Barth: My kindness shall not depart

Saturday, June 17, 2017
    Commemoration of Samuel & Henrietta Barnett, Social Reformers, 1913 & 1936
Meditation:
    “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
    —Isaiah 54:10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Only one thing is quite certain: [the successful man in worldly affairs] too has his time and not more than his time. One day others will come who will do the same things better. And some day he will have been completely forgotten—even if he should have built the pyramids or the St. Gotthard tunnel or invented atomic fission. And one thing is even more certain: whether the achievement of a man’s life is great or small, significant or insignificant—he will one day stand before his eternal judge, and everything that he has done and performed will be no more than a mole hill, and then he will have nothing better to do than hope for something he has not earned: not for a crown, but quite simply for gracious judgment which he has not deserved. That is the only thing that will count then, achievement or not. “My kindness shall not depart from you.” By this man lives. By this alone can he live.
    ... Karl Barth (1886-1968), Call for God, NY: Harper & Row, 1967, p. 16 (see the book)
    See also Isa. 54:10; Ps. 46:1-2; 121; Isa. 51:6-7; Matt. 24:35; 2 Pet. 3:10-13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, my hope is in You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Lloyd: the Gospel in plain language

Friday, June 16, 2017
    Feast of Richard of Chichester, Bishop, 1253
    Commemoration of Joseph Butler, Bishop of Durham, Moral Philosopher, 1752
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’”
    —Matthew 11:16-17 (ESV)
Quotation:
    At no point does the Gospel encourage us to believe that every man will hearken to it, charm we never so wisely. The prophets, for all their passionate sincerity, for all their courageous simplifyings of the Gospel, will meet many deaf adders who stop their ears. We must reckon with this certain fact, and refuse to be daunted by it. But also there comes a point where accommodation can go no further. It is the Gospel we have to present, however we do it. We cannot hope to do it unless we walk humbly with the modern man, as well as with God, unless we are much more eager to learn from him and about him, than to instruct him. God help us, it is all very difficult. But was there ever a task better worth trying to do, or one in which, whether we fail or succeed, we more surely find our freedom?
    ... Roger Lloyd (1901-1966), The Ferment in the Church, London: SCM Press, 1964, p. 121 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 11:15-17; Ps. 58:4; Isa. 6:9-10; Mic. 6:8; Matt. 11:20; John 6:63
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, do not let me stray from presenting Your Gospel. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Underhill: entering into difficulty

Thursday, June 15, 2017
    Feast of Evelyn Underhill, Mystical Writer, 1941
Meditation:
    In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
    —1 John 4:9-10 (ESV)
Quotation:
    The spiritual life is a stern choice. It is not a consoling retreat from the difficulties of existence, but an invitation to enter fully into that difficult existence, and there apply the Charity of God and bear the cost.
    ... Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), The School of Charity, New York: Longmans, Green, 1934, reprinted, Morehouse Publishing, 1991, p. 6 (see the book)
    See also John 14:21; 15:13; Rom. 5:8; Eph. 1:7-8; 1 Tim. 1:16; 1 John 3:1; 4:8-10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, remove my impulse to retreat, and show me how to engage with the world. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Baxter: Ye holy angels bright

Wednesday, June 14, 2017
    Commemoration of Richard Baxter, Priest, Hymnographer, Teacher, 1691
Meditation:
    Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.
    —Psalm 47:1 (NIV)
Quotation:
Ye holy angels bright,
Who wait at God’s right hand,
Or through the realms of light
Fly at your Lord’s command,
    Assist our song;
    For else the theme
    Too high doth seem
    For mortal tongue.

Ye blessed souls at rest,
Who ran this earthly race,
And now, from sin released,
Behold the Saviour’s face,
    God’s praises sound,
    As in his sight,
    With sweet delight,
    Ye do abound.

Ye saints, who toil below,
Adore your heavenly King.
And onward as ye go
Some joyful anthem sing;
    Take what he gives
    And praise him still,
    Through good or ill,
    Who ever lives!

My soul, bear thou thy part,
Triumph in God above:
And with a well-tuned heart
Sing thou the songs of love!
    Let all thy days
    Till life shall end,
    Whate’er he send,
    Be filled with praise.
    ... Richard Baxter (1615-1691), The Poor Man’s Family Book, in The Practical Works of Richard Baxter, v. IV, G. Virtue, 1838, p. 288 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 47; 66:1-4; 100; 2 Tim. 4:7; Heb. 12:1-2
Quiet time reflection:
    Amen!

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Chesterton: the universal relevance

Tuesday, June 13, 2017
    Commemoration of Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Apologist and Writer, 1936
Meditation:
    And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
    —Ephesians 1:22-23 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If Christianity should happen to be true—that is to say, if its God is the real God of the universe—then defending it may mean talking about anything and everything. Things can be irrelevant to the proposition that Christianity is false, but nothing can be irrelevant to the proposition that Christianity is true. [All] things not only may have something to do with the Christian God, but must have something to do with Him if He lives and reigns.
    ... Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936), Wisdom and Innocence: A Life of G. K. Chesterton, Joseph Pearce, Ignatius Press, 1997, p. 80 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 1:22-23; Matt. 28:18; 1 Cor. 15:25-27; 2 Pet. 1:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are present in my heart. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Lewis: the light of Christ

Monday, June 12, 2017
Meditation:
    When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
    —John 8:12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), “Is Theology Poetry?”, in They Asked for a Paper, London: Geoffrey Bles, 1962, p. 165 (see the book)
    See also John 8:12; Isa. 9:2; Luke 2:30-32; John 1:1-5; 12:35-36; Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 4:6; Eph. 5:13-14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are my light. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Lawrence: confidence in God

Sunday, June 11, 2017
    Trinity Sunday
    Feast of Barnabas the Apostle
Meditation:
    Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
    —Romans 8:1-2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Accustom yourself then by degrees thus to worship Him, to beg His grace, to offer Him your heart from time to time, in the midst of your business, even every moment, if you can. Do not always scrupulously confine yourself to certain rules, or particular forms of devotion, but act with a general confidence in God, with love and humility.
    ... Brother Lawrence (c.1605-1691), The Practice of the Presence of God, New York, Revell, 1895, Seventh Letter, p. 34-35 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 8:1-2; Eph. 3:12; Heb. 4:16; 10:35; 1 John 3:21-22
Quiet time reflection:
    Walk with me, Lord. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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