Author: kenanewkirk

It’s about mid-term here at Candler, and in just a few days I and many others will involved in a furry of tests and papers.  One such test which I will have to study quite hard for is my second Hebrew exam.

It’s no secret that language study is difficult, and I knew that going in.  Hebrew is no
exception, requiring somewhere around four to six hours each week in regular study time not including test. It is a demanding task.

But it’s also my favorite class.  No, I’m not very good at it, but the tiny, incremental progress involved with studying Hebrew has been so rewarding.

This morning, in a poor attempt to procrastinate from studying, I began to think of passages in Old Testament scripture I might be curious to investigate with my extremely primitive knowledge of the language.  Then it hit me:

In so many of the call stories from the Old Testament, we find our soon to be Biblical hero going about daily life without a thought for the holy.  Some are tending sheep and others   Suddenly, God calls to them by name:

“Abraham!” ” Jacob!” “Moses!” All called by name from the mouth of the most Holy.  Abraham is both called to sacrifice, and then he is called to stave his hand (Genesis 22:1-19). Jacob called from the famine of the land to sanctuary of Egypt (Genesis 46:1-4).  An, of course, Moses called to from a burning bush to deliver the people out of the sanctuary of Egypt which had turned into painful and abusive slavery for God’s people (Exodus 3:4).

All three of these people respond to God’s call in the same way, simply “here I am!” 

It is an innocent response. It is an open response.  It reminds me of a teacher taking role in school.  These three raise their hand when God call’s there name completely unaware of what is in store for them.  They have no idea that their stories would be told for thousands of years.

The phrase “here I am” is translated from the Hebrew הִנֵּה or hin-nay, and it really has no equivalent in English.  We find it other places in scripture usually when the text is translated as “Behold!” or “Look!” Yet, these really don’t capture the full meaning of the term.

Hin-nay really is used to indicate the presence of something. It is used to highlight and draw attention. And I think, in the example of these call stories, it is used to draw attention and offer openness to God.

I believe we are to have that same openness towards God.  We are to lift our hands eager to be sent to join in God’s transforming work through Christ. We are called to use our prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness to change at least a single life.  Serving God’s Kingdom and building on the incremental progress which is difficult, which is demanding, but so rewarding.

And, do not be fooled. We are all called to do God’s work, with eager heart and open hands we must respond to God’s call with Hin-nay, ‘here I am.’

As the song from James Kilbane goes:

Here I am Lord, Is it I, Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night.
I will go Lord, if You lead me.
I will hold Your people in my heart.

Lately, I’ve had several people close to me endure a great deal of suffering.  I love these people very dearly.  But it’s interesting because I know them from such different areas of my life and their pain is so very different.  One pain is physical while the other is emotional.  One pain is chronic while the other came on very suddenly.  One pain may have a cure although it has been extremely elusive.  The other pain promises no cure in this life.

I suppose most faithful Christians have a list of good people they pray for each night, good people who shouldn’t be suffering as they do.   And when we remember (or at least when I remember) we pray that God will do something about this pain.

These prayers asking God to help, comfort, and healing I think could rightly fall under the single title of “Deliverance.”

Often in the Bible, the text will often use the term in connection with protection from enemies or victory in war effort.  For example, after David was delivered from the hand of King Saul who was seeking to kill him he wrote this Pslam:

I love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,  My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;  My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies.

-Psalm 18:1-3

This Psalm is a moving poem of God’s faithfulness in time of conflict. However, many of us today would hardly think that we have any real enemies lying in wait for us outside our doors.  At least, not in the way David did. 

No. For us in America today, the enemies we have lying in wait for us usually sit on the other end of a simple phone call.

A phone call that tells us exactly what we don’t what to hear, or couldn’t even imagine hearing:

“The cancer is back.”

“There’s been an accident.”

“I’m sorry, but things just aren’t working out.”

Our enemies lie in wait for us, and what are we to do?

In the Lord’s Prayer, there a very simple line that we repeat each week in worship, “and deliver us from evil.”  This prayer that Jesus taught us and encourages us to keep such an important part of our faith walk.

Jesus knew we would enter into evil times of suffering.  He himself was not immune to the suffering of this world.  However, the fact that we say the “deliver us from evil” in the Lords prayer means two things.

First, there is real evil and brokenness in the world that we may experience.  This is not a test. This is not a challenge.  And it is something other than God’s intent.

Secondly, because evil is never God’s will for our lives we should be able to ask for deliverance.

Weekly, sometimes daily, in churches across the world we pray for deliverance, remembering that Jesus has gone before us praying, working, living, dying, and rising again to deliver us from evil into God’s Kingdom.

…and they were amazed at His teaching, for His message was with authority.

-Luke 4:32

On my second trip to Russia this year (I can’t believe I took a second trip either), my sweet fiancée and I visited Moscow and Saint Petersburg.  I could tell perhaps a hundred stories from that visit.  I could tell you about becoming overwhelmed in the Moscow Metro.  I could tell you about our existential crisis in the Hermitage Museum.  I could even tell you about our varied encounters with Asian tourists.

However, one of my favorite memories of our Russia adventure was our visit to the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood.  The church is named in memory the Russian Tsar who was assassinated in the very location the church was built.

In addition to having a pretty spectacular name, the church itself is one of the most awe-inspiring things I have ever witnessed.  It is dripping in mosaic tiles, having arguably the most mosaics of any structure with tiles covering over 7,500 square meters.  It took over 20 years to build and, like most churches, suffered from vandalism and neglect under the Soviets.

Nevertheless, when you walk through the doorway of this onion-domed cathedral you are immediately thrust an elaborately beautiful depiction of the gospel.  Each mosaic section was roughly 10 feet tall and each one depicts a different scene from Jesus’ life.

Towering above the crowds of people you see Jesus teaching the disciples, breaking bread, walking on water, and blessing little children.  My personal favorite was a mosaic of Jesus and the women at the well from John’s Gospel.  The clarity of the images was phenomenal despite being composed entirely of tiny, colored tiles.

It’s difficult for me to overstate how moved I was at this site.  I was surrounded by the story of Jesus.  The Story.  The one I knew but somehow I still needed to be told.  I felt as if I had been bathed in the gospel; that the truest and deepest parts of Jesus’ life had penetrated my core, my soul.

Looking back, I am reminded of the wonderful hymn “The Old, Old Story:”

Tell me the old, old story of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love.
Tell me the story simply, as to a little child,
For I am weak and weary, and helpless and defiled.

Tell me the story slowly, that I may take it in,
That wonderful redemption, God’s remedy for sin.
Tell me the story often, for I forget so soon;
The early dew of morning has passed away at noon.

Tell me the old, old story, tell me the old, old story,
Tell me the old, old story, of Jesus and His love.

There are many ways to read scripture.  We read scripture to learn and to find answers.  We  read in times of stress or worry. Yet, it is also important to engage the gospel with the expectation to be amazed.

Even during Jesus’ lifetime he was literally amazing his followers.  His teaching, his miracles, and his presence had a tendency to overwhelm those around him.  His disciples would lose themselves in awe and wonder.

Being lost in wonder is the heart of true worship, and that wonder holds the potential to transform the soul.  The words and actions of Jesus still hold the power to bring the believer into a state of awe, even if we have heard the story a thousand times.

Although we may not always be in a beautiful or awe-inspiring place, I believe that we need only open our hearts in order to be lost in wonder to the story of Jesus.

 

With just a short time left before Easter, I thought I’d share a series of prayer stations I put together for the Wesley Foundation at Georgia Tech.  They are all based around Isaiah 53, the last of the Servant Songs which are traditionally read around this time of year in reflection on the crucifixion.

Contemplative or creative prayer exercises like these area great way to connect with God.  I am always amazed to see God move in experiences like prayer stations.  Feel free to use them in your own setting or simply explore them on your own.

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Isaiah 53:1-3

¹Who can believe what we have heard,
and for whose sake has the Lord’s arm been revealed?
² He grew up like a young plant before us,
like a root from dry ground.
He possessed no splendid form for us to see,
no desirable appearance.
³ He was despised and avoided by others;
a man who suffered, who knew sickness well.
Like someone from whom people hid their faces,
he was despised, and we didn’t think about him.

Before you sits a laptop with a series of images. For centuries, Christians have created artwork and imagined what Jesus would have looked like.  Cultures from various times and locations of course created their artwork to reflect a different understanding of what he may have looked like.  All of these works of art are beautiful in their own way.

As Isaiah 53 begins, we are told that the suffering servant was not beautiful.  Jesus, God’s ultimate suffering servant, was a man who suffered.  He was a man who was despised, and many people didn’t think much of him.

As these images scroll by, take a moment to reflect on what the true face of Jesus might be for us today.  Consider how Jesus was mistreated and misunderstood by religious and political authorities.  We can never know in this life the true face of Jesus.  However, perhaps there are faces we can see.  There are the faces of the sick, suffering and despised to whom we owe our attention.

 

^—

Isaiah 53:4-6

It was certainly our sickness that he carried,
and our sufferings that he bore,
but we thought him afflicted,
struck down by God and tormented.
⁵ He was pierced because of our rebellions
and crushed because of our crimes.
He bore the punishment that made us whole;
by his wounds we are healed.
⁶ Like sheep we had all wandered away,
each going its own way,
but the Lord let fall on him all our crimes.

In Isaiah 53, Jesus as the servant takes on the punishment for our crime, even though he doesn’t have to.  The text uses a number of violent words to describe the way in which Christ takes on our sin making the passage very rich with movement.

Taka a moment to observe the drama of the verbs in this passage (“carried,” “pierced,” “bore” etc). Consider what they communicate about your salvation through Christ.

Before you are index cards.  Draw a response or representation to one of these verbs.  When you are finished, take a thumb tack and attach the card to the cork board.

^—

Isaiah 53:7

 He was oppressed and tormented,
but didn’t open his mouth.
Like a lamb being brought to slaughter,
like a ewe silent before her shearers,
he didn’t open his mouth.

It is easy to forget that Jesus didn’t want to die. On the night before he gave himself up for us, he prayed asking that God let the ‘cup of suffering’ pass from him.  Luke tells us he prayed so earnestly that he begins to sweat blood.

Yet, on the day of his prosecution before Pilot, Jesus offered no defense.  He submitted to the cross for our sake. Jesus did not speak.

Imagine you can speak across the void of time.  You can throw your voice back to the moment of Jesus’ trial before Pilot and the Jewish authorities. If you could say one thing to Jesus at the time just before his death, what would it be?

Take a moment to write whatever it is on a sticky note.  When you are done, post it to the cross.

 

^— 

Isaiah 53:10

But the Lord wanted to crush him
and to make him suffer.
If his life is offered as restitution,
he will see his offspring; he will enjoy long life.
The Lord’s plans will come to fruition through him.

Jesus endured suffering and death on a cross in order to bring about our salvation.  God as Creator laid a plan for our restitution, for our redemption, and Christ saw the plan through in obedience.

Through Christ, now we are all free to participate in God’s work of reconciliation for the entire world.

Take a moment to contemplate your salvation in Christ.  Travel back in your mind and reflect on your own testimony.  What has God done life that has brought you to where you are today?  How has God been working out a plan in your life?

Consider a single word that describes or responds to your testimony as it is right now.  Then use the letter tiles provided to write out word.  Make you word connect to the words of others “Scrabble-style” as a reflection of how all our lives connect.

 

 ^—

Isaiah 53:11

After his deep anguish he will see light, and he will be satisfied.
Through his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant, will make many righteous, and will bear their guilt.

 

The beauty of the story of Christ is that it doesn’t end in the dark.  Our sin and guilt, Jesus’ suffering and death, they are only a portion of the great story of God’s work of redemption.

The story of God doesn’t end in death. The story begins in resurrection. There is a light. Take a moment to light a candle in honor of the hope of resurrection.

—

Isaiah 53:12

Therefore, I will give him a share with the great,
and he will divide the spoil with the strong,
in return for exposing his life to death
and being numbered with rebels,
though he carried the sin of many
and pleaded on behalf of those who rebelled.

Jesus ‘exposed his life to death’ and pleaded with God on our behalf in order that we might gain forgiveness.  Jesus carried the weight of our sin and rebellion and made it possible for us to reunite with God our Creator.

Consider you own life.  Is there something you regret?  Is there sin in your heart that gets in the way of relationships?  Whatever the sin is, take a moment to write about it on the chalkboard in front of you.  Say a prayer giving this sin over to God, and ask for forgiveness for what you have done.

When you are finished, take the eraser and wipe away what you have written.  Know that because of the love of God, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and through the power of the Holy Spirit we have confidence in the forgiveness of sins.

 

Psalm 63:1

63:1 O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Isaiah 55:1-3
Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters…Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.

My sweet fiance proposed to me by the Chattahoochee River. It’s a place where we like to go walking, and in the middle of January it was a quite and beautiful setting. We walked along the water’s edge for about a mile, side by side, until we came to a clearing in the woods.

The only sound you could hear as he dropped to one knee was the gentle movement of the river.

Rivers of course hold a special significance in this world. Water is the source of life.  No creature can survive without access to fresh, clean water. Ancient cities, and even cities today are usually founded near the banks of a river that can supply the inhabitants with water.

 

Scripture tells us that the Word of God is life giving. It satisfies the soul and gives life where there is none. And it may seem an often repeated truth, but it’s one we must hear when it feels as if our spirits feel stranded in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Really, it is better to meditate on this truth, to allow it to saturate our hearts and satisfy our soul. During Lent, God is calling us gently to the river’s edge. Come; drop to your knees and listen, so that you may live.

Below is a song by David Crowder which I have found a wonderful meditation tool for God’s love. I hope you find it as encouraging as I have. 

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
O Lord, you know it completely.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is so high that I cannot attain it.

Psalm 139:1-6

If you haven’t heard, there’s a huge trend out there of full grown adults sincerely enjoying coloring books. You can now find adult coloring books on sale in bookstores, airports, and even in the checkout line at the grocery store.

For a while, I found it difficult to see the appeal. Granted, the coloring pages are usually more abstract and complicated than a typical child’s coloring book, but they are coloring books nonetheless. The process of coloring in between the lines is still the same, and it seemed confusing to me that people would want to limit their creative ability to a prefabricated outline. 

Recently, I learned of an adult coloring class that a friend of mine has been hosting as part of her work in a local church. Once a week, a small group gathers in a small room. Most of her students are elderly, and many of them have endured the death of a loved one or a recent illness.  In the class, they listen to music as they move crayon across paper and create unique artwork through the rhythms of coloring.

There is a certain peace in knowing one has boundaries. So often we worry about the future and fret about the past. We cultivate anxiety when we dwell on things we cannot change and lose ourselves as our minds wander beyond that which demands our immediate attention.

Psalm 139 has become an important resource for me during the season of Lent because of the perspective it offers. The poem begins by meditating on the unfathomable expanse of God.  Theologians call this God’s omnipresence which is another way of saying God’s everywhere-ness. God is present in our every movement and perceives our every thought.

The heavenly Father is so far beyond us that the Psalmist says in verse 6 “such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.” It is as if God’s everywhere-ness overwhelms the writer of this poem. God is so far beyond we can’t begin to understand it.

I think people like adult coloring pages for the same reason this Psalm was written. When we reflect on the limitlessness of God we can’t help but be aware of our own limitedness. We live a finite existence in a finite world for a finite period of time. We have boundaries and edges that are like the lines on a coloring page.

But God doesn’t. God is omnipresent, and, although it is an overwhelming thought, it is also comforting because it means that God creates our edges. Or, better yet, God can be our edges. God can ‘hem us in, behind and before’ and give our lives definition. It is as if our lives are a coloring sheet and we need only be concerned with what what goes on in between the lines.

We are finite creatures. We have a lifespan and an environment that is not endless. We cannot control death and we cannot avoid tragedy. However, our Creator is limitless, and our Creator cares, and our Creator is eagerly waiting and watching to see us color in between the lines.

The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Psalms 51:17

I once heard of a man who gave up shoes for Lent. There was some sort of social justice concern embedded in his actions in addition to spiritual practice. Without shoes the man could better understand the difficulties of those in poverty who had to do without shoes because they couldn’t afford them. For over 40 days, this man walked about on gravel and in snow with only socks and, occasionally, a bit of duct tape to keep the socks dry.

When I first heard of this man, I remember being fascinated by him. I was impressed with his dedication and sacrifice, and I began to feel like my own Lenten practice was inadequate. Giving up sweets or social media doesn’t seem to be on the quite the same level as giving up shoes.

I think there’s a lot we Christians seem to get wrong about sacrifice. One thing in particular I think we misunderstand is how the Jewish people interpreted sacrifice in the Old Testament. There’s a tendency for us to generalize and say that Israel understood sacrifice as the primary means of achieving forgiveness from sin. We concoct a narrative which says the Jews sacrificed in order to achieve forgiveness, but now we have Jesus, the perfect sacrifice. And since we have Jesus we no longer have to keep sacrificing animals or food or drink in order to be forgiven.

The verse above is from Psalm 51 and is traditionally read during Lent. The Psalm is
mostly about asking for God’s forgiveness. The author calls on God in order to be washed of sin and be given a clean heart.

Verse 17 is particularly moving because it says that what God really wants us to sacrifice is not sugar or livestock. God really desires the sacrifice of a broken heart.

You see, God doesn’t want us to sacrifice any-thing. God want us to sacrifice our very self, to lay down our life, take up our cross and follow Jesus. God longs for us to present our very heart and soul, broken and humble and ready to be made new.

When we give things up for Lent it’s not about achieving anything like health or holiness. The season before Easter is a time of humbling. It is a time of laying our hearts broken before the Lord, so that we may be made new when the sun rises on Easter morning

“Please give your servant a discerning mind…” 1 Kings 3:9 CEB

When I was young, and my Sunday school teachers taught me the story of Solomon’s wisdom, I think I was supposed to be impressed.

The way the story goes is that King Solomon, David’s son, inherits the throne of Israel and is poised for greatness.  Just as he is beginning his reign, God approaches Solomon in a dream saying “ask whatever you wish, and I’ll give it to you.”

Now, Solomon could have asked for money or health or military might, but instead he asks for wisdom or, as the CEB translates it, discernment.  He wants to be able to govern Israel as best as possible and make good decisions.  In order to do that, Solomon needs wisdom.

God is so pleased Solomon ask for wisdom instead of something else that God decides to give him riches, health, and power in addition to discernment.

When I was a kid, I think I was supposed to be impressed that Solomon didn’t ask for lots of superficial stuff, and I guess I was.  Certainly eight-year-old Kena would have requested a later bedtime or more friends at school.

But in Sunday School, the story of King Solomon made me think that if God ever granted me one wish, I could get even more wishes if I pretend to want something holy or spiritual.  I decided that if it ever came up I would lie to God about wanting wisdom so that I could get the cool stuff too.

Lately, I’m beginning to think God isn’t going to grant me a wish.  It’s still possible, but I think it unlikely that I will awake one night to God saying “ask whatever you wish, and I’ll give it to you.”  And that’s a shame.

It’s a shame because I’m older.  It’s a shame because I know better know.  It’s a shame because, after just a few years journeying through this life, my deepest heart’s desire is truly for the wisdom of God, even if I don’t get riches and health and power thrown in.

A thirst for wisdom is probably how I wound up in seminary.  It’s probably why people show up at church on Sunday morning, especially when the week before was full of unforeseen heartache.  We want to understand our pain.

When Solomon wakes up after his encounter with God he doesn’t make some big political decision or fantastic judgment call.  In fact, the first thing he does is go to Jerusalem, to the place where God’s covenant resided, in order to celebrate and sacrifice to God.

In other words, the wisest thing Solomon can think to do is enter into the community of God and engage in worship.

And, like the people who show up on Sunday morning weary from life’s journey, I think that the instinct to worship is always very impressive.