Wednesday, April 7, 2004 (First)
Wednesday, April 7, 2004 (Second)
Maundy Thursday, April 8, 2004
Friday, April 9, 2004
Saturday, April 10, 2004
Wednesday, April 7, 2004
Read Psalm 69
“I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters
and the flood sweeps over me.”
Psalm
69:2
September 11, 2002, was the
day after my dad called to tell me that he had attempted suicide. It was also
one of my first days ever of class in seminary. I remember standing in the
cafeteria during a break, surrounded by strangers. I was acutely aware of a
television there broadcasting the memorial. They were reading the seeming
unending list of the dead, and I was trying to decide if I would tell anyone
that my dad had sat in his running truck as the garage filled with exhaust. That
he sat until his nostrils began to burn. That, when he changed his mind and
started for the door, he stumbled and fell on the concrete. That I was so scared
that I felt like I was dying.
“Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.” The fumes have filled
my lungs. The towers have come crashing down. And I am so alone. “Do not let the
flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the Pit close its mouth over
me. Answer me, oh Lord!”
Who do you call out to when all that is left is your failing voice? When, unable
to help yourself or the ones you love, you can only cry? When you are trapped
and cannot but whisper into the darkness? When no one answers you?
“My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.” Since September 11, 2002, this has
often been my own cry. As the initial flood of shock and fear became a mire of
grief, I despaired that my lowliness and pain would ever end. I wondered where
God was. Even now I still sometimes do.
What shocks me about the psalmist’s lament to my absent God is her hope that
seems to come from nowhere. Nothing about her situation at that moment led her
to hope. Where she was standing, there was no light at the end of the tunnel, no
silver lining. All she had was fear and weakness and the seed of a distant
memory of a God who heard and responded. And that was enough to give her
strength to continue to cling to her absent God.
My experience of the last two years tells me that this is what it means to be
faithful people. It means fearing the end while remembering our God who saved us
once before. It means putting one foot in front of the other, hoping against
hope that the children of God’s servants will inherit a world without that fear.
Hoping that in the meantime God will break into this world and work the miracle
of Christ’s resurrection again. And again. And again.
Prayer
Hasten, O Lord to save me; O Lord,
come quickly to help me. Amen.
Clark Kristofor Smith
Student at Lutheran Theological Seminary of Chicago
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Wednesday, April 7, 2004
Read Psalm 69
“Save
me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck."
Psalm 69:1
Psalm 69 is about a guy who
is having a series of bad days. He has become quite despondent and angry
because thing have not gone his way. The bottom has dropped out, he’s been left
out in the cold, nobody cares and he’s saying “Why me, Lord, why me?” (sounds
like another cold winter in Buffalo)
He hasn’t quite figured out
that labeling events as “good, bad, lucky, tragic” can be quite misleading.
While it is natural, even instinctive, to prefer comfort to pain, the outcomes
of seemingly disastrous events can spring forth opportunities for growth and
maturity. A bout with cancer can redirect our attention to what really matters
in our life; an apparent good fortune can produce lethargy; being fearful can
allow us the opportunity to be courageous; a strained relationship, a dwindling
church attendance can point the way to reconnect with each other and with God.
As Pastor indicated in a
recent sermon, perhaps we can be “open” to life’s event as they unfold.
Opening the heart
provides that connection to ourselves, each other and makes it a simpler thing
to forgive, to have compassion, to serve and to love.
Prayer
Dear Lord, Remember us out of
the goodness of your love and in your great mercy turn to us. Amen
Mike Seibold
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Maundy Thursday, April 8, 2004
Read Exodus 12 & 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
“This shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a
festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a
perpetual ordinance.”
Exodus 12:14
In my family we celebrate an African American and Pan African holiday called
Kwanzaa (pronounced Ka-wan-za-a) This is a time when we remember family,
community and our culture. It’s origins comes from celebrations in Africa during
the first harvest which has been celebrated for centuries in many ancient and
classical African civilizations. During this time all of our family comes
together and remember accomplishments, trials, down and up times, commeration
and recommitment. We have a segment where we have a memorial where we remember
those that have gone on before us, whether it was in the Middle Passage,
Holocaust, Slavery, homicide, natural death or any other way that others where
taken from this time. We remember and we are strengthened as a family in our
retelling of the stories.
We find memorials all through scripture. After the flood God established a
memorial for the promise to never destroy the earth with a flood. The rainbow is
a visual reminder of God’s covenant with Noah. With Abraham God established a
memorial through circumcision, a physical act that memorialized a spiritual
reality. Also when Israel crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land, God
instructs them to remove twelve stones from the Jordan and stack them in a pile
on the shore because in Joshua 4:6-7 it says the following:
“that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come,
saying, What do these stones mean to you. Then you shall answer them that the
waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord;
when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan where cut off. And
these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”
Today as we look at Exodus 12 and 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, the Lords Table is a
perpetuation of the Old Testament memorial called the Passover feast with his
disciples. In the Passover feast, it says, “and it shall be when your children
say to you, what do you mean by this service?
That you shall say, “it is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over
the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when God struck the Egyptians and
delivered our households...”
When we come to the Lords Table in communion it is a reminder of what Jesus has
done for us! The bread is a reminder of His body given for us. The wine is a
reminder of His blood shed for us. This is the symbolic act of our faith.
There is a spiritual reality that takes place at the Lord’s Table. It is not
just a meaningless ritual that we go through. It is an act that strengthens us.
It is an act of obedience. It is an act of faith. It becomes a moment when our
hearts open up and receive grace and strength for our life in God.
I am grateful for times of ingathering of my family when we reaffirm the bonds
between us but I am more grateful for a Savior that has instituted a memorial
within the Passover Feast and Lords Supper. Why? Because it is the sustenance of
our lives. It is where we remember how good God has been to us, what God has
brought us through but mostly that “God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son...” That is a reality that we can draw upon in this time. Christ
gave his body and blood for us. Died for you and I and that is worth remembering
and telling our children and children’s children about!
Prayer
O Lord, we thank you for the gift
of the family and for the opportunity to break bread together. Amen
Blessings to you
Vicar Imani Dodley, intern at St.
John’s Lutheran Church in Lancaster
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Friday, April 9, 2004
Read Hebrews 4:14-16 & 5:7-9
“During
the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud
cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard
because of his reverent submission.”
Hebrews 5:7
Over the course of my life, I
have had some very interesting and profound experiences with prayer. One such
experience occurred several months ago at our Taize’ service. My family and I
were going through a very difficult and emotional time. I didn’t even want to
attend the service for fear that all I would do was cry. It was one of those
times when I have felt hopeless. But because I am the pastor, I had to be
present.
I was right about my tears as
I stumbled through the service but when we came to the prayer things started to
change. After praying the petitions, I started to quietly repeat over and over
again, “Lord help my family. Lord comfort my son and give him peace.” As I
prayed, I remembered a passage from the Passion of Jesus, “Father if you are
willing, take this cup from me… (Luke 22:42a).” Jesus prayed in such anguish
that “his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground (Lk. 22:44c)
Although we should have moved
along in the service, the people present continued to sing, “O lord hear my
prayer, O lord hear my prayer; when I call answer me. O Lord hear my prayer, O
Lord hear my prayer; come and listen to me.” I think they sensed my need and
wanted to pray with me. When the service ended, my tears had dried, my anguish
had vanished and I knew my son would be ok for God had heard my prayer and
answered.
I don’t always pray to God in
reverent submission, but when I do, God’s answer is swift and it becomes another
defining moment in my spiritual life.
Prayer
Teach us Lord to pray always
in reverent submission to you knowing that you will hear my cries and answer
us. Amen
Pastor Billy
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Saturday, April 10, 2004
Read Luke 24:1-12
“He
is not here, but is risen; remember how He spoke unto you when He was yet in
Galilee, saying, the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men,
and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”
Luke
24:6-7
Surely,
these are the most powerful words ever spoken.
Can you
imagine the emotions of the women when they entered the tomb? How would you have
felt? They must have been bewildered, frightened, filled with grief, perhaps
angry, and then they heard the blessed words of the angels. They remembered
what Jesus had told them.
He is
risen. I believe that is the foundation of our faith. Those three words give
us hope, comfort, peace and assurance that God keeps His promises. Jesus’
resurrection should also enable us to believe in miracles and in angels. We all
know that there are happenings in life that simply cannot be explained
logically.
Prayer
Dear
God, Thank you for giving us The Way, The Truth, and The Life. Please help us
to always do our best to do Your will. Amen
Audrey
Hoffman
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