December Week 3

Virtue: Humility
Resolution: I choose to honor others above self.

Human Story: St Francis of Assisi (1181/2 – 1226)

Francis of Assisi was born in Italy around the year 1181 to a prosperous silk merchant and a noblewoman. Francis lived a high-spirited life typical of a wealthy young man. He was handsome, witty, gallant, and delighted in fine clothes. He spent money lavishly and was renowned for drinking and partying in his youth but soon became disillusioned with the world that surrounded him. Around 1202, Francis joined a military expedition and was taken prisoner. He spent a year imprisoned and acquired an illness that caused him to re-evaluate his life’s trajectory. After his release from prison, Francis heard the voice of Christ who told him to repair the Christian Church and live a life of poverty. He abandoned his life of luxury. He renounced his inheritance and stripped down to his undergarments in the town square as he set off to embrace his vow of poverty, a radical notion at the time. He set out on a mission to restore the church to the original values of Jesus Christ. 

St. Francis advocated gentleness, humility and simplicity. He and his companions desired to fully live by the Gospel. He never set out to have followers, but people were so puzzled by his joyful disposition in spite of abject poverty that they began to listen to his call to repentance. His message of humility and living gently caught on. Francis’ humility was embodied by the way he related to all of God’s creatures.  He took to heart Jesus’ command to love neighbor, even going so far as seeing non-human elements of creation as his neighbor. He believed that God had created everything to be family and to provide mutual care and joy. Rather than thinking of himself as a higher being, Francis saw himself as a brother to the animals and everything that God created and declared good. He taught the world about God’s brotherhood and practiced true equality, showing respect and love to every single person he met. St. Francis rejected his lifestyle full of “stuff” and his dreams of prestige in favor of a simple, gentle, humble life. He found God there; he found freedom and joy in simplicity, and indeed found rest for his weary soul.

Lesson: Luke 1:52 (NIV)

He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.

Is it possible to get to a high-ranking position without crushing a few people in the process? Has anyone elected president of the United States ever gotten to that position by being humble? The words from the scripture text above were uttered by Mary, the mother of Jesus, in what is called “The Magnificat” (Luke 1:46-55). It is a beautiful poem remarkably sounding like the psalms of old, praising Yahweh the God of Israel for being faithful to what he promised...sending his Messiah to rescue his people! However, in this poem, Mary provides a foretaste for how this Messiah would rule. He will fill the hungry, scatter the proud, and lift up the humble.

The Visitation - by Philippe de Champaigne (1602–1674) - Gallery Katakombe

In the “common sense” views of rational people, leaders need to be assertive, strong-willed, resolved, tough, and embody a “strong man” mentality. History has taught us, time and again, that these characteristics have a high likelihood of leading to destruction, developing a seeming sense of invincibility by the leader yet leading to decisions that result in anything but peace. Mary is giving us a glimpse of the upside-down nature of Jesus’ leadership in His kingdom.

Mary was likely a young teenage girl in an ancient culture that was ruled by older men. She was not important, unnoticed by the people who made the big decisions. Yet God chose her, insignificant as she was, to bring forth the life of the second Person of the Trinity. God incarnate, Jesus, was physically developed in the womb of an unwed, poor, teenage girl. During this Advent season, as you see news headlines focusing on important people of power, ponder what may be making headlines in kingdom news, and shoot for making the front page.

Remembrance:

The Litany of Humility (Contemporary version)

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me. 
From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected, Deliver me, Jesus.
That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I ,  Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, 
others may increase and I may decrease,  Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside,  Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed,  Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything,  Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

Challenge

Evaluate how you spend money. Pray and ask God to show you how He desires your money to be used. If you struggle with financial management, consider taking a class or counseling session that focuses on financial education and budgeting. Or, talk to someone at church or a friend who you think might be able to point you in the right direction.

Bless someone who has recently been through a rough time. Go out of your way to encourage resilience and strength in him or her. It could be as simple as sending a hand-written letter to someone.

References: crownonline.org, daveramsey.com, moneywise.org

Reflection

Saint Francis made a radical life change after being captured in war. Have there been moments in your life that have caused you to change your course completely?

Refer back to the “Litany of Humility.” Which desires or fears do you need the Lord to deliver you from in this season? Are there things you need his grace to desire?

Further Growth

2021: 4th Sunday in Advent

Old Testament: Micah 5:2-5a
Psalm: Psalm 80:1-7
New Testament: Hebrews 10:1-10
Gospel: Luke 1:39-56

2020: 4th Sunday in Advent

Old Testament: 2 Samuel 7:1-17
Psalm: Psalm 132:1-19
New Testament: Romans 16 25-27
Gospel: Luke 1:26-38

January Week 5

Virtue: Diligence

Resolution: I choose to work as unto the Lord in all areas of my life.

Human Story: Hermann von Reichenau (1013-1054)

Hermann is most notably known as a German chronicler, composer, poet, astronomer, and mathematician, but he was also a Benedictine monk. He had an intense interest in both theology and the physical world. He was literate in several languages beyond his native German. Hermann expanded the body of knowledge in the fields of history, mathematics, astronomy and Christianity. His historical writing included a detailed chronicle from the birth of Christ to the 11th century, and the writing was carried on by his pupil, Berthold, and others after Hermann’s death. Some believe Hermann to be the inventor of the astrolabe which is a tool used in astronomy to triangulate in order to determine the local latitude or time or to identify stars and planets.

This is an amazing list of accomplishments for anyone who died at the age of 41, but Hermann wasn’t just anyone. Hermann had a disease from early childhood which basically left him paralyzed. He had much difficulty both moving and speaking, which is why he is often called Herman the Cripple. In his later years as he went blind, Hermann focused on prayer and writing hymns. Though there is some debate as to his musical works, the hymn in the Remembrance section below is traditionally attributed to him.

Hermann’s brilliant mind and love for God motivated him to be persistent in his studies and creativity. He had to overcome a lot of physical obstacles in order to write and invent and create. Thanks to Hermann’s diligence, the intellectual world as well as the Christian community have been blessed by the influence of Blessed Herman the Cripple.

References: https://reginamag.com/blessed-herman-the-cripple-confessor/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_of_Reichenau

Lesson

Proverbs 13:4 (NKJV)
The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.

Ecclesiastes 9:9b-10a (MSG)
Each day is God’s gift. It’s all you get in exchange for the hard work of staying alive. Make the most of each one! Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily!

It is so easy for us as humans to think that because of our circumstances or how we feel today, we have an excuse to not press into the mundane or hard things of life. If you are a student, do you take your studies as the gift they are? Are you making the most of this time in your life? Maybe you have a strong-willed child you have let go on his own path because you don’t want to be “too hard” on him or have him think you don’t love him. Or you might have a friend who is making bad choices concerning her marriage, but you don’t want to confront her for fear of losing her friendship. Perhaps you are afraid to stand up against sexism or racism in your workplace because you fear being fired. The pleasures of this world might be clouding your judgement or drawing you away from your devotion to Christ. Or maybe you have a physical condition, like Hermann, which makes doing just about anything difficult.

Whatever your hard situation is, be diligent about it. Press into the difficult. Don’t just let life carry you into its sea of complacency. Even if the situation doesn’t turn out as you expected, you will be able to say, without regrets, that you have given it your best effort.

Remembrance: Veni Sancte Spiritus

Literal English Translation

Come, Holy Spirit,
send forth the heavenly
radiance of your light.

Come, father of the poor,
come, giver of gifts,
come, light of the heart.

Greatest comforter,
sweet guest of the soul,
sweet consolation.

In labour, rest,
in heat, temperance,
in tears, solace.

O most blessed light,
fill the inmost heart
of your faithful.

Without your spirit,
there is nothing in man,
nothing that is not harmful.

Cleanse that which is unclean,
water that which is dry,
heal that which is wounded.

Bend that which is inflexible,
fire that which is chilled,
correct what goes astray.

Give to your faithful,
those who trust in you,
the sevenfold gifts.

Grant the reward of virtue,
grant the deliverance of salvation,
grant eternal joy.

Original Latin text

Veni, Sancte Spiritus,
et emitte caelitus
lucis tuae radium.

Veni, pater pauperum,
veni, dator munerum,
veni, lumen cordium.

Consolator optime,
dulcis hospes animae,
dulce refrigerium.

In labore requies,
in aestu temperies,
in fletu solatium.

O lux beatissima,
reple cordis intima
tuorum fidelium.

Sine tuo numine,
nihil est in homine,
nihil est innoxium.

Lava quod est sordidum,
riga quod est aridum,
sana quod est saucium.

Flecte quod est rigidum,
fove quod est frigidum,
rege quod est devium.

Da tuis fidelibus,
in te confidentibus,
sacrum septenarium.

Da virtutis meritum,
da salutis exitum,
da perenne gaudium.

Challenge

Pulling yourself up by your boot straps is often seen as diligence, but that attitude is steeped in pride that says, “I can do this myself.” The virtue of diligence, however, acknowledges that our perseverance in deliberate acts and repeated efforts are undergirded by the strength and grace of God. What are you trying to do in your own strength? How can you change that situation to be “as unto the Lord?”

Reflection

True diligence runs contrary to human nature.         - Steven K. Scott

Further Growth: 4th Sunday of Epiphany

2021
Old Testament: Deuteronomy 18:15-22
Psalm: Psalm 111
New Testament: 1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Gospel: Mark 1:21-28

2020
Old Testament: Micah 6:1-8
Psalm: Psalm 37:1-11
New Testament: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12

January Week 4

Virtue: Diligence

Resolution: I choose to work as unto the Lord in all areas of my life.

Human Story: Phileena Heurtz

In her late thirties, Phileena Heurtz was on the brink of burnout. She had spent more than half her life in social justice work among the world’s poor. Together with her husband, Chris, she worked with Word Made Flesh in some of the darkest and most desperate situations in the world. They served in more than 70 countries, building community with former child soldiers, children with HIV and AIDS, war brides, and victims of human trafficking. Throughout that time, they engaged with incredible human suffering and brutality. At the height of the war in Sierra Leone, the pain and suffering Phileena witnessed became unbearable. 

After almost twenty years of service, she went on sabbatical attempting to create more space within herself to process all of the life and death she witnessed. Through spiritual direction and walking an ancient pilgrimage, Phileena encountered ancient contemplative practices that began to open the depths of her heart, where she held the pain and suffering of the world. She needed to surrender her heart to Christ to heal, refill and bring wholeness. As motivation, she held close the words of an early mentor, Mother Teresa, “The inner life makes the active life burn forth and consume everything, it makes us find Jesus in the dark holes of the slums and the most pitiful miseries of the poor, in the God-Man naked on the cross, mournful, despised by all, the man of suffering, crushed like a worm by scourging and crucifixion.” 

Stillness, solitude, and silence became three of Phileena’s greatest teachers. Through cultivating consistent spiritual practices, she began to diligently treat her heart as a wellspring of life that would overflow into her work of bringing justice to the world’s most marginalized. Choosing to dedicate twenty minutes to centering prayer, twice a day became a discipline that Phileena integrated into the daily rhythms of her life. Her diligence in seeking and persistently practicing contemplative prayer has transformed her capacity to serve others.

“A meditation practice like centering prayer helps us open to the process of being reformed. The work of transformation is God’s. We must only cooperate by putting forth effort to make time for spiritual practice. Spiritual practice is our way of saying ‘yes’ to God, letting God do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Over time as we yield to this mysterious work of Grace in us, we are changed, little by little.”                            

Currently, Phileena and Chris are the co-founders and directors of Gravity Center, a retreat center for Contemplative Activism. There they share the wisdom, “Solitude teaches us to be present. Silence teaches us to listen. Stillness teaches us to engage... This spirituality anchors us in a way that allows us to be transformed, so that the world can be transformed.” Phileena is still serving those in the margins of society by nourishing and equipping the souls of those in ministry of social justice. Phileena speaks, teaches and writes about contemplative spirituality, gracefully guiding others toward personal growth, bringing harmony to the active and contemplative dimensions of life.  

References:
https://cct.biola.edu/doing-good-better-active-contemplation/
www.phileena.com
http://wordmadeflesh.org/center-of-gravity

Lesson: Proverbs 4:20-27 (NKJV)

My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.
Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart;
For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.
Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.
Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put perverse lips far from you.
Let your eyes look straight ahead, And your eyelids look right before you.
Ponder the path of your feet, And let all your ways be established.
Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil.

A proverb is a short, poetic saying that “expresses an insight, observation, or advice that has been popularly accepted as a general truth…if applied at the right time.” It is important to note that proverbs are not promises. They are not universal absolutes. Job and Ecclesiastes remind us of this fact. Proverbs are advice to live by as we attempt to live a good life. Proverbs 1-9 is a section composed of lessons from a father to a son. The ultimate question that Proverbs sets up for its reader is, “Will you dine with Woman Wisdom or Woman Folly?” Woman Wisdom represents God, and Woman Folly is all the false gods that entice followers away from God.

The Hebrew word “heart” wasn’t just the internal organ that pumped blood throughout the body. It was used to describe where we think (intellectual), feel (emotional), and desire (affection). In Proverbs the father commands his son to “guard,” “keep,” or “watch over” his heart. The idea is one of protection, and protection requires diligence. If a soldier is given a task to guard a prisoner, the soldier would not put on headphones and take a nap. Guarding requires attention, alertness, sobriety, and diligence. To paraphrase, the father is saying “The part of you responsible for making yourself you…protect it. Keep it safe.”

The father’s point is that everything we do flows from this decision-and-person-making organ; thus it contains the “sources of life.” The heart can be the source of much good if properly protected, but this protection does not come naturally. It requires careful, persistent work, nothing sloppy or lazy because folly crouches at the door. The spirit of the advice is captured in the command of Jesus: “Stay awake” (Mark 13:37). As His followers, let us be diligent in protecting our thoughts, feelings, and desires.

Reference: How to Read Proverbs by Tremper Longman

Remembrance: “Blessing from Wisdom’s House”

May Wisdom’s long-lasting blessings be upon me.
Keep me from short-sightedness and the ease of the crowded road.
For narrow is the way and full is the heart on the path of Your blessing.
Keep me on that path as I lie down at night.
Keep me on that path as I set out again by day.

Challenge

Phileena’s experience with centering prayer was transformative and healing. Centering prayer is a very simple, contemplative Christian practice that is deeply nourishing to one’s soul.

1.     Sit in an upright, attentive posture in a way that allows for an erect spine and open heart. Place hands in your lap.
2.     Gently close your eyes and bring to mind your sacred word or image as your symbol to consent to the presence and action of God within you. Your sacred symbol is intended to be the same every time you pray. It helps to ground you in the present moment, allowing you to give your undivided loving, yielded attention to God. Choose a name for God or a characteristic for God like, Love, Peace, etc.

3.     Silently, with eyes closed, recall your sacred symbol to begin your prayer. As you notice your thoughts, gently return to your sacred word. Do this however many times you notice your thoughts.

4.     When your prayer period is over, transition slowly from your prayer practice to your active life. Begin with 5 minutes of prayer and over time increase to 20 or more minutes.

https://gravitycenter.com/practice/centering-prayer/     

Reflection

“Solitude teaches us to be present. Silence teaches us to listen. Stillness teaches us to engage.” How are you guarding your heart today? In our days full of information, to-do lists, disruptions, disappointments, and even successes, we can grow weary, even depleted. Do you have established practices to restore your soul? Consider adding solitude, silence and stillness to your routines.

Further Growth: 3rd Sunday of Epiphany

2021
Old Testament: Jeremiah 3:19-4:4
Psalm: Psalm 130
New Testament: 1 Corinthians 7:17-24
Gospel: Mark 1:14-20

2020
Old Testament: Amos 3:1-11
Psalm: Psalm 139:1-18
New Testament: 1 Corinthians 1:10-17
Gospel: Matthew 4:12-22

January Week 3

Virtue: Diligence

Resolution: I choose to work as unto the Lord in all areas of my life.

Human Story: Mary McCloud Bethune (1875-1955)

In each experience of my life, I have had to step out of one little space of the known light, into a large area of darkness. I had to stand awhile in the darkness, and then gradually God has given me light. But not to linger in. For as soon as that light has felt familiar, then the call has always come to step out ahead again into new darkness…. I had faith in a living God, faith in myself, and a desire to serve.  

- Mary McLeod Bethune

Born in a simple cabin in South Carolina only a decade after a war fought by a divided nation, Mary McLeod Bethune was the fifteenth child of parents who were former slaves. With their newfound freedom, Mary’s mother earned pay by washing clothes of former slaveholders while her father farmed. When accompanying her mother to deliver the washed clothing, Mary often visited the children her age and saw their toys. Once she picked up a book only to have it snatched away by a little girl who suggested it was not for Mary since she could not read. It pierced Mary’s childhood spirit, but she determined within herself to learn how to read. 

Soon Mary attended a one-room school taught by Presbyterian freedmen, and at home she taught her family what she learned each day. Mary was diligent in learning to read and advancing in her studies. She eventually attended Scotia Seminary for five years before enrolling in what is now Moody Bible Institute with the hope of becoming a missionary to Africa, but she was rejected by the mission board. Mary did not lose heart. Instead, she refocused her efforts as an educator. 

Teaching at various mission schools in the U.S., Mary eventually settled in Florida with her husband, who abandoned the family a few years later. With $1.50, Mary opened a “Literary and Industrial Training School” for African American girls in 1904 and even made the desks and seating herself using discarded crates. In time the school grew, eventually merging with an African American boys’ school and renamed Bethune-Cookman College. Mary was one of the earliest black women to serve as a college president.

Not only was she diligent in her efforts to improve life for African American children, she expanded her vision to provide opportunities for all African Americans. She actively helped register black voters, even when her life was threatened by those who opposed her cause. Presidents Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin Roosevelt each noticed her efforts and sought her advice and collaboration. Mary formed a national women’s council in 1935 and helped form an advisory board for the Roosevelt administration that served as “the first collective of black people working in higher positions in government.” For these efforts to improve civil rights she became known as "The First Lady of the Struggle." 

Throughout her life Mary exhibited diligence in learning, overcoming difficulties, and using her voice and energy to enact change for the marginalized, which she understood as God’s calling for her. She later reflected, “The whole world opened to me when I learned to read.” And when the world opened to her, she helped change it for the better.

References:

McCluskey, Audrey Thomas, and Elaine M. Smith. (1999). Mary McLeod Bethune: Building a Better World: Essays and Selected Documents. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

"Mary McLeod Bethune." Great Lives from History: The Twentieth Century (Online Edition). Salem Press. 2013.

Lesson: Galations 6:9 (NRSV)

So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.

In our culture today, we tend to desire immediate gratification for the “good” things we do. When we work hard, do right by someone, serve another, etc., it only seems right that there would be positive results. However, these results may look differently than we might expect and may come at a different time than anticipated. Our diligence to continue “doing what is right” regardless of the immediate outcome is the key here.

The word “reap” reveals some farming connotations; if one reaps, then there had to have been a time of sowing. Some crops naturally yield their return quickly, while others require a time of waiting. Regardless, the farmer has to diligently and persistently tend to the crops in order to support their growth. In this particular verse, Paul is speaking to the Galatian Christians, a network of churches Paul had helped nurture in the faith. Paul has chided them at length for adding on to the simple gospel he preached, reiterating the fact that Christianity is a multi-ethnic faith, and one does not have to follow the old Jewish customs in order to be a part of this new movement (Gal 1-4). Paul is giving advice for Christian ethics, answering the question “how do I live as a member of the family of God?” The answer is through living by the Spirit, and he goes on to show how that happens, using gardening metaphors to make his point. Here Paul urges them to “do good” among one another and those they encounter in the world with the hope that eternal life will be what they ultimately “reap”. Because life can be arduous, circumstances overwhelming, and everyday tasks mundane, consistent diligence is of utmost importance due to the rewards to come, even if it does require a taxing time of waiting in the process.

Remembrance: “O Spirit, Come…” -Macrina Weiderkehr in Seven Sacred Pauses

Come with your transforming power. Breathe upon and into my thoughts and actions this day. Let my work be a labor of love. May those who come in contact with me feel sheltered and cared for. May I do or say some small piece of goodness that will help others feel affirmed and supported. Let your wind and fire move me into the places where I am needed. Let me become your breath so that I may assist you in breathing new life into places that are stale and unfruitful. Make me forceful and gentle, powerful and humble. O Spirit, Come!

Challenge

Breath prayer is an ancient Christian prayer practice dating back to at least the sixth century. Historically, it is associated with the Eastern Church, particularly Greek and Russian Orthodox churches. Breath prayer is a good example of “praying without ceasing” as St. Paul admonished us to do and has the potential to become as natural as breathing. It is intended to be a very short prayer of praise or petition, just six to eight syllables. The words of the prayer can be easily adjusted to your heart’s desire.

“O Spirit, Come…” is a powerful phrase that can be recited with one’s breath to bring openness to transformation and the awareness of the Spirit in your life. Find a quiet place, and in a comfortable seated position, close your eyes and with the rhythm of your breath recite this prayer aloud or silently. The diligent practice of “praying without ceasing” draws you into a closer relationship with Christ.

Reference: https://gravitycenter.com/practice/breath-prayer/

Reflection

Consider again the life of Mary McCloud Bethune and her words, “I had to stand awhile in the darkness, and then gradually God has given me light. But not to linger in. For as soon as that light has felt familiar, then the call has always come to step out ahead again into new darkness…” To most people, Ms. Bethune had every right to grow weary in doing well. What elements of her story might inspire you to continue sowing good work, kindness, and hope even if the harvest is not immediately obvious?

Further Growth: 2nd Sunday of Epiphany

2021
Old Testament: 1 Samuel 3:1-20
Psalm: Psalm 63
New Testament: I Corinthians 6:9-20
Gospel: John 1:43-51

2020
Old Testament: Exodus 12:21-28
Psalm: Psalm 40:1-11
New Testament: 1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Gospel: John 1:29-42

January Week 2

Virtue: Diligence
Resolution: I choose to work as unto the Lord in all areas of my life.

Human Story: John Wesley (1703-1791)

On March 1, 1791, a day before his death, John Wesley lay in bed surrounded by his friends. He told his nurse, Eliza Ritchie, that he wished to write. However, when she gave him a pen, he found he didn’t have the strength. She asked what he wished to write, and he replied, “Nothing, but that God is with us.”

John Wesley was born June 17, 1703 in Epsworth, England. Wesley was raised in a very religious home, his father being a clergyman in the Church. When it was time for college, John entered Oxford University. While there, he and his brother Charles started a group that became known as the “Holy Club” because the members took vows to lead holy lives, take Communion once a week, pray daily, and visit prisons regularly. In addition, they spent three hours every afternoon studying the Bible and other devotional material.

After college, John went to the British colonies in America where he spent a couple of years in Georgia serving as a parish priest. After this brief and disappointing position, he returned to England where he had a life changing experience during a church gathering at Aldersgate street in London. While Martin Luther’s thoughts on the book of Romans were read aloud, the reader came to the passage in the book of Romans concerning faith in Christ. John felt his heart being warmed in that moment and he knew that he did trust in Christ alone for his salvation. After this experience he joined with a college friend George Whitefield and began preaching anywhere that people would listen. He encouraged people to work diligently to bring about personal and societal holiness. Some of the pillars of John Wesley’s preaching were taking care of the poor, fighting against the evils of slavery, and founding small groups for accountability. Eventually his movement split from the Church of England; the Methodist church was born.

After six decades of preaching over 40,000 sermons, traveling 4,000 miles each year, and giving away £30,000 of his income, John Wesley could leave this world with the knowledge that he had diligently served God with his whole heart. He knew that “the best of all is, God is with us.”

References:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/denominationalfounders/john-wesley.html http://www.mymethodisthistory.org.uk/page/eliza_ritchie_wesleys_nurse

Lesson: Deuteronomy 6:4-8 (NIV)

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, promised you. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

What does it mean to love someone? Think of your best friend, spouse, child, or perhaps a parent. Think of all that goes into the relationship. Loving someone involves multiple factors. It is certainly not just a feeling. It involves thinking about the person, learning about them, talking to them, spending time with them, sharing experiences together, and at times putting your desires aside to make them happy. We’ve been taught that loving God is having a quiet time, going to a Bible study, or going to church and listening to an informative sermon. Or perhaps we think loving God involves serving others, but in reality, we really don’t always practice what we have learned. The constant, daily posture of love to God and neighbor remains absent in our lives. Diligence in our spiritual lives is often nowhere to be found.

Historically, Deuteronomy was written after the Israelites had endured 40 years in the wilderness. Moses is talking to the next generation of Israelites that were on the verge of entering the land God was providing. Unfaithfulness had already been evident in their short history, and God, through his spokesperson Moses, was giving his people instructions for avoiding future unfaithfulness. Moses retells their history (Deut. 1-3) and implores them to be more faithful than their parents were (Deut. 4-11).

Preceding the daily rhythms that Moses suggests is what is known as the Shema (Deut. 6:4-5). The Shema is considered the most essential Jewish prayer and is repeated twice daily by devout Jews. We can learn from our faith ancestors by adopting similar rhythms. God calls His people to a particular way of life, the instructions of which are to be on our “hearts,” meaning our thoughts, feelings, and desires. It is worth noting during this season of Epiphany, that God has always called His people to a different way of life for the sake of others. The Israelites were to be a kingdom of priests on behalf of all nations (Exo 19:5-6). God’s heart has never exclusively been for a select few, but for calling some for the sake of all peoples. Therefore, our devotion to God through the practice of daily rhythms shapes us into a particular kind of people not for our holiness alone, but also for the sake of others. Our love for others, flowing from God’s love for the nations, should lead us to diligence as individuals and as a community of believers.

Remembrance: “A Sonnet for Epiphany” by Malcolm Guite

It might have been just someone else’s story,
Some chosen people get a special king.
We leave them to their own peculiar glory,
We don’t belong, it doesn’t mean a thing.
But when these three arrive they bring us with them,
Gentiles like us, their wisdom might be ours;
A steady step that finds an inner rhythm,
A pilgrim’s eye that sees beyond the stars.
They did not know his name but still they sought him,
They came from otherwhere but still they found;
In temples they found those who sold and bought him,
But in the filthy stable, hallowed ground.
Their courage gives our questing hearts a voice
To seek, to find, to worship, to rejoice.

Challenge

Establish a new, healthy rhythm (or renew/bolster an old one) in your home aimed at nurturing your spiritual health. Consider adding a spiritual discipline of study, meditation, prayer, remembrance, or celebration to your daily routine.

Reflection

As a believer considering the life of John Wesley and meditating on Deuteronomy chapter 6, what does God’s call to live differently mean to you?

Further Growth: 1st Sunday of Epiphany

2022: 1st Sunday of Epiphany

Old Testament: Isaiah 42:1-9
Psalm: Psalm 89:1-29
New Testament: Acts 10:34-38
Gospel: Luke 3:15-22

2021: 1st Sunday of Epiphany

Old Testament: Isaiah 42:1-9
Psalm: Psalm 89:1-29
New Testament: Acts 10:34-38
Gospel: Mark 1:7-11

2020: 1st Sunday of Epiphany

Old Testament: Isaiah 42:1-9
Psalm: Psalm 89:1-29
New Testament: Acts 10:34-38
Gospel: Matthew 3:13-17

January Week 1

Virtue: Diligence
Resolution: I choose to work as unto the Lord in all areas of my life.

Human Story: Millard Fuller (1935-2009)

Millard Fuller, born in 1935, grew up in a working-class family in rural Alabama. By the time he was 25, he had a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Auburn University and a law degree from the University of Alabama. Over the next 4 years, with his wife Linda, Fuller become a very successful banker and a “self-made millionaire” at the young age of 29.

Despite the rapid rise to prominence, Millard and Linda were both unhappy. Their marriage was on the brink of disaster, and they knew something needed to change. Money and a very “successful” life were unsatisfying. So, in 1968 they sold everything and moved to Koinonia Farms near Americus, GA. Koinonia (Greek for “fellowship”) was founded in 1942 by Clarence & Florence Jordan and Martin & Mabel England to be a radical, inclusive, Christian community aimed at being a “demonstration plot for the Kingdom of God.” The Jordan’s and England’s had committed themselves to:

1.     Treat all human beings with dignity and justice
2.     Choose love over violence
3.     Share all possessions and live simply
4.     Be stewards of the land and its natural resources 

Clarence Jordan became a mentor to the Fullers once they arrived. He had earned a PhD in Biblical Greek and passionately believed that good theology (right thinking) must lead to good work (right action). He and those at Koinonia were profoundly countercultural within their surrounding context of conservative, segregated South Georgia. 

While at Koinonia Fuller helped pioneer a project called “Partnership Housing” based on the principle that the poor need more capital instead of more charity. With a “sweat equity” model, the beneficiaries/partners of this endeavor help both themselves and others ultimately earn a low-cost, 0% interest loan against their own house.

After five years at Koinonia, the Fullers took this concept to Africa’s Democratic Republic of Congo where they helped build 100 homes in three years. They came home for sabbatical in 1976 and officially founded Habitat for Humanity using these same principles. Since then, Habitat has grown to become one of the world’s most successful nonprofit organizations, helping build over 1 million homes with the help of the low-income families they serve.

In 1994, Fuller wrote a book about this approach to ministry called Theology of the Hammer in which he described how a living and active faith is much more than head knowledge. He never claimed to be a theologian, but instead a practitioner, making the title of the book all the more poignant. Once when asked where he went to seminary, he replied, “I packed pecans and milked an old cow with Clarence Jordan…He taught me obedience to Christ and authentic participation in God’s work in the world.”

References:
Fuller, Millard. Theology of the Hammer. Smyth & Helwys Publishing Inc. 1994
Habitat for Humanity: www.habitat.org/about/history/habitat-for-humanity-co-founder-millard-fuller, accessed 12/2017
Koinonia Farm: https://www.koinoniafarm.org/about-koinonia-farm/, accessed 12/2017.

Lesson: Colossians 3:23-25 (NIV)

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.

During one of Paul’s imprisonments, he was met by Epaphras who informed him of philosophical issues facing the new church of Colossae which prompted him to write a letter to help these believers carry out genuine spiritual maturity. Located in the Lycus Valley in Asia Minor, Colossae had substantial Jewish and polytheistic populations whose beliefs were influencing the theology of the young church. 

The centerpiece of this epistle is Paul’s appeal for Christian maturity (2:6-4:6), where he contrasts their old way of life (distorted sexuality and destructive speech) and challenges them to live a new way of life characterized by mercy, generosity, forgiveness, and grace. In verses 3:18-4:1, Paul unpacks what this might look like in a first century Roman household, which was an extremely authoritarian and patriarchal institution. Paul does not affirm the institution of slavery nor the subjugation of women, but rather contrasts it by instructing the Christians in Colossae that in whatever they do, do it unto the Lord. With Christ positioned as the true master, Paul instructs wives to submit to their husbands (3:18), husbands to love their wives (3:19), children to obey their parents (3:20), fathers not to embitter their children (3:21), and slaves to obey their earthly masters as work to the Lord. 

Paul challenges them to shift their perception beyond the limitations and privileges of power in their current context, and to fix their hearts, minds, and work on Christ. Paul helps us understand the promise and the good news of a heavenly inheritance and the justice that awaits Christians. For it is Christ that rewards and Christ that repays wrongdoing without favoritism. A part of Christian maturity is not only making sense of this truth but allowing it to inform our attitudes about work and decision-making.  

This is certainly no easy task. However, we are all called to live and diligently work as new creations in Christ Jesus. Although there is a sizable time gap between the church of Colossae and the present day, we too need to carry out Christian maturity in all facets of our lives and pray for the Spirit’s guidance as to how it is translated into our present situation. 

Reference: The Epistles of Paul to the Colossians and to Philemon by N.T. Wright

Remembrance: “Your labor is Not in Vain”

The Porter’s Gate Worship Project (Click to listen.)

Your labor is not in vain
Though the ground underneath you is cursed and stained
Your planting and reaping are never the same
Your labor is not in vain

Your labor is not unknown
Though the rocks they cry out and the sea it may groan
The place of your toil may not seem like a home
But Your labor is not unknown

The vineyards you plant will bear fruit
The fields will sing out and rejoice with the truth
For all that is old will at last be made new
The vineyards you plant will bear fruit

The houses you labored to build
Will finally with laughter and joy be filled
The serpent that hurts and destroys will be killed
And all that is broken be healed

I am with you, I am with you
I am with you, I am with you
For I have called you, called you by name
Your labor is not in vain

Challenge

Choose a task to give your all to complete. It might be an everyday task or a special project. Consider the ways you can do more than just do the work but complete it with diligence and the attitude of doing this work for the Lord. Practice inviting God’s presence into this activity. After completing this task, evaluate your attitude and feelings about this work.

Reflection

In what ways can the work of our hands be an expression of worship to Christ?

Further Growth

2022: 2nd Sunday of Christmas

Old Testament: Jeremiah 31:7-14
Psalm: Psalm 84
New Testament: Ephesians 1:3-14
Gospel: Luke 2:41-52

2021: 2nd Sunday of Christmas

Old Testament: Jeremiah 31:7-14
Psalm: Psalm 84
New Testament: Ephesians 1:3-14
Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12

2020: 2nd Sunday of Christmas

Old Testament: Jeremiah 31:7-14
Psalm: Psalm 84
New Testament: Ephesians 1:3-14
Gospel: Luke 2:41-52

December Week 5

Virtue: Humility
Resolution: I choose to honor others above self.

Human Story: St. Therese of Lisieux (1873 - 1897)

Marie-Francoise-Therese Martin was born in France on January 2, 1873 to Louis and Zelie Martin. From an early age, it was obvious that Therese was intelligent, cunning, stubborn, and full of life. She began her education under her older sisters, but her father officially enrolled her in Lisieux’s Benedictine Abbey school of Notre-Dame du Pre in October of 1881. Therese’s five years at this school were miserable. She loved catechism, history, and science, but struggled in other areas. Her level of intelligence was so advanced that classmates became envious and did not treat her kindly. At only 9 years old, Therese attempted to join Lisieux’s Carmelite Convent, but she was turned away because of her young age. During this time, Therese suffered a severe illness; as a result of her time in pain, Therese concluded at the age of 10: “I was born for glory.” She perceived her life’s mission as one of salvation for all people. She wanted to become a saint. She understood that her glory would be hidden from the eyes of others until God wished to reveal it.

As a teenager, Therese attempted to enter the Carmelite Convent once again. She, along with her supportive father, confronted both the Bishop and the Pope, pleading them to let her enter. Finally, when she was 15 years and 3 months old, she was admitted into the convent. It was here that Therese developed her “Little Way” of living as she recognized her spiritual “littleness.” She said, "It is impossible for me to grow up, so I must bear with myself such as I am with all my imperfections. But I want to seek out a means of going to heaven by a little way, a way that is very straight, very short and totally new." Therese went on to describe the elevator in the home of a rich person. She concluded, "I wanted to find an elevator which would raise me to Jesus, for I am too small to climb the rough stairway of perfection. I searched then in the Scriptures for some sign of this elevator, the object of my desires and I read these words coming from the mouth of Eternal Wisdom: 'Whoever is a little one let him come to me.' [Prov. 9:4]. The elevator which must raise me to heaven is your arms, O Jesus, and for this I have no need to grow up, but rather I have to remain little and become this more and more." And so she abandoned herself to Jesus and her life became a continual acceptance of the will of the Lord; she performed the smallest of tasks with humility and patience that had not characterized her up to this point.

After living a simple and quite ordinary life in the convent, Therese died on September 30, 1897 at the age of 24 due to tuberculosis. Although her life may not look extraordinary in many ways, her development of the “Little Way” holds significant spiritual value and can teach us much about performing all the small tasks in our lives with great love and intentional humility.

Lesson: Colossians 3:12 (NIV)

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

The "Little Way" that St. Thérèse developed consists of simplicity in life, prayer from the heart to Jesus, total trust in God as our Loving Father (not a stern judge), being a true child of God our Father rather than doing our own thing, seeking God's will in our everyday activities, doing everything for the love of Jesus with humility, being kind to people we can't stand, and a sincere desire to be with Jesus forever rather than to be in this world.1

The world does not live the Little Way. If we were truly living the Little Way:

•      we would be delighted to take the last place in line
•      we would recoil from flattery
•      we would rejoice in the success of our neighbors
•      we would make no excuses for our sins
•      we would be quick to admit our weaknesses
•      we would prefer hiddenness to acclaim
•      we would be grateful when others criticized us and pointed out our shortcomings
•      we would not be undone by the injury and injustice we suffer
•      we would be unmoved by worldly status, fame, and prestige
•      we would experience peace in the midst of the world’s conflict, turmoil, and strife.

If you were to clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience as Paul urges, do you think you would be characterized in a similar vein as the ‘Little Way?’

References:
St. Therese’s Little Way, catholicbible101.com/stthereseslittleway.htm, accessed October 20, 2019.
Cameron, Father Peter John O.P. First Steps on the Little Way of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. https://www.kofc.org/un/en/resources/cis/cis307.pdf, accessed October 19, 2019.

Remembrance

Sometimes, when I read spiritual treatises in which perfection is shown with a thousand obstacles, surrounded by a crowd of illusions, my poor little mind quickly tires. I close the learned book which is breaking my head and drying up my heart, and I take up Holy Scripture. Then all seems luminous to me; a single word uncovers for my soul infinite horizons; perfection seems simple; I see that it is enough to recognize one's nothingness and to abandon oneself, like a child, into God's arms. Leaving to great souls, to great minds, the beautiful books I cannot understand, I rejoice to be little because only children, and those who are like them, will be admitted to the heavenly banquet. – St. Thérèse

Challenge

To the right and to the left, I throw to my little birds the good grain that God places in my hands. And then I let things take their course! I busy myself with it no more. Sometimes, it's just as though I had thrown nothing; at other times, it does some good. But God tells me: 'Give, give always, without being concerned with the results'. – St. Thérèse

This week, how can you give, give always, without being concerned with the results? Make a plan and then do it.

Reflection

St. Thérèse saw the limitations of all her efforts. She remained small and very far off from the unfailing love that she would wish to practice. She is said to have understood then that it was from insignificance that she had to learn to ask God's help.

Further Growth

2021: No 5th Sunday

2020: No 5th Sunday

December Week 4

Virtue: Humility
Resolution: I choose to honor others above self.

Human Story: Pope Francis (1936 - )

Shortly after Francis became pope in 2013, he washed the feet of Muslims. The Pope turned heads and profoundly broke with a papal Holy Week tradition of celebrating the evening Mass at a Rome basilica. Instead, he ventured out of the Vatican to the Casa del Marmo Young Offenders Institute in Rome for the Holy Thursday Mass. The male and female detainees, ranging in age from 14-21, are mostly immigrants from a wide range of religious backgrounds. The detainees led the Scripture readings and the prayers of the faithful, while prison volunteers provided music for the service. Staff members of the facility also attended the mass.

The Pope demonstrated the importance of washing another’s feet. According to Pope Francis, this service shows that “the person who is most high among us must be at the service of the others. We have to help one another, each one. To wash your feet, this is a symbol, a sign that I am at your service,” the Pope said. “But it also means that we have to help each other.” He added that he would wash their feet with love. “It’s a duty that comes from my heart because I love doing this, because this is what the Lord taught me. This sign is a caress from Jesus, because Jesus came exactly for this, to serve and to help us.”

He expressed Christ’s love for everyone in attendance while he was washing the feet of 12 young detainees. These 12 were of different nationalities and faiths, including at least two Muslims, and two young women. The 76-year-old Pope Francis knelt on both knees before the youth, washed, dried and then kissed their feet. The ritual was extremely moving. Many of the young people had tears streaming down their faces. The Pope was warm and exuded happiness while he was celebrating Mass at the prison. 

While the prison Mass marked a first for the modern papacy, the practice was nothing new to Pope Francis, who as Archbishop of Buenos Aires used to celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper in prisons, hospitals, and shelters for the poor. This act reflects on the call to imitate Christ by serving one another, and it commemorates Jesus’ gift of the Eucharist, worthy to be shared with the marginalized.

Lesson: John 13:1-17 (NIV)

It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." "No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me." "Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!" Jesus answered, "Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you." For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not everyone was clean. When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”

Ethiopian Art: Jesus washing feet

So begins Jesus’ final night and last words to his disciples. He is preparing them for his coming death. The setting is the Passover festival, one of the major annual Jewish celebrations which had been going on for well over 1,000 years.

We read the story of washing feet and it sounds kind of strange to us. In ancient societies, it was as familiar as having a server at a restaurant. It was the job of a common servant. Ancient societies were also honor-shame cultures. The goal of life was to continually try to gain more honor. Jesus was a “rabbi” (teacher) to a group of others. A rabbi was a position of honor. It would have been unheard of for a rabbi to take on the role of a common servant and wash the feet of his students, for this would bring great shame upon him doing something that was beneath him. This is one of many examples of Jesus taking what society values and turning it upside down.

Ponder this: A superior stooping down to wash the feet of his inferiors. Jesus uses this as a symbol for his life purpose: to reveal God’s nature as a being of self-giving love. Jesus uses this action to give his disciples a command: follow my example. In other words, love one another as I have loved you. As our monthly resolution states, honor others above self. Make yourself the least important person in the room. It is important to note here that Jesus says this to his disciples. He is appealing for unity and love amongst Christians. While we are to love everyone and strive to live in peace with all, Jesus wants us to focus on “one another.” The hallmark of Jesus’ followers is radical acts of service and love towards each other. This is how “outsiders” will know we have the truth. Some today, like Pope Francis, still do the actual act of foot washing in imitation of Jesus as a symbol. This can be a powerful practice that helps a humble posture sink into our bones. As we go through our days we need to continually find new ways to make ourselves a servant, for Jesus tells us doing these acts results in blessing.

Remembrance

Listen along as you meditate on the words.

O come, O come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appears

O come, thou Wisdom from on high
Who orderest all things mightily
To us the path of knowledge show
And teach us in her ways to go

O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer
Our spirits by thine advent here
And drive away the shades of night
And death's dark shadow put to flight

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel

Challenge

Make one counter-cultural decision this week. Be inspired by Wendell Barry's poem "Manifesto: Mad Farmer Liberation Front," particularly the last stanza:

"As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn’t go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection."  

Carve out time to serve or bless your neighbor or volunteer with a local organization who assists people in need.  For inspiration, visit: www.unitedwayocoee.org/funded-partners.

Reflection

Washing one another’s feet is not an everyday ritual, but picture yourself seated before a friend, loved one, or even a stranger ready to wash his or her feet. What would this practice require of you? Are there ways to serve or honor people in the way washing their feet would? Ponder Pope Francis’ question to the detainees: “Am I really willing to help others?”

As you reflect on this season of Advent and the coming of Jesus, do you find yourself hopeful for something? What does His common entry into the world, despite having the rights of a king, mean for you and your life?

Further Growth

2021: First Sunday of Christmas

Old Testament: Isaiah 61:10 — 62:5
Psalm: 147:12-20
New Testament: Galatians 3:23 — 4:7
Gospel: John 1:1-18

2020: First Sunday of Christmas

Old Testament: Isaiah 61:10 — 62:5
Psalm: 147:12-20
New Testament: Galatians 3:23 — 4:7
Gospel: John 1:1-18

December Week 2

Virtue: Humility
Resolution: I choose to honor others above self.

Human Story: Henri Nouwen (1932-1996)

The society in which we live suggests in countless ways that the way to go is up. Making it to the top, entering the limelight, breaking the record- that’s what draws attention, gets us on the front page of the newspaper, and offers us the rewards of money and fame. The way of Jesus is radically different. It is the way not of upward mobility but of downward mobility. It is going to the bottom, staying behind the sets, and choosing the last place! Why is the way of Jesus worth choosing? Because it is the way to the Kingdom, the way Jesus took, and the way that brings everlasting life.
-Henri Nouwen, (1932-1996)

From the time Henri Nouwen was five years old, he felt the closeness of God in his life, a desire to be with and to know Jesus.  Born in Nijkerk, Holland, on January 24, 1932, he felt called to the priesthood at a very young age. According to Nouwen, he felt that two voices were speaking to him: one saying, “Henri, be sure you make it on your own—make something of your life; find a good career and be sure I can be proud of you.” As well as another voice saying, “Henri, whatever you are going to do, even if you don’t do anything very interesting in the eyes of the world, be sure you stay close to the heart of Jesus; be sure you stay close to the love of God and never lose touch with your vocation.” Throughout his life, Henri felt the tangible tension and struggle between those two perspectives.

Henri Nouwen became an internationally renowned Catholic priest and author. He wrote over 39 books on the spiritual life, which sold over 8 million copies in over 28 languages. Nouwen was also a respected professor and beloved pastor. He famously taught at the University of Notre Dame, and the Divinity Schools of Yale and Harvard. He also reached out to thousands through leading Eucharistic celebrations, lectures and retreats all over the world. 

However, Nouwen felt that his true home and his most valuable vocation came when he accepted the invitation to leave Harvard and become the priest at the L’Arche Daybreak community near Toronto. L’Arche Daybreak is one of over 100 communities founded by Jean Vanier where people with developmental disabilities live full-time with assistants. Many people in the L’Arche community are rejected and outcast in the world. But L’Arche embraces everyone, handicapped members and assistants, reminding all that God loves us in our brokenness. “L’Arche exists not to help the mentally handicapped get ‘normal,’ but to help them share their spiritual gifts with the world.” (Nouwen).

Nouwen spent the last ten years of his life living and ministering in the L’Arche Daybreak community.  This accomplished author and former professor devoted his energies to those whose IQs and disabilities placed them on the margins of society. And, in doing so, he felt that the love of God became more concrete, transforming and real to him than ever before. “These broken, wounded, and completely unpretentious people forced me to let go of my relevant self—the self that can do things, show things, prove things, build things—and forced me to reclaim that unadorned self in which I’m completely vulnerable, open to receive and give love regardless of any accomplishments.” – Henri Nouwen

Lesson: Philippians 2:3-11 (NIV)

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death-- even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:6-11, considered an early Christian poem, is the centerpiece of the book of Philippians. Everything Paul says in the book revolves around it. It is also one of the most common texts used when describing the incarnation of Jesus, which we naturally ponder this time of year. The Son of God, perfect and good in every regard, became a human being. Humans can be nasty creatures. We’re stinky and our bodies make strange noises. We eat food and it leaves our bodies as excrement. Our bones ache, our muscles get sore, our breath stinks, our teeth stain and our wounds get infected and filled with pus. Jesus, the glorious and all powerful second Person of the Trinity, entered into this nastiness with us. And if entering into this nastiness with us wasn’t enough, he voluntarily made himself even lower by dying in one of the most humiliating and brutal ways the world has ever seen. The stair-step nature of this poem, with Paul describing a descent of Jesus going lower and lower, only to ultimately be elevated, is obvious.

There are subtle echoes in this passage to the Adam story from Genesis 1-3. The word “likeness” jumps out, as God states in Genesis 1:26 “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…” Yet another echo to those early chapters of Genesis is found in Philippians 2:6, where Jesus did not consider equality with God as something to be used to his own advantage or “grasped.” Our minds should immediately be taken back to the Garden, where Adam and Eve saw that the fruit was “pleasing to the eye and desirable for gaining wisdom” after the serpent tells them eating this fruit will make them “like God.” (Genesis 3:5-6) From the very beginning humans have been trying to grasp equality with God. Yet here is Jesus, God in the flesh and equal to God, having every right to use that to his own advantage, but making himself nothing. Humans (mistakenly) strive for equality with God. Though we would like to think we’ve learned from our past mistakes of trying to be like God, we still try to build a life where God is not needed, and where we define good and evil on our own terms.

The point of this passage is not merely to philosophically ponder the mysteries of the incarnation. No, the point Paul is making is that followers of Jesus need to let this same kind of thinking that dominated Jesus’ mind also dominate ours. Humility is honoring others above self. The incarnation is a beautiful example of that. During this season of expectation, let that attitude direct our thinking.

Remembrance

One: God of all Creation
All: What do you require of us?
One: to do justice
All: seeking peace & reconciliation, standing with the marginalized and forgotten
One: to love kindness
All: showing compassion and unconditional caring for those in need
One: to walk humbly
All: following in the steps of Jesus, lifting up not the work of our hands but the power that sustains our service.
www.churchofthebrethren.org

Challenge

1. Commit Philippians 2:6-11 to memory.

2. The English word "humility" stems from the same root word in Latin that is related to humus (not hummus). Humus is an organic component of soil formed by the decomposition of leaves and other plant material. Find a way this week to appreciate simple aspects of nature that we take for granted—even things we depend on for life or sustenance. Maybe it is possible to beautify a desolate or forgotten area no longer in its prime.

Reflection

In a culture driven by productivity, how can you balance the tension of setting and achieving goals personally, academically, or professionally while keeping a posture of humility and preferring others?

Consider Henri Nouwen’s great joy in working with people with severe special needs. He said he learned more from the L’Arche residents than his Harvard students even though many were unable to care for themselves or communicate with him. What do you think these friends taught him? When have you learned from people who were very different from you? 

Further Growth

2021: 3rd Sunday in Advent

Old Testament: Zephaniah 3:14-20
Psalm: Psalm 85
New Testament: Philippians 4:4-9
Gospel: Luke 3:7-20

2020: 3rd Sunday in Advent

Old Testament: Isaiah 65:17-25
Psalm: Psalm 126
New Testament: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28
Gospel: John 3:22-30

December Week 1

Virtue: Humility
Resolution: I choose to honor others above self.

Human Story: Mother Teresa (1910 - 1997)

Shane Claiborne wrote the following after a summer experience in Calcutta:

People often ask me what Mother Teresa was like. Did she glow in the dark or have a halo? She was short, wrinkled, and precious, maybe even a little ornery--like a beautiful, wise old granny.  But there is one thing I will never forget—her feet were deformed. Each morning during Mass, I would stare at those feet. I wondered if Mother Teresa had leprosy. But I wasn’t going to ask, of course. One day a sister asked us, “Have you noticed Mother’s feet? We nodded, curious. She said, “Her feet are deformed because we get just enough donated shoes for everyone, and Mother does not want anyone to get stuck with the worst pair, so she digs through and finds those. Years of wearing bad shoes have deformed her feet.” That is the kind of love that places our neighbors’ needs above our own.

This messenger of God’s love was born on August 27, 1910 in Skopje, Macedonia. She was baptized Anjezë Gonxha. From the day of her First Holy Communion, a love for souls was within her. At the age of eighteen, moved by a desire to become a missionary, Gonxha left her home to join the Sisters of Loreto, in Ireland. There she received the name Sister Mary Teresa after St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Soon after, she departed for Calcutta, India where she would discover her life’s work. Sister Teresa taught at St. Mary’s School for girls in Calcutta for twenty years. In 1946, Mother Teresa received her “inspiration,” her “call within a call” as Jesus’ love for others took hold of her heart and became the driving force in her life. Two years later she dressed in a white, blue bordered sari and passed through the gates of her beloved convent to enter the world of the poor choosing to live in the slums. She visited families, washed the sores of children, cared for an old man lying sick on the road and nursed a woman dying of hunger. She started each day in communion with Jesus and then went out, rosary in her hand, to find and serve Him in “the unwanted, the unloved, the uncared for.”  After some months, she was joined, one by one, by her former students and the Missionaries of Charity was born. 

The whole of Mother Teresa’s life bore witness to the joy of loving. Her actions reflected the greatness and dignity of every human person, the value of little things done faithfully with great love, and the surpassing worth of friendship by God. On September 5, 1997, Mother Teresa’s earthly life came to an end. Fifteen thousand people attended her funeral. Her tomb quickly became a place of pilgrimage and prayer for people of all faiths, rich and poor alike. That same year, Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity numbered nearly 4,000 members and were established in 610 foundations in 123 countries of the world. Mother Teresa left a testament of unshakable faith, invincible hope and extraordinary charity. Her response to Jesus’ plea, “Come be My light,” made her a Missionary of Charity, a “mother to the poor,” a symbol of compassion to the world, and a living witness to the thirsting love of God.  

Humility is the mother of all virtues; purity, charity and obedience. It is in being humble that our love becomes real, devoted and ardent. If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are. If you are blamed you will not be discouraged. If they call you a saint you will not put yourself on a pedestal.  – Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Lesson: Luke 14:7-11 (NIV)

When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: "When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this person your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."

Honor. It is a game humanity has played for ages. We try to gain honor, seeking to be esteemed higher in the eyes of our peers. It is only natural to want others to think highly of us, to be placed on the pedestals of human minds. This was especially so in ancient cultures, much more so than in our world. Honor was more important than life itself. The opposite of honor is shame. When shame came upon an individual or family, it required drastic measures to earn honor back.

Humility is looking to increase the honor of others above the honor of self. Despite humanity’s goal to elevate the self, our text here tells us true honor in the eyes of God is the elevation of the other. Jesus tells us to start low. He tells us right at the beginning, wherever we go, make ourselves the least important person in the room. In 1st century Palestine, when a host would have a party, there was often a “place of honor.”  It would be like the head of the table having an individual sit directly beside them, positioned in a way that those present knew that person was important. It was the most coveted seat. Jesus tells us not to wiggle our way to the front. Stay in the back, behind the scenes, out of view. In doing this, our host will lift us up in His kingdom, which is paradoxical. There may be no earthly fame or recognition, but the consequences of our humble posture will last for eternity.

Remembrance

A prayer for the First Sunday of Advent

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

From the Book of Common Prayer 1976 edition; p. 211

Challenge

Mother Teresa said, “I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them. It was an order. To fail would have been to break the faith.” How can you serve “the unwanted, the unloved, the uncared for?” Ask God to show you one specific way to love and serve others during this Advent season.

Reflection

Look back at the photo of Mother Teresa’s feet. What does this image make you feel? What might it be like to choose the worst shoes over and over again?

 What are practical ways we can make ourselves the least important person in the room? What would change if we tried to do this more often?

Further Growth

2021: 2nd Sunday in Advent

Old Testament: Malachi 3:1-5
Psalm: Psalm 126
New Testament: 1 Corinthians 4:1-21
Gospel: Luke 3:1-6

2020: 2nd Sunday in Advent

Old Testament: Isaiah 40:1-11
Psalm: Psalm 85
New Testament: 2 Peter 3:8-18
Gospel: Mark 1:1-8

December Introduction

December: Humility

Humility – a modest, low, or accurate view of one’s own importance;

Advent is the first season of the Christian church year. Defined, advent means “the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event.” During the Christmas season, we celebrate the arrival of the most notable person in history, Jesus—the Son of God.

If you did not know the story of Jesus, and you relied only on your imagination to picture the arrival of the Son of God, what would you picture? You might think of a grand, mighty display of power, angels, trumpets, and a triumphant entry. You would think of a welcome fit for a king.

As we know, it wasn’t quite like this for Jesus’ arrival. Jesus left all of the comforts of heaven--His home--and stepped into our humanity in the most vulnerable way. He came as an infant. He came with ultimate humility. 

So, the advent we celebrate in December is Jesus. Our notable one, our Savior, arrived with humility. May we show up this month, too. May we arrive in our homes, jobs, celebrations, and even the most ordinary things full of humility.

December: Liturgy

Leader:  Father God, we recognize the power and authority that You alone hold. Thank You for modeling for us how to employ power in a healthy way. You exemplified this through humbly sending Your Son to earth.

People: You must increase; we must decrease.

Leader:  Son of God, we thank You for the model of your incarnation, for coming to live among humanity. We welcome You here today and seek to imitate Your humility.

People: You must increase; we must decrease.

Leader:  Spirit of God, our great Comforter, Your silent, invisible, yet powerful presence is awe-inspiring. We desire to hear Your gentle voice and experience Your peace that passes understanding.

People: You must increase; we must decrease.