Harps & Bowls

"When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp & golden bowl of incense, which are the prayers of the saints."

(Revelation 5:8)

Puffy white clouds... lots of harps... angels with wings... that's the "Hallmark version" of Heaven.  Sickening sweet & sterile.  And yet, when we get into the last book of the Bible - REVELATION - the picture actually changes a bit.  No clouds are mentioned.  There are 'celestial beings' with harps - but they're the "Twenty-Four Elders" (the number 24 probably coming from the 12 Tribes of Israel + the 12 Apostles of Jesus!).  Their job is to worship Jesus (the Lamb who was slain).  it's not their harps, but that they're holding in their OTHER hands that intrigued me, though.  Golden bowls of incense.  (Could this be a nod of solidarity to our Buddhist brothers and sisters?!?)  The bowls hold, we are told, "the prayers of the saints."  Wow!  How cool is that?!?

What an image - our prayers gathered in golden bowls... held by those closest to the King... standing before the throne of God... with our prayers wafting up to the Throne as incense smoke rises.  Awesome.

And yet, the question that strikes me hardest as I write this... have I been filling the golden bowls?  Sure I know we an pray anytime & anywhere... but do we?  Do I?  Especially as the senior pastor of a church, my responsibility is huge!  I definitely have work to do here.

How about you?

It's all Good! (aka "Bon Appetite!")

[From Monday, Feb. 9]

"For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, provided it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by God's word and by prayer."
(1 Timothy 4:4-5)

Back in the day, one of the controversies the early church had was the consumption of food that had been previously offered as sacrifice to idols. After being presented to idols, merchants would "re-sell" offerings to the public. This became a theological stumbling block to some Christians. If they ate those foods, would they be legitimizing those idols? Would they be subjecting themselves to outside ("demonic"?) influences? Paul said, "Absolutely not!!!" He even reminds Timothy here that as long as food is received with thanksgiving and prayer, it's all good!

Two quick thoughts this morning: 1) Grace before meals is more than just a perfunctory action that "should" be done. Could it be the very act of praying over food serves as a sanctifying blessing (rather than simply God wants to hear to feel like we're appreciative enough)? Could it be that God indeed blesses the food when we pray over it!?!? Literally!!!??? 2) I leave for the Philippines tomorrow for a 1-week mission trip with Compassion International. I'm sure we'll have the chance to eat some rather "exotic" foods. Provided things are prepared in sanitary ways, there's nothing I should consider unclean and not eat (or at least try!)... no matter how "non-traditional" it may seem to my good taste. It's all good, Paul reminds me. Give thanks and ask God's blessing!

PRAYER: Help me to take my prayers before meals more seriously, Lord. Not that I didn't take them seriously before... but let me pray expecting You to simultaneously bless the food we'll be eating! Thank you for all of your blessings, and for providing me with food to eat, whenever I want it. Pour out your compassion on those who are not as fortunate today. AMEN.

A surprising intercesison

"...so that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and his children."
(Ezra 6:10)

Great story! So the core group of Israelites who've returned from 70 years of Babylonian captivity and reestablished themselves are now ready to start rebuilding the temple (their first job had been to repair the broken-down walls of the city - a daunting task!). But neighboring leaders (including "the governor of the province Beyond the River") are upset! So they go over to the work team, ask to see their credentials & their work permit. The Israelites give them a verbal history of their captivity & return. Then the neighbors write a letter of protest to the current King of Babylon, telling him all about this & asking him to verify its validity (what a bunch of whining snitches!). The king does the research, and finds that it's all true! So he sends a letter back to the complainers telling them to "cease & desist" bothering the construction crew. Not only that, but they're to pay for all of the building costs out of the tribute they would have sent to the King of Babylon! (How cool is that!?! They wanted it stopped. They ended up footing the bill!)

But the most powerful repercussion of the "tattle-tale" letter is that the king asks the Jews to offer sacrifices & prayers for him and his children! He's no "believer," but he's eager to have their prayers nonetheless! This illustrates something I've come to learn & believe - that just about everyone, even if they don't go to church or consider themselves believers, is willing to have others pray for them. Bart Campolo talked about this principle when he established Mission Year (www.missionyear.org): ask people what you can be praying for them, and they'll almost always respond! Whether they believe in God or not, people seem to covet prayers.

So now my challenge is to remember this more often... so I can be bold enough to ask, "Is there anything I can be praying for you or your family?" Who knows what king might need it!?!?!

PRAYER: Lord, what a gift we have in prayer! You open Yourself to us in communication & intimacy all the time. But may we not selfishly keep our prayers focused only on us and our needs. May we (may I) openly ask people what I can be praying for... and then pray!!! AMEN.

PS. What can I be praying for you? Post them in comments below!

Favor & Compassion

"Now God allowed Daniel to receive favor and compassion fromm the palace master."
(Daniel 1:9)

Four young men... in a foreign land... against their will... forced to serve their new king. This is where Daniel & Co. found themselves. They were chosen as part of a group of the "best and brightest" (of the captives) to learn the ways of Babylon & commit to a lifetime of service to the king. The three-year training began with daily "royal rations" of food & wine. The only problem was this went against Daniel's Jewish dietary laws. So he asked the palace master if he could have an alternate "vegetarian menu." The storyteller says that "God allowed Daniel to receive favor and compassion from the palace master." Excellent!

Which got me thinking... a friend of mine (who is also a pastor) was looking to acquire a new worship space for his church. After many, many months of searching & praying... they were finally close to an agreement. A really great property! But an adjacent retailer had a contractual stipulation that would not allow "houses of worship" anywhere nearby. My friend & his church prayed fervently. God allowed them to receive favor & compassion from the retailer.

I wonder how often we, as humans... as people who claim to be followers of Jesus... are faced with a potential roadblock or hurdle or challenge... and we freeze up!? WE get stopped in our tracks. 'Oh well, I guess it wasn't meant to be," say to ourselves. And yet, what if we, instead, would look to God in prayer and commit the situation to Him? What if we prayed for God to grant us favor & compassion from some entity that holds power over the situation?

All things are possible with God. We just don't trust that promise enough. All things may not be probable. But it seems like we could do a bit more in the "intercession department" (I know I sure can!).

PRAYER: Lord God, today the Cal-Pac cabinet is meeting with the Conference Board of Congregational Development to discuss the many proposals submitted this fall. Among them is our request to launch/fund a satellite ministry. Please grant us favor & compassion in the eyes of the Conference Leaders. And no matter what their decision, keep us faithful to Your calling for our church. We want to do Your will. AMEN.

A New Kind of WHAT?!?!?

"Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, remove the foreskin of your hearts, O people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem."

(Jeremiah 4:4)

When God called Abraham to follow Him... promising to make Abe the "father of a great nation"... God also asked him (and all males) to circumcise themselves, as a sign of their distinctiveness. For centuries, the Jewish people did this. Removing the "excess" skin from one particular area of their body, as a symbolic reminder that they are to be a people "set apart." Granted, it's a visible reminder that only they see... but a reminder, nonetheless.

Fast-forward to the time of Jeremiah. God knows the people have gone astray - in a major way. They've lost their distinctiveness. They've forgotten what it means to not only be faithful to god, but loving, kind, & generous to one another. God, therefore, calls for a new kind of circumcision: the heart! Biologists will tell us that there's no "extra skin" covering our hearts... but back in Biblical times the heart was seen as the center of a person's will. It was not only the home of feelings, but also thoughts and decisions. God wants the people to rid themselves of anything that gets in the way of their entire being being able to follow the LORD.

Once we get past the initial uncomfortableness of thinking about circumcision in a "devotional context," it's fascinating to me to imagine how distinctive we Christians can actually be. Few people ever see a man's circumcision (and rightly so!)... but if/when they do, there's no doubt about it! It's easy to tell when a person is circumcised. How cool if the same could be said about our hearts!?! What if people "could tell" that our hearts were circumcised to God? What if we, as Christians, loved others in such a way that everyone who came in contact with us just knew something was different? What if our lives were so aligned with God's will that others "could tell"? I dare say this world would be a heck of a better place.

So what are we waiting for?

PRAYER: Remove the foreskin from my heart, Lord. I want to live my life the way You created me to! May everyone be able to see You through my heart and my life. AMEN.