Love Lifted Me!

Old Jerusalem Mezuzah P1050664 

'Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His love endures forever.' Psalms 136:1

 

On the doorpost of every Jewish home is the ‘Mezuzah’, which is fixed at a 45 degree angle. This is a piece of parchment (often contained in a decorative case) inscribed with specified verses comprising the Jewish prayer "Shema Yisrael". This prayer is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9,

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates”.

A mezuzah is not meant to be a protective device, it is a sign and reminder of  God's covenant with His people. To Christians, God's covenant is anchored by Love in action. 

The word for love in the Old Testament is khesed in Hebrew. It conveys the idea of unconditional love, loyalty and generosity - a love that never fails. This is a love that endures forever, a phrase that is used 26 times in Psalms 136, which provided a litany of the wondrous acts of God for His people. Each verse ends with 'His love endures forever' to convey the unending love that resulted in many actions of God for His people. 

It is befitting that Moses in Deuteronomy was instructed not only to remember the commandment, but to impress upon the children and succeeding generations, in a very relentless way, the love of and for God. That Love is to be expressed most tenaciously, taught every time and every where, in all the places.

Similarly in Matthew 22:36 when Jesus was asked what is the greatest commandment, He replied, 

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:37-40

In putting across the two commandments in one breath, Jesus introduces the concept that love is not just a religious action but a social action as well, that is love must be seen and done.

The discourse with Jesus led to telling of the Parable of the Good Samaritan and in so doing, Jesus is saying that love of God, to be meaningful has to be expressed by love for neighbour. God loves us so we can love our neighbours. 

'This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His love for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.' 1 John 3:16-18

This dual-action love should define our Christian living. It is the realisation that Jesus rescued us from the depths of sin and despair; restored us so that we can live lives of love in action. Love Lifted Me!

I was sinking deep in sin

Far from the peaceful shore

Very deeply stained within

Sinking to rise no more

But the master of the sea

Heard my despairing cry,

From the waters lifted me

Now safe am I

Love lifted me! Love lifted me!

When nothing else could help

Love lifted me

Love lifted me! Love lifted me!

When nothing else could help

Love lifted me

All my heart to Him I give

Ever to Him I'll cling

In His blessed presence live

Ever His praises sing

Love so mighty and so true

Merits my soul's best songs

Faithful, loving service, too

To Him belong

Souls in danger look above

Jesus completely saves

He will lift you by His love

Out of the angry waves

But the master of the sea

Billows His will obey

He your savior wants to be

Be saved today

Love lifted me! Love lifted me!

When nothing else could help

Love lifted me

Love lifted me! Love lifted me!

When nothing else could help

Love lifted me

Yes, Love Lifted Us!

Lionel

Was It A Morning Like This?

 

The Three Marys At the Sepulcher by
Giovanni Francesco Romanelli. The National Gallery of Victoria

The sunrise on an Easter morning is not like any other morning sunrise. There is an air of anticipation, of excitement and exhilaration during an Easter sunrise. We declare, "Christ is risen" and all others will respond "He is risen indeed." 

Not so the first Easter morning in Jerusalem when Mary Magdalene went with some women, with some trepidation, to anoint some spices over what she expected to be a dead body.

'On the first day of the week, very early in the morning the women* took the spices and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightening stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen!" Luke 24:1-6a

Thus was declared the Easter message that has resonated for centuries, "He has risen." 

Perhaps the three women may not have recognised it but that morning was not like any other morning. The resurrection of Jesus Christ did not happen furtively; there were several extraordinary events surrounding the resurrection according to Matthew 28:1-4

• There was a violent earthquake. 
• An angel whose appearance dazzled like lightning, came down from heaven.
• The stone covering the entrance to the tomb rolled away.
• The guards were paralysed.
• The tomb was empty.
• Jesus Christ rose from the grave!

This song  'Was It A  Morning Like This' presents Heaven and Nature declaring the Easter morning news 'He Is Risen!' 

Was it a morning like this

When the Son still hid from Jerusalem?

And Mary rose from her bed

To tend the Lord she thought was dead

Was it a morning like this

When Mary walked down from Jerusalem?

And two angels stood at the tomb

Bearers of news she would hear soon

Did the grass sing?

Did the earth rejoice to feel You again?

Over and over like a trumpet underground

Did the earth seem to pound "He is risen!"

Over and over in a never-ending round

"He is risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!"

Was it a morning like this

When Peter and John ran from Jerusalem?

And as they raced toward the tomb

Beneath their feet was there a tune?

Did the grass sing?

Did the earth rejoice to feel You again?

Over and over like a trumpet underground

Did the earth seem to pound "He is risen!"

Over and over in a never-ending round

"He is risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!"

Over and over like a trumpet underground

Did the earth seem to pound "He is risen!"

Over and over in a never-ending round

"He is risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!"

When my Lord looked out on Jerusalem?

He is risen!

Alleluia!

Alleluia!

Alleluia!

What is the central message of Easter? It is certainly not about Easter eggs or Easter bunnies. 

Tim Keller tried to put the message across when he wrote, "If you believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and you put your hope in that, then death is now a gardener, meaning it plants us. It puts us into the ground like a tulip bulb, which becomes a lovely flower, or an acorn, which becomes a beautiful oak tree. All it can do now is make us better."

St Paul was even more emphatic and succinct when he wrote, 

'Where, O death, is your victory? Where O death, is your sting?' 1 Corinthians 15:55

That is what Easter means to me; a message to be declared for all generations since that first Easter morning.

Lionel

* According to Mark 16:1 Three women visited the tomb that morning, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus and Salome or Mary Salome the mother of James and John 

The Inner Room

The Dolomites - Falzarego Pass

 'But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to the Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.' Matthew 6:6

Cathedrals have very beautiful ornate altars but God is found in the inner room. 

Father Laurence Freeman interpreted Jesus' advice to us as close the door and pray there where your Heavenly Father is, and you will be enriched and rewarded. In that room is not just the idea of God but His real presence. 

In this privacy we are not distracted by the din and loud praises of the modern contemporary worships. We are not distracted by the art pieces, statues, stained glass windows, golden altar pieces inside beautiful in the voluminous spaces of cathedrals.

In the inner room, we can pay attention to ourselves but more importantly we can give our attention to Jesus who will be present. Father Laurence Freeman in his sharing Daily Wisdom, Inspiration for everyday, wrote on the 10 Dec 2021, "Attention Matters. Our distracted culture, the fact that we spend an average of three or fours hours on our mobile devices, young people at a very vulnerable ages, spending hours, hours and hours on their social media, indicates a fragmentation of our fundamental capacity which is attention."

When Jesus taught us how to pray, He told us,

• Not to grandstand. 
• Not to make a spectacle of our prayer
• Not to let our prayers become long speeches

"And when you pray do  not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the streets corners to be seen by others." Matthew 6:5

But to

• Pray quietly
• Pray in secret
• Pray as a conversation with God 

"But when you pray go into your room and pray to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees in secret will reward you." Matthew 6:6

So, when we are in the inner room, we leave self behind. We are alone with Jesus, and we will be able to engage, to listen, to feel empathy, says Father Laurence, adding that attention is the fundamental essence of prayer. We engage in prayer of the heart, we lay aside your thoughts, insights, ideas, petition keeping them in the background and we give our attention, just being there with the Divine. 

Behold us, Lord, a little space
From daily tasks set free,
And met within Thy holy place
To rest awhile with Thee.

Around us rolls the ceaseless tide
Of business, toil, and care;
And scarcely can we turn aside
For one brief hour of prayer.

The Inner Room does not have to be a space, it can just as well be the inner self. It is more the our attitude during prayer that Jesus emphasised as illustrated by this parable in Luke 18:10-14

Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, "God, I thank you that I am not like other people - robbers, evildoers, adulterers - or even like this collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get."

But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

Jesus said

"I tell you that this man rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." 

Inner room prayers can be silent prayers or contemplative prayers. Jesus instructed that instead of making a show of it, this quiet time is where we begin to experience the transformation power of God. 

Yes, silent prayer transforms us. Henrí Nouwen calls this Silent Spirituality in his book The Way of the Heart; it 'molds self-righteous people into  gentle, caring, forgiving persons who are so deeply convinced of their own great sinfulness and so fully aware of God’s even greater mercy that their life itself becomes ministry.'

This is the Healing Grace so gently sung in this prayer song.

Merciful God and Father

Loving us like no other

Hear our prayer

The cry of our heart

As we come to You

We acknowledge our transgressions

We confess to You our sins

Show us mercy and compassion

Touch our lives with Your healing grace again

Release us from our past

As we seek Your face

Wash us free at last

We receive Your love

We receive Your healing grace

Lionel

I Have A Dream

'Though the fig tree does not bud and there were no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in God my Saviour. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to tread on the heights.' Habakkuk 3:17-18 

On the 26 Mar 2020, in Minneapolis, Minnesota USA, police brutality caused the death and murder of black American, George Floyd. A dramatic 8 minutes video that went viral worldwide, showed footage of a white American policeman pressing his knees on George's neck against the sidewalk curb. For 8 minutes George's pleas of "I can't breathe" failed to receive any mercy until he died.

This brutal killing reignited deep-seated anger over police killings and racism. For the next 7 days, more than 75 US cities saw protests as thousands poured into these streets, which only a few days ago were deserted because of Corona virus lock-down. Unfortunately the protests soon turned violent. All over the USA, looting, burning and clashes with law enforcement became rampant. For many, these civil violence and outrage reflect years of frustration over socio-economic inequality and discrimination were still lurking in the USA.

Adam Edgerly of NewSong church in LA, in a sermon 'The Struggle for Justice' eloquently pointed out the reality of current deep-seated, oftentimes hidden, discrimination against people of colour all around the world. He warned that God will not stand for this grievous sin and will bring His judgement to bear on all of us and maybe using even the current violence that we are seeing. The prophet Habakkuk predicted that God will use the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem and the ensuing rampage as an instrument of His corrective action for the sins of His people, the Israelites. This sermon is recommended for your listening. 

Neither the Rev Edgerly nor Habakkuk were suggesting that Christians should use violence, looting or killings as retribution for injustices. Vengeance, rightly so, belongs only to God. God's people's way should be peaceful non-violent protest.

The finest example of a peaceful confrontation against discrimination also happened in the USA. The late Rev Martin Luther King led a peaceful protest of thousands of Americans, white, black and of all colours through the streets of Washington DC, culminating in the famous, 'I have a Dream' speech. He began the speech with, "I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation." It was a peaceful protest led by a godly person for God's people. One sentence of that speech is worth repeating, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation, where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character."  

Many of Dr King's dreams did come true in the USA but unfortunately, racial discrimination still lurks not only in America but also in nearly all parts of the world. Societies remain fragmented. Timothy Keller wrote in The Prodigal Prophet, "We cannot all put our own self-interests ahead of the common good and still have a functioning society." (Ref 1) 

Could the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russo-Ukraine war and the violence we see on the streets be a part of God's recrimination against such sins and injustices? 

Timothy Keller wrote "The dismaying news is that every act of disobedience has a storm attached to it. This is not to say that every difficult thing that comes into our lives is the punishment for some particular sin. The Bible does not say that every difficulty is the result of sin but it does teach that every sin will bring you into difficulty." (Ref 1) 

It is not fruitful to speculate on God's vengeance. Instead of speculation, let's think of God's intention for all of God's people to live in harmony. This was the same sentiment expressed by the late Dr King in his speech. Let's echo the words of this old song by the Ray Conniff singers, 'Harmony' 

In the words of St Paul,

'Live in harmony with everyone. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position...If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.'  Romans 12:16 and 18

The time has come, let us begin
With all our voices joining in
To sing of love and brotherhood
People doing what they should to

Help their fellow man decree
And fill this land with harmony
The young and old, the rich, the poor
Making sounds, never heard before

Harmony! harmony! 
Let's all join in harmony 
Sing away the hurt and fear
A great new dream will soon be here

Like the shepherd guards his sheep
Watch your children as they sleep
Like the potter turns his clay
Help to shape a better day, and

Let us sing a song of love
There's one thing I'm certain of
Love will fill the hearts of men
Peace will come on earth… 

Lionel

Ref 1: Timothy Keller, The Prodigal Prophet, Jonah and the Mystery of God's Mercy Hodder and Stoughton 2018.

Updated article. First published 4 June 2020