Bread and Wine Reading: "Turning", by Henry Drummond
Scripture Reading: Luke 22: 58-62
A little later someone else, on seeing him, said, ‘You also are one of them.’ But Peter said, ‘Man, I am not!’ Then about an hour later yet another kept insisting, ‘Surely this man also was with him; for he is a Galilean.’ But Peter said, ‘Man, I do not know what you are talking about!’ At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, ‘Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly.
In his essay, Henry Drummond uses this Scripture to point to Peter’s repentance. We think of repentance as a “turning around”, but, as Drummond reminds us, it was not Peter who turned here, but God. At the time that Peter would rather have turned away and looked anywhere but at God, God was there, with him, drawing him closer. Drummond says that “the scarce-noticed fact is the only sermon needed to anyone who sins—that the Lord turns first.”
Drummond distinguishes between “divine sorrow” and “human sorrow” and claims that true contrition, true repentance happens only when God turns and looks upon us. Genuine repentance happens for us when we finally know how God comes to us when we are completely broken, when we need God the most.
Repentance is more than just admitting one’s wrongs and, in fact, it is more than our somehow feeling compelled to change one’s life. Repentance is even more than turning toward God. Repentance is knowing that God turns toward you, that God is beckoning you forward, away from the hustle and bustle of life, away from old habits and new temptations, and toward that oneness with God. It is finally knowing once and for all that the Lord has turned and looked at you. This season of Lent reminds us that all things are made new in Christ. It is a season when we realize how badly we need to turn toward God, the God who has already turned toward us.
Discussion Questions:
1.) What does this idea of God turning toward us say to you about repentance?
2.) What reasons, then, do we often have of wanting to look away from the God, even as God is turned toward us?
3.) What does this act of turning—God’s and yours—mean for you?
So go forth and turn that you might see the God who has turned toward you!
Grace and Peace,
Shelli
Showing posts with label Repentance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Repentance. Show all posts
Monday, February 18, 2013
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Repent
Bread and Wine Reading: "Repent", by William Willimon
Scripture Reading: Mark 1: 4-8 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
We 21st century folks often try desperately to turn the whole idea of repenting into some sort of watered down, G-rated version of the repentance that John the Baptizer proclaimed. We like the idea of a God who tells us to "be good to ourself" and who wants us to be happy. We like equating the Gospel, the "Good News" to a life of comfort. But as Willimon points out, "Whatever the gospel means, we tell ourselves, it could not mean death. Love, divine or human, could never exact something so costly." Then what do you really think John was talking about? It's simple...Repent, change your ways, and get washed.
To be baptized "into Christ" and "in the name of Christ" means to become one who lives Christ. How can we do that without changing, without turning our lives toward God, without walking the road that Christ walked? Willimon claims that "the chief biblical analogy for baptism is not the water that washes but the flood that drowns". This is not a warm bath; it's a torrent of powerful waves consuming your life. It's Noah's Flood all over again--the beginning again and the promise.
Following Christ, following The Way, is hard. There is no "cleaned up", G-rated version. It's just hard. It means giving up one's life; it means being flooded; it means change. Who are we kidding? It means death! Willimon reminds us that "on the bank of some dark river, as we are thrust backward, onlookers will remark, "They could kill somebody like that." To which old John might say, "Good, you're finally catching on.""
But what may seem to the world a truly God-forsaken road through suffering and death is also the road to life. This is truly The Way. It is the road we walk when we realize there is no where else to go.
Discussion Questions:
1.) What stands in the way of us changing?
2.) What's the difference between being willing to "die in Christ" and being "saved" by Christ?
3.) What does repentance "cost" for you?
So go forth that you might die in Christ!
Grace and Peace,
Shelli
Scripture Reading: Mark 1: 4-8 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
We 21st century folks often try desperately to turn the whole idea of repenting into some sort of watered down, G-rated version of the repentance that John the Baptizer proclaimed. We like the idea of a God who tells us to "be good to ourself" and who wants us to be happy. We like equating the Gospel, the "Good News" to a life of comfort. But as Willimon points out, "Whatever the gospel means, we tell ourselves, it could not mean death. Love, divine or human, could never exact something so costly." Then what do you really think John was talking about? It's simple...Repent, change your ways, and get washed.
To be baptized "into Christ" and "in the name of Christ" means to become one who lives Christ. How can we do that without changing, without turning our lives toward God, without walking the road that Christ walked? Willimon claims that "the chief biblical analogy for baptism is not the water that washes but the flood that drowns". This is not a warm bath; it's a torrent of powerful waves consuming your life. It's Noah's Flood all over again--the beginning again and the promise.
Following Christ, following The Way, is hard. There is no "cleaned up", G-rated version. It's just hard. It means giving up one's life; it means being flooded; it means change. Who are we kidding? It means death! Willimon reminds us that "on the bank of some dark river, as we are thrust backward, onlookers will remark, "They could kill somebody like that." To which old John might say, "Good, you're finally catching on.""
But what may seem to the world a truly God-forsaken road through suffering and death is also the road to life. This is truly The Way. It is the road we walk when we realize there is no where else to go.
Discussion Questions:
1.) What stands in the way of us changing?
2.) What's the difference between being willing to "die in Christ" and being "saved" by Christ?
3.) What does repentance "cost" for you?
So go forth that you might die in Christ!
Grace and Peace,
Shelli
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Repentance
Bread and Wine Reading: "Repentance", by Kathleen Norris
Scripture: John 14: 2-6
In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.
And you know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
In her essay, Kathleen Norris tells the story of a little boy who wrote a poem entitled "The Monster Who Was Sorry". He says that when his father yells at him, his first response is to throw his sister down the stairs, to wreck his room, and, finally, to wreck the whole town. "Then", he says, "I sit in my messy house and say to myself, "I shouldn't have done that."
I shouldn't have done that--famous last words. It's a shame they aren't the first words. That's what repentance is all about. It's not mere confession; it's not mere regret; it's not even just a promise to change. Repentance is turning around. It's doing something. It's making the last words the first words. It's looking around at the house in which we dwell and figuring out how to make it the place that God dwells, to make it the place where the Kingdom of God comes to be. That IS the Way.
I used to struggle with this Scripture: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to [God] except through me." So what happens to everyone else? I think my thinking was just too narrow. I am continually finding that God is much wider than I ever thought God to be. I do, with all of my being, think Jesus is the Way, the very embodiment of the way that God leads us to Godself. No, I do not think that those who do not profess to be Christian are disconnected from God. I do not think that Jesus ever intended that. He was just far too relational and inclusive for that! I think, rather, Jesus, as the embodiment, the very human being, the Incarnation of all incarnations of God, was God, the Divine, walking with us to show us The Way--not the "way", as in one distinct and limiting road, but "The Way", the way to be with God, the way to connect to God, the way to be who we are called to be by God.
And, just as a reminder, the writer of The Gospel According to John tells us that there are MANY rooms. In other words, our messy, little space is not the only place God is. But our messy little space is also the place that God desires to be, to pick us up, to clean us up, and to love us into The Way. There are, indeed, many rooms. We each have our place in the Kingdom--now and for all eternity. But REPENT---turn around---look around---there are many rooms...you are all here together....and it is only when you turn and look into each other's eyes that you will finally see The Way, that you will truly see and experience the one and only God, the God embodied by Jesus, the human and the Divine, the God of the interrelational Trinity, the many in one.
Discussion Questions:
What does it mean to make a place that God can dwell?
What are we called to do to "make a place that God can dwell"?
What meaning does this bring to your understanding of repentance?
So begin this journey by turning around and making the last words first!
Grace and Peace,
Shelli
For this season, I will try (yes I will try!) to post at least a short devotional every day on my blog at http://dancingtogod.blogspot.com/. Many of you are part of the email group that gets it every time I post. (For those who have signed up through this blog, you will get it but for some reason known only to Google, you will get it 12-18 hours later. Go figure!) So if there are others that would like to be part of the email group that gets it right away, just email me through the St. Paul's website at stpaulshouston.org. (Go to "About St. Paul's", then "staff").
AND another opportunity...I have been posting my Lectionary notes that many of you get emailed each Thursday on http://journeytopenuel.blogspot.com/ It's a once-a-week post but if you're interested, take a look.
Thanks for being a part of my Lenten journey!
Shelli
Scripture: John 14: 2-6
In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.
And you know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
In her essay, Kathleen Norris tells the story of a little boy who wrote a poem entitled "The Monster Who Was Sorry". He says that when his father yells at him, his first response is to throw his sister down the stairs, to wreck his room, and, finally, to wreck the whole town. "Then", he says, "I sit in my messy house and say to myself, "I shouldn't have done that."
I shouldn't have done that--famous last words. It's a shame they aren't the first words. That's what repentance is all about. It's not mere confession; it's not mere regret; it's not even just a promise to change. Repentance is turning around. It's doing something. It's making the last words the first words. It's looking around at the house in which we dwell and figuring out how to make it the place that God dwells, to make it the place where the Kingdom of God comes to be. That IS the Way.
I used to struggle with this Scripture: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to [God] except through me." So what happens to everyone else? I think my thinking was just too narrow. I am continually finding that God is much wider than I ever thought God to be. I do, with all of my being, think Jesus is the Way, the very embodiment of the way that God leads us to Godself. No, I do not think that those who do not profess to be Christian are disconnected from God. I do not think that Jesus ever intended that. He was just far too relational and inclusive for that! I think, rather, Jesus, as the embodiment, the very human being, the Incarnation of all incarnations of God, was God, the Divine, walking with us to show us The Way--not the "way", as in one distinct and limiting road, but "The Way", the way to be with God, the way to connect to God, the way to be who we are called to be by God.
And, just as a reminder, the writer of The Gospel According to John tells us that there are MANY rooms. In other words, our messy, little space is not the only place God is. But our messy little space is also the place that God desires to be, to pick us up, to clean us up, and to love us into The Way. There are, indeed, many rooms. We each have our place in the Kingdom--now and for all eternity. But REPENT---turn around---look around---there are many rooms...you are all here together....and it is only when you turn and look into each other's eyes that you will finally see The Way, that you will truly see and experience the one and only God, the God embodied by Jesus, the human and the Divine, the God of the interrelational Trinity, the many in one.
Discussion Questions:
What does it mean to make a place that God can dwell?
What are we called to do to "make a place that God can dwell"?
What meaning does this bring to your understanding of repentance?
So begin this journey by turning around and making the last words first!
Grace and Peace,
Shelli
For this season, I will try (yes I will try!) to post at least a short devotional every day on my blog at http://dancingtogod.blogspot.com/. Many of you are part of the email group that gets it every time I post. (For those who have signed up through this blog, you will get it but for some reason known only to Google, you will get it 12-18 hours later. Go figure!) So if there are others that would like to be part of the email group that gets it right away, just email me through the St. Paul's website at stpaulshouston.org. (Go to "About St. Paul's", then "staff").
AND another opportunity...I have been posting my Lectionary notes that many of you get emailed each Thursday on http://journeytopenuel.blogspot.com/ It's a once-a-week post but if you're interested, take a look.
Thanks for being a part of my Lenten journey!
Shelli
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)