Lent Lectio: Psalm 31:9-16
April 22, 2011
Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am in distress.
Tears blur my eyes.
My body and soul are withering away.
I am dying from grief;
my years are shortened by sadness.
Sin has drained my strength;
I am wasting away from within.
I am scorned by all my enemies
and despised by my neighbors—
even my friends are afraid to come near me.
When they see me on the street,
they run the other way.
I am ignored as if I were dead,
as if I were a broken pot.
I have heard the many rumors about me,
and I am surrounded by terror.
My enemies conspire against me,
plotting to take my life.
But I am trusting you, O Lord,
saying, “You are my God!”
My future is in your hands.
Rescue me from those who hunt me down relentlessly.
Let your favor shine on your servant.
In your unfailing love, rescue me.
________
This week. This very week.
I look out the window and see a neighbor’s house surrounded by three police officers. Their guns are drawn and they’re motionless. It’s hard to believe I’m seeing what I’m seeing, and I’m as frozen in place as the officers. Eventually our neighbor comes out looking like a ghost of herself. She’s pacing on the front porch, smoking and occasionally wrapping both arms around herself as though looking for comfort. The next day I discover that the grown son of our neighbors (allegedly) committed a crime that same day and that there was a felony warrant on him. He allegedly fled the scene with a gun in hand and was threatening suicide. Police had reason to suspect he was at his parents’. If the allegation against him is true it’s the kind of crime that often carries a lifelong stigma with it. The kind that parents would never forget. The kind that would keep parents up in the night and make them wonder, “Where did we go wrong?”
“Piece of shit who needs to be tortured slowly to death.”
“Hang him.”
“I thought this dirtbag was going to do us all a favor and kill himself.”
These comments, among many others, were posted in our local newspaper beneath the article reporting on the alleged crime after the suspect turned himself in. I am praying that the parents don’t ever read them.
The following day I’m in my yard when I hear screams from another neighbor’s house: “Get off me! Get off me! Get off me! David! Jody! Help! Please!” I yell to Jody to call 911, to report screams and cries for help coming from the house in question. I then run to the front door and start banging on it as loudly as possible, shouting my neighbor’s name. She comes to the door with blood on her arms and shirt. Moments later a man comes to the door with blood pouring down his face. She gives her version; he gives his. Police arrive and the man is taken away, later to be charged with assault. Our neighbor is a gentle (and probably naive) woman, trying to make a living and raising two kids alone. She already had a restraining order against the man.
This morning I tell Jody, “I don’t want to believe this, but think this is just the tip of the iceberg. I think there’s more pain within 100 yards of us that I care to know about.”
But these two houses are much, much closer than 100 yards, and we know the names of those who inhabit them. They are neighbors in distress, whose eyes are blurred with tears, whose bodies and souls are withering away, whose years are shortened by sadness. They live at this moment in the lament of the psalmist.
Will I scorn? Will I despise? Will I be afraid to come near? Will I ignore? Will I regard them as broken pots — useless? Will I spread rumors? Or will I draw near and reflect the unfailing love of God? We are praying for resurrection and asking again what it means to be sent like Jesus, what it means to pitch our tent with others in this neighborhood.
Lent Lectio: Psalm 118: 1-2, 19-29
April 15, 2011
Psalm 118
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
2 Let Israel say: “His love endures forever.”
19 Open for me the gates of the righteous; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter.
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation.
22 The stone the builders rejected ?has become the cornerstone;
23 the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 The LORD has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.
25 LORD, save us! LORD, grant us success!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.
27 The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine on us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will praise you; you are my God, and I will exalt you.
29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
————————————————————
There is something good in a place where there was nothing
It is his love.
I now have something for which to give thanks. Something empty just got filled up.
I can walk through gates because they have been opened up by you, Lord.
I have salvation because you have answered me.
Even when I and others reject you, you have this way and presence where everything else ends up resting upon you—there you are holding it up.
My eyes have something to marvel at, because you have done something great.
I have something to rejoice in, because you have brought to pass what I have been hoping for all this time. Today. You made it happen today.
Blessing happens around you whether I am coming or going. It has its way of rubbing off on me.
You exist and I get the benefit of being shined upon.
This makes me want to celebrate.
Oh Lord, your love draws me in and helps me see that all that I have in this world is a result of something that you have done, or even simpler: your presence.
Your love is the thing that holds my life together and upon which all my dreams rest.
Your love cannot be contained by what I see or experience—-it lasts forever.
I give you my praise—and it is enough; even though if we were to measure my praise against your love there would be no comparison.
Lent Lectio: Psalm 23
April 1, 2011
Psalm 23
A psalm of David.
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
It is verse three that catches my eye and my breath.
He refreshes my soul. (Or, he restores my soul).
The winter of life must become spring. Our soul does transition – at some point, usually long after we would wish – from the bleakness and desolation of winter into the hope of the new buds of spring.
He refreshes my soul.
I can be sure of that relationship with the God who shepherds me.
He restores my soul.
I do not restore my own soul, I cannot refresh my own inner self. God acts; I am the subject of the sentence and of God.
He
restores
my
soul.
Lent Lectio: Psalm 95
March 25, 2011
Let’s come together and sing for joy to the Lord!
Let’s give a shout to our rock-solid God, our Savior.
Why? Because the Lord is the great God, the great King,
surpassing any other “god” or idol you can name!
He holds the depths, owns the mountains, made the seas, created land!
This is our God! So let’s worship our Lord and Creator,
get down on our knees, touch our heads to the ground.
We’re his sheep, the flock he loves, the flock he feeds in his pasture, this earth.
Hear your Shepherd’s voice:
Your ancestors quarreled at Meribah, wondering if I would provide for them,
They challenged me at Massah, questioning if I was really with them in the wilderness.
Despite what I had done up to that point, this is where they ended up!
But you, keep your hearts tender and trusting.
An entire generation of people lost out because of their own choice,
wandering down the Path of Untrust, not acknowledging my love toward them!
And in my anger I promised that they’d reap the consequences of their actions,
not entering into the restful space I had waiting for them.
(reworking of psalm 95, djn)
________________
We peer into ancient galaxies,
those back corners of time
dazzle over flavors of quarks
uncurl genomes, can build burj khalifa
but are weak daily, blind mostly
given to fear and faithlessness,
believing ourselves better
justified in our doubt always
amnesiacs of grace
and yet
not a moment passes
where it could be otherwise.
Lent Lectio: Psalm 121 A Song of Ascents
March 18, 2011
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From whence does my help come?
2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip, he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
8The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and for evermore.
Advent Lectio – Week 4: Psalm 89.1-4, 19-26
December 17, 2010
Psalm 89
A psalm of Ethan the Ezrahite.
I will sing of the Lord’s unfailing love forever!
Young and old will hear of your faithfulness.
Your unfailing love will last forever.
Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens.
The Lord said, “I have made a covenant with David, my chosen servant.
I have sworn this oath to him; ‘I will establish your descendants as kings forever;
they will sit on your throne from now until eternity.’”
Long ago you spoke in a vision to your faithful people.
You said, “I have raised up a warrior.
I have selected him from the common people to be king.
I have found my servant David. I have anointed him with my holy oil.
I will steady him with my hand; with my powerful arm I will make him strong.
His enemies will not defeat him, nor will the wicked overpower him.
I will beat down his adversaries before him
and destroy those who hate him.
My faithfulness and unfailing love will be with him,
and by my authority he will grow in power.
I will extend his rule over the sea, his dominion over the rivers.
And he will call out to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’
___________
Unfailing Love
In the beginning we wanted
only touch gentle
and milk warm and words kind,
a true near-drawing
repeatedly
someone saying,
It’s so good
you are alive with us
you cannot imagine
our delight
in your being
here.
Our first desire
it was
and only
and truest
which by virtue of being
first and true
begs an answer
not found among the living
whose inconstancy
became a known fact.
So I looked for the father
who was not my father,
the mother not mine,
for the love unfailing
whose notes I could sing
to all
forever
But was found first
in spite of my seeking,
by one who drew near
drew closest
in love
drawing out
My Father, my God, my Rock
from satisfied lips.
____________
O Immanuel, O “With-us-is-God”: for your gifts, these assurances, the solidity of your enduring presence and love, thank you.
Advent Lectio – Week 3: Psalm 126
December 10, 2010
Psalm 126
A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.
When the Lord brought back his exiles to Jerusalem,
it was like a dream!
We were filled with laughter,
and we sang for joy.
And the other nations said,
“What amazing things the Lord has done for them.”
Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us! What joy!
Restore our fortunes, Lord,
as streams renew the desert.
Those who plant in tears
will harvest with shouts of joy.
They weep as they go to plant their seed,
but they sing as they return with the harvest.
(New Living Translation)
____________
Returning
Is there any one place from which
torn we would wail long and hard
be heard from a long way off
like a wolf howling under the moon
anxious to rejoin the pack
longing to curl up in a den
thick with musk and contentment
beneath the hill whose curve
and slant differs from all others
near the stream whose perfect waters
emptied themselves into you daily
and fed the deer who fed you?
To be again where others
would first smell your arrival
eager to lick and nuzzle you
back into existence?
____________
A Prayer
We wander between the poles of longing and fulfillment, Lord, only finding our way to joy and hilarity through the gift of a opened door, the door with the god-side knob. Yet every day you open it, if only by a sliver, beckoning us to push a little if necessary, inviting us across the threshold separating absurdity and ephemerality from faithfulness and truth. Courage to enter, Lord, we pray for courage. Humility, Lord, we pray for humility. Trust, Lord, always, trust.
Advent Lectio – Week 1: Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
November 26, 2010
(This weekend begins the season of Advent. It is a sense of joyful hope for the arrival of God in the person of Jesus.)
Psalm 80:1-7
Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,
shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Awaken your might;
come and save us.
Restore us, O God;
make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.
How long, LORD God Almighty,
will your anger smolder against the prayers of your people?
You have fed them with the bread of tears;
you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.
You have made us an object of derision to our neighbors,
and our enemies mock us.
Restore us, God Almighty;
make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.
___________
How often does it seem that God isn’t listening or can’t hear my prayers, the prayers of my friends and community? How often does it seem that the all-powerful God sits on the throne, but off in the far distance, while here we are far away from God, having only our tears and our complaints as company?
In this mist, we seek the face of God. We seek God’s nearness and presence. We remember Moses’ request to see God’s face, but God only let Moses glimpse God from a crevice in the mountain, only after passing by, seeing only the train of robes. Still Moses glowed from the experience.
We need the face of God to shine on us, to save us, to rescue us, to heal us, to give us hope. But is it worthwhile to hope in a glimpse of God only from the back, hidden in the rocks?
___________
Psalm 80:17-19
Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,
the son of man you have raised up for yourself.
Then we will not turn away from you;
revive us, and we will call on your name.
Restore us, LORD God Almighty;
make your face shine on us, that we may be saved. (17-19)
___________
The face of God changes at Christmas. The face of God begins with Moses’ desire for intimate fellowship with an eternal Being, but on Christmas the face of God changes. It becomes tangible. Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, the surrounding company can touch the face of God flesh-to-flesh. The cattle and the donkey offer the incarnate God their storage shed, and in return they can nuzzle the face of God. They can taste its cheek, hear it cry, see it soothed at the breast of his mother, cause the radiance of joy in a new father.
God’s face is as near as the baby in His parents’ arms. Our confusion and complaints and tears turn to wonder at God, enfleshed as an infant. God’s face shines on us, and like we always do in the presence of a newborn baby, we shine back.
Lectio: John 20:19-31
April 9, 2010
John 20:19-31 (Today’s New International Version)
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of anyone, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”Jesus Appears to Thomas
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus [a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
The Purpose of John’s Gospel
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe [b] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Fear, peace and joy
Forgiveness
Locked doors, presence
Belief
These are the words that I find captivating in this passage. In lectio, I know that I’m supposed to settle in one theme, one word or phrase, and let that continue to speak to me. But this passage doesn’t feel that way to me. Jesus’ friends arrive in the scene behind locked doors, desperate for their own safety, rightly terrified that the authorities will implicate and kill them next. The sense of tension and terror in that room are palpable.
Jesus arrives, through locked doors. Immediately, that tension and fear turns to love and joy, and that love and joy is focused on forgiveness; their own forgiveness at first, but then Jesus’ mission to them to go out and forgive.
The scene is repeated for Thomas (more like us and our culture than we usually admit): Prove It To Me! Thomas isn’t just “my atheist friends”; Thomas is me even at my best moments; I want and need to experience God tangibly. Jesus arrives again, through locked doors. Thomas (and I) again believe, and the entire story concludes with a call to belief, in the form of action.
I pray, thinking about the many locked doors in my life, the areas in which I have hurt or been hurt, or just don’t want to go. Those locked doors are no match for the presence of Jesus the Christ. Come, Jesus, appear behind those doors, and bring me joy and peace, that I might once again forgive, receive forgiveness, and believe.
Lectio: John 12:1-8
March 21, 2010
John 12:1-8
Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. ” It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”
This is a story of gratitude. Jesus enters Bethany where, at Lazarus’ house, a dinner is thrown in his honor after having previously raising Lazarus from the dead. Whatever your favorite and finest meal may be, Martha’s cooking was the finest, the house was no doubt all together and everything just right. Mary also poured out extravagantly to Jesus, her brother was dead but now alive. They didn’t think twice about how much the dinner cost, or how much the oil cost, it was nothing at all in comparison.
This is a story of paradox. Jesus, who’d raised Lazarus from the dead, would soon go to his own death, which Mary anointed him for, wiping his feet with her hair. They poured out love and respect to Jesus this day, in a few days he would be mistreated and abused, even the disciples would run away or deny him.
We have a choice to react like Judas, considering ourselves the first priority in all things. But if we remember the things Christ has done, pouring his love on us like a sweet perfume, how can we react any other way but to desire to reciprocate like Martha and Mary?