On Prayer

I am a man of few words. During an internship at seminary, the church I was at hosted a singing group. There came a time for the head pastor to say a few words. My mentor, the head pastor, looked at me and said, “Time me, I will be five minutes.” I believe it was 12 minutes later he was sitting down. Pastor Joy was good that way. He could not help himself, but it was also natural. Moreover, the congregation appreciated him he could easily do things like that. Frankly, I am the polar opposite. If I said, “I will be five minutes,” to an intern most likely four minutes and thirty seconds later I would be sitting down. There is nothing wrong with either approach, God has made us differently. Sometimes the differences can be bad, it is important to understand why.

And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

Mark 12:40b (ESV)

Here is something different in a bad way. The problem of the Scribes is that they are praying to be heard by others that they may be seen as holy. Who they are praying to is not truly God, although God is the ostensible recipient; in reality they are praying to anyone who can hear. They are praying for social or professional praise, maybe both. To be honest, I have always seen this as a warning. It is to a certain extent, but I, for years, have overreacted to it. There is another point, a way of thinking about prayer.

Bonhoffer’s commentary on the book of Psalms is subtitled, “The Prayer Book of the Bible.” The title itself sets an expectation for what you find inside the book of Psalms. Over the past few years I have made it a point to begin my services with a psalm and the use that psalm as a scaffold for the invocation of the service. It slowly changed the prayer. It also made me rethink exactly how I pray. Not the least of which is it has lengthened my public prayers. Glorifying God in prayer is not a bad thing. The Psalter also has made me more deliberate with my prayers.

We have all heard the prayers, filled with the words “um,” “like,” or “just.” The words we use to fill dead space as our brains process the next words we want to speak. It is a natural consequence of praying off the top of your head. We all do it, maybe you have a different word you like to use. We do it automatically, often without realizing it. The only way to stop it is to practice or have notes. This is where I misread the Bible, I read too much meaning into the verse above.

Today, I take time to write out the prayers that I open and close a service. I do it to improve how I pray, to add a better focus, vary my vocabulary, to not miss something. It never precludes adding a line, but it sets out how I pray. Especially in the invocation, a written prayer can set the heart towards God in a better way. It is one of the lessons of Psalms.

Great Father, who has made this wondrous world with all its diversity, help us to pray. Let your Holy Spirit move among us and open our eyes to see clearly the great wisdom you have given us in your Word. Amen.

Pic rPhoto by Timothy Eberly on Unsplash

What Should I Share?

The other day I came across this great quote from a post about evangelism. Paul Levy was not writing about big evangelistic events, but rather everyday church members reaching normal people. Nothing special in design, nothing complicated, no organized event; just people interacting with people. He made the following statement.

Biblical hospitality is not a case of “best for the guests” but “Would you like to share in what I’m having?”

Three Questions for Evangelism

Much like Jesus pulling the disciples away to walk alongside him, our hospitality is about having people alongside us. In effect hospitality is part of our evangelism or discipleship. Our personal evangelism is often about living a Christian life before others. It is about letting them see how faith shapes our lives for the better. Today this is hard for several reasons. The pandemic is demanding us to be separate. Our culture imbues hospitality with the expectation of imitations from Martha Stewart’s over the top to Marie Kondo’s minimalism. The vast majority of people do not reflect either view, at least for any length of time. It is better to be honest. The imperfections in life are real for everyone, and seeing a Christian deal with them will do as much for the gospel as a finely polished preacher. Therefore, simple hospitality is more honest, and demonstrates how faith is lived out for normal people.

The first steps of evangelism are with everyday people. Every little thing we do matters. I have seen many times in my life where someone has told me that what I said greatly impacted them. The only problem is that I do not remember it being a real gem of wisdom. This is the Holy Spirit at work in my life. I am sure that many others see this as well. If little things we say can, and they do, have an outsized impact on the life of others, we need to share our lives more. Which brings us back to the quote. We should share our everyday life. What is good for us should also be good for others. Now this would not preclude anyone from holding a proper “tea party“, but such things are never required nor should they be the only way you invite people into your home.

All this implies that the world’s definitions are merely an attempt to undo what God has ordained. The idea of perfection in hospitality, both makes us less relatable and less likely to invite someone over. God uses us in all parts of our lives. Some of the best times of spiritual formation was when I was invited over to a deacon’s house. I help him repair his car, his skills were most unimpressive and mine are not much better. The coffee we had was in a house that was rather messy, but his life on display was a better help to me in hard times. Hospitality is indeed about what is right now and it works. I know personally.

Father in Heaven, open our eyes to see those around us as you see them. Inspire in our hearts a desire to welcome people in and share your blessings with them. Open our minds to see past cultural expectations to realize our ability to love others as Jesus loved us. Let our very work be used by you to grow your kingdom here on Earth. Amen

Photo by Kyle Nieber on Unsplash

Big Thanksgiving

This is a repost of an article published in the Last Mountain Times and the Wynyard Advance/Gazette.

We live in a world of easy fulfillment. A world where, if you look long enough, you are likely to find anything you want, or possibly someone to make it for you. A world where, if we really do not want to go shopping, you can have it delivered to your door; sometimes even for free. Always getting things so easily makes us feel entitled to getting our own way. In the process, human interactions are cut out and life continues on. We become the main character in the grand story of me. A story that is not in demand and which undermines the very communities we live in. Our culture has a break on this.

It is Thanksgiving. A day to remember that we are part of something bigger than us and to be thankful for our place in it. We should be thankful for our families. Thankful, we are part of our local communities, which we need to live. We ought to give thanks for Canada. While everyone has some complaints about this nation, it does well overall. Thankfulness comes also in recognizing that life is going well. These are larger gifts of God to us. God created the wonderful world that we live in. I am also thankful that Jesus came to earth as well. All of this helps us to realize that we are part of something more than us. Thanksgiving is good for our communities. God bless you this Thanksgiving.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

An ‘Authentic’ Chain

I do not believe that God does things randomly or haphazardly. From time to time I notice that different people come together to make statements that coordinate and build upon each other. Here is a triad for today.

The world is obsessed with what is ‘authentic’. In our culture, it is synonymous with truth, but it has problems.This is where I appreciate Mark Loughridge’s reflection on being ‘authentic’. The following quote distills much of how the word is used. Don’t just read the quote the rest of the post is great as well.

Obviously I believe in being honest and genuine, but often ‘authenticity’ is less about being honest and more a justification for doing what we want despite the needs of others around us. It is the great whitewash agent of the 21st century, used to excuse much.

Don’t be ‘authentic’

The worst part of ‘authenticity’ is how it is driven electronically. We trust that a computer will find what we need and give it too us. The trouble is that the computers never give us what we need, but what we are thinking. The computers never ask if it is fleeting or foundational. It is a sobering post to read, but it is important to understand.

An algorithm promises to serve us, but in reality, it exists to serve itself. God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to save us from our sin and restore our relationship with him for eternity. Our algorithm may know us intimately, but it doesn’t love us like that. It will never sacrifice for us.

The Insidious, Fake Intimacy of Algorithms

One final point is that all this talk of ‘authenticity’ seems to be too narrow. It focuses on the self and merely the self. The relationships that we are part of do not seem to be of any consideration. Moreover, the way we are growing does not merit discussion. There is always a bigger picture.

Stepping back from my painting was a reminder that in my own life all I see is one small section of the picture God is painting. I need to step back from time to time to see it from a different angle. To get a new perspective. To see my life in light of the greater work of redemption God is doing in my life. To see it in light of eternity.

A Bigger Perspective

Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash