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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion March 1, 2006 Both |
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Frontline Devotion for Wednesday, March 1, 2006 by Penny Risen
Both God and man.
Jesus Christ’s presence in our lives can take on both meanings, if we let His gift of salvation and His Word alive in the Gospels impact us day to day. In His ministry on Earth, Jesus took pains to speak plainly so all could understand. He told parables and gave lessons of how to live and to care for each other with examples from nature, from the ebb and flow of the seasons, and from the quiet places and creatures this man and this God surely love.
Jesus was humble, not aloof to human needs and troubles. He emptied Himself and came to do God’s will as a servant. He empathized with men and women in their journey for wholeness with their God. So, can it be surprising that when He teaches us how to pray it’s done in a quiet and conversational way? There’s nothing showy about the Lord’s Prayer, as we see in Matthew Chapter 6; it begins simply, “Our Father ...”
Jesus advises in verse 6 (The Message Bible):
Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place
so you won't be tempted to role-play before God.
Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage.
The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin
to sense His grace.”
The prayer asks for very human things --- food, protection from evil, forgiveness --- in addition to offering praise for God’s power and His righteous rule on Earth. These things are necessary for life, Jesus says. Shown in prayer, worship and love toward others, devotion to God fulfills a personal need as well as confirms a covenant of His unconditional love for us.
In her gentle book “Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt,” writer Anne Rice offers readers a glimpse of the life journey of the boy Jesus. A member of a large and devoutly Jewish family, Jesus seeks out quiet places in the countryside near his village of Nazareth to think and pray, and to slowly understand his purpose as Messiah. When young Jesus visits the great temple in Jerusalem for Passover he is awed and prays privately, not calling out as the other men do: “Lord, Lord, whoever I am, whatever I am meant to be, I am part of this world that is all of a flowing wonder, like music. And You are with us. You are here. You have pitched Your tent here, among us. This music is Your song. This is Your house.” (Chapter 23, Random House Inc., 2005)
Many may know writer Rice only from her earlier novels about 19th century New Orleans, dark arts and vampires. Her former topics were strange, but she explains that her depiction of the historical settings and customs always were accurate. Her 1st century novel “Christ the Lord” is a culmination of Rice’s sincere return to the Christian faith, her meticulous research of the Gospels, and her study of centuries of sacred scholars’ and historian’s work about Jesus and His times. Work of other artists have attempted to explain these “lost” early years of Jesus in religious films, TV dramas, paintings and books --- and like them Rice’s insights provide a moving backdrop to our seeking to understand our God made man. In an afterward, the author makes clear the ultimate truth she took away from her project: “Christianity achieved what it did because Jesus rose from the dead.”
We as Christians believe Jesus was both God and man for an unparalleled purpose: As a sacrifice for sin. He lived so He could die. As a demonstration of our faith in this both awesome and humbling fact, many of us today will observe a ritual to begin Lent. We will receive the mark of ashes on our foreheads to remind us of our sinfulness and of our mortality. Our only hope is in Him, both God and man
During the next 40 days, let’s find a quiet place for a few moments --- to pray, to reflect, to read the Bible or devotions --- and remember our dependence on God and His grace. He accepts and loves us as human beings, as sinners. But He also instills in us His spark, a hope of our conversion in the Holy Spirit as saints. His only Son rose for us on Easter from a human beginning to achieve the glorious victory we all are called to share.
Prayer for the Day: Dear Lord, Your love for me came down to Earth in Jesus, my brother and my Savior. Thank you for letting me lean on You and seek Your ear in all things and in all places. Make me mindful during Lent of Your will and use me to serve the needs of Your people. Amen.
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