all--than the mother and her child.

This week's passage from Isaiah used the same metaphor in responding to the fear that the Lord had forsaken Israel, "Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb?"

Daily Prayer, Saturday, February 26, 2011

Morning

Invitatory Psalm 67

May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us,
that your way be known upon earth....

Psalms 141, 146

Daily Lectionary Reading Psalm 131

Lectio Divina

O Lord, my heart is not lifted, my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me (Psalm 131:1).

O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time on and forevermore (Psalm 131:3).

Prayer for today:

O Lord God, your chosen dwelling is the heart of the lowly.
We give you thanks that you revealed yourself in the holy child Jesus,
thereby sanctifying all childhood in him.
Make us humble in faith and love, that we may know the joy of the gospel
hidden from the wise and prudent and revealed unto babes.
This we ask in the name of the one, who, wearing our mortal flesh,
grew in wisdom and in favor with God and all people,
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen (UMBOW 313).

Evening
Psalm 140, 142, 143

Monthly Reading of Psalms

I've made some changes in the Schedule for reading Psalms.

When Despondent, a Reflection on Isaiah 49:13-16a

Doesn't this passage sound like a familiar pattern we religious people follow? First, a call to everyone to worship God including a very good reason to do so. Then, we recognize and admit that we have had disappointments, that we have had experiences that have given us doubt. And into our doubt comes the assurance that yes, God will remember to take care of us.

Doubting God's presence doesn't keep God from caring about us.

Daily Prayer, Friday, February 25, 2011

Morning
Invitatory Psalm 118

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his steadfast love endures forever!
....
Out of my distress I called on the Lord;
the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.
With the Lord on my side I do not fear.
What can mortals do to me?
....

Psalms 131, 132, 133

Daily Lectionary Reading, Isaiah 49:13-16a

Lectio Divina

But Zion said, "The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me." Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you (Isaiah 49:14-15).

O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time on and forevermore (Psalm 131:3).

O Lord, in those times that we despair, remind us that we are yours. Rekindle our hope. Amen.

Midday Psalm 119:169-176

Evening
Psalms 137, 138, 139