January only has 4 entries due to Father Dave’s Sabbatical. The Daily Word of Grace resumed Monday, April 5, 2021.
Daily Word of Grace # 211 (January 6, 2021)
On the church calendar January 6 is not only the twelfth and last day of Christmas, but also Epiphany, when we commemorate Jesus Christ being manifested to the Gentiles. On Epiphany we are reminded that Jesus is the Savior of not just some of the world but all the world, both Jews and Gentiles. Scripture tells us that “wise men from the East came to Jerusalem” seeking the newborn king, Jesus Christ—and that when they had found him, they famously presented “gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (Matthew 2:1-11). At that time gold was traditionally a gift for kings, frankincense was used in worship, and myrrh was used to embalm the dead. These three gifts point to who Jesus is and what he came to do—gold for Jesus the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16), frankincense for Jesus our Great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14), and myrrh foreshadowing Good Friday when Jesus died (and was embalmed and buried) for the sins of the entire world (1 Corinthians 15:3)—Jews and Gentiles—including you. Today may the Holy Spirit lead you anew to see the face of Jesus Christ the Savior of the world, and remind you anew of God’s love for you—a love that is so strong Jesus considered you worth dying for…and still does.
Love and Prayers,
Dave
Daily Word of Grace # 210 (January 5, 2021)
In the fall of 2005 I saw Coldplay live in concert in Northern Virginia. One of the many anthemic songs they played that night was a ballad of hope, a song called “Fix You” that was written by the whole band. It begins with Chris Martin playing the organ and singing: “When you try your best but you don’t succeed, when you get what you want but not what you need, when you feel so tired but you can’t sleep, stuck in reverse. And the tears come streaming down your face when you lose something you can’t replace, when you love someone but it goes to waste, could it be worse?” Who cannot relate to at least some of that (or in my case, at different times in my life, all of it)? Then comes the hope filled chorus, “Lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones, and I will try to fix you.” The song reaches a cathartic climax that left many of us in the crowd with tears and goosebumps, because “Fix You” is a song to which everyone can relate. It points to the gospel because the love of God meets us when we don’t succeed, when we lack what we actually need, when we can’t sleep, when we’re stuck in reverse—and the love of God meets us when tears stream down our face and we have lost something we can’t replace and we love someone but it goes to waste and when things could not be any worse. And yet that is when the love of God in Jesus Christ, who identifies himself as the Light of the World (John 8:12), reassures us that he will guide us home and that God will do whatever “fixing” needs to be done—and this good news can indeed “ignite our bones” so that we can press on.
Love and Prayers,
Dave
Daily Word of Grace # 209 (January 4, 2021)
A particularly beautiful and powerful collect in The Book of Common Prayer is “A Collect for the Renewal of Life”—“O God, the King eternal, whose light divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness during the day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen” (99). This is the perfect prayer for beginning a new year. The truth is, each one of us is bombarded with “wrong desires” that “wage war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11), each one of us needs God to “incline our hearts” to do what is right because our hearts are naturally bent on ourselves and we need God to create in us “a clean heart” (Psalm 51:11), and each one of us needs Jesus to be our Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) to lead us “into the way of peace.” This daily need is reflected in the Lord’s Prayer in which we pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done” (Matthew 6:10). Each and every day God remains the One who makes all things new (Revelation 21:5), the One who works for the daily renewal of your life, and the One who “turns the shadow of death into the morning.”
Love and Prayers,
Dave
Daily Word of Grace # 208 (January 1, 2021)
At the beginning of each year many people make New Year’s resolutions. Maybe you have made such New Year’s resolutions for yourself…“This year I am going to lose weight (and keep it off)…This year I am going to exercise more…This year I am going to manage my finances better and pay off all my debts…This year I am going to watch less television and read more books…This year I am going to quit smoking…This year I am going to eat more vegetables and less junk food”…on and on it goes. Similarly many Christians make spiritual New Year’s resolutions like…“This year I am going to go to church more regularly…This year I am going to read the Bible more often (maybe even every single day)…This year I am going to pray more…This year I am going to give more money to those in need”…on and on it goes. Albeit well-intended, statistically less than 25% of people follow through on their resolutions even for just the first month. That is the bad news. The good news is that before the foundation of the world, before you were even born, throughout your earthly life, and on into eternity God has always made a resolution to love you unconditionally, all the time, no matter what, because “God is love” (1 John 4:16)…and God follows through on his resolution to love you 100% of the time.
Love and Prayers,
Dave
