Love straight through

Saturday, June 6, 2009
    Commemoration of Ini Kopuria, Founder of the Melanesian Brotherhood, 1945

Meditation:
    And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him.
    —Matthew 26:50 (KJV)

Quotation:
    He said to Judas, when he betrayed Him: “Friend, wherefore art thou come?” Just as if He had said: “Thou hatest me, and art mine enemy, yet I love thee, and am thy friend.” ... As though God in human nature were saying: “I am pure, simple Goodness, and therefore I cannot will or desire or rejoice in, or do or give anything but goodness. If I am to reward thee for thy evil and wickedness, I must do it with goodness, for I am and have nothing else.”
    ... Theologia Germanica [1518], Anonymous, ascribed to Johannes de Francfordia, (1380?-1440) & tr. Susanna Winkworth (1820-1884), published anonymously by Martin Luther, ch. XXXIII (see the book)

Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have embraced me when I have betrayed You.

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Brunner: evading God's Word

Friday, June 5, 2009
    Feast of Boniface (Wynfrith) of Crediton, Archbishop of Mainz, Apostle of Germany, Martyr, 754
 
Meditation:
    Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.
    —Romans 8:33 (NIV)

Quotation:
    The Pauline teaching is the means through which God Himself wants to teach us; Paul’s epistle to the Romans is a letter from God to us, mankind to-day. It remains the great problem of interpretation, hitherto never entirely solved, how to unite these two things: the keen attention to what Paul wanted to say to that Community then, and the search for what God wants to say to us through Paul to-day. In the end, the question is whether the reader will really allow God to speak to him, or whether he evades God by hiding behind “Paul,” behind “the past.”
        ... Emil Brunner (1889-1966), The Letter to the Romans, Philadelphia: Westminister Press, 1959, p. 12 (see the book)

Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You speak to us through Your word.

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Chesterton: escape from an old dilemma

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Meditation:
    “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
    —Romans 3:18 (NIV)

Quotation:
    Certain new theologians dispute original sin, which is the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved. Some followers of the Rev. R. J. Campbell, in their almost too fastidious spirituality, admit divine sinlessness, which they cannot see even in their dreams. But they essentially deny human sin, which they can see in the street. The strongest saints and the strongest sceptics alike took positive evil as the starting-point of their argument. If it be true (as it certainly is) that a man can feel exquisite happiness in skinning a cat, then the religious philosopher can only draw one of two deductions. He must either deny the existence of God, as all atheists do; or he must deny the present union between God and Man, as all Christians do. The new theologians seem to think it a highly rationalistic solution to deny the cat.
    ... Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936), Orthodoxy, London, New York: John Lane Company, 1909, p. 24 (see the book)

Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You must lead us out of our blindness.

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Sadgrove & Wright: making sense

June 3, 2009
    Feast of Edward King, Bishop of Lincoln, Teacher, 1910
    Commemoration of Martyrs of Uganda, 1886 & 1978

Meditation:
    Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
    —Psalm 16:9,10 (NIV)

Quotation:
    The very uniqueness of the Resurrection as a historical event always causes problems when we try to describe it, just as it did for the original writers. Nevertheless, the background to the New Testament is one of expectation of resurrection, and only the historical rising again of Jesus makes sense of the narrative in this context.
    ... Michael Sadgrove (1950- ) & Tom Wright (1948- ), "Jesus Christ the Only Saviour" in Obeying Christ in a Changing World, J. R. W. Stott, ed., Vol. 1: The Lord Christ. London: Collins, 1977, p. 73 (see the book)

Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, in You is our hope of resurrection.

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Owen: tolerance or indifference?

June 2, 2009

Meditation:
    In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.
    -- 2 Thessalonians 3 (NIV)

Quotation:
    If errors must be tolerated, say some, then men may do what they please, without control. No means, it seems, must be used to reclaim them. But is gospel conviction no means? Hath the sword of discipline no edge? Is there no means of instruction in the New Testament established, but a prison and a halter?
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), Of Toleration [1649] (see the book)

Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, teach us to live by Your Gospel.

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Taylor: evening prayer

June 1, 2009
    Feast of Justin, Martyr at Rome, c.165
    Commemoration of Angela de'Merici, Founder of the Institute of St. Ursula, 1540

Meditation:
    The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.
    —Isaiah 9:2 (NIV)

Quotation:
    Visit, I beseech thee, O Lord, this habitation with thy mercy, and me with thy grace and salvation. Let thy holy angels pitch their tents round about and dwell here, that no illusion of the night may abuse me, the spirits of darkness may not come near to hurt me, no evil or sad accident oppress me; and let the eternal Spirit of the Father dwell in my soul and body, filling every corner of my heart with light and grace. Let no deed of darkness overtake me; and let thy blessing, most blessed God, be upon me for ever, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
    ... Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667), Holy Living [1650] (see the book)

Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are filling my life with light.

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Emans: the borrowers

May 31, 2009
    Pentecost

Meditation:
    Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
    Worship the LORD with gladness;
        come before him with joyful songs.
    Know that the LORD is God.
        It is he who made us, and we are his;
        we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
    —Psalm 100:1-3 (NIV)

Quotation:
    With what presumption have we dared to voice
    “Thank You for home (although we hold the deed),
    Our acre, trees, and flowers (ours by choice),
    Our faithful dog and cat (though it’s agreed
    No one can own the latter), each good book
    (A gift, or purchased), all else we foresaw
    That we should cherish, and have made to look
    Ours by possession (nine points of the law).”
 
    With what presumption have we called them ours,
    And even felt unselfish when we shared them—
    When, if the truth be known, they have been Yours
    From the beginning, Lord! You have prepared them
    For us to borrow, using as our own:
    So thank You, Father, for this generous loan.
    ... Elaine V. Emans

Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant us more grateful hearts.

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