Unleashed: As You Go – Pray

“After the plague the LORD said to Moses and to Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, “Take a census of the whole congregation of the Israelites, from twenty years old and upward, by their ancestral house, everyone in Israel able to go to war.” Numbers 26:1-2

“Close to you I waken in the dead of night,

and start with fear-

are you lost to me once more? Is it always vainly that I seek you,

you, my past?

I stretch my hands out,

And I pray-

and a new thing now I hear:

The past will come to you once more,

and be your life’s enduring part,

through thanks and repentance.

Feel in the past God’s forgiveness and goodness,

Pray him to keep you today and tomorrow.”

These are the words from the last stanza of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s poem, “The Past.” Our past lives with us forever since our tomorrow will soon be our past. Our past is made up of events both ordinary and spectacular.  However, more importantly, our past is made up of people. Those individuals who shape us, teach us, love us and hurt us. We will remember events that impacted us because of the people who shared the event with us.

Moses has walked faithfully with God through the wilderness leading the nation of Israel. Now God commands Moses to count the people by their family heritage. The census will become a family tree for those getting ready to enter the promised land, a record of faith that has been passed down from one generation to the next and a past that is not always glorious, but a past that will link each generation to the next.

Bonhoeffer wrote from his prison cell at Tegel shortly before his execution these words to his great nephew on the day of his baptism:

“You are the first of a new generation in our family, and therefore the oldest representative of your generation. You will have the priceless advantage of spending a good part of your life with the third and fourth generation that went before you. Your great-grandfather will be able to tell you, from his own personal memories, of people who were born in the eighteenth century; and one day, long after the year 2000, you will be the living bridge over which your descendants will get an oral tradition of more than 250 years.” 

Biological family trees are important but the richness of your faith family tree will bond generations together. Our faith family trees will include many of our biological family members, but there will be a depth and richness that will be added to the tree from school teachers, neighbors, Sunday school teachers and many more. “To be deeply rooted in the soil of the past makes life harder, but it also makes it richer and more vigorous.” (Bonhoeffer)

Who makes up your faith family? What relationships, writers, artists or places have shaped your ways of believing and worshipping? During a personal spiritual retreat create a faith family tree of spiritual influencers in your life.  Draw a faith family tree, placing yourself at its base, then on the branches and trunk nearest you, write the names of those most directly engaged in your spiritual journey. As you move away from the base, place names or descriptions of other influences on your spiritual life.

Allow this exercise to become holy ground for you as you pray and reflect upon those who God used to water and shape your tree of faith.  Pray over each name, place, event that shaped you. Allow this experience to become a precious and moving time of worship.

“Take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children” Deuteronomy 4:9

God is great,

Pastor Lynn

Unleashed: As You Go – Pray

“Moses said to Aaron, take your censer, put fire on it from the altar and lay incense on it, and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them. For wrath has gone out from the LORD, the plague has begun.” Numbers 16:46

“Jesus Christ carries on intercession for us in heaven; the Holy Ghost carries on intercession in us on earth; and we the saints have to carry on intercession for all men.” These words, from Oswald Chambers, challenge us to the overwhelming task of interceding for others. The role of intercessor calls us to run into the midst of situations we can’t even fathom. A role that pushes us into a spiritual battle that we are unable to wage solely through our own power.

Moses and Aaron have come face to face with a rebellion of the people – a spiritual battle of rebellion against God and themselves. Already Moses has had to intercede on behalf of the people to stem the anger of God. Aaron responds to Moses’ command, picks up his censer, “and ran into the middle of the assembly, where the plague had already begun among the people. He put on the incense, and made atonement for the people.” 16:47

It would have been easy for Aaron to turn the other way, abandoning the people to face the consequences of their sins. Instead “He stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stopped.” 16:48

We carry the censers of intercessory prayer for those dying from the plague of sin. Seeking God’s mercy upon people who are so trapped in their sin that we become those standing “between the dead and the living.” We watch as the plagues of materialism, sexuality, greed, corruption, racism, abuse and violence destroy people’s lives. Standing between the living and dead was not a comfortable place for Aaron, nor will it be for us.

The fragrance of mercy from Aaron’s censer finally begins to cover the stench of death. What does the fragrance of mercy smell like? It is the aroma of freshly baked cookies left on the porch of someone isolated due to the pandemic. It is the fragrance of those working at Wellspring Living caring for and protecting a sexually abused girl. The fragrance of mercy is the aroma of food you donated for the hungry, drink provided for the thirsty, the feeling of welcome made to a stranger, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and the imprisoned. The fragrances of mercy are those of hope, faith, peace and life.

“Another angel with a golden censer came and stood at the altar; he was given a great quantity of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that is before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.” Revelation 8:3-4

“Reflect the glory of God with your life. God pours out love on us who are naturally unloving and unlovable. So, why would we refuse to offer it to others? Because we have the spirit of Christ, we, too, can reflect the glory of God by showing His love to our enemies. Show the world the grace God has bestowed upon you. We are to be like God, extending love aggressively in the face of hostility.”  (author unknown)

“So Moses prayed for the people.” Now is the time to pick up our censers and pray. Our prayers are offered up as a beautiful fragrance for those who are running from God. The prayers offered up for the politician we don’t like. The ideology that just seems so wrong. The neighbor, co-worker or person on the street who looks different from us. We offer up our prayers as a sweet aroma to God. It is through our prayers that we stand “between the dead and living.”

 

God is great,

Pastor Lynn

 

 

 

 

 

Unleashed: As You Go – Pray

“The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.” Leviticus 19:1-2

 

Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!

Early in the morning, our song shall rise to thee:

Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!

God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

 

“Be holy, for I am Holy” is at the heart of Leviticus. (A book many speed-read through on their way through their “Read the Bible in a year” plan.) Yet as we slow down and look around, we come face to face with the holiness of God.  Just as the hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy” is found on page one of most Baptist hymnals, it is on page one as we follow God. Just as the holiness of God took center stage in the hymnals, so it should rightly occupy page one in our lives.

Leviticus is not normally read as good news and most certainly not in the context with how the world now determines what is a modern, culturally acceptable worldview. However, J. A. Motyer looks at Leviticus totally differently. He writes, “Leviticus is good news. It is good news for sinners who seek pardon, for priests who need empowering, for women who are vulnerable, for the unclean who covet cleansing, for the poor who yearn for freedom, for the marginalized who seek dignity, for animals that demand protection, for families that require strengthening, for communities that want fortifying and for creation that stands in need of care. All these issues, and more, are addressed in a positive way in Leviticus.”

Visit Leviticus 18 and 19 again but read as one who seeks God, treating life as holy and allowing God to have control of your life. At the heart of each requirement is the holiness of God in the life of his people, a people set apart from the world. Culture no longer determines the standards, only God does.

As you read these two chapters, mentally or literally, create two columns. At the top of the columns, title one “God’s values” and title the other “Human Values.”  It doesn’t take long to realize God’s values and human values are worlds apart. Living a life set apart from the world requires God’s grace.

Augustine wrote that, “The LORD himself not only shows us the evil we are to avoid and the good we are to do (which is all that the letter of the law can do), but also helps us to avoid evil and to do good-things that are impossible without the spirit of grace. If grace is lacking, the law is there simply to make culprits and to slay; for this reason, the Apostle said; “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6)”

Chapters 18 and 19 are not a “Golden Corral” buffet of principles. We don’t get to go through the line choosing the one’s we like and leaving the others. It is easy to pick a verse and sling it at someone, yet at the same time avoiding verses we would rather overlook. The problem: God didn’t give us a choice. Each requirement interlocks with each other forming a strong family, church, community and culture.

Requirements that set a people apart from the other nations, are not to set them on a pedestal but to glorify God. Jesus would take the law and empower it with grace. Jim Denison in his weekly blog shared that at the Super Bowl Breakfast, New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis received the Bart Starr Award. It is given to a player who best exemplifies outstanding character and leadership. Davis’ wife explained their shared purpose: “Our primary mission has always been to be a walking billboard for Christ, so that others may be able to see and encounter him through us and our experiences.”

Leviticus is a challenging book with some difficult passages, yet the shared purpose is for the people of God to be “walking billboards for Christ.” As you reflect on your two columns, use them to restore and empower you to live a life set apart for God. “It is said of St. Francis not merely that he prayed, but that he became a prayer.”

God is great!

Pastor Lynn Burton

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unleashed: As You Go – Pray

“Then Agrippa said to Paul “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” And Paul said, “I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains.”  Acts 26:28-29 NKJV

Lots of words fall into the “sad” category but I tend to think the word almost ranks right at the top. It is a word filled with missed opportunities. It is a word filled with regrets, bitterness and struggles.  You are so close yet so far away. I almost won the race, yet I didn’t. I almost took that new job, but I didn’t. I almost won the election, but I didn’t run.  Almost, yet not. Merriam-Webster defines almost: “very nearly but not exactly or entirely, very near but not quite.” This little adverb finds itself in the company with words such as “about”, “all but”, “more or less”, “nearly”, “somewhere”. Words reflecting myriads of “could have been” and “should have been”

According to research by lottery expert Brett Jacobson, a total of $2.89 billion was never claimed by winners in 2017. Recently a $14.6 million prize expired in Arizona because no one came forward to claim the money. Hung Nguyen lost out on $1,008,624 because he lost the ticket. Lots of stories of almost.

Stefan Thomas made headlines this year when a lost password left his $220 million bitcoin account inaccessible. The Business Insider story said, “the secure hard drive, on which 7,002 bitcoins were stored, was an IronKey device. It gives owners 10 chances to guess their password before encrypting the contents.” Thomas went on to say, “It was actually a really big milestone in my life where, like, I sort of realized how I was going to define my self-worth going forward. It wasn’t going to be about how much money I have in my bank account.”

This little word almost keeps many of us from discovering the beautiful vista just over the mountain. We give up before we scale the top. Almost finds energy at the bottom of our valley experiences that are fueled by our fears, loss of time, lack of self-confidence, empty bank accounts and a host of other things that make saying almost so easy.

Scripture is filled with stories of almost:

The Israelites almost made it to the promise land but disobedience fenced them out.

The rich young ruler almost followed Jesus but the lure of riches blinded him.

King Agrippa almost became a Christian but for the pomp and power of position.

Paul, the defendant on trial, has spent two years sitting in prison based on false charges. Paul now has the chance to present his case to King Agrippa, yet instead of laying out his arguments to be released, he carefully and meticulously lays out the case for Christ in Acts 26. King Agrippa faces the ultimate decision of his life. What will he do? “If only Paul had been a little more eloquent. If only Agrippa had been a little more receptive, a little braver, a little crazier. If only God weren’t such a stickler for letting people make up their own minds without forcing their hands. But things are what they are, and almost is the closest Agrippa ever got to what might have changed his life.“ (Frederick Buechner)

In our spiritual life almost robs us of the peace and joy that God desires to give each one of us. It was almost that kept Agrippa from experiencing the greatest joy of life, Jesus. King Agrippa kept looking around at the pomp and ceremony of his position, he thought of his political fortune imploding if he said yes to Paul’s arguments. He realized people would no longer bow in his presence if he bowed in the presence of Jesus. Almost kept him from enjoying the ultimate gift of joy and peace.

“It is sad enough to miss God’s invitation. But to just miss it is sadder still, especially when an apostle is trying to help you discover it! May almost never mark our spiritual journey.” (Faith that Matters)

The world is filled with almost millionaires who will survive. The world is filled with politicians who almost won who will survive. Unfortunately, hell is filled with almost persuaded who will not survive.

Maybe almost doesn’t best fit in the sad category but, rather, in the tragic category. “If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God, it will make in the end no difference what you have chosen instead.” C.S. Lewis

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

God is great!

Pastor Lynn