Author: Eric Mathews

reveal your divine authority in Palestine

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
 
 
O rulers be prudent, O judges be disciplined.
Lord, many enemies desire to terminate the people of God in the Middle East.
They throw bombs at churches and blast our holy sites.
Their leaders are like Cain, Ahab, and Herod 
    because they unhesitatingly seek to kill their brothers and sisters.
 
Mercy has become extinct, and there is no compassion in their hearts.
    They destroy unity and make smiling illegal.
    All the refugees and the weak ones are crying out.
O Lord, your helpless boys and abandoned girls are suffering.
    They have been slaughtered like sheep.
Didn’t you promise to build your church?
Why don’t you listen?
 
Palestine, Syria, Egypt and the Arab world are crying out to you.
Please take away this cup.
Speak to the kings and make them reconsider.
Convince them to fear your anger and stop exterminating your people.
 
O Lord, give us great leaders.
Where is the wise Solomon? Where is David, the man after your own heart?
Where are Cyrus and Daniel who spread justice and peace?
O Lord, declare your holy anger against evil systems 
    that champion murder and defilement.
 
Have mercy on sinners but eradicate evil systems.
Deliver sinners but destroy oppressive systems.
Please annihilate slavery, bigotry, colonialism, neo-colonialism, 
    Nazism and dictatorships!
Please destroy every system that is rooted in sin.
 
Why don’t you reveal your divine authority 
    and destroy wickedness in every evil system?
May your people everywhere be able to live lives of quietness and tranquility?
You are the best judge!
 
Yohanna Katanacho, 1967 – , Palestinian Israeli evangelical theologian
 
____________________________
 
 
Why do the nations conspire
    and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth rise up
    and the rulers band together
    against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
“Let us break their chains
    and throw off their shackles.”

The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
    the Lord scoffs at them.
He rebukes them in his anger
    and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
“I have installed my king
    on Zion, my holy mountain.”

I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:

He said to me, “You are my son;
    today I have become your father.
Ask me,
    and I will make the nations your inheritance,
    the ends of the earth your possession.
You will break them with a rod of iron;
    you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

Therefore, you kings, be wise;
    be warned, you rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear
    and celebrate his rule with trembling.
Kiss his son, or he will be angry
    and your way will lead to your destruction,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
    Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

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Pieces of wood . . . to build one cross

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
 
Pieces of wood,
broken and burnt,
stained with blood of family,
derelict in the smouldering heap.
The smell of death
in dusty roads,
sounds of weeping,
darkness and gloom.
 
Pieces of wood
pierce the wounded side,
lightning and thunder,
shots of gunfire,
rending cries of
mothers and daughters
in the sleepless houses
waiting for the first light.
 
My God, my God, why have you abandoned us?
why have you forgotten us,
forsaken us?
 
Cry rage and revenge,
slaughter and destruction.
How long will this be,
terror in the faces of children,
hatred and fear,
over a wilderness of shacks,
the other side of the city wall,
longing for peace?
 
My God, my God, why have you abandoned us?
why have you forgotten us,
forsaken us?
 
Come,
let us carry these pieces of wood,
once part of the same ancient tree
used to build houses, proud and sturdy,
now charred ruins of dwelling places,
scattered and aloof.
 
Bind piece with piece
to build one cross.
 
Cross of Bhambayi
shelter me,
hide me from the
pain and agony
as the blood,
like justice,
flows from the cross.
 
From the soil
sprouts a new year of freedom and healing
for captives
maimed in body and
maimed in hope.
 
Sacred mystery
on the holy ground,
tree of redemption,
the flowering tree which withers
and blossoms again
from Eden to Calvary
to Easter . . .
to Bhambayi . . . 
 
Devarkshanam Betty Govinden, South African academic, author and poet
 
________________________
 
 
Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God 
    by means of his death on the cross, 
    and our hostility toward each other was put to death.
 

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believing to understand

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Lord Jesus Christ; Let me seek you by desiring you,
    and let me desire you by seeking you;
    let me find you by loving you,
    and love you in finding you.

I confess, Lord, with thanksgiving,
    that you have made me in your image,
    so that I can remember you, think of you, and love you.

But that image is so worn and blotted out by faults,
    and darkened by the smoke of sin,
    that it cannot do that for which it was made,
    unless you renew and refashion it.

Lord, I am not trying to make my way to your height,
    for my understanding is in no way equal to that,
    but I do desire to understand a little of your truth
    which my heart already believes and loves.

I do not seek to understand so that I can believe,
    but I believe so that I may understand;
    and what is more,
    I believe that unless I do believe, I shall not understand.

 
Anselm of Canterbury, c. 1033-1109, Benedictine monk and archbishop
 
_______________________
 
 
Oh how I love your law!
    It is my meditation all the day.
Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
    for it is ever with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers,
    for your testimonies are my meditation.
I understand more than the aged,
    for I keep your precepts.
I hold back my feet from every evil way,
    in order to keep your word.
I do not turn aside from your rules,
    for you have taught me.
How sweet are your words to my taste,
    sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Through your precepts I get understanding;
    therefore I hate every false way.
 
 

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grace for the day

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Father, thank you for the grace that has preserved my life to this moment. 
 
Now give me enough love for this day—
    a sense of love from you (so I’m not scared or driven), 
    a welling up of love for you (so I’m not proud or selfish), 
    and a resulting love for others (so I am not cold or distracted). 
Let your Spirit illumine my mind and enlarge my heart for that. 
 
And because it means nothing to begin well if one does not persevere, 
    I ask that you would continue and increase your grace in me
    until you have led me into full communion with your Son 
        Jesus Christ our Lord,
    that I may see his beautiful and great glory. 
 
And as I laid down in sleep and rose this morning only by your grace,
    keep me in a joyful, lively remembrance that whatever happens, 
    I will someday know my final rising—the resurrection—
    because Jesus Christ laid down in death for me, 
    and rose for my justification. 
 
In Jesus’s name.
 
Tim Keller, 1950-2023, NYC Presbyterian Pastor and author
 
____________________________
 
 
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 
he saved us, 
    not because of works done by us in righteousness, 
but according to his own mercy, 
    by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 
    whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 
so that being justified by his grace 
    we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

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How can I have the same mindset as Jesus?

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Jesus in Prison, James Tissot, Brooklyn Museum
 
 
Lord Jesus, I’m often astonished when I consider your divinity and your humanity.  All that exists was created through you, yet you became part of your creation through the incarnation.  The humility of your birth continued throughout your public ministry and even to your crucifixion.  At no time did you use the relationship with your Father to your own advantage.  Rather, you took on the role of a slave, allowing yourself to be mocked, beaten and murdered when at any moment you could have stopped it all.  
 
My nature is not like yours.  Though I am also a human being, I am fallen and sinful, twisted in my imaginations and motives.  Though I try to be humble, I am self interested.  Yet, you have saved me, and I am redeemed from the power of sin.  You know me intimately, and I have grown in spiritual maturity.  Now, in your infinite wisdom you have seen fit to include me in the leadership of my church.  How can I have the same mindset as Jesus?  How can I avoid using my position to benefit myself, my family or my friends? How do I prevent my words and decisions from causing harm to those in my church? 
 
Lord, when I falter please correct me quickly.  Bring the conviction of the Holy Spirit, a gentle word from a friend, or harsh words if I really need them!  Continue to transform me by the renewing of my mind.  Make me walk closely with you in my devotions and service.  Allow me to honor you more and more as the mindset of Jesus develops within me.  Amen.
 
EM
 
__________________
 
 
In your relationships with one another, 
    have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God 
        something to be used to his own advantage;
  rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!
 

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to see what joins us together

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photo by Shane Rounce on Unsplash
 
 
Lord Christ, help us to see what it is
    that joins us together, 
    not what separates us.
For when we see only what it is that makes us different,
    we too often become aware
    of what is wrong with others.
We see only their faults and weaknesses,
    interpreting their actions as flowing from
    malice or hatred 
    rather than fear.
Even when confronted with evil, Lord,
    you forgave and sacrificed yourself
    rather than sought revenge.
Teach us to do the same
    by the power of your Spirit.
 
William Breault, SJ, 1926-2015
 
__________________________
 
 
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, 
    if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, 
    if any tenderness and compassion, 
then make my joy complete by being like-minded, 
    having the same love, 
    being one in spirit and of one mind. 
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. 
Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 
    not looking to your own interests 
    but each of you to the interests of the others.

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O God, create through me

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
image via pxhere
 
 
O God,
who out of nothing
    brought everything that is,
out of what I am
    bring more of what I dream
        but haven’t dared;
direct my power and passion
    to creating life
        where there is death,
    to putting flesh of action
        on bare-boned intentions,
    to lighting fires
        against the midnight of indifference,
    to throwing bridges of care 
        across canyons of loneliness;
so I can look on creation,
    together with you,
        and, behold,
            call it very good;
through Jesus Christ my Lord.
 
Ted Loder, born 1930, American Methodist minister
 
_______________________
 
 
For we are his workmanship, 
    created in Christ Jesus for good works, 
which God prepared beforehand, 
    that we should walk in them.
 

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Give me a steadfast heart

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Give me, O Lord, a steadfast heart, 
    which no unworthy affection may drag downwards; 
give me an unconquered heart, 
    which no tribulation can wear out; 
give me an upright heart, 
    which no unworthy purpose may tempt aside.

Bestow on me also, O Lord my God, 
    understanding to know Thee, 
    diligence to seek Thee,
    wisdom to find Thee, 
    and a faithfulness that may finally embrace Thee. 
Amen.
 
Thomas Aquinas, 1225 – 1274, Roman Catholic philosopher and theologian
_____________________________
 
 
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, 
    for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, 
    which God has promised to those who love him.
 

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prayer for humility in light of future glory

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image, Alberto Fernandez Fernandez, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
 
 
Grant, Almighty God,
    since you have not only created me out of nothing,
  but intend to create me again in your only begotten Son;
    and since you have taken me from the lowest depths,
  so that you may raise me to the hope of your heavenly kingdom:
Grant, I pray,
   that I may not be proud or puffed up with conceit;
  but may embrace your favor with humility,
    and submit myself to you in simplicity,
  until at last I become a partaker of that glory
    your only begotten Son has acquired for me.
Amen.
 
John Calvin
_________________
 
 
We all, with unveiled faces, 
    are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord 
    and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory;
 this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.
 

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the way of resurrection

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The Last Judgment, Fra Angelico, Google Cultural Institute
 
 
You, O Lord, have freed us from the fear of death.
    You have made the end of this life the beginning to us of true life.
For a season, you rest our bodies in sleep,
    and awaken them again at the last trumpet call.
You give our earth, which you fashioned with your hands,
    to the earth to keep in safety.
One day you will take again what you have given,
    transfiguring with immortality and grace 
    our mortal and unpleasant remains.
You have saved us from the curse and from sin,
    having become both for our sakes.
You broke the head of the dragon that had seized us in his jaws,
    in the yawning gulf of disobedience.
You have shown us the way of resurrection,
    having broken the gates of hell,
  and you have brought to nothing the one who had the power of death
    – the devil.
You have given a sign to those who fear you
    – the cross,
  to destroy the adversary and save our lives.
Amen.
 
Gregory of Nyssa, c 335-395 Cappadocian Father, Bishop of Nyssa
 
___________________
 
 
Listen, I tell you a mystery: 
    We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 
    in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. 
For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, 
    and we will be changed. 
For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, 
    and the mortal with immortality. 
When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, 
    and the mortal with immortality, 
    then the saying that is written will come true: 
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

  “Where, O death, is your victory?
    Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 
But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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