The Love of God All Around Us

Posted on June 23, 2012 by richrockwood

My wife and I read these words as we sat near our open deck door on this refreshing and gorgeous summer morning

Psalm 104 NRSV

10  You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow between the hills,
11  giving drink to every wild animal;
the wild asses quench their thirst.
12  By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation;
they sing among the branches.
13  From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

Coming in through the door’s opening were sweet chirping sounds.  The trees awash in sun-lit greens had their usual hypnotic effect.

The words seemed a narration for everything we could sense plus everything we could not.  All creation seemed to be alive with evidence of God’s handiwork.  It is a heady thought, is it not, to see creation’s movements and loveliness as tangible signs of the love of God at work all around us.

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Reaching All the Way to Repentance

Posted on June 22, 2012 by richrockwood

In our devotional this morning, we read Psalm 51, David’s words of repentance after his sexual abuse of Bathsheba.  He was the king, she was his subject.  How could she resist his advances, even if they were gentle.

It was complicated.  She was married to Uriah the Hittite.  King David had Uriah sent into the thick of battle where he was sure to lose his life.  He did.

Then King David was confronted by the prophet Samuel and shown by parable (see 2 Samuel 12:1-13) how great his sexual sin and orchestrated killing of her husband were.   This probably was a crushing experience for David.   It was humiliating to have his sin brought out into the light.

He couldn’t turn back the clock.   He needed to find a way forward.  Something told him he could move past the humiliation to the place of forgiveness.   Whether it was a whispering from the Lord or something from his past experience, or maybe his realization that he was trapped, something gave him the courage to humble himself with these words:

1    Have mercy on me, O God,
      according to your steadfast love;
      according to your abundant mercy
      blot out my transgressions.
2   Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
      and cleanse me from my sin.
3   For I know my transgressions,
      and my sin is ever before me.  (Psalm 51:1-3 NRSV)

Once we have committed what we think is our worst sin or failure, it is easy to stop there and let the storms of guilt and shame rage in our lives.  David, on the other hand,  found a way to calm the storm and let the gentle rains cleanse the filth from his soul.   He moved past the humiliation all the way to repentance.

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God is the Rock of My Existence

Posted on June 21, 2012 by richrockwood

Today is my birthday so I now must report an increase of one in my age, though really it’s just one more day.  And I must also report I am “getting up there” in years.  I notice that pain in my low back more often than I would like.  I am heavier than I would like to be partly because I am not as active as I could and should be.  I just recently switched my political allegiance.  And the weather is so unpredictable lately.

All these changes are like waves pushing me to go with the current events of my life.

I am surprised and pleased to realize that at the same time my faith in God is getting stronger.  I find my hold on life is weakening.  I have had some strong trusting God experiences which I cherish.   The more the waves are pounding, the more I am holding on to the rock of my faith….God.

Part of my morning devotion for my birthday was this:

1   For God alone my soul waits in silence;
          from him comes my salvation.
2   He alone is my rock and my salvation,
          my fortress; I shall never be shaken.  (Psalm 62:1-2 NRSV)

How perfect.

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Have Some Fun…Lighten Up!

Posted on June 20, 2012 by richrockwood

I don’t think I’ve ever thought about it this way.  Here’s the scene:  “At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (Matthew 18:1 NRSV).  Maybe it was idle chatter, conversation as Jesus and his followers were walking along.  Maybe it was a serious question from Kingdom status seekers.  Maybe it was just an innocent question with no agenda.

There’s no indication Jesus paused to think about it or even mull over his feelings at such a question.  Here’s what happened:  “He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.'”  Was He pulling their leg?

I wonder if Jesus ever kidded around?  As I observe children, I see them playing a lot.  My granddaughter when she was little always wanted me to play “hotel” with her.  I would pretend to be a guest and she would assign me a room in our house and I had to pretend to be getting ready for and finally going to sleep.

For today I invite us all to take a lesson from the children we see.  Try imitating their playfulness.  Try to laugh at simple things like the infant on America’s Funniest Videos who couldn’t stop laughing about the noise a door stop made when he pulled on it.  Try looking at your life with baby eyes.  Be filled with wonder at a flower.  Look at the beauty of creation and praise the Creator.

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In the Stillness of Night

Posted on June 19, 2012 by richrockwood

Most nights I wake up at some point.  The room is dark….and quiet.  Everyone in the house is at rest.  Only I am awake.  I use the facilities, take a drink of water, and sometimes read.  It’s a lonely time.

When I was in second grade I was diagnosed with Rheumatic Fever and confined to bed for two months.  I had to learn to walk again when I was declared healthy.   That too was a lonely time except for the few times I had company.

In today’s reading I was struck by this line in Psalm 42:  “By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.” (Psalm 42:8 NRSV)  What a comforting picture this conjured in my mind.  Even at night, that lonely, dark time, the writer was aware of a song in his heart.  He was aware that this song was a prayer to God, the God of his life.

Music is a strong thread running through my life.  Not until today was I aware that it could run through my awake times at night.  What a beautiful thought.  Even at night we can have a song, a prayer in music to the God of our life.

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The Blessing of a Father

Posted on June 17, 2012 by richrockwood

Today is Father’s Day in America so many of us are thinking about our earthly father.  In church today the minister invited us to think about all the good lessons our fathers taught us.  What about those of us who didn’t have a father who stayed or a father who was involved?  What about those of us who had an angry father to contend with?  My father left me when I was fourteen and I joined the ranks of the fatherless.

At one point in my life, however,  I realized I did have a father…in Heaven.  He was not only my father, he was everyone’s.  That realization was a blessing.  And over the course of my life, I have seen many blessings from my Heavenly Father.  I have seen evidence he has been with me right down the line.

In part of today’s devotion, I read these words:

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the Israelites: You shall say to them, The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.  (Numbers 6:22-27 NRSV)

So on this Father’s Day, I again claim God as my Father and say my thanks to Him for all His blessings in the past, right now, and on into the future.   And I rejoice that He is not just my Father, but the Father of the whole human race.  Only some just have not acknowledged Him as yet.

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The World Has Been Crucified to Me

Posted on June 16, 2012 by richrockwood

My wife and I were reading from Paul’s letter to the Galatians this morning and this phrase struck me as odd:  “May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14 NRSV) I needed to think about that.

Since I was a little, I have been drawn to images of the Crucifixion.   I was raised Catholic so we had crucifixes in our home and our churches.  When I became a Protestant, I noticed the crosses did not carry the tortured body of Jesus on them.  When I asked I was told it was because he is alive.

Even without crucifixes in the churches I attend, I am nonetheless drawn to the cross where I wonder at the endurance and spectacular love of Jesus.  Today Paul has now given me the notion that I can view the entire world through that cross and the entire world can see me through that cross.

This is like getting a new pair of glasses which allow me to see the world more clearly.  With these new glasses I  first see the love of Christ spreading out to the world.  This coaxes me to love everyone with the same unconditional love as he showed.  Secondly, this puts all the material things and people in a different perspective.  The satisfaction they provide next to salvation is like an ant compared to the universe.  All these things are flimsy and will quickly pass even with all the upgrades I choose to purchase.   Only perfect love in action lasts forever.

 

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My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord

Posted on June 15, 2012 by richrockwood

How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.  (Psalm 84:1-2 NRSV)

In his book “Ravished by Beauty: The Surprising Legacy of Reformed Spirituality,” Belden Lane writes “Calvin knew desire is the great teacher, and sustained desire the path to holiness.”  I am feasting on this book which gives me permission to join my natural longing for beauty, mystery and eternity with my religious beliefs.  For some time I have wondered why  I often settle for temporary pleasures.  Why do I not yearn for things that are good and long lasting?

C. S. Lewis saw yearning as the essence of joy. He had seen a miniature garden as a child which sparked a life-time of yearning to find that place of perfection.

The word in the psalm is כסף, kâsaph which properly means to become pale, to pine after someone or something.  The word reminds me of those wonderful days of my youth aching to be in the presence of someone who made my heart a butterfly.  That’s a good start.

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Out of the Depths I Cry to You, O Lord

Posted on June 14, 2012 by richrockwood

Try to imagine you are the one who wrote these words:

Psalm 130 NRSV

1   Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD.
2       Lord, hear my voice!
     Let your ears be attentive
          to the voice of my supplications!

It might have been you, because no one knows who to credit with these words.  It wasn’t you because they were written a long time ago.  Some scholars think they were written either during the Jewish exile in Babylon or shortly afterward.  The poet used a powerful image.  Back in those days, holes were dug to reach water and after the level had gone down they were sometimes used for storage or as prisons.  The prophet Jeremiah was thrown into one of those holes and no doubt did some crying out to the Lord for help.

Unfortunately, many of us can relate to the sentiment.  We feel at times we’re in over our heads.  It might be our job.  It might be our significant relationship.  It might be financial.   It might feel like there is no point in crying out for help.  No one will hear us.

As he cries out he (or she) is thinking of the nature of God, that God is merciful, that God is attentive to his situation, that God will act.  At the end of the writing, he positions himself to wait until he sees the Lord’s reaction to his pleas.  He (or she) is confident that God will help.

What assures me in this brief section is that the writer seems to have had some previous experience with God which gives him the confidence to cry out.  He knows his pleas will not go unanswered.    A cry to God qualifies as a prayer.

I appreciate such honesty from the contributors to the Bible.  Their honesty helps mine.

 

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The Only Thing that Counts is Faith Working Through Love

Posted on June 13, 2012 by richrockwood

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working through love.  (Galatians 5:6 NRSV)

I have had pride over some of my accomplishments in the past.  I was in the first graduating class from the newest state college at the time.  I completed a Masters of Divinity Degree and served a congregation in upstate New York for nineteen years.  I served in the United States Army during the Vietnam War.  I am a published author.

It is quite natural to feel successful because of these accomplishments, but in terms of my relationship with God, these are not the things that matter.  The Apostle Paul in writing to the believers in Galatia was pointing out that pride in religious observances was not what counted under the terms and conditions of the Gospel.  The Gospel had come to them in simple terms (love one another) and conditions (faith in Christ’s victory over sin).

I was struck by the utter simplicity of Paul’s words this morning.  The only thing that counts with God is faith working through love:  His love for me and my love for others.    And I note that His love for me was not based on my love and obedience to His will.  Similarly, my love for others can not be based on their love and doing what I want them to do.   Faith is the vital ingredient.

The picture of living in faith through love to me is like someone who orients his sails so his vessel moves forward at maximum speed.  The movement comes from the wind and not human propulsion.

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