Perspective: Believing and Praying

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Comments are always welcomed.
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Believing and Praying

My future is in your hands.
Don't hand me over to my enemies,
to all who are out to get me!
Shine your face on your servant;
save me by your faithful love!

Psalm 31:15-16 (CEB)

God, You know where I've been
You were there with me then
You were faithful before
You'll be faithful again
I'm holding Your hand

From "Let the Waters Rise" by MIKESCHAIR

One of the classes I had to complete in order to be certified as a Lay Speaker in the United Methodist Church was a class on leading public prayer.  In this class, I learned about a particular type of prayer called the collect.  In such a prayer, a petition to God is preceded by a statement about God and followed by a reason for the petition.¹

Consider the following collect written for the third Sunday in Eastertide:

Almighty Father,
who in your great mercy gladdened the disciples
with the sight of the risen Lord:
give us such knowledge of his presence with us,
that we may be strengthened and sustained by his risen life
and serve you continually in righteousness and truth;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.²

In this prayer, the petition is made to God that the presence of the risen Christ be made known to the gathered congregation.  The rationale for the petition is that God resurrected Christ from the dead and that seeing the resurrected Christ gave His first disciples hope and joy.  The reason for the petition is that experiencing the presence of the risen Christ will provide the congregation the spiritual strength and sustenance they need to better serve God.

The collect shows us that what we ask of God is directly connected to our theology.  Generally speaking, when we pay close attention to a prayer, we can learn something important about the person who is praying, specifically what the person believes about God.


Many of the psalms in the Bible are attributed to David, the shepherd who became a military leader and then later became the most beloved king of Israel.  Like a number of the psalms associated with David, the thirty-first psalm is a prayer for help in a perilous time.  Evidently, David has found himself in dire straits.  The psalm begins,

I take refuge in you, Lord.
Please never let me be put to shame.
Rescue me by your righteousness!³

When I encountered this psalm recently, I observed that the psalmist apparently believes at least four things about God.


First, David believes that God is protective of God's children.  He prays,

Listen closely to me!
Deliver me quickly;
be a rock that protects me;
be a strong fortress that saves me!
You are definitely my rock and my fortress.
Guide me and lead me for the sake of your good name!
Get me out of this net that's been set for me
because you are my protective fortress.⁴

To David, God is like a rock behind which he can take cover and a fortress in which he can take refuge.  Such imagery can be found throughout the Psalms.⁵  David goes on to pray,

How great is the goodness
that you've reserved for those who honor you,
that you commit to those who take refuge in you -
in the sight of everyone!
You hide them in the shelter of your wings,
safe from human scheming.
You conceal them in a shelter,
safe from accusing tongues.⁶

According to David, God shelters God's children in the same way that a mother bird shelters her young with her wings.


Second, David believes that God is faithful to God's children.  He prays,

I entrust my spirit into your hands;
you, Lord, God of faithfulness -
you have saved me.⁷

David's use of the past tense might lead us to believe that the occasion that inspires this prayer is not the first time David has asked God for help in a perilous time.  He later prays,

Bless the Lord,
because he has wondrously revealed
his faithful love to me
when I was like a city under siege!⁸

Trusting that God is faithful involves remembering what God has done in the past.  Scholar John Goldingay notes in his commentary on this psalm that remembering God's previous acts "keeps those events in the awareness of the people praying and thus makes it more possible for them to hold on as the waters rise."⁹  David evidently sought help from God in the past and received it, so he trusts that God will help him again in the present.


Third, David believes that God is attentive to God's children; otherwise, he might not bother asking God for help.  James L. Mays writes in his commentary on this psalm, "The psalm has been called a model of a prayer that is confident of being heard.  This confidence informs the prayer from start to finish; to pray this psalm is to be led into and instructed in this confidence."¹⁰  David prays,

I rejoice and celebrate in your faithful love
because you saw my suffering -
you were intimately acquainted with my deep distress.
You didn't hand me over to the enemy,
but set my feet in wide-open spaces.¹¹

David goes on to pray,

When I was panicked, I said,
"I'm cut off from your eyes!"
But you heard my request for mercy
when I cried out to you for help.¹²

Goldingay suggests, "People praying are invited to believe and declare that God has heard their prayer even when there is yet no evidence, to urge one another to believe that this is so, and to take courage accordingly."¹³  The defining story of David's people is the Exodus, in which God hears the cries of the long-oppressed people of Israel and sends Moses to liberate them.  David trusts that God hears his cries in the same way that God heard the cries of his oppressed ancestors.


Finally, David believes that God is sovereign.  He prays,

My future is in your hands.
Don't hand me over to my enemies,
to all who are out to get me!
Shine your face on your servant;
save me by your faithful love!¹⁴

To trust that God is sovereign is to trust that God has the final word in all matters.  For David, trusting that God is sovereign means trusting that God is the one who truly determines his future and not the people who are seeking his life.  He ends his prayer,

All you who are faithful, love the Lord!
The Lord protects those who are loyal,
but he pays the proud back to the fullest degree.
All you who wait for the Lord,
be strong and let your heart take courage.¹⁵

To trust that God is sovereign is also to trust that God will eventually set all things right.  David trusts that people's faithfulness to God will not go unnoticed by God and that wrongdoers will inevitably have to face the consequences of their wrongdoings.


What we believe about God determines how we pray, and, at the same time, how we pray reveals what we believe about God.  David believes that God is protective, faithful, attentive, and sovereign, so he turns to God for protection in perilous times.  What does the way you pray reveal about your beliefs about God?


Notes:

1. Wikipedia: "Collect"
2. "Collects and Suggested Canticles and Refrains (Daily Prayer)."  The Church of England Website.
3. Psalm 31:1 (CEB)
4. Psalm 31:2-4 (CEB)
5. Joel B. Green, William H. Willimon, et al.  The Wesley Study Bible (NRSV).  2009, Abingdon Press.  p. 672
6. Psalm 31:19-20 (CEB)
7. Psalm 31:5 (CEB)
8. Psalm 31:21 (CEB)
9. John Goldingay.  The Old Testament for Everyone (Kindle Edition).  2020, Westminster John Knox Press.  p. 2835
10. James L. Mays.  Psalms (Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching) (Kindle Edition). 2011, John Knox Press.  loc. 2914-5
11. Psalm 31:7-8 (CEB)
12. Psalm 31:22 (CEB)
13. Goldingay, p. 2836
14. Psalm 31:15-16 (CEB)
15. Psalm 31:23-24 (CEB)

The photograph of the desert boulders was taken by Ken Kistler and has been released to the public domain.  The photographer is in no way affiliated with this blog.

Perspective: The Bad Shepherd

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.
Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

The Bad Shepherd

I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  When the hired hand sees the wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and runs away.  That's because he isn't the shepherd; the sheep aren't really his.  So the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them.  He's only a hired hand and the sheep don't matter to him.

John 10:11-13 (CEB)

Arm me with watchful care
As in Thy sight to live
And now Thy servant, Lord, prepare
A strict account to give!

From "A Charge to Keep I Have" by Charles Wesley

Today is the Fourth Sunday in Eastertide, a day sometimes called Good Shepherd Sunday.  In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."  He goes on to say, "I am the good shepherd.  I know my own sheep and they know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.  I give up my life for the sheep."¹  On this day, we remember who Jesus is as humanity's Good Shepherd.  Among other things we remember that Jesus laid down His life, as a good shepherd does, to liberate humanity from the power of sin and death when He endured crucifixion.

The twenty-third psalm is attributed to Jesus' ancestor David, who shepherded his family's sheep before he was anointed to become his people's next king.  In this beloved psalm, a shepherd imagines himself as a sheep, and he imagines that God is his shepherd.  The psalmist proclaims that God, his shepherd, provides everything he needs.  He proclaims that, as shepherd, God leads him to "grassy meadows" and "restful waters."  He proclaims that, when he must "walk through the darkest valley," he is not afraid, because God, his shepherd, is there to protect him.²  In the same way that sheep are totally dependent on their shepherd, we are totally dependent on God.

This psalm, which describes God's care for humanity, has something to teach us about human beings, who bear God's image.  It teaches us that, when we find ourselves in any place of authority, not unlike a shepherd, we are called to lead, provide, or protect in accordance with the authority entrusted to us.

Perhaps, on Good Shepherd Sunday, we would do well to remember that not all shepherds are good.

The prophet Ezekiel was among the people deported to Babylon the first time the Babylonian Empire attacked the Kingdom of Judah.  Occasionally he was called to speak out against the people in authority among those who remained in Judah.  On one occasion, God commanded Ezekiel to "prophesy against Israel's shepherds."³  God told Ezekiel to say to them,

The Lord God proclaims to the shepherds: Doom to Israel's shepherds who tended themselves!  Shouldn't shepherds tend the flock?  You drink the milk, you wear the wool, and you slaughter the fat animals, but you don't tend the flock.  You don't strengthen the weak, heal the sick, bind up the injured, bring back the strays, or seek out the lost; but instead you use force to rule them with injustice.⁴

In other words, the people in charge used their positions of authority not for the benefit of the people who depended on them but rather for their own benefit.

When people in positions of authority fail to do the jobs entrusted to them, bad things happen to the people who depend on them.  God told Ezekiel to say to the "shepherds" who failed to care for God's people,

Without a shepherd, my flock was scattered; and when it was scattered, it became food for all the wild animals.  My flock strayed on all the mountains and on every high hill throughout all the earth.  My flock was scattered, and there was no one to look for them or find them.  So now shepherds, hear the Lord's word!  This is what the Lord God says: As surely as I live, without a shepherd, my flock became prey.  My flock became food for all the wild animals.  My shepherds didn't seek out my flock.  They tended themselves, but they didn't tend my flock.⁵

When shepherds fail to lead, provide, and protect, their flock essentially becomes a buffet for predators.  When the kings of Israel and Judah failed to lead their people well, their kingdoms were attacked by larger empires, and their subjects were taken into captivity.

According to Jesus, "the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."  By contrast, the bad shepherd neglects the lives of his sheep as he seeks to enrich and glorify himself.  As we remember what Jesus, our Good Shepherd, did for us, His sheep, may we remember that not all people who seek positions of authority truly have other people's best interests at heart.  May we who are in positions of authority faithfully do what we have been trusted to do by leading, providing, and protecting to the best of our ability as our positions require.


Notes:

1. John 10:11, 14-15 (CEB)
2. Psalm 23:1-4 (CEB)
3. Ezekiel 34:1-2 (CEB)
4. Ezekiel 34:2-4 (CEB)
5. Ezekiel 34:5-8 (CEB)

The photograph of the flock of sheep was provided by the Agricultural Research Service and is public domain.

Easter Perspective: Al----le-lu-ia!

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.
Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Al----le-lu-ia!

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won't perish but will have eternal life.  God didn't send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

John 3:16-17 (CEB)

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where's thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!

From "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" by Charles Wesley

On Sunday mornings, I typically attend the early, "more contemporary" worship service at my church.¹  Both of the Sunday worship services at my church are mostly the same, but the things that make the service I attend "more contemporary" are that there is a band instead of a choir and that the pastors tend to dress more casually.  Last week, on Easter Sunday, the contemporary service I attended had something in common with a traditional Methodist Easter service: the service began with the singing of the Easter hymn commonly titled "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today."

This beloved Easter hymn was written in 1739 by Charles Wesley, one of the founders of the Methodist movement.  That same year, it was published in the Wesley Brothers' hymnal Hymns and Sacred Poems with the simple title "Hymn for Easter Day."  At some point, a refrain of "Alleluia" was added after each line of the hymn so that it could be sung to a tune commonly associated with Easter.²

Previously I pointed out that, in the early Methodist movement, hymns were used to teach theology and doctrine.  Since I wrote about the theology reflected in Charles Wesley's famous Christmas carol "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing" around Christmas, I thought that, since it is now Eastertide, I would also write about the theology reflected in Wesley's Easter hymn.


The hymn begins with a call for all of creation to praise the resurrected Christ with shouts of Alleluia!

Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!³

The theological meat of the hymn begins with the second verse, in which Jesus' resurrection is compared to a victory in battle.

Love's redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia!

According to Wesley, through the Crucifixion and Resurrection, Christ won a decisive battle and completed "love's redeeming work."  To "redeem" something is to buy it back or to save it.  One definition of the word redeem is "to liberate by payment of a ransom."⁴

In the Letter to the Hebrews, one early Christian theologian compares Christ to an empathetic High Priest for all of humanity.  Referring to the Incarnation, Christ's becoming human like the other children of God, the writer states,

Since the children share in flesh and blood, [Christ] also shared the same things in the same way.  He did this to destroy the one who holds the power over death - the devil - by dying.  He set free those who were held in slavery their entire lives by their fear of death.⁵

By becoming human, dying, and rising from the dead, the Son of God defeated death and liberated humanity from the fear of death.

The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus show us that the worst thing that could happen to a person is not the end of the person's story.  As some Methodist pastors like to say, "The worst thing is never the last thing."⁶


As we sing the third verse of the hymn, we not only continue to celebrate Christ's victory but also begin to brazenly mock death.

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where's thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!

In case such mockery makes you feel a bit squeamish, I would like to point out that the Church has a rich tradition of taking jabs at death.

In the First Letter to the Corinthians, as St. Paul explains the implications of the Resurrection of Christ, he mocks death by quoting two of the Hebrew prophets.⁷  He writes,

And when the rotting body has been clothed in what can't decay, and the dying body has been clothed in what can't die, then this statement in scripture will happen:

Death has been swallowed up by a victory.
Where is your victory, Death?
Where is your sting, Death?

... Thanks be to God, who gives us this victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!⁸

A few hundred years later, St. John Chrysostom echoes Paul's words in his famous Easter Sermon.  He proclaims,

O death, where is thy sting?
O Hell, where is thy victory?
Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!
Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!⁹

Even now, Christians regularly mock death without even realizing what they are doing.  Crucifixion was the most inhumane form of execution employed by the Roman Empire, so the cross was originally something that struck fear into people.  Nowadays, Christians brandish crosses throughout their churches and wear crosses on their person as jewelry, as if the cross is a symbol of life and hope as opposed to a symbol of fear and death.


The fourth verse of the hymn reminds us that, as the Body of Christ, we follow Jesus, our Head, on the path of death and resurrection.

Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like him, like him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Following Christ in this way can be understood both literally and metaphorically.

In a literal sense, the resurrection of Christ gives us the hope that someday we too will be resurrected after we die.  St. Paul writes, in his First Letter to the Corinthians, that Christ is "the first crop of the harvest of those who have died."¹⁰  In other words, the resurrection of Christ will be just the first of many resurrections.  Paul continues, "Since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came through one too.  In the same way that everyone dies in Adam, so also everyone will be given life in Christ."¹¹

Death and resurrection are also a metaphor for sanctification, which is what Charles Wesley's brother John called "going on to perfection."  In the Letter to the Colossians, we read,

You were buried with [Christ] through baptism and raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.  When you were dead because of the things you had done wrong... God made you alive with Christ and forgave all the things you had done wrong.¹²

In the words of theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die."¹³  Following Christ, we are crucified and buried as the people we have been, and we are resurrected as the people we are becoming.


The fifth verse reminds us of certain truths about Jesus.

Hail the Lord of earth and heaven, Alleluia!
Praise to thee by both be given, Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia!
Hail the Resurrection, thou, Alleluia!

The Letter to the Philippians includes what is thought to be an early Christian hymn about the incarnation of Christ.  The first half of this hymn, which is commonly called the Christ Hymn, tells us that the Son of God divested Himself the power and glory of divinity to take on frail human flesh.  He lived His life as a servant and died the death of a criminal.¹⁴  The second half of the hymn reads,

Therefore, God highly honored him
and gave him a name above all names,
so that at the name of Jesus everyone
in heaven, on earth, and under the earth might bow
and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.¹⁵

Christ descended from heaven, to servanthood, to a criminal's death, and then God resurrected Him from the dead, raised Him back up to heaven, and gave Him a seat of authority at God's right-hand side.

This verse ends with a reminder of something Jesus says about Himself in the Gospel of John.  Before He raises His friend Lazarus from the dead, He says to Lazarus's grieving sister Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me will live, even though they die.  Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die."¹⁶


The sixth verse reminds us of the abundant, eternal life available to us.

King of glory, soul of bliss, Alleluia!
Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!
Thee to know, thy power to prove, Alleluia!
Thus to sing, and thus to love, Alleluia!

In the Gospel of John, we read that, on the evening before Jesus is arrested, He prays a high priestly prayer on behalf of His current disciples and all disciples who will come after them.  He begins His prayer,

Father, the time has come.  Glorify your Son, so that the Son can glorify you.  You gave him authority over everyone so that he could give eternal life to everyone you gave him.  This is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent.¹⁷

The abundant life Christ offers us is eternal in not only duration but also depth, and integral to this abundant life is knowing the God who loves us and knowing Christ whom God sent to save us.


Eastertide is a roughly fifty-day season that begins with Easter Sunday.  If you observe Easter, dear reader, may you take some time in these fifty days to contemplate what the Resurrection of Jesus Christ means to you personally at this time in your life.

Notes:

1. https://www.trmethodist.net/sundays
2. Wikipedia: "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today"
3. Lyrics from "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" are presented in this perspective as they appear in The United Methodist Hymnal, published in 1989 by The United Methodist Publishing House.
4. Wiktionary: "Redeem"
5. Hebrews 2:14-15 (CEB)
6. This saying was made popular by United Methodist pastor Adam Hamilton, who adapted it from the words of writer Frederick Buechner.
7. See Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14.
8. 1 Corinthians 15:54-55, 57 (CEB)
9. https://anglicansonline.org/special/Easter/chrysostom_easter.html
10. 1 Corinthians 15:20 (CEB)
11. 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 (CEB)
12. Colossians 2:12-13 (CEB)
13. Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  The Cost of Discipleship (translated by R.H. Fuller and Irmgard Booth).  ch. 4
14. Philippians 2:6-8
15. Philippians 2:9-11 (CEB)
16. John 11:25-26 (CEB)
17. John 17:1-3 (CEB)

The photograph of the stained glass window at Saint Elizabeth Catholic Church in Columbus, Ohio was taken by Wikimedia Commons user Nheyob and is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.  The photographer is in no way affiliated with this blog.