Daily Word of Grace for April 2020. Current postings of Daily Word of Grace can be found at the upper level of the page. Here is a link to see the current postings.
One of the many powerful prayers in The Book of Common Prayer is this: “Almighty God, to whom our needs are known before we ask: Help us ask only what accords with your will; and those good things which we dare not, or in our blindness cannot ask, grant us for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen” (394-395). Before you are ever aware of what your needs are, God already knows what they are. God is never caught off guard or surprised by your needs, although perhaps you often are (I know I am). On his haunting song “The Whole Night Sky” on his equaling haunting 1996 album The Charity of the Night Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn puts it this way, “Derailed and desperate, how did I get here? Hanging from this high wire by the tatters of my faith. Sometimes a wind comes out of nowhere and knocks you off your feet. And look, see my tears, they fill the whole night sky.” That is exactly when and where this prayer hit home. Even when we are aware of our needs we still may ask God for the exact wrong thing to help, and this prayer reminds us we are utterly dependent on God’s grace to meet our needs, known and unknown, in ways that accord with God’s will, and in ways that we could never see. And God often answers that prayer in unpredictable—but always good—ways, to repair the tatters of your faith and set you on your feet again—because it is not only our tears that can “fill the whole night sky” but also the love of God, who made the whole night sky in the first place.
Love and Prayers,
Dave
One of the most tender acts of love there is, is when someone gently wipes away the tears from another’s face. It is an act of love that overflows with care and compassion. Perhaps right now you can think of a time when someone gently wiped the tears from your face—perhaps a parent, or a boyfriend or girlfriend, or a spouse. As a culture I do not think we cry enough, and the repressed emotions bottled up behind the stern upper lips we so often maintain wreak unseen havoc in our hearts. While we may not be vulnerable enough to cry in front of others, we can cry in front of God. In fact, every time you have cried, and every time you have kept your tears bottled up, you did so in front of God. Scripture assures us that God puts our tears in his bottle (Psalm 56:8), a tender expression of God’s care and compassion for us. Jesus was vulnerable enough to cry in front of others, as you may remember, when he arrived at the tomb of his friend Lazarus, “Jesus began to weep” (John 11:35). Moreover, one of the many ways we can share that tender love with others is to “weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15)—and yes, that may involve gently wiping tears from one another’s faces. All of this foreshadows the personal, tender, eternal love of God, as John describes in his vision of heaven: “I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes’” (Revelation 21:3-4). That is how personal, how tender, how eternal God’s love is for you.
Love and Prayers,
Dave
The great English Romantic poet John Keats (1795–1821) concluded his famous poem “Ode on a Grecian Urn”: “Beauty is truth, truth beauty,–that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.” When you see something truly beautiful and beautifully true you never forget it—whether it’s a breathtaking view from a mountaintop, or a new mom with her infant sleeping peacefully in her arms, or a sunrise over the ocean, or Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night” (1889) at The Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan, or the first smile you see on the face of the love of your life. “Beauty is truth, truth beauty”—the combination of truth and beauty can cut through the hardness of our hearts and the protective walls of our minds and remind us that the beautiful truth is that we are loved by God, who is Beauty and Truth. The psalmist wrote, “One thing I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple” (Psalm 27:4). At the Last Supper Jesus assured his disciples, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), and the next day he gave his life to atone for the ugliness and lies of the world, and of your life—and to reveal the beautiful truth of the never-ending grace of God. One day in heaven all of us will see firsthand the Beauty and Truth of our Savior, who is actually “all ye need to know.”
Love and Prayers,
Dave
Many years ago as a seminarian the homiletics (preaching) professor told us something I dutifully scribbled down in my notebook, “Good preaching comforts the afflicted, and afflicts the comfortable.” I remember thinking how insightful that was. For several years I tried to do just that every time I preached, only eventually to learn the hard way something you probably already know—no one is comfortable. Are you? You may live in a comfortable home, drive a comfortable car, have a favorite comfortable couch or chair—you may even have moments when you are comfortable, but those moments are often fleeting and ephemeral. You may be physically comfortable but how about emotionally, or mentally, or relationally, or financially? The gospel is always a word of comfort for the afflicted, always. The first verse of one of my favorite chapters of the whole Bible, the fortieth chapter of Isaiah, states this beautifully: “Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins” (Isaiah 40:1). In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus similarly proclaimed, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4)—Jesus did not preach, “Blessed are the comfortable, for they shall be afflicted.” The reason the gospel is always a word of comfort for the afflicted is that on Good Friday Jesus was afflicted in your place, served your term in your place, paid your penalty in your place, and took upon his own pierced hands double for all your sins in your place. And as if that were not enough, the Holy Spirit, your Holy Comforter, has also been sent to remind you again and again of just that (John 14:26, King James Version).
Love and Prayers,
Dave
One thing many of us-okay, all of us-struggle with is anger. This anger can have many sources, but is usually somehow connected with what we acknowledge on Ash Wednesday as “our anger at our own frustration” (The Book of Common Prayer 268). While some of us have a harder time with anger than others, or a shorter fuse than others, all of us have a breaking point. The anger comes pouring out in a fierce tirade, or passive aggressive behavior, or an expletive-ridden outburst, or the “silent treatment”, or many other equally “delightful” ways. The problem with anger is that it always wounds; it never heals. We may think in taking out our anger on someone that we have “fixed” a situation, or “straightened someone out”, or “put them in their place”, or “given them a piece of our mind”-and maybe on the surface we have-but what we have actually done is wounded them, and often in the process wounded ourselves as well. In the wake of every angry person you will find the flotsam and jetsam of the wounded, every time. No wonder scripture warns us, “Do not let the sun go down on your anger” (Ephesians 4:26). On the flipside scripture reminds us, “Let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness” (James 1:20). In other words, the only one who can truly have “righteous indignation” is the only One who is truly righteous, Jesus Christ. The good news of the gospel is that on Good Friday Jesus, rather than taking out God’s anger-God’s truly righteous indignation-out on the world, did the exact opposite. Instead, Jesus took it upon himself, while also taking the anger of the world, including your anger, upon himself. On Good Friday the sun did not go down on God’s anger…and it never will.
Love and Prayers,
Dave
Many years ago I heard a bishop from Africa preach about the difference between grace and mercy: grace is getting what you do not deserve, while mercy is not getting what you do deserve. Grace is what God gives us every day regardless of how aware or unaware we are of it-every heartbeat, every breath, every meal, every second chance (and third and fourth and so on…)-forgiveness, hope, faith, joy, peace, and above all else, love-God’s infinite, unconditional, limitless, abounding love. Similarly mercy is also what God gives us every day regardless of how aware or unaware we are of it-by not punishing us for every foul thought word and deed, not punishing us for the myriad selfish “devices and desires of our own hearts” (The Book of Common Prayer 41), not punishing us for the many ways we hurt others and hurt ourselves, not punishing us for our conscious and unconscious taking God for granted and presuming on God’s grace. Jesus’ death on Good Friday and resurrection on Easter Sunday remain the definitive expressions of God giving us both grace and mercy, giving us what we do not deserve and not giving all of us what we do deserve. All of this is encompassed and expressed in Jesus’ prayer after being nailed to the cross, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Even now God remains the one “who is able to make all grace abound to you” (2 Corinthians 9:8, NIV) and the God whose “mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22-23).
Love and Prayers,
Dave
When I was a preteen in Northern Virginia there was a World War II veteran at our church. He was affectionately known as Maj-none of us knew his actual name. Every Sunday after church there was an open invitation for any middle school and high school students to eat to at the all-you-can-eat buffet at Shakey’s Pizza in Annandale, and Maj paid for everything. You could eat as much pizza and pasta as you wanted, drink as many sodas as you wanted, eat as many desserts as you wanted-all while you cut up with your friends-and Maj paid for it all, every dime, including generous tips of the unfortunate staff working that day. While we ate and horsed around with our friends, Maj would circulate among the tables and ask us how we were doing, how school was going, how he could pray for us-and Maj always remembered our names. As if that were not enough, Maj would always thank us for coming to lunch and encourage us to return the following week, “Bring a friend,” he would laugh, “Bring all your friends.” In his Letter to Philemon the Apostle Paul pleaded for Philemon to take back his runaway servant Onesimus, whom Paul had led to Christ. But Paul did not stop there, he added, “If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it” (Philemon 18-19). On Good Friday Jesus, whom we have all wronged in every way and to whom we owe everything, charged all of it all to his account, written with the blood of his pierced hands on the cross. Jesus paid for everything, and even now invites us to return each week…and bring all our friends.
Love and Prayers,
Dave
When you walk with a young child across the street or along a treacherous section of a hiking trail, you take their hand into yours, and you don’t let go. If they slip or stumble, they will be fine because you are still holding their hand. The Lord does this very same thing for you, always-as the psalmist wrote, “As often as I said, ‘My foot has slipped,’ your love, O Lord, upheld me. When many cares fills my mind, your consolations cheer my soul” (Psalm 94:18-19). When you cannot hold yourself up, God’s love will hold you up. When your foot slips, God’s love will steady you. When many cares fill your mind, God will console you and cheer your soul, and remind you that no matter what God is with you and loves you. On Good Friday as Jesus trudged down the road weighed down by his cross, he no doubt slipped and stumbled on his bloody feet, but there was no one there to uphold him. And on the cross it was not the nails that upheld Jesus; it was his love for you. It is not a matter of how deliberately or intentionally you hold your Savior’s hand; it is a matter of how deliberately and intentionally God holds your hand. God’s love will uphold you the rest of your earthly journey, and even when you can no longer walk, even when your foot slips and you stumble into the grave, God’s love will still uphold you in that moment, and then throughout eternity.
Love and Prayers,
Dave
My favorite teacher from elementary school was my sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Cole. She was the best. She taught us, laughed with us, and we could all tell she really loved us, really cared. She introduced me to the novels of J. R. R. Tolkien, which she read aloud to us every day. But the thing that I appreciated most about Mrs. Cole was how she personally welcomed each one of us every morning as we walked into the classroom. Without exception, every morning, regardless of the weather or how she was feeling that day or what she may have been going through, she personally welcomed each one of us with a big hug and an even bigger smile, “Good morning, Dave, so glad you’re here!” This reflects the welcome God gives all of us. We worship a welcoming God. We see this most clearly in Jesus Christ, “God incarnate, man divine.” Jesus spent his entire earthly ministry welcoming people were used to not being welcomed anywhere, welcoming people who were often overlooked, bypassed or altogether ignored. Although he was derided and dismissed for being “a friend of sinners” (Matthew 11:19), Jesus never stopped doing this, ever. In response to the warm welcome, the gracious welcome Jesus has always offered us, we are called to do the same, to be a Mrs. Cole for the people God has placed in our lives, especially those not used to being welcomed anywhere—“Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God” (Romans 15:7).
Love and Prayers,
Dave
The beautiful final song on U2’s 2000 album All That You Can’t Leave Behind is called “Grace.” Bono sings, “Grace—she takes the blame, she covers the shame, removes the stain, it could be her name…grace finds goodness in everything…grace finds beauty in everything.” When we talk about God’s grace we talk about God’s unconditional one-way love toward you, a love that is truly unchanging even in the midst your ever-changing life. The ultimate example of God’s grace, God’s unconditional, one-way love toward the whole world, and toward you, is found in Jesus, Grace Personified. Throughout his earthly ministry Jesus showed people who were not used to being shown love—criminals, tax collectors, notorious sinners, adulterers, etc.—that they were indeed loved, more than they could imagine. On the cross Jesus revealed himself as Grace Personified when he took the blame for the world and for you, when he covered the shame of the world and of you, when he removed the stain from the world and from you. And today through the power of the Holy Spirit this same Jesus, Grace Personified, can find goodness in everything in your life, even the areas you cannot find any goodness at all—and can find beauty in everything, even the ugliest areas in your life. In fact, in a way grace actually is God’s name—“the God of all grace” (1 Peter 5:10).
Love and Prayers,
Dave
Several years ago I read an article (I forget where specifically) about which words come to mind when people think about the church. You would think the words would perhaps include “kind”, “welcoming” or “encouraging” but instead three of the most common responses were “hypocritical”, “legalistic” and most of all, “judgmental.” This made me take a look in the mirror, and while I hate to admit it, I have been all these things toward others over the years. Again, the most oft cited negative perspective of the church was (and for many still is) “judgmental.” Most people fear being judged—judged for their appearance or money (or lack thereof), judged for their race or sexual orientation, judged for their social/economic background or political convictions—you fill in the blank. The problem with judging others is that we are often wrong. We misjudge others because we see them through our own distorted perspective and have no idea what their actual backstory, their actual life is like. Jesus preached, “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged” (Matthew 7:1). In fact, elsewhere Jesus clearly stated, “The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22). On Good Friday, Jesus, to whom God the Father had given the power of all judgment, took the judgment of the world, including you, upon himself. In other words, Jesus chose to love you, not judge you. He still does.
Love and Prayers,
Dave
Christianity is a resurrection faith. Christians are resurrection people. We worship Jesus Christ, the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25) who, yes, was crucified, died and was buried—but who was also raised from the dead. Jesus’ resurrection means death is not the end of the story for you or anyone else—“If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:19-22). In other words, Jesus’ resurrection from the dead gives us hope for today and hope for tomorrow—as Bill Gaither sings in the classic gospel song he wrote, “Because he lives I can face tomorrow, because he lives all fear is gone. Because I know he holds the future, life is worth the living just because he lives.” And after you die, the same God the Father who through the power of the Holy Spirit raised God the Son from the dead will do the same with you—“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you” (Romans 8:11). Alleluia, Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia!
Love and Prayers,
Dave
In my favorite Denzel Washington film, the gritty Man on Fire (2004) he plays John Creasy, a former United States Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance operative (and severe alcoholic,) who accepts a job to be the bodyguard for nine-year old Pita, played by Dakota Fanning, the daughter of a very wealthy Mexican couple. But during her piano lesson Pita is kidnapped and Creasy is wounded by multiple gunshots. Later Creasy receives an offer from Pita’s kidnapper, “Alright, I will give you her life for your life.” Creasy accepts the offer. In the final scene he meets Pita’s mom at one end of a bridge, while the kidnappers arrive at the other end of the bridge. Creasy, still bleeding from his wounds, slowly walks to the top of the bridge and Pita is released by the kidnappers, and sprints to Creasy. After they embrace, Creasy reassures her, “Alright, your mother is waiting for you at the end of the bridge. You go home.” Pita softly asks, “Where are you going?” “I’m going home too.” Pita tears up, “I love you, Creasy, and you love me, don’t you?” Creasy nods, “Yes I do.” Then Pita runs down the bridge to her mother, and her freedom, and Creasy walks down to the other end of the bridge and surrenders himself to the kidnappers, literally giving his life for Pita’s. This film is based on a true story, which directly connects with another True Story, the gospel, in which Jesus, because he loves you that much, surrendered himself into the hands of sinners and gave his life for your life on the cross. This remains the definitive proof of God’s love for you-“God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). And the Risen Jesus still bears the scars that prove God’s love for you.
Love and Prayers,
Dave
Daily Word of Grace # 18 (April 9, 2020)
The concept of being a “servant leader” is very popular, both in the corporate world and in the church. Yet, while this has its upside, the downside is that Jesus never spoke about being a “servant leader”, he simply spoke about being a “servant”—period, full stop. After John and James asked Jesus to grant that they would sit at his right and left hand in glory (nothing arrogant or entitled about that!) Jesus told them, and the other disciples, who were less than blessed with John and James in that moment, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave to all. For the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:42-45). This is very different from being a “servant leader” because being simply a “servant” dispels any pretense of power or control over others. Moreover, Jesus did exactly this at the Last Supper when he literally became the servant of his disciples and washed their feet, and then told them, “If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you” (John 13:14-15). The next day Jesus humbled himself even further and took the form of a servant and died on the cross as the Suffering Servant not just for his disciples but also for the whole world, including you (Philippians 2:7-8). And how does God call us to respond? You already know.
Love and Prayers,
Dave
The classic 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, which won the Oscar for Best Picture and is based of course on Harper Lee’s moving 1960 novel of the same name, recounts the struggle for justice in the midst of a small southern town steeped in prejudice. In his Oscar winning performance Gregory Peck portrays Atticus Finch, a compassionate and savvy lawyer, as well as a widower and single father of Scout and Jem, who has the impossible task of defending a black man, Tom Robinson, who has been falsely accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. Near the end of the film Mayella’s father, Bob Ewell, confronts Atticus, and as Jem looks on from inside the family car, Bob spits in Atticus’ face. Atticus steps closer to Bob, who braces for retaliation. But instead of retaliating, Atticus, without saying a word, pulls a handkerchief from his pocket and wipes off his face. Then he gets into his car and drives off with Jem, as Bob Ewell continues to glare at him. On Good Friday Jesus, who in the same way Atticus was Tom Robinson’s advocate is your advocate (Romans 8:34), was also spit on in his face (Matthew 27:30). And yet, also like Atticus, without a word Jesus refused to retaliate, although he was unable to wipe that spit from his sacred face. And on the cross Jesus died for all of us-the Atticus Finches and Tom Robinson’s and Scout’s and Jem’s and Mayella Ewell’s and yes, the Bob Ewell’s too-and the Risen Jesus remains your Advocate.
Love and Prayers,
Dave
When I was thirteen years old, with crooked teeth and acne and the other “joys” of adolescence I had an awesome soccer coach, Coach Lundberg, a large intimidating former football player. One day at practice he told us that if any of us wanted to run with him on the evenings we did not have practice to just show up at his house at 6:30. A few evenings later I road my bike to his house but was the only one there, so I thought I must have arrived at the wrong time. Nevertheless I rang their doorbell and he came to the door, still dressed in his Navy uniform (he worked at the Pentagon). He grinned and told me to wait a sec, and then emerged a moment later with his running gear on, and grinned again, “Let’s go!” We ran for a couple miles through his neighborhood, and the whole time he spoke words of encouragement and grace to me, along with some off color jokes. He literally went the extra mile for me and with me, and I never forgot that. In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile” (Matthew 5:40). Although I did not force Coach Lundberg to go a mile with me (no one could do that) he did so anyway. On Good Friday Jesus was forced to go the mile with a cross on his back and he went the extra mile all the way to Calvary for the whole world, including you. And even now the Risen Jesus is with you as you run, or walk, through the neighborhood of your life, grinning, “Let’s go!”
Love and Prayers,
Dave
Every several years I reread J. R. R. Tolkien’s masterpiece fantasy trilogy The Lord of the Rings, and each time I enjoy it even more. One of my favorite characters is Aragorn (also known as Strider), the ranger who is part of the “fellowship of the ring” on their quest to save Middle Earth from destruction by destroying the evil One Ring. Aragorn is vigilant, compassionate, and present-always. Late in the story it is revealed that Aragorn is actually much more than a ranger, he is the King of Gondor. Moreover, it is neither his skill in battle nor his ability to lead others that is the key attribute that reveals his identity as a king; it is something else entirely, as Tolkien repeats multiple times, “The hands of the king are the hands of a healer.” It is the same with Jesus. Like Aragorn, Jesus too is vigilant, compassionate, present-always-and like Aragorn, Jesus’ identity as the King was revealed in his ministry of healing. Throughout his earthly ministry Jesus healed many people-lepers, demoniacs, the blind and deaf and mute-“he cured all of them” (Matthew 12:15 and Luke 4:40). And on Good Friday Jesus’ healing hands were nailed to a cross where he died not only as the King of the Jews but also as King of Mercy and the King of Grace to bring healing to a hurting world, and to you. Scripture assures us in both the Old and New Testaments, “By his bruises we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24). Even now what was true of Aragorn is true of the Risen Jesus-“The hands of the king are the hands of a healer.” Even now, the scarred hand of the King of Kings hold you, and in God’s time, you too will be healed.
Love and Prayers,
Dave
In England during World War II, without doubt one of the most challenging and stressful times in the history of that nation, Nobel Laureate T. S. Eliot wrote four poems of hope called “Four Quartets.” The last of these four poems, “Little Gidding”, is especially replete with hope:
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time…
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
As we all continue the ceaseless exploration of our lives, even the exploration of the challenging and stressful paths, we can be assured that because of the unconditional love of God in Jesus Christ, indeed “All shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.” As Jesus healed multitudes of sick people the crowds observed, “He has done everything well” (Mark 7:37). And this “everything” includes the events and circumstances in our lives, and gives us hope because “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). And “at the end of all our exploring” this same Jesus Christ, this same One who “has done everything well”, will be there to welcome you home, where “you will know the place for the first time” and where “all shall be well.”
Love and Prayers,
Dave
As a kid I loved April Fools Day. All day long my friends and I would trick and prank each other, each time followed by an annoyingly loud, “April Fools!” The Beatles’ 1967 album Magical Mystery Tour has an often overlooked gem of a song called “Fool on the Hill” about a fool “alone on a hill…keeping perfectly still”, a fool who is dismissed—“nobody wants to know him” because “they can see that he’s just a fool.” And yet the fool in this song is actually a savant who knows what’s up, whose eyes “see the world spinning round.” Christianity is often dismissed as foolish, Christians dismissed as fools, and Jesus Christ on Calvary dismissed as the ultimate Fool on the Hill. And yet, scripture tells us, “the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are bring saved it is the power of God…God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom…(and) God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise” (1 Corinthians 1:18, 25, and 27). On Good Friday Jesus became your Fool on the Hill. He was mocked and rejected, and nobody wanted to know him because they could see he was just a fool. And yet Jesus still gave his life for every fool in this foolish world spinning round, including you. Moreover, this foolish love of God means you are fully forgiven for all the foolish things you have done, and ensures you the gift of eternal life…no fooling.
Love and Prayers,
Dave
