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The Amazing Truth 022312

In all three scripture selections today we read about worldviews and attitudes that are truly amazing.

The first of several reasons why we might find these scriptures amazing is that they are not of this world. It is not of this world to say to say that those who consider the poor should be happy. It is more like to world to say that one can be happy by creating wealth from the poverty of others, or to disavow one’s own connections to poverty.

In 2 Chronicles God promises forgiveness. This is amazing also because it is not like the world. The world says that power has the right to kill others, that power dominates and benefits from the exercise of power. Instead, here, the infinite power of space, time and the universe, with infinite power, uses that power to forgive us all our ignorance and and blindness to God’s presence and Jesus’ presence here with us, in this room.

And in 3 John we are blessed for our faithfulness, and feel like we’re a blessing to others. In the world it tends to go that we are cursed by others more than we are blessed, by far. But then, this is an amazing book we’re reading from, and an amazing God for our worship.

We don’t often find truth in life, no matter how hard we try. Most of life is deception and mistruth; it is hurtful and vindictive, more than we Christians remember. Yet each time we open the Bible, truths beyond our spiritual growth jump out at us and pull us into the wonder and love of God.

Pray for peace,

(brother) Bill

Peace Mennonite Church keeps a prayer list for those in need. If you need prayer, or want to e-mail our pastor, e-mail billd @ peacemennonitechurch.net (Take out the extra spaces to use this e-mail—the spaces confuse spam generators).

Pray with us!

We are praying as a church, and attempting to follow the centuries’ old tradition of praying with other Christians three times a day. We are following the prayer liturgy at www.commonprayer.net

Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. Peace Mennonite Church of Columbia, MO Permission is granted for one-time non-commercial use with proper attribution.

Scriptures follow the meditation and thoughts. Scriptures for the day selected by http://www.commontexts.org/

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Psalm 41

2 Chronicles 7:12-22

3 John 2-8

Psalm 41

¹Happy are those who consider the poor; the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble.

²The Lord protects them and keeps them alive; they are called happy in the land. You do not give them up to the will of their enemies.

³The Lord sustains them on their sickbed; in their illness you heal all their infirmities.

⁴As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you.”

⁵My enemies wonder in malice when I will die, and my name perish.

⁶And when they come to see me, they utter empty words, while their hearts gather mischief; when they go out, they tell it abroad.

⁷All who hate me whisper together about me; they imagine the worst for me.

⁸They think that a deadly thing has fastened on me, that I will not rise again from where I lie.

⁹Even my bosom friend in whom I trusted, who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel against me.

¹⁰But you, O Lord, be gracious to me, and raise me up, that I may repay them.

¹¹By this I know that you are pleased with me; because my enemy has not triumphed over me.

¹²But you have upheld me because of my integrity, and set me in your presence forever.

¹³Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.

2 Chronicles 7:12-22

¹²Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. ¹³When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, ¹⁴if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. ¹⁵Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. ¹⁶For now I have chosen and consecrated this house so that my name may be there forever; my eyes and my heart will be there for all time. ¹⁷As for you, if you walk before me, as your father David walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my ordinances, ¹⁸then I will establish your royal throne, as I made covenant with your father David saying, ‘You shall never lack a successor to rule over Israel.’ ¹⁹“But if you turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, ²⁰then I will pluck you up from the land that I have given you; and this house, which I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. ²¹And regarding this house, now exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished, and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this house?’ ²²Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord the God of their ancestors who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they adopted other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore he has brought all this calamity upon them.’”

3 John 2-8

²Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, just as it is well with your soul.

³I was overjoyed when some of the friends arrived and testified to your faithfulness to the truth, namely how you walk in the truth. ⁴I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my children are walking in the truth. ⁵Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the friends, even though they are strangers to you; ⁶they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on in a manner worthy of God; ⁷for they began their journey for the sake of Christ, accepting no support from non-believers. ⁸Therefore we ought to support such people, so that we may become co-workers with the truth.

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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 The Essential Contrast 022212

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, and 40 days prior to Easter. Jesus spent 40 days fasting and praying in the desert before beginning his public ministry, so Ash Wednesday likewise marks the beginning of a 40 day period of fasting and prayer leading up to and preparing for Easter, This, like the rest of the church calendar and liturgical calendar seem to focus around a general plan of spiritual formation and Lent is directed toward the extended fasting and prayer, like Jesus, for 40 days and nights.

The ashes of Ash Wednesday signify mourning, and in the case of Christians, signify repentance and the forgiveness of God. Ash Wednesday is for fasting and prayer, for those whose health permits fasting. We can pray certainly, even if we’re unhealthy and pray for health.

Like the royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum, we just need to believe in Jesus to be healed, and to heal. It is a story of deep passion and rich human emotion. There is nothing more poignant than the words of the official ‘Sir, come down before my little boy dies.’

The story from John presents a wonderful contrast, and I think, an essential contrast between Jesus and the New Testament good news and the readings from Psalm 6 and Job 30. Each of these Old Testament scriptural selections is dark, deep and angry from way down deep. They are full of grief and despair, and each is a plea in desperation for help from God.

But healing, and life for the little come easy from Jesus. Jesus brings light and life to the dark regions of the Old Testament and he comes to us easily, with kindness and love.

Pray for peace,

(brother) Bill

Peace Mennonite Church keeps a prayer list for those in need. If you need prayer, or want to e-mail our pastor, e-mail billd @ peacemennonitechurch.net (Take out the extra spaces to use this e-mail—the spaces confuse spam generators).

Pray with us!

We are praying as a church, and attempting to follow the centuries’ old tradition of praying with other Christians three times a day. We are following the prayer liturgy at www.commonprayer.net

Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. Peace Mennonite Church of Columbia, MO Permission is granted for one-time non-commercial use with proper attribution.

Scriptures follow the meditation and thoughts. Scriptures for the day selected by http://www.commontexts.org/

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Psalm 6

Job 30:16-31

John 4:46-54

Psalm 6

¹O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, or discipline me in your wrath.

²Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror.

³My soul also is struck with terror, while you, O Lord—how long?

⁴Turn, O Lord, save my life; deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love.

⁵For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who can give you praise?

⁶I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping.

⁷My eyes waste away because of grief; they grow weak because of all my foes.

⁸Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.

⁹The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord accepts my prayer.

¹⁰All my enemies shall be ashamed and struck with terror; they shall turn back, and in a moment be put to shame.

Job 30:16-31

¹⁶“And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold of me. ¹⁷The night racks my bones, and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest. ¹⁸With violence he seizes my garment; he grasps me by the collar of my tunic. ¹⁹He has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes. ²⁰I cry to you and you do not answer me; I stand, and you merely look at me. ²¹You have turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you persecute me. ²²You lift me up on the wind, you make me ride on it, and you toss me about in the roar of the storm. ²³I know that you will bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living. ²⁴“Surely one does not turn against the needy, when in disaster they cry for help. ²⁵Did I not weep for those whose day was hard? Was not my soul grieved for the poor? ²⁶But when I looked for good, evil came; and when I waited for light, darkness came. ²⁷My inward parts are in turmoil, and are never still; days of affliction come to meet me. ²⁸I go about in sunless gloom; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help. ²⁹I am a brother of jackals, and a companion of ostriches. ³⁰My skin turns black and falls from me, and my bones burn with heat. ³¹My lyre is turned to mourning, and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.

John 4:46-54

⁴⁶Then he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a royal official whose son lay ill in Capernaum. ⁴⁷When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. ⁴⁸Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” ⁴⁹The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my little boy dies.” ⁵⁰Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. ⁵¹As he was going down, his slaves met him and told him that his child was alive. ⁵²So he asked them the hour when he began to recover, and they said to him, “Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him.” ⁵³The father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he himself believed, along with his whole household. ⁵⁴Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Imitators of Christ 022112

Today’s selection from 1 Corinthians 10 is typical Paul. It reads more like a speech than a letter, and follows Greek styles of rhetoric and argument, we are told. But the content is sometimes harder to find. But Paul concludes this with the command to imitate Paul, since he imitates Christ.

Even better, imitate Christ! Something about Christ we disciples should recognize and beware of….many human beings and human beings attempt to place themselves between a disciple and Jesus.

Our relationship with Jesus as disciples is easy and simple and light; it involves Jesus and me, or each of you. That’s it.

But churches, governments, schools, denominations, and everyone else it seems wants to be between us and Jesus. Many people will try to tell each of us how exactly to follow Jesus, but in the end there is only us and Jesus. And there is only Christ to imitate.

Pray for peace.

(brother) Bill

Peace Mennonite Church keeps a prayer list for those in need. If you need prayer, or want to e-mail our pastor, e-mail billd @ peacemennonitechurch.net (Take out the extra spaces to use this e-mail—the spaces confuse spam generators).

Pray with us!

We are praying as a church, and attempting to follow the centuries’ old tradition of praying with other Christians three times a day. We are following the prayer liturgy at www.commonprayer.net

Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. Peace Mennonite Church of Columbia, MO Permission is granted for one-time non-commercial use with proper attribution.

Scriptures follow the meditation and thoughts. Scriptures for the day selected by http://www.commontexts.org/

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Psalm 6

2 Kings 7:3-10

1 Corinthians 10:14—11:1

Psalm 6

¹O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, or discipline me in your wrath.

²Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror.

³My soul also is struck with terror, while you, O Lord—how long?

⁴Turn, O Lord, save my life; deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love.

⁵For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who can give you praise?

⁶I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping.

⁷My eyes waste away because of grief; they grow weak because of all my foes.

⁸Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.

⁹The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord accepts my prayer.

¹⁰All my enemies shall be ashamed and struck with terror; they shall turn back, and in a moment be put to shame.

2 Kings 7:3-10

³Now there were four leprous men outside the city gate, who said to one another, “Why should we sit here until we die? ⁴If we say, ‘Let us enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; but if we sit here, we shall also die. Therefore, let us desert to the Aramean camp; if they spare our lives, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.” ⁵So they arose at twilight to go to the Aramean camp; but when they came to the edge of the Aramean camp, there was no one there at all. ⁶For the Lord had caused the Aramean army to hear the sound of chariots, and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, “The king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to fight against us.” ⁷So they fled away in the twilight and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys leaving the camp just as it was, and fled for their lives. ⁸When these leprous men had come to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent, ate and drank, carried off silver, gold, and clothing, and went and hid them. Then they came back, entered another tent, carried off things from it, and went and hid them. ⁹Then they said to one another, “What we are doing is wrong. This is a day of good news; if we are silent and wait until the morning light, we will be found guilty; therefore let us go and tell the king’s household.” ¹⁰So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, “We went to the Aramean camp, but there was no one to be seen or heard there, nothing but the horses tied, the donkeys tied, and the tents as they were.”

1 Corinthians 10:14—11:1

¹⁴Therefore, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols.

¹⁵I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. ¹⁶The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? ¹⁷Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. ¹⁸Consider the people of Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar? ¹⁹What do I imply then? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? ²⁰No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. ²¹You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. ²²Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

²³“All things are lawful,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. ²⁴Do not seek your own advantage, but that of the other. ²⁵Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience, ²⁶for “the earth and its fullness are the Lord’s.” ²⁷If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. ²⁸But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— ²⁹I mean the other’s conscience, not your own. For why should my liberty be subject to the judgment of someone else’s conscience? ³⁰If I partake with thankfulness, why should I be denounced because of that for which I give thanks? ³¹So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. ³²Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, ³³just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, so that they may be saved.

11Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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The Hour Of Prayer 022012

In Acts 3:1-10 we read that Peter and John were going to the temple to pray at the hour of prayer, 3:00 pm, but the original text (and some translations, specify this as the 9^th hour of the day. The Jewish day was 12 hours long, for the daylight hours only.

Morning prayer was at 9:00 am, and the evening prayer was at 3:00 pm. Clarke’s Commentary on The Bible says:

“The rabbins believed that Abraham instituted the time of morning prayer; Isaac, that at noon; and Jacob, that of the evening: for which they quote several scriptures, which have little reference to the subject in behalf of which they are produced. Others of the rabbins, particularly Tanchum, made a more natural division. Men should pray,

1. When the sun rises;

2. when the sun has gained the meridian;

3. when the sun has set, or passed just under the horizon.

At each of these three times they required men to offer prayer to God; and I should be glad to know that every Christian in the universe observed the same rule: it is the most natural division of the day; and he who conscientiously observes these three stated times of prayer will infallibly grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord.” (http://clarke.biblecommenter.com/acts/3.htm)

These are difficult hours of the day for us now. Many people start work at 8:00 am or even 7:00 am, and the morning prayer would come in the middle of the morning’s work, and the 3:00 pm prayer might come in the middle of wrapping up the day’s supposed work.

But wait a minute! Are we saying that the schedule of the world is more important and takes precedence over the appointed hour for regular prayer? Yes, it does, it seems, and for all of us who work for a boss, or a master who is not Christian, etc we may well find ourselves forbidden to engage in practices such as prayer in the middle of an otherwise really important day.

We live in a post-Christian world, and what spiritual practices we chose to practice must be done in secret, in private so as not to embarrass anyone. This is called religious freedom, but it does feel free or even relaxed.

We discussed in Sunday church the practice of regular prayer that we are encouraging, using the book of Common Prayer and www.commonprayer.net It is difficult to pray three times a day, especially when one must pray in secrecy and solitude only. No one will remind you or miss you if you don’t make it to prayer time. Still, we hope we can restablish the Christian pattern of prayer in common, three times a day.

As for Peter and John, they were able to heal a crippled beggar, on the way to prayer. What would they feel like after prayer and who else might they heal?

Like Peter and John remember an afternoon time to pray. Don’t just fit it in, but make an effort to walk outside, or away, and for a time, be with God.

Pray for Peace in the Middle East and that all find a way to talk to each other in respect.

(brother) Bill

Peace Mennonite Church keeps a prayer list for those in need. If you need prayer, or want to e-mail our pastor, e-mail billd @ peacemennonitechurch.net (Take out the extra spaces to use this e-mail—the spaces confuse spam generators).

Pray with us!

We are praying as a church, and attempting to follow the centuries’ old tradition of praying with other Christians three times a day. We are following the prayer liturgy at www.commonprayer.net

Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. Peace Mennonite Church of Columbia, MO Permission is granted for one-time non-commercial use with proper attribution.

Scriptures follow the meditation and thoughts. Scriptures for the day selected by http://www.commontexts.org/

Subscribe to our blog! Delivery daily by e-mail. Click the button on the right.

Psalm 6

2 Chronicles 26:1-21

Acts 3:1-10

Psalm 6

¹O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, or discipline me in your wrath.

²Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror.

³My soul also is struck with terror, while you, O Lord—how long?

⁴Turn, O Lord, save my life; deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love.

⁵For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who can give you praise?

⁶I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping.

⁷My eyes waste away because of grief; they grow weak because of all my foes.

⁸Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.

⁹The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord accepts my prayer.

¹⁰All my enemies shall be ashamed and struck with terror; they shall turn back, and in a moment be put to shame.

2 Chronicles 26:1-21

26Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king to succeed his father Amaziah. ²He rebuilt Eloth and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his ancestors. ³Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. ⁴He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. ⁵He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper. ⁶He went out and made war against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod; he built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. ⁷God helped him against the Philistines, against the Arabs who lived in Gur-baal, and against the Meunites. ⁸The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong. ⁹Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the Angle, and fortified them. ¹⁰He built towers in the wilderness and hewed out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the Shephelah and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil. ¹¹Moreover Uzziah had an army of soldiers, fit for war, in divisions according to the numbers in the muster made by the secretary Jeiel and the officer Maaseiah, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king’s commanders. ¹²The whole number of the heads of ancestral houses of mighty warriors was two thousand six hundred. ¹³Under their command was an army of three hundred seven thousand five hundred, who could make war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy. ¹⁴Uzziah provided for all the army the shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging. ¹⁵In Jerusalem he set up machines, invented by skilled workers, on the towers and the corners for shooting arrows and large stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped until he became strong.

¹⁶But when he had become strong he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was false to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to make offering on the altar of incense. ¹⁷But the priest Azariah went in after him, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor; ¹⁸they withstood King Uzziah, and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to make offering to the Lord, but for the priests the descendants of Aaron, who are consecrated to make offering. Go out of the sanctuary; for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God.” ¹⁹Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to make offering, and when he became angry with the priests a leprous disease broke out on his forehead, in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense. ²⁰When the chief priest Azariah, and all the priests, looked at him, he was leprous in his forehead. They hurried him out, and he himself hurried to get out, because the Lord had struck him. ²¹King Uzziah was leprous to the day of his death, and being leprous lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. His son Jotham was in charge of the palace of the king, governing the people of the land.

Acts 3:1-10

3One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, at three o’clock in the afternoon. ²And a man lame from birth was being carried in. People would lay him daily at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate so that he could ask for alms from those entering the temple. ³When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them for alms. ⁴Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” ⁵And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. ⁶But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.” ⁷And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. ⁸Jumping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. ⁹All the people saw him walking and praising God, ¹⁰and they recognized him as the one who used to sit and ask for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Selling The Jar Of Oil 021812

Reading the jar of oil story in Matthew today, I’m always confused by why the oil wasn’t sold and the money given to the poor. Certainly it would be good to honor Jesus, if his body and flesh were here, but why didn’t Jesus request the oil be sold and the money given to the poor instead of just pouring it on his head?

If we apply this as a metaphor (which is our only choice—the woman with the alabaster jar is not here now) then this story might mean that Jesus is saying ‘you could have sold the oil at any time and helped the poor, but you choose to prepare me for death instead’. Jesus was also one of those poor, and maybe using the oil on his head was giving it to the poor.

I also _think_ we sometimes hear the absolutely clear voice of Jesus as a human being only, and not as the voice of God. Jesus remained human. And here Jesus speaks with compassion about the woman who loved him enough to use the precious oil on his head to prepare him for death. To know that an ordinary woman loved him and wished to bless him and prepare for his death moved him deeply, as it might any of us.

Some have said we should not be concerned so much by the poor, and that no matter what we do Jesus has ‘guaranteed’ they will be with us always. But I hope we are careful using Jesus’ words this way. It may be blasphemous to believe Jesus said we should not be so concerned with the poor because of this, when Jesus had spent his entire ministry caring for the poor, and he came from a religion that for thousands of years had spoken for the poor.

I’m left with only one alternative: to care for the poor as Jesus said, and to honor Jesus in his (human) death.

Pray for the poor and pray for peace,

(brother) Bill

Peace Mennonite Church keeps a prayer list for those in need. If you need prayer, or want to e-mail our pastor, e-mail billd @ peacemennonitechurch.net (Take out the extra spaces to use this e-mail—the spaces confuse spam generators).

Pray with us!

We are praying as a church, and attempting to follow the centuries’ old tradition of praying with other Christians three times a day. We are following the prayer liturgy at www.commonprayer.net

Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. Peace Mennonite Church of Columbia, MO Permission is granted for one-time non-commercial use with proper attribution.

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Psalm 30

Leviticus 14:21-32

Matthew 26:6-13

Psalm 30

¹I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice over me.

²O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.

³O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.

⁴Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name.

⁵For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

⁶As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.”

⁷By your favor, O Lord, you had established me as a strong mountain; you hid your face; I was dismayed.

⁸To you, O Lord, I cried, and to the Lord I made supplication:

⁹“What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?

¹⁰Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me! O Lord, be my helper!”

¹¹You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

¹²so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

Leviticus 14:21-32

²¹But if he is poor and cannot afford so much, he shall take one male lamb for a guilt offering to be elevated, to make atonement on his behalf, and one-tenth of an ephah of choice flour mixed with oil for a grain offering and a log of oil; ²²also two turtledoves or two pigeons, such as he can afford, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. ²³On the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, before the Lord; ²⁴and the priest shall take the lamb of the guilt offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall raise them as an elevation offering before the Lord. ²⁵The priest shall slaughter the lamb of the guilt offering and shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot. ²⁶The priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand, ²⁷and shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the Lord. ²⁸The priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot, where the blood of the guilt offering was placed. ²⁹The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement on his behalf before the Lord. ³⁰And he shall offer, of the turtledoves or pigeons such as he can afford, ³¹one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, along with a grain offering; and the priest shall make atonement before the Lord on behalf of the one being cleansed. ³²This is the ritual for the one who has a leprous disease, who cannot afford the offerings for his cleansing.

Matthew 26:6-13

⁶Now while Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, ⁷a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table. ⁸But when the disciples saw it, they were angry and said, “Why this waste? ⁹For this ointment could have been sold for a large sum, and the money given to the poor.” ¹⁰But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? She has performed a good service for me. ¹¹For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. ¹²By pouring this ointment on my body she has prepared me for burial. ¹³Truly I tell you, wherever this good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Purity? 021712

Leviticus is part of today’s readings again, and it difficult, or maybe impossible for many of us to really appreciate what this passage is about (and also a prior one discussing leprosy in graphic detail). I am sure I’m not competent to instruct us on the complexities of Jewish culture and history, but it is apparent that there is more to this than we automatically know and assume.

Every culture, or group, or community has rules for how one behaves inside of the group, and violators will be pushed out of the walls of the community or killed. Some rules are obvious, such as not starting a fire outside when there are high winds, not hurting other people inside the group, and so on.

Perhaps Leviticus has more to do with good health. And for a people living in close quarters in Israel, and sharing scarce resources and lives perhaps the rules have to be very strict.

We need to think about this as Christians and disciples of Christ. How should people live in this kingdom of God, where the earth is as over-populated as Israel, and where resources of land, water, good soil, climate and fortunate weather and commerce are all in scarce supply? In Israel it was devastating to poison a well. Maybe on earth now we should consider whether poisoning the Gulf of Mexico (and every other body of water on earth) is like poisoning a well in a desert region, or a semi-arid grazing land. Purity may be a relevant notion again.

Pray for peace

(brother) Bill

Peace Mennonite Church keeps a prayer list for those in need. If you need prayer, or want to e-mail our pastor, e-mail billd @ peacemennonitechurch.net (Take out the extra spaces to use this e-mail—the spaces confuse spam generators).

Pray with us!

We are praying as a church, and attempting to follow the centuries’ old tradition of praying with other Christians three times a day. We are following the prayer liturgy at www.commonprayer.net

Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. Peace Mennonite Church of Columbia, MO Permission is granted for one-time non-commercial use with proper attribution.

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Psalm 30

Leviticus 14:1-20

Acts 19:11-20

Psalm 30

¹I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice over me.

²O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.

³O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.

⁴Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name.

⁵For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

⁶As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.”

⁷By your favor, O Lord, you had established me as a strong mountain; you hid your face; I was dismayed.

⁸To you, O Lord, I cried, and to the Lord I made supplication:

⁹“What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?

¹⁰Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me! O Lord, be my helper!”

¹¹You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

¹²so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

Leviticus 14:1-20

14The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ²This shall be the ritual for the leprous person at the time of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest; ³the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall make an examination. If the disease is healed in the leprous person, ⁴the priest shall command that two living clean birds and cedarwood and crimson yarn and hyssop be brought for the one who is to be cleansed. ⁵The priest shall command that one of the birds be slaughtered over fresh water in an earthen vessel. ⁶He shall take the living bird with the cedarwood and the crimson yarn and the hyssop, and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water. ⁷He shall sprinkle it seven times upon the one who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease; then he shall pronounce him clean, and he shall let the living bird go into the open field. ⁸The one who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and bathe himself in water, and he shall be clean. After that he shall come into the camp, but shall live outside his tent seven days. ⁹On the seventh day he shall shave all his hair: of head, beard, eyebrows; he shall shave all his hair. Then he shall wash his clothes, and bathe his body in water, and he shall be clean.

¹⁰On the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb in its first year without blemish, and a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of choice flour mixed with oil, and one log of oil. ¹¹The priest who cleanses shall set the person to be cleansed, along with these things, before the Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ¹²The priest shall take one of the lambs, and offer it as a guilt offering, along with the log of oil, and raise them as an elevation offering before the Lord. ¹³He shall slaughter the lamb in the place where the sin offering and the burnt offering are slaughtered in the holy place; for the guilt offering, like the sin offering, belongs to the priest: it is most holy. ¹⁴The priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot. ¹⁵The priest shall take some of the log of oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand, ¹⁶and dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand and sprinkle some oil with his finger seven times before the Lord. ¹⁷Some of the oil that remains in his hand the priest shall put on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering. ¹⁸The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed. Then the priest shall make atonement on his behalf before the Lord: ¹⁹the priest shall offer the sin offering, to make atonement for the one to be cleansed from his uncleanness. Afterward he shall slaughter the burnt offering; ²⁰and the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. Thus the priest shall make atonement on his behalf and he shall be clean.

Acts 19:11-20

¹¹God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, ¹²so that when the handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, their diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.

¹³Then some itinerant Jewish exorcists tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” ¹⁴Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. ¹⁵But the evil spirit said to them in reply, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” ¹⁶Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered them all, and so overpowered them that they fled out of the house naked and wounded. ¹⁷When this became known to all residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, everyone was awestruck; and the name of the Lord Jesus was praised. ¹⁸Also many of those who became believers confessed and disclosed their practices. ¹⁹A number of those who practiced magic collected their books and burned them publicly; when the value of these books was calculated, it was found to come to fifty thousand silver coins. ²⁰So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Ouch, and Ouch 021612

When I read today’s selection from Leviticus all I can do is remember every times I’ve run into thorns or picked up splinters in the body to the extent described here, and it hurts. Using the common lectionary as a plan for reading the entire Bible means that at some point we have to read this.

Then Hebrews says ¹²Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, ¹³and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. Having weak knees and things out of joint is probably more common than people express. Ouch!

But Psalms today, Psalm 30, is a wonderful prayer, one to memorize and repeat. From the beginning words ‘I will extol thee, O lord’ to the ending ‘I will give thanks to you forever.’ it has a certain circularity of praise to it. I’m not sure what I mean by that, but the poem/psalm comes back at the end to where it began, with praise of God.

Have you been trying the Common Prayer routines of three times a day. You can find it at a bookstore, etc or at www.commonprayer.net for free or by Facebook. Search for Common Prayer.

Peace Mennonite Church keeps a prayer list for those in need. If you need prayer, or want to e-mail our pastor, e-mail billd @ peacemennonitechurch.net (Take out the extra spaces to use this e-mail—the spaces confuse spam generators).

Pray for peace

(brother) Bill

Pray with us!

We are praying as a church, and attempting to follow the centuries’ old tradition of praying with other Christians three times a day. We are following the prayer liturgy at www.commonprayer.net

Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. Peace Mennonite Church of Columbia, MO Permission is granted for one-time non-commercial use with proper attribution.

Scriptures follow the meditation and thoughts. Scriptures for the day selected by http://www.commontexts.org/

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Psalm 30

Leviticus 13:1-17

Hebrews 12:7-13

Psalm 30

¹I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice over me.

²O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.

³O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.

⁴Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name.

⁵For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

⁶As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.”

⁷By your favor, O Lord, you had established me as a strong mountain; you hid your face; I was dismayed.

⁸To you, O Lord, I cried, and to the Lord I made supplication:

⁹“What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?

¹⁰Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me! O Lord, be my helper!”

¹¹You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

¹²so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

Leviticus 13:1-17

13The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: ²When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a leprous disease on the skin of his body, he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests. ³The priest shall examine the disease on the skin of his body, and if the hair in the diseased area has turned white and the disease appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a leprous disease; after the priest has examined him he shall pronounce him ceremonially unclean. ⁴But if the spot is white in the skin of his body, and appears no deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest shall confine the diseased person for seven days. ⁵The priest shall examine him on the seventh day, and if he sees that the disease is checked and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall confine him seven days more. ⁶The priest shall examine him again on the seventh day, and if the disease has abated and the disease has not spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only an eruption; and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean. ⁷But if the eruption spreads in the skin after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall appear again before the priest. ⁸The priest shall make an examination, and if the eruption has spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a leprous disease. ⁹When a person contracts a leprous disease, he shall be brought to the priest. ¹⁰The priest shall make an examination, and if there is a white swelling in the skin that has turned the hair white, and there is quick raw flesh in the swelling, ¹¹it is a chronic leprous disease in the skin of his body. The priest shall pronounce him unclean; he shall not confine him, for he is unclean. ¹²But if the disease breaks out in the skin, so that it covers all the skin of the diseased person from head to foot, so far as the priest can see, ¹³then the priest shall make an examination, and if the disease has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean of the disease; since it has all turned white, he is clean. ¹⁴But if raw flesh ever appears on him, he shall be unclean; ¹⁵the priest shall examine the raw flesh and pronounce him unclean. Raw flesh is unclean, for it is a leprous disease. ¹⁶But if the raw flesh again turns white, he shall come to the priest; ¹⁷the priest shall examine him, and if the disease has turned white, the priest shall pronounce the diseased person clean. He is clean.

Hebrews 12:7-13

⁷Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? ⁸If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children. ⁹Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness. ¹¹Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. ¹²Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, ¹³and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Not Crying With Job 021512

Job is living in misery while seeking God. I know that misery, as do us all. It is severe and comes perhaps from seeking God and not finding God or his will in the time we have allotted for such things. The pain can be severe. Unfortunately, one of the ways to get over it is to not think about God, about the issues of the heart and soul and try to go through life in a godless and dark mental and spiritual state.

This numbing seems to overtake many, and all I can say is to try to prevent others from abandoning their search for God. But the state of Job?

One could easily say that our suffering is not as great as Jobs, but I think it is. I have a theory, although it may be a silly theory, that each of us is due the same amount of suffering on earth in our lives, and in some way, we all suffer like Job. Go and find a rich person and ask them if their life was free of suffering. I’ve never found such a person, who actually able to go through life free of intense suffering, like Job, and many very rich people are actually empty, do not and cannot trust or love or relax a second, lest their wealth escape them.

Still, few of us suffer like Job, or ask to suffer like Job. We may prefer to not cry like Job, or see our loved ones seek God in this way. But don’t give up, if pain and suffering come to you, but like Job, continue our search for God.

Pray for peace

(brother) Bill

Peace Mennonite Church keeps a prayer list for those in need. If you need prayer, or want to e-mail our pastor, e-mail billd @ peacemennonitechurch.net (Take out the extra spaces to use this e-mail—the spaces confuse spam generators).

Pray with us!

We are praying as a church, and attempting to follow the centuries’ old tradition of praying with other Christians three times a day. We are following the prayer liturgy at www.commonprayer.net

Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. Peace Mennonite Church of Columbia, MO Permission is granted for one-time non-commercial use with proper attribution.

Scriptures follow the meditation and thoughts. Scriptures for the day selected by http://www.commontexts.org/

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Psalm 102:12-28

Job 6:1-13

Mark 3:7-12

Psalm 102:12-28

¹²But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever; your name endures to all generations.

¹³You will rise up and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to favor it; the appointed time has come.

¹⁴For your servants hold its stones dear, and have pity on its dust.

¹⁵The nations will fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth your glory.

¹⁶For the Lord will build up Zion; he will appear in his glory.

¹⁷He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and will not despise their prayer.

¹⁸Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord:

¹⁹that he looked down from his holy height, from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,

²⁰to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die;

²¹so that the name of the Lord may be declared in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem,

²²when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.

²³He has broken my strength in midcourse; he has shortened my days.

²⁴“O my God,” I say, “do not take me away at the mid-point of my life, you whose years endure throughout all generations.”

²⁵Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

²⁶They will perish, but you endure; they will all wear out like a garment. You change them like clothing, and they pass away;

²⁷but you are the same, and your years have no end.

²⁸The children of your servants shall live secure; their offspring shall be established in your presence.

Job 6:1-13

6Then Job answered: ²“O that my vexation were weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances! ³For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore my words have been rash. ⁴For the arrows of the Almighty are in me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me. ⁵Does the wild ass bray over its grass, or the ox low over its fodder? ⁶Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt, or is there any flavor in the juice of mallows? ⁷My appetite refuses to touch them; they are like food that is loathsome to me.

⁸“O that I might have my request, and that God would grant my desire; ⁹that it would please God to crush me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off! ¹⁰This would be my consolation; I would even exult in unrelenting pain; for I have not denied the words of the Holy One. ¹¹What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should be patient? ¹²Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze? ¹³In truth I have no help in me, and any resource is driven from me.

Mark 3:7-12

⁷Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; ⁸hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. ⁹He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him; ¹⁰for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. ¹¹Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, “You are the Son of God!” ¹²But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Care of Refugees 021412

It surprises me, upon reading 2 Kings 8 this morning that the woman who son Elisha restored to life fled her home readily to escape drought. She was vulnerable, her savings accounts, money market and investment accounts and her 401K were all depleted. But her son was now alive again, thanks to Elisha, and she readily picks up and moves as a refugee widow with child to a strange land.

We all think, of course, that we are permanent here on our land and in our homes. We are permanent here since the prior permanent ‘owners’ were stricken with disease distributed on Army blankets (purposefully) and soldiers drove them away or killed them.

The woman was wise to trust instantly Elisha and God and leave all behind except her living breathing son.

If God warned us a time of horrible drought and poverty was coming, would we listen, and become a refugee in a strange land? We must remember that our God, and Jesus cares for the refugees and downtrodden and expects us to do the same.

Pray for peace, and pray for rain (a drought is in progress in the middle US).

(brother) Bill

Peace Mennonite Church keeps a prayer list for those in need. If you need prayer, or want to e-mail our pastor, e-mail billd @ peacemennonitechurch.net (Take out the extra spaces to use this e-mail—the spaces confuse spam generators).

Pray with us!

We are praying as a church, and attempting to follow the centuries’ old tradition of praying with other Christians three times a day. We are following the prayer liturgy at www.commonprayer.net

Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. Peace Mennonite Church of Columbia, MO Permission is granted for one-time non-commercial use with proper attribution.

Scriptures follow the meditation and thoughts. Scriptures for the day selected by http://www.commontexts.org/

Subscribe to our blog! Delivery daily by e-mail. Click the button on the right.

Psalm 102:12-28

2 Kings 8:1-6

Acts 15:36-41

Psalm 102:12-28

12But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever; your name endures to all generations.

13You will rise up and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to favor it; the appointed time has come.

14For your servants hold its stones dear, and have pity on its dust.

15The nations will fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth your glory.

16For the Lord will build up Zion; he will appear in his glory.

17He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and will not despise their prayer.

18Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord:

19that he looked down from his holy height, from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,

20to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die;

21so that the name of the Lord may be declared in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem,

22when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.

23He has broken my strength in midcourse; he has shortened my days.

24“O my God,” I say, “do not take me away at the mid-point of my life, you whose years endure throughout all generations.”

25Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

26They will perish, but you endure; they will all wear out like a garment. You change them like clothing, and they pass away;

27but you are the same, and your years have no end.

28The children of your servants shall live secure; their offspring shall be established in your presence.

 2 Kings 8:1-6

8Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Get up and go with your household, and settle wherever you can; for the Lord has called for a famine, and it will come on the land for seven years.” 2So the woman got up and did according to the word of the man of God; she went with her household and settled in the land of the Philistines seven years. 3At the end of the seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she set out to appeal to the king for her house and her land. 4Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.” 5While he was telling the king how Elisha had restored a dead person to life, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. Gehazi said, “My lord king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” 6When the king questioned the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, together with all the revenue of the fields from the day that she left the land until now.”

Acts 15:36-41

36After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Come, let us return and visit the believers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” 37Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 38But Paul decided not to take with them one who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work. 39The disagreement became so sharp that they parted company; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. 40But Paul chose Silas and set out, the believers commending him to the grace of the Lord. 41He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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at Peace Mennonite Church of Columbia, MO

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A Mystic Vision at Daybreak 021312

This morning before first light I was out taking care of animals and plants. The sky was deep blue yet cloudy with snow clouds and it was snowing.

Maybe it is because we have begun praying the liturgy three times a day from the Book of Common Prayer that there is a greater realization of God’s presence at all times and in all places.

Maybe it was a pretty scene—a farmer walking out to chore before daybreak, the morning stars, the wind and the snow all at once. But God is also near in the ugly scenes, which also may become beautiful.

Neither is my small realization of God’s presence due to reading a simple book. I think it is because I allowed myself to open up a bit to God—just a little, and praying three times a day is enough it seems to tip the balance, and throw me forward into God’s arms.

Psalm 102 is a great song for this morning. I’ve read it twice this morning and a third time is coming soon. It is an ancient song and poem to us, but fresh when God hears it again!

Be careful this morning, and pray for peace.

(brother) Bill

Peace Mennonite Church keeps a prayer list for those in need. If you need prayer, or want to e-mail our pastor, e-mail billd @ peacemennonitechurch.net (Take out the extra spaces to use this e-mail—the spaces confuse spam generators).

Pray with us!

We are praying as a church, and attempting to follow the centuries’ old tradition of praying with other Christians three times a day. We are following the prayer liturgy at www.commonprayer.net

Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. Peace Mennonite Church of Columbia, MO Permission is granted for one-time non-commercial use with proper attribution.

Scriptures follow the meditation and thoughts. Scriptures for the day selected by http://www.commontexts.org/

Subscribe to our blog! Delivery daily by e-mail. Click the button on the right.

Daily Scriptures

Psalm 102:12-28

2 Kings 4:8-17, 32-37

Acts 14:1-7

Psalm 102:12-28

¹²But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever; your name endures to all generations.

¹³You will rise up and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to favor it; the appointed time has come.

¹⁴For your servants hold its stones dear, and have pity on its dust.

¹⁵The nations will fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth your glory.

¹⁶For the Lord will build up Zion; he will appear in his glory.

¹⁷He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and will not despise their prayer.

¹⁸Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord:

¹⁹that he looked down from his holy height, from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,

²⁰to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die;

²¹so that the name of the Lord may be declared in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem,

²²when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.

²³He has broken my strength in midcourse; he has shortened my days.

²⁴“O my God,” I say, “do not take me away at the mid-point of my life, you whose years endure throughout all generations.”

²⁵Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

²⁶They will perish, but you endure; they will all wear out like a garment. You change them like clothing, and they pass away;

²⁷but you are the same, and your years have no end.

²⁸The children of your servants shall live secure; their offspring shall be established in your presence.

2 Kings 4:8-17, 32-37

⁸One day Elisha was passing through Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to have a meal. So whenever he passed that way, he would stop there for a meal. ⁹She said to her husband, “Look, I am sure that this man who regularly passes our way is a holy man of God. ¹⁰Let us make a small roof chamber with walls, and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that he can stay there whenever he comes to us.” ¹¹One day when he came there, he went up to the chamber and lay down there. ¹²He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite woman.” When he had called her, she stood before him. ¹³He said to him, “Say to her, Since you have taken all this trouble for us, what may be done for you? Would you have a word spoken on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?” She answered, “I live among my own people.” ¹⁴He said, “What then may be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.” ¹⁵He said, “Call her.” When he had called her, she stood at the door. ¹⁶He said, “At this season, in due time, you shall embrace a son.” She replied, “No, my lord, O man of God; do not deceive your servant.” ¹⁷The woman conceived and bore a son at that season, in due time, as Elisha had declared to her. ³²When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. ³³So he went in and closed the door on the two of them, and prayed to the Lord. ³⁴Then he got up on the bed and lay upon the child, putting his mouth upon his mouth, his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands; and while he lay bent over him, the flesh of the child became warm. ³⁵He got down, walked once to and fro in the room, then got up again and bent over him; the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. ³⁶Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite woman.” So he called her. When she came to him, he said, “Take your son.” ³⁷She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground; then she took her son and left.

Acts 14:1-7

14The same thing occurred in Iconium, where Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks became believers. ²But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. ³So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who testified to the word of his grace by granting signs and wonders to be done through them. ⁴But the residents of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles. ⁵And when an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them, ⁶the apostles learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country; ⁷and there they continued proclaiming the good news.

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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