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To Become like your Disarming Child

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Adoration of the Child, ​Gerard van Honthorst, via Wikimedia Commons
 
Father,
People of the world walk in darkness.
The struggle for power
   ruins the weak
   enriches the wealthy
   and gives power to the powerful.
We need to see the great light
   the light that shines in all its brightness.

Your kingdom of peace comes through a child,
   and liberation is bestowed on people
   who become as children:
      disarmingly defenseless,
      disarming through their defenselessness,
      and making others defenseless
      because they themselves are so disarming.
The birth of this child opens for us the future
   of a life in peace that is different from all life before,
   since that life was bound up with death.
This child is Jesus Christ,
   the child in the manger,
   the preacher on the mount,
   the tormented man on the cross,
   the risen liberator.
Help us to follow this child even today
   making visible something of this peace
   that he will complete.
Help us to share in the new creation
   born again to a living hope
   and live as new men and women.

Jürgen Moltmann 1926-2024 German Reformed theologian

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Matthew 2:1-6

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, 
Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, 
    “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? 
      We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 
When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, 
he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 
    “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, 
    “for this is what the prophet has written:

“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
    who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
________________________________

How was Jesus disarming as an infant and throughout his life?
How can you be more childlike in the ways that Jesus was?

Veterans Day prayer

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image

Lord, You know how deep a warrior’s wounds go.
You know the loss that many of our veterans in body and soul.
You know the memories that haunt them
   and the scars that many of them continue to carry.
Please bring healing to those veterans who still hurt.
Please grant patience and wisdom to those around them
   who cannot understand
   but can sometimes help the healing process.
Please apply both natural and supernatural medicine to their wounds.
 
Bob Hostetler, Pastor and author from Ohio
__________________
 
 
I will exalt you, Lord,
because you have lifted me up
and have not allowed my enemies
to triumph over me.
Lord my God,
I cried to you for help, and you healed me.
 
 
reposted from 2017

protect my heart

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
image by Annija U via Pexels
 
I give you my heart, 
    and I humbly pray that you would always keep it in your hands,
    since it is so unfaithful in loving what is good.
When it is in my control, 
    it is prone to follow all sorts of evils.
Oh Father, 
    keep my heart steadfast and unalterable in your ways.
Let it not be inclined to any evil thing 
    nor lean toward any of my former vanities.
Keep my eyes from looking upon and my ears from listening
    to any sort of wickedness.
Do not let my lips utter anything that is ungodly 
    or my feet move even a step in any of the paths of death,
    but hold my whole spirit, soul, and body in a righteous fear of you.
Keep me comfortable in the hope of your favor,
    through Jesus Christ, my blessed Lord and only Savior.
Amen.
 
John Kettlewell, 1653-1695, English clergyman and devotional writer
 
___________________________
 
 
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. 
May your whole spirit, soul and body 
    be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

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Good Shepherd of us all

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
image by Lawrence OP via Flickr
 
Good Shepherd of us all,
I thank you today for all the good shepherds in my life
and for all the ways you’ve shepherded me
through their love, their watchful presence,
their devotion and protection…

I thank you for my parents, my first shepherds;
I thank you for their protection, for the shelter of their love,
and for all they sacrificed
to help me grow…

I thank you for other shepherds in my family
and for all my friends
who comfort and challenge me,
who dry my tears and make me laugh,
who walk faithfully close by my side…

I thank you for all the shepherds
who taught me in school,
who counseled and directed me,
who shaped me and helped me to become
the person I am today…

I thank you for shepherds
whose names I don’t know, who stand in harm’s way
’round my town and ’round the world,
standing guard all day long to keep me safe,
keeping vigil while I sleep without a worry…

I thank you Lord, for the shepherds who care
for the sick and dying sheep among us,
who bind up wounds,
who bring comfort to those in pain,
who speed the path to health
or ease the path to end of days…
I thank you for the shepherds you’ve called home,
especially those gone much too soon,
whose gentle shepherd’s crook I miss,
whose presence still abides within my heart…

I thank you for the shepherds, Lord,
who remember me in prayer,
lifting up my name and needs to you;
who keep me in the sheepfold of your grace,
you, my gentle Shepherd,
Good Shepherd of us all…
Amen.
 
Fr. Austin Fleming, Roman Catholic Priest in Massachusetts
 
______________________________
 
 
I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 
 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—
and I lay down my life for the sheep.

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Prayer professing faith

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painting by Carl Heinrich Bloch, 1881 via Wikimedia Commons
 
 
God, Creator, you planned from the beginning –
    telling evil that the woman’s offspring would crush it.
You called to Abraham from his land on the margins to follow you. 
He and three more generations relied on you to live in a strange land. 
Later, you led the descendants of Israel out of Egypt, out of bondage. 
You led your people with judges like Deborah, 
    with kings like David whose family included migrants, 
    and with prophets like Daniel who lived as minorities in strange lands. 
In all these ways you remind us to focus our hope on your salvation 
    rather than in an earth-bound culture. 
And when it seemed that you were absent, you sent your Only Son.

Transgressing our sense of power, your Son was born as the baby of a virgin. 
Tempted in the ways we still are – riches, fame, and glory – 
    he chose a life of humble service, service to others even while he was betrayed. 
He drank the full cup of suffering. 
In his humiliation he was deprived of justice and tortured. 
Jesus suffered outside the city gate to make people holy through his own blood.

When he died, he crossed the border of hell. 
Three days later God raised him from the grave, exchanging death for life. 
He appeared to Mary, Mary Magdelen, Salome, and Joanna; 
    he walked with Celopas and another disciple on the road to Emmaus 
    to those on the margins. 
Then he appeared to Peter and the twelve, 
Christ, raised from the dead, presents us with salvation.
 
complied by Claudio Carvalhaes, professor of worship in New York City
 
___________________________
 
 
Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, 
    “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 
     and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations,
     beginning at Jerusalem.”
 

Prayer at Election Time

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Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash  

 
Heavenly Father
source of all truth and wisdom, 
who knows and loves the whole creation,
watch over our nation at election time:
that truth may prevail over distortion,
wisdom triumph over recklessness
and the concerns of every person be heard.

Lord Jesus,
who chose the way of the cross in the Garden of Gethsemane,
help us to turn our backs on self interest
and to support policies that sustain the poor, 
the vulnerable and the frightened people of this world.

Holy Spirit,
who brought understanding
among myriad peoples and languages at Pentecost,
give to all your people a passion for peace
and inspire us to work for unity and cooperation throughout the world 
and in our political life together.

Lord, we give thanks for the privileges and responsibilities 
of living in a democratic society.
Give us wisdom to play our part at election time,
that through the exercise of each vote, 
your Kingdom may come closer.

Protect us from the sins of despair and cynicism, 
guard us against the idols of false utopias 
and strengthen us to make politics a noble calling 
that serves the common good of all.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ Our Lord.
Amen.
 
Unboxed Worship, Box Hill Baptist Church, Australia
 
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First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings
be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions,
that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

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Thanksgiving for Jesus

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
 
 
Eternal God, our heavenly Father,
From whom comes every good and perfect gift,
we thank and praise your name for all your mercies,
    and for every blessing we have received from you.
We praise you, God, for health and strength,
    for food and raiment,
    for shelter, friends, and family,
    for comfort in sorrow, deliverance from danger,
    strength in weakness, help in adversity,
    consolation in affliction.
For all the tokens of your faithfulness,
    and for all the proofs of your mercy and love, we praise you.
 
We give you thanks, O God, for your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.
    No one in history compares with him.
He is the Good Shepherd –
    the One who has guided us each step of the way.
He is the Rock of Refuge –
    the One who has held us securely when all around was sinking.
He is the Bread of Life –
    the One who has satisfied our soul’s hunger.
He is the Light of the World –
    the One who has delivered us from spiritual darkness.
He is the Resurrection –
    the One who is our life and our life to come.
 
Wendell C. Hawley,  American pastor
 
____________________
 
 
And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. 
For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. 
And always be thankful.
Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. 
Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. 
Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 
And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, 
    giving thanks through him to God the Father.

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Decorate our homes with your goodness

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Highland Hospitality, John Frederick Lewis, via Wikimedia Commons
 
Lord, we want to invite you into our homes.
So we decorate them with giving to the needy, with prayers, with requests,
    and with vigils that focus increasingly on the needs of others.
There are the decorations of Christ the King.
 
We are not ashamed then of having a humble house,
    if it has this kind of furniture.
 
But the decorations that come from unstoppable greed
    are the enemy of Christ.
May those of us who are rich not pride ourselves 
    on having an expensive home.
Rather let us hide our faces, turn away from greed,
    and seek the other kind of decoration.
 
In so doing let us receive Christ in this life on earth,
    and there enjoy the eternal home,
by the grace and love you have for us in Jesus Christ,
    to whom be glory and might, world without end, amen.
 
John Chrysostom, c.349-407, Archbishop of Constantinople
_____________________________
 
 
He said also to the man who had invited him, 
    “When you give a dinner or a banquet, 
        do not invite your friends or your brothers
         or your relatives or rich neighbors, 
    lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. 
But when you give a feast, invite the poor, 
    the crippled, the lame, the blind, 
    and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. 
For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
 

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How can I have the same mindset as Jesus?

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
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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