Fifth Sunday Of Easter
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VI, Cycle A
COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: Acts 7:55-60 (C)
There can be no more inspiring example of faithfulness to one's faith than that of Stephen. But in the eyes of the listeners, he was committing blasphemy, a sin punishable by death. In truth, this was a lynching inasmuch as the people had no authority to do what they did. But they did it anyway. As for Stephen, he was obviously ready to face his own death, else he would have held his tongue. In the process of his execution, he saw a vision of Jesus standing at the "right hand of God." That did it. They saw Stephen as uttering an intolerable blasphemy, since none of them saw what Stephen claimed. So, holding their ears, they rushed at Stephen and put him to death.
I assume that what Stephen saw was not something visible to the eye, but rather was an inner assurance that Jesus and God were with him through his trial. Because of this inner assurance, he was supplied with courage, strong faith of such strength as to be able to forgive those who abused him, and at the last, peace.
Lesson 1: Acts 17:1-15 (E)
Those people really took their religion seriously in those days. So much violence, such closed minds. Here Paul and his friends wish to tell the Jesus story, coming in peace and good wishes for their listeners. Yet everywhere they go there seem to be violent people wanting to shut them up. It is probable that Americans of the twentieth century will never be able to understand fully the role that religion plays in ethnic culture within the Middle East and in places like India. We see it today, the wife who was burned to death by her husband according to custom in India, because he thought she was having an affair. The young couple who were recently stoned to death while trying to make their way out of an Arab country so they could live without having to obey oppressive Muslim laws. The recent act of a Muslim father in Iran who severed the head of his four-year-old daughter when he learned he was unable to father children, thereby becoming suspicious of his wife. Such examples of inhumanity and religious hostility are simply foreign to all but the very most fanatic among us. Frankly, this is not a passage I would ever use for a sermon, but if I had to, I would focus on how unpalatable any religion becomes when it is backed up by such monstrous conduct. I fear there are "Christians" among us whose fanaticism and utter closedness of mind do drive others away from Jesus. I'm inclined to evaluate another person's version of the faith by how that person treats me. If the treatment is not respectful, peaceful, and loving, it will make that person appear to me like something other than a Christian.
Lesson 1: Acts 6:1-7 (RC)
Stephen and six other men are chosen to oversee the charitable works of the growing Christian community. Two points stand out in this passage. One, the number of people identified with the Christian community was growing and role specialization was becoming necessary. A rough counterpart is to be seen in today's churches, the ones which are growing, in which staff members must be added. Two, a characteristic of a faithful Christian community is ministry to the needy.
Lesson 2: 1 Peter 2:2-10 (C); 1 Peter 2:4-9 (RC); 1 Peter 2:1-10 (E)
Peter uses some mixed metaphors to make his point. First, we are to be like newborn infants in the sense of innocence, receiving the gospel in minds no longer sullied by malice and guile. Then we are to become like building stones with which God can build us into a spiritual house, even though we will encounter rejection by some people who are important to us. As for them, the cornerstone (Jesus) will make the spiritual house stand for those who become such stones. For those who hear, but refuse, he will be a cause for their stumbling. Then Peter writes his most famous description of the people of the faith: they are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood." Their calling is to lead others out of darkness into the light by proclaiming the mighty acts of God. We, reading this, are to be like newborn babes, like building stones, then priests.
Gospel: John 14:1-14 (C, E); John 14:1-12 (RC)
This is a favorite passage for preaching, especially sermons or meditations for funeral services. "Do not let your hearts be troubled." Jesus promises that after his death (which he doesn't quite refer to with that word) he will prepare a place for his friends, then return for them. Then Thomas, who it would appear was kind of the resident cynic, told Jesus he didn't think they quite understood. At this point, Jesus is quoted as saying something which I for one cannot believe Jesus said. Or possibly, if he said it, his words have been misunderstood. He said no one can draw near to "the Father" except through Jesus. (See sermon below.) Then Jesus explains that he and the Father are intertwined, that if one knows Christ, one therefore also knows God. I'm reminded of Dr. Weatherhead's analogy of the ocean in a teacup. One can fill the cup from the ocean, taste it and learn how the ocean tastes, have it analyzed at the local chem lab and discover its chemical composition. One can hold it up to the sunlight and see exactly what it looks like. But one cannot know the enormous powers of the ocean, its plunging depths, its violent midnight storms, the incredible, crushing pressure of its depths, the creatures of the deep for whom it is home. So with Jesus and God.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: "Standing Fast At A Difficult Time"
Text: Acts 7:55-60
Theme: Stephen's faithfulness in the face of dire threat stands as a rarely paralleled example of moral steadfastness. It's hard to imagine oneself stating one's faith quite so boldly in the face of such a danger. A little equivocation on Stephen's part and he probably would have gotten off with some survivable punishment, perhaps with nothing more than a good tongue-lashing.
Such reasoning often appeals when our faith is tested. Not many of us have or will ever face quite the test which confronted Stephen. But in lesser ways, every one of us finds ourselves tested in one way or another. The businessman who sees an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage by some small misrepresentation; the attorney who could, with a brief phone call, settle a case, but sees the opportunity to delay for two or three months and triple a fee; the physician who is approached by a needful patient with extremely limited resources; the workman who bills another for his time and realizes no one has watched the clock; the clergyman who uses another man's written sermon. I know of a case of the latter. A young man had "borrowed" a sermon while attending morning worship in a well-known church, preached it in his own church, then made the silly mistake of inviting the more well-known originator of the sermon to preach for him, who then unknowingly preached the same sermon to the young man's parishioners.
1. Stephen learned that when we are willing to remain faithful, God gives us courage. Doing what you know is right when the opportunity to have cheated safely was there has a way of reassuring the Christian of the wisdom of integrity.
2. Stephen learned that when we are willing to remain faithful, our faith is increased. I have a physician friend whose income is probably half that of his professional peers, because he frequently cares for people who are unable to pay. I recently heard him bear witness in a public setting to the deepening of his faith which has taken place in recent years. He is a very happy man.
3. Stephen learned that when we are willing to remain faithful, God gives us peace. An ancient proverb holds that "virtue is its own reward." I think that proverb correctly means there's something good that happens to us inside when we do what we know is right. As one grows older, one's view of oneself is shaped, more than anything else, by what we know about ourselves.
Title: "This Priesthood Of Ours"
Text: 1 Peter 2:1-10
Theme: This calls for a sermon on the Church. A friend of mine went to Washington, D.C., to visit Gordon Cosby, founder of The Church of the Savior. This was some thirty or more years ago. That church had become the prototype of a new-type congregation, one which emphasized intimacy together with service to others on the part of every member. My friend asked Cosby what, if he were preaching henceforth in some other church, he would preach about. Without hesitation, Cosby said, "I would preach on the church again, and again, and again."
1. We in the Church are called to be priests. Obviously, I don't use the word in the sense of ordained clergy. A priest is one who mediates the love of God to another person, doing so with no thought of personal gain. We can do this in many ways, according to the gifts God has given us. We might listen to a troubled person. No higher value can be placed on another than to listen and hear his or her story. Listening, truly listening, is a fine form of ministry. We might help a new family in town make friends, or teach a young child about the love of God by showing that love. There are many ways to mediate God's love.
2. As priests, we are to live a certain kind of life. We clergy have all entered spirited debates about the question of whether ordained clergy ought to be judged by a different, higher standard than that applied to others. There can really only be one answer. When we were called to preach the word of God we were called to exemplify the word of God. When anyone, ordained or not, is willing to be a priest as Peter used the word, that person accepts the highest moral standards as those by which his or her life is to be measured.
3. As priests, we are to build up the church. The reality is that, with very few exceptions, churches have many faults and inadequacies. This is not a put-down; it's a fact known to all churchgoers. Few churches can afford really good soloists for their choir and must credit Aunt Mary or brother Charlie for their gallant efforts in this regard. There are some good preachers out there, but most preachers are trying to convey the ultimate truths of the faith, even though their public speaking talents or their abilities at composition and logic are modest. It isn't always easy to channel surf, hearing an occasional stem-winder preacher or a grand massed choir, then go to the church on the corner. One book on church growth has a chapter titled: "If you can't have Robert Schuller, try to be happy with old what's-his-name." The church already has more than enough critics and faultfinders. What the church needs is good-spirited, positive, faithful members who do what they can to build up the congregation.
Title: "Jesus The Way"
Text: John 14:6
Theme: I cannot believe a small child, living on the poverty-stricken streets of a distant city like New Delhi or Hong Kong, destined to die of starvation while still a child, having never learned of Jesus Christ, would be turned away by God for not being a Christian. To believe that seems a sacrilege to me. If God is a God of love and makes no distinctions among us as his children, then there must be a just place for other religions. I have become convinced that if Jesus said the words charged to him: "No one goes to the Father except by me," he meant something different from the interpretation placed on those words by a few extremely conservative people. Furthermore, I must apply the same reasoning to the individual who has encountered the hateful approach to the Christian faith one sometimes hears, and thus has turned away from a very unloving interpretation of that faith.
While in seminary, I served a small Methodist church as a student pastor in a small midwestern town. A few blocks away was a church which held several weeknight services, and I have heard the preacher, perspiration on his face, pounding the pulpit, and declaring the most fearsome kind of theology I have ever heard. If someone decided Christianity "is not for me" after hearing that, I am convinced Jesus, if here, would say, "Me either."
Having said the above, I can now say I believe Jesus did mean what those words say. The explanation lies in the use of the word "Father." Jesus did not say that no one can have a saving relationship with God except by him. He said no one could know God as "Father," except by him. For me, there's the crucial difference.
1. Jesus is the Way. That is, through the life of Jesus, and through his teachings, we discover the nature of God. By using the parental figure, Jesus drew upon a familiar relationship by which there could be quick recognition. We know that a father's role in a family was quite different then from now, but I surmise that Jesus was relating the affection a happy child receives from a loving dad to the even more loving affection God has for us. It is this personal, intimate, affectionate dimension to the divine being which was unknown until revealed in Jesus.
2. Jesus is the Truth. So far as I know, the other religions of the world depend on the writings of scholars or revered religious leaders for their understanding of the nature of God. It is from the words of Jesus that we understand God's will for us, and that we learn the glorious promises he holds out to us. When Jesus said, "Do not be worried and upset," we can believe the truth of that assurance, because we can test it through our own prayer and worship life. In Jesus is to be seen the nature of God, and when Jesus says "I am telling you the truth" something deep inside us believes this.
3. Jesus is the Life. Jesus said, "I will do whatever you ask for in my name," and thus informed us of the many powers at our disposal beyond our own. At moments when our courage fails us, Jesus (or now we can say the Holy Spirit) renews our courage. When pain seems unbearable, the Spirit empowers us and we win through. When uncertainty threatens an important work, a quiet few minutes spent being open to the Spirit guides us in the right path. So, life is abundant, joy-filled, because Jesus has informed us of the presence of the loving God. Humankind has always been in touch with God. Jesus revealed the nature of God. No one can know that nature, that loving Fatherhood, except by him.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
A friend of mine, a woman I have known for many years, attended a fine Methodist church through her growing up years and through the early years of her marriage. The preacher was a gifted speaker, and my friend always looked forward to worship on Sunday. One day word leaked out that the preacher had been involved in an affair. Shortly thereafter, it was announced that he was leaving his wife and was moving to another state along with his secretary. My friend has never, so far as I know, attended a church again. She was so totally disillusioned she never recovered. That may not speak well for her, but it shows what a priest, ordained or not, can do to others when he or she betrays the standards of the faith.
____________
Keith Miller, a highly successful Christian insurance man, wrote in his book The Taste of New Wine about the time he pulled his car off to the side of the road and did what he'd known for some time he must eventually do. He gave his life to Christ. He pledged to God that he would do from now on whatever he felt God directing him to do. He'd been miserable for some time. Despite success in nearly everything he tried, life simply wasn't the kind of joyful existence he knew Jesus promised. Then he wrote this: "Something came into my life that day which has never left. There wasn't any ringing of bells, or flashing of lights, or visions. But it was a deep, intuitive realization of what it is God wants from a person which I had never known before. And the peace which came with this understanding was not an experience in itself, but was, rather, the cessation of the conflict of a lifetime. I realized then that God does not want our money, nor primarily our time. He wants our will. And if you give him your will, he'll begin to show you life as you've never seen it before. As I sat there, I continued to cry, only now the tears were a release from a lifetime of being bound by myself, of the terrific drive to prove that I am something, what I have never quite understood. Although I could not understand or articulate for many months what had happened to me, I knew in the core of my life I had made personal contact with the very meaning of life."
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16 (C) -- Thou hast set me at liberty.
Psalm 33:1-11 (RC) -- A praise psalm is fitting for the upright.
Psalm 66:1-11 (E) -- A psalm of personal thanksgiving.
Prayer Of The Day
God of love, source of strength, giver of new life, there are many of us who come to thee bearing guilt for failures past. I have left undone good works which might have made an important difference for someone else. My poverty of faith weighs heavily upon me. Yet through Jesus I have learned that there is still time, still opportunity to become what you would have me be. Empower me, then, to become that person. In Christ's holy name. Amen.
Lesson 1: Acts 7:55-60 (C)
There can be no more inspiring example of faithfulness to one's faith than that of Stephen. But in the eyes of the listeners, he was committing blasphemy, a sin punishable by death. In truth, this was a lynching inasmuch as the people had no authority to do what they did. But they did it anyway. As for Stephen, he was obviously ready to face his own death, else he would have held his tongue. In the process of his execution, he saw a vision of Jesus standing at the "right hand of God." That did it. They saw Stephen as uttering an intolerable blasphemy, since none of them saw what Stephen claimed. So, holding their ears, they rushed at Stephen and put him to death.
I assume that what Stephen saw was not something visible to the eye, but rather was an inner assurance that Jesus and God were with him through his trial. Because of this inner assurance, he was supplied with courage, strong faith of such strength as to be able to forgive those who abused him, and at the last, peace.
Lesson 1: Acts 17:1-15 (E)
Those people really took their religion seriously in those days. So much violence, such closed minds. Here Paul and his friends wish to tell the Jesus story, coming in peace and good wishes for their listeners. Yet everywhere they go there seem to be violent people wanting to shut them up. It is probable that Americans of the twentieth century will never be able to understand fully the role that religion plays in ethnic culture within the Middle East and in places like India. We see it today, the wife who was burned to death by her husband according to custom in India, because he thought she was having an affair. The young couple who were recently stoned to death while trying to make their way out of an Arab country so they could live without having to obey oppressive Muslim laws. The recent act of a Muslim father in Iran who severed the head of his four-year-old daughter when he learned he was unable to father children, thereby becoming suspicious of his wife. Such examples of inhumanity and religious hostility are simply foreign to all but the very most fanatic among us. Frankly, this is not a passage I would ever use for a sermon, but if I had to, I would focus on how unpalatable any religion becomes when it is backed up by such monstrous conduct. I fear there are "Christians" among us whose fanaticism and utter closedness of mind do drive others away from Jesus. I'm inclined to evaluate another person's version of the faith by how that person treats me. If the treatment is not respectful, peaceful, and loving, it will make that person appear to me like something other than a Christian.
Lesson 1: Acts 6:1-7 (RC)
Stephen and six other men are chosen to oversee the charitable works of the growing Christian community. Two points stand out in this passage. One, the number of people identified with the Christian community was growing and role specialization was becoming necessary. A rough counterpart is to be seen in today's churches, the ones which are growing, in which staff members must be added. Two, a characteristic of a faithful Christian community is ministry to the needy.
Lesson 2: 1 Peter 2:2-10 (C); 1 Peter 2:4-9 (RC); 1 Peter 2:1-10 (E)
Peter uses some mixed metaphors to make his point. First, we are to be like newborn infants in the sense of innocence, receiving the gospel in minds no longer sullied by malice and guile. Then we are to become like building stones with which God can build us into a spiritual house, even though we will encounter rejection by some people who are important to us. As for them, the cornerstone (Jesus) will make the spiritual house stand for those who become such stones. For those who hear, but refuse, he will be a cause for their stumbling. Then Peter writes his most famous description of the people of the faith: they are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood." Their calling is to lead others out of darkness into the light by proclaiming the mighty acts of God. We, reading this, are to be like newborn babes, like building stones, then priests.
Gospel: John 14:1-14 (C, E); John 14:1-12 (RC)
This is a favorite passage for preaching, especially sermons or meditations for funeral services. "Do not let your hearts be troubled." Jesus promises that after his death (which he doesn't quite refer to with that word) he will prepare a place for his friends, then return for them. Then Thomas, who it would appear was kind of the resident cynic, told Jesus he didn't think they quite understood. At this point, Jesus is quoted as saying something which I for one cannot believe Jesus said. Or possibly, if he said it, his words have been misunderstood. He said no one can draw near to "the Father" except through Jesus. (See sermon below.) Then Jesus explains that he and the Father are intertwined, that if one knows Christ, one therefore also knows God. I'm reminded of Dr. Weatherhead's analogy of the ocean in a teacup. One can fill the cup from the ocean, taste it and learn how the ocean tastes, have it analyzed at the local chem lab and discover its chemical composition. One can hold it up to the sunlight and see exactly what it looks like. But one cannot know the enormous powers of the ocean, its plunging depths, its violent midnight storms, the incredible, crushing pressure of its depths, the creatures of the deep for whom it is home. So with Jesus and God.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: "Standing Fast At A Difficult Time"
Text: Acts 7:55-60
Theme: Stephen's faithfulness in the face of dire threat stands as a rarely paralleled example of moral steadfastness. It's hard to imagine oneself stating one's faith quite so boldly in the face of such a danger. A little equivocation on Stephen's part and he probably would have gotten off with some survivable punishment, perhaps with nothing more than a good tongue-lashing.
Such reasoning often appeals when our faith is tested. Not many of us have or will ever face quite the test which confronted Stephen. But in lesser ways, every one of us finds ourselves tested in one way or another. The businessman who sees an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage by some small misrepresentation; the attorney who could, with a brief phone call, settle a case, but sees the opportunity to delay for two or three months and triple a fee; the physician who is approached by a needful patient with extremely limited resources; the workman who bills another for his time and realizes no one has watched the clock; the clergyman who uses another man's written sermon. I know of a case of the latter. A young man had "borrowed" a sermon while attending morning worship in a well-known church, preached it in his own church, then made the silly mistake of inviting the more well-known originator of the sermon to preach for him, who then unknowingly preached the same sermon to the young man's parishioners.
1. Stephen learned that when we are willing to remain faithful, God gives us courage. Doing what you know is right when the opportunity to have cheated safely was there has a way of reassuring the Christian of the wisdom of integrity.
2. Stephen learned that when we are willing to remain faithful, our faith is increased. I have a physician friend whose income is probably half that of his professional peers, because he frequently cares for people who are unable to pay. I recently heard him bear witness in a public setting to the deepening of his faith which has taken place in recent years. He is a very happy man.
3. Stephen learned that when we are willing to remain faithful, God gives us peace. An ancient proverb holds that "virtue is its own reward." I think that proverb correctly means there's something good that happens to us inside when we do what we know is right. As one grows older, one's view of oneself is shaped, more than anything else, by what we know about ourselves.
Title: "This Priesthood Of Ours"
Text: 1 Peter 2:1-10
Theme: This calls for a sermon on the Church. A friend of mine went to Washington, D.C., to visit Gordon Cosby, founder of The Church of the Savior. This was some thirty or more years ago. That church had become the prototype of a new-type congregation, one which emphasized intimacy together with service to others on the part of every member. My friend asked Cosby what, if he were preaching henceforth in some other church, he would preach about. Without hesitation, Cosby said, "I would preach on the church again, and again, and again."
1. We in the Church are called to be priests. Obviously, I don't use the word in the sense of ordained clergy. A priest is one who mediates the love of God to another person, doing so with no thought of personal gain. We can do this in many ways, according to the gifts God has given us. We might listen to a troubled person. No higher value can be placed on another than to listen and hear his or her story. Listening, truly listening, is a fine form of ministry. We might help a new family in town make friends, or teach a young child about the love of God by showing that love. There are many ways to mediate God's love.
2. As priests, we are to live a certain kind of life. We clergy have all entered spirited debates about the question of whether ordained clergy ought to be judged by a different, higher standard than that applied to others. There can really only be one answer. When we were called to preach the word of God we were called to exemplify the word of God. When anyone, ordained or not, is willing to be a priest as Peter used the word, that person accepts the highest moral standards as those by which his or her life is to be measured.
3. As priests, we are to build up the church. The reality is that, with very few exceptions, churches have many faults and inadequacies. This is not a put-down; it's a fact known to all churchgoers. Few churches can afford really good soloists for their choir and must credit Aunt Mary or brother Charlie for their gallant efforts in this regard. There are some good preachers out there, but most preachers are trying to convey the ultimate truths of the faith, even though their public speaking talents or their abilities at composition and logic are modest. It isn't always easy to channel surf, hearing an occasional stem-winder preacher or a grand massed choir, then go to the church on the corner. One book on church growth has a chapter titled: "If you can't have Robert Schuller, try to be happy with old what's-his-name." The church already has more than enough critics and faultfinders. What the church needs is good-spirited, positive, faithful members who do what they can to build up the congregation.
Title: "Jesus The Way"
Text: John 14:6
Theme: I cannot believe a small child, living on the poverty-stricken streets of a distant city like New Delhi or Hong Kong, destined to die of starvation while still a child, having never learned of Jesus Christ, would be turned away by God for not being a Christian. To believe that seems a sacrilege to me. If God is a God of love and makes no distinctions among us as his children, then there must be a just place for other religions. I have become convinced that if Jesus said the words charged to him: "No one goes to the Father except by me," he meant something different from the interpretation placed on those words by a few extremely conservative people. Furthermore, I must apply the same reasoning to the individual who has encountered the hateful approach to the Christian faith one sometimes hears, and thus has turned away from a very unloving interpretation of that faith.
While in seminary, I served a small Methodist church as a student pastor in a small midwestern town. A few blocks away was a church which held several weeknight services, and I have heard the preacher, perspiration on his face, pounding the pulpit, and declaring the most fearsome kind of theology I have ever heard. If someone decided Christianity "is not for me" after hearing that, I am convinced Jesus, if here, would say, "Me either."
Having said the above, I can now say I believe Jesus did mean what those words say. The explanation lies in the use of the word "Father." Jesus did not say that no one can have a saving relationship with God except by him. He said no one could know God as "Father," except by him. For me, there's the crucial difference.
1. Jesus is the Way. That is, through the life of Jesus, and through his teachings, we discover the nature of God. By using the parental figure, Jesus drew upon a familiar relationship by which there could be quick recognition. We know that a father's role in a family was quite different then from now, but I surmise that Jesus was relating the affection a happy child receives from a loving dad to the even more loving affection God has for us. It is this personal, intimate, affectionate dimension to the divine being which was unknown until revealed in Jesus.
2. Jesus is the Truth. So far as I know, the other religions of the world depend on the writings of scholars or revered religious leaders for their understanding of the nature of God. It is from the words of Jesus that we understand God's will for us, and that we learn the glorious promises he holds out to us. When Jesus said, "Do not be worried and upset," we can believe the truth of that assurance, because we can test it through our own prayer and worship life. In Jesus is to be seen the nature of God, and when Jesus says "I am telling you the truth" something deep inside us believes this.
3. Jesus is the Life. Jesus said, "I will do whatever you ask for in my name," and thus informed us of the many powers at our disposal beyond our own. At moments when our courage fails us, Jesus (or now we can say the Holy Spirit) renews our courage. When pain seems unbearable, the Spirit empowers us and we win through. When uncertainty threatens an important work, a quiet few minutes spent being open to the Spirit guides us in the right path. So, life is abundant, joy-filled, because Jesus has informed us of the presence of the loving God. Humankind has always been in touch with God. Jesus revealed the nature of God. No one can know that nature, that loving Fatherhood, except by him.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
A friend of mine, a woman I have known for many years, attended a fine Methodist church through her growing up years and through the early years of her marriage. The preacher was a gifted speaker, and my friend always looked forward to worship on Sunday. One day word leaked out that the preacher had been involved in an affair. Shortly thereafter, it was announced that he was leaving his wife and was moving to another state along with his secretary. My friend has never, so far as I know, attended a church again. She was so totally disillusioned she never recovered. That may not speak well for her, but it shows what a priest, ordained or not, can do to others when he or she betrays the standards of the faith.
____________
Keith Miller, a highly successful Christian insurance man, wrote in his book The Taste of New Wine about the time he pulled his car off to the side of the road and did what he'd known for some time he must eventually do. He gave his life to Christ. He pledged to God that he would do from now on whatever he felt God directing him to do. He'd been miserable for some time. Despite success in nearly everything he tried, life simply wasn't the kind of joyful existence he knew Jesus promised. Then he wrote this: "Something came into my life that day which has never left. There wasn't any ringing of bells, or flashing of lights, or visions. But it was a deep, intuitive realization of what it is God wants from a person which I had never known before. And the peace which came with this understanding was not an experience in itself, but was, rather, the cessation of the conflict of a lifetime. I realized then that God does not want our money, nor primarily our time. He wants our will. And if you give him your will, he'll begin to show you life as you've never seen it before. As I sat there, I continued to cry, only now the tears were a release from a lifetime of being bound by myself, of the terrific drive to prove that I am something, what I have never quite understood. Although I could not understand or articulate for many months what had happened to me, I knew in the core of my life I had made personal contact with the very meaning of life."
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16 (C) -- Thou hast set me at liberty.
Psalm 33:1-11 (RC) -- A praise psalm is fitting for the upright.
Psalm 66:1-11 (E) -- A psalm of personal thanksgiving.
Prayer Of The Day
God of love, source of strength, giver of new life, there are many of us who come to thee bearing guilt for failures past. I have left undone good works which might have made an important difference for someone else. My poverty of faith weighs heavily upon me. Yet through Jesus I have learned that there is still time, still opportunity to become what you would have me be. Empower me, then, to become that person. In Christ's holy name. Amen.
