Humble in Suffering

Scripture Focus: 1 Peter 5.6-11
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 

8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 

10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Reflection: Humble in Suffering
By John Tillman

Some leaders love to scare us by telling us we will be crushed in suffering if they lose. Peter promises we will suffer, yet rejoice, standing firm.

Some leaders love to promise pain and suffering aimed at any group we find threatening. To the world, our enemies’ suffering is acceptable—even good. This is the way of the world, yet some Christians have joined in this, advocating for governments to cause suffering to force a diaspora of political opponents.

Peter, more than anyone else, knows that Jesus does not want us to cause suffering for our enemies. (John 18.10-11; Luke 22.50-51) Jesus healed those Peter struck with his sword. For the Christian, suffering must never be a whip to lash out at others. But it may be a spur to our own sanctification and a kindly attempt by God to break down our pride.

Let us never see suffering as a tool for us to wield. Let us never suffer for doing evil—being cruel and unloving. Instead, let us suffer for doing good and seek God’s face. (1 Peter 3.13-17)

Let us pray this prayer over the weekend based on 1 Peter 5.6-11.

Humble in Suffering
We humble ourselves, in suffering, Lord.
We place ourselves under your hand
For our protection
For our perfection
For our comfort
For our correction
Your hand is mighty and can accomplish anything within and around us.

Our anxious thoughts we give to you.
Our fearful doubts we give to you.
Our selfish desires we give to you.
All of these we entrust you with because you care for us.

Keep our minds sharp and aware—awake to the dangers and threats of our enemy the devil. 
Do not let us be complacent, but neither let us be fearful.
May his prowling and roaring be the pacing and grumbling of frustration, for we are not unaware of his schemes.

Help us to stand firm in solidarity with those suffering worse than us.
Help us be an example and encouragement to those suffering far less.
Remind us, Lord, that suffering is temporary.

When the time is right
When we are needed
When we are ready
You will lift us up,
Empower us,
And save us.
Through us, may you be glorified by those with whom we share your grace and who accept your mercy.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Satisfy us by your loving-kindness in the morning; so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life. — Psalm 90.14

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Ezekiel 42 (Listen 3:12) 
1 Peter 5 (Listen 2:11)

Read more about What to Expect When Suffering
When in suffering, we can at times be surprised by the emotions that are stirred. We can encounter deep sadness, anguish, and even rage.

Read more about A Prayer for Crisis
Psalm 89 shows us a helpful and repeatable pattern of prayer for those in suffering, doubt, frustration, or crisis.

From The Most Holy Place

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 41.4
He said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.”

Reflection: From The Most Holy Place
By John Tillman

Ezekiel is led on a tour of a temple by “a man whose appearance is like bronze.” (Ezekiel 40.3-4) He matches the appearance of angelic beings or of Jesus when he appears in visions. The man leads Ezekiel around the outer buildings, then up to the portico and into the main hall. (Ezekiel 40.48-49) From there the door of the most holy place is measured and Ezekiel is led inside.

The man tells Ezekiel that what he sees is to be reported to the Israelites in exile. No one in Israel, other than the high priest, would ever see this room, but Ezekiel and his readers, including us, are ushered in. “This is the Most Holy Place.” 

Ezekiel’s temple is neither past nor future. (It does not match Solomon’s, Nehemiah’s, or John’s from Revelation.) It existed as a beautiful hope for the exiles he was writing to. This vision is also for us today. This is part of our beautiful hope. There is a temple, not made by human hands. It exists and will exist. In it we will always be with the Lord. Its doors will all be open to us. We will access “the most holy place” and directly experience the creator of our universe.

But there is another hope. A present hope. An inner hope.

The same Spirit that makes the most holy place holy has been sent to “tabernacle” within us. Each Christian filled with the Holy Spirit possesses, in our inner being, a “most holy place.” The man with the appearance of bronze escorted Ezekiel into this temple, even though his body was in exile in Babylon. No matter where we find ourselves in exile, we are escorted by Jesus into God’s presence.

In this place, we can pray, repent, and be cleansed. In this place, we can find worship, wisdom, and the work God calls us to. From the most holy place we are sent to proclaim truth, enact justice, and announce God’s mercy. 

After priests entered the holy of holies, they exited announcing that the sacrifice had been made and God had blotted out the sins of his people. Every time we exit our times of worship and prayer, we can enter the world of our exile, repeating this message. God has blotted out the sin of his people. With repentance, forgiveness is available to all who will receive it.

Proclaim this message today.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
Hallelujah! Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. — Psalm 106.1

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Ezekiel 41 (Listen 4:40) 
1 Peter 4 (Listen 2:50)

Read more about A Temple for Exiles
Watching this new, improved temple being measured must have been an incredibly moving experience for Ezekiel.

Read more about Christ our Temple, River, and City
Christ himself is our temple. He is the gate, the doorway, through which we enter to worship.

Love One Another

Scripture Focus: 1 Peter 3:8-9
8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 

Reflection: Love One Another
By Erin Newton

If you took time to read all the verses that command God’s people to love one another and pursue peace, it would take quite a while. Love one another. (John 13.34-35) Show faithful love and compassion to one another. (Zechariah 7.9). Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. (Romans 12.10). Let us consider one another in order to provoke love. (Hebrews 10.24) And on and on. Why the repetition? Wouldn’t one command have been enough?

People have always struggled in relationships. Families are broken. Friendships are strained. Neighbors are viewed as enemies. Since the breaking of peace in the Garden of Eden, humanity has been at odds with itself. This should not be so. This is the brokenness of our world.

After exhorting people in specific relationships, one last call to unity is given to the whole congregation. Peter reminds his church to seek what is good: Love. Sympathy. Compassion. Humility. Cautious words. Slowness to speak. Blessings to others.

We cannot blame our hatred, rudeness, malice, anger, or selfishness on ignorance. Too many commands have taught us to behave otherwise. Being a jerk is a conscious decision. We choose not to love someone. We choose not to speak kindly. We choose not to withhold insults.

For those who live in the United States, many will awaken to news of newly elected leaders. Some of the results will be for decisions or people we supported and others will not.

Over the last few years, culture has sunk into a climate of animosity. Our values and beliefs have turned us against one another. Sadly, it has seeped into our churches. Christians, united by the Holy Spirit, have turned against one another.

For our friends around the world, it will be another day with other concerns. No matter what the day brings, we still have the opportunity to choose our responses to one another.

Let us strive for something worthwhile. Let us strive for peace. If we are going to use up all our emotional energy targeting something, let it be with the energy of love and kindness. If we are going to be screaming, may it be words of life and encouragement. If we are going to focus our attention on someone for something they said, let us put our noses into our Bibles and read God’s words instead.

People will be watching us today and in the days to come. Be a worthy spectacle.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading
Jesus taught the people, saying: “Good people draw what is good from the store of goodness in their hearts; bad people draw what is bad from the store of badness. For the words of the mouth flow out of what fills the heart.” — Luke 6.45

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Ezekiel 40 (Listen 8:21) 
1 Peter 3 (Listen 3:30)

Read more about Good and Pleasant Unity? A Prayer for Election Week
Talking about unity is almost universally seen as a political power grab and talking of civility is seen as capitulation.

Read more about Confessing Hostility—Guided Prayer
Like rebellious, prodigal children, our hostility breaks fellowship with you and with our brothers and sisters.

Repurposed Weapons

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 39.9-10
9 Then those who live in the towns of Israel will go out and use the weapons for fuel and burn them up—the small and large shields, the bows and arrows, the war clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel. 10 They will not need to gather wood from the fields or cut it from the forests, because they will use the weapons for fuel.

From John: Today voters in the United States go to the polls in mid-term elections amid concerns of violence either at the polls or afterward when results are known. We continue to pray that Christians would distinguish ourselves as people of peace in contrast to the world and that the results of elections would be clear, legal, and accepted by all candidates and parties without violent speech or actions. We repost today this reflection on how God can and will repurpose the weapons wielded by violent people.

Reflection: Repurposed Weapons
By John Tillman

Ezekiel describes a future war against God’s people that is ended through supernatural means and has an unlikely outcome.

John, in Revelation (Revelation 20.7-11), makes direct reference to this earlier prophecy from Ezekiel, revealing that it is Satan that deceives Gog and Magog, leading them in warfare to their destruction. (Revelation 20.9)

This apocalyptic prophecy is full of poetic symbolism without a simple, decipherable, literal interpretation. An interesting detail is that the weapons left behind by the fallen enemy army will be used as fuel by God’s people for seven years. 

We don’t often cook over fires anymore and modern weapons would not leave much wood behind but that does not mean this vision is unfulfilled. This image is part of a repeated theme in prophecy that humanity’s tools of warfare and destruction will be remade into implements of peace and cultivation. 

What is intended for evil will be used for good. Wooden weaponry will be fuel for cooking fires. Swords will be beaten into plows. God takes weapons that are intended to end life and turns them into tools that bring life. Look at what he did with the cross. 

The Romans and religious leaders thought the cross would end Jesus’ life. The Roman Empire thought that if crucifying Jesus wasn’t enough, they’d crucify thousands of his followers. But the cross couldn’t end the life of the church any more than it could end the life of Jesus. 

The wooden weapon of the cross became a symbol that fuels hope. Every empire that has opposed it has fallen. Hundreds of Empires since have thought that violence by blade, fire, or bullet could stop the church and the gospel. Yet, every empire that opposes it will fall.  The kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our God. (Revelation 11.15)

Our world, and Satan who rules it, wants us, like Gog and Magog, to be their weapons. “Used in their wars. Used for their gain.” (Rich Mullins, “Higher Education and the Book of Love”) Tragically, we are often deceived and march to war with them, but in Christ we, who have been weaponized, can be remade, recycled, and repurposed. 

May we no longer be swords and shields but basins and towels. (John 13.5
No longer murderers but nourishers.
No longer aggressors but comforters.
No longer destroyers but cultivators.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Satisfy us by your loving-kindness in the morning; so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life. — Psalm 90.14

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Ezekiel 39 (Listen 4:51) 
1 Peter 2 (Listen 3:48)

Read more about Unprecedented Peace
“Beat your plowshares into swords” is not a call for God’s people to answer…God will put an end to war.

Read more about Already But Not Yet
Weapons of war are turned into agricultural tools. It is a transition from death-dealing to life-giving.

Peacefully Resisting Gog and Magog

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 38.21-23
21 I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign Lord. Every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 I will execute judgment on him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. 23 And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’

Reflection: Peacefully Resisting Gog and Magog
By John Tillman

The identity of Gog and Magog is one of those mysteries well-meaning Christians have spent much energy deciphering without success. 

Ezekiel used symbolic names (Oholah and Oholibah) for Israel and Judah. Gog and Magog could be symbolic names as well. However, Ezekiel pronounced judgments by name against nation after nation, including Egypt, Sidon, and Tyre. He didn’t have a problem putting them on blast. It makes sense that Gog and Magog are metaphors for many kings and kingdoms rather than having specific symbolism.

Gog and Magog show us how nations and powers align themselves against God’s people wherever they settle. Ezekiel tells us the thoughts in the invaders minds. “The villages have no walls. The people are peaceful. The land is unsuspecting. Once we loot them, we will prosper at merchants who will buy what we steal.” (Ezekiel 38.10-13) God’s people seem like an easy target. These invaders come against a land that seems defenseless but they face destruction they have no defense against. Gog’s swordsmen will turn on themselves. Magog’s hellish aggression will fall on his own troops. (Ezekiel 38.21-22). 

Perhaps Gog and Magog were intended to represent specific kingdoms but it seems more likely, and more useful to our discipleship, to see Gog and Magog standing in for all kingdoms. They might represent any nation or powerful group.

The Gog and Magog that come against us today are not necessarily physical kingdoms. They can be kingdoms of ideas and agendas armed with misinformation and conspiracy theories. They think us easy marks. They expect to conquer us, using us to enrich themselves. They expect us to defend ourselves adopting their tactics and weapons.

We can frustrate the kingdoms of this world by refusing to meet these expectations. We don’t live in the dreamy world of idyllic safety and peace that Ezekiel describes, yet; we can resist hostility and aggression with spiritual defenses.

By simply living under our own vine and fig tree and refusing to be made afraid, we nullify arguments based on fear. By living in openness and hospitality, we destroy weaponized racism and division. By treating enemies with grace, we conquer them with kindness. 

Powers aligned against God’s people will always think us an easy target. But God is our defender and hope. When we rely on him we do not need to let anyone make us afraid and we will bring glory to him no matter the outcome.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe; you are my crag and my stronghold. — Psalm 71.3

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Ezekiel 38 (Listen 4:23) 
1 Peter 1 (Listen 3:53)

Read more about Of Pride and The Sword
In scripture the sword is not inanimate. The sword is hungry…The sword is wielded by kings and empires and then cuts them down.

Read more about God of all Nations
It seems ludicrous that we must keep repeating that the God of the Bible is not American, not White, and not partial to any race.