Prayers for Christian Unity Day 2

Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? (Mt 2:2)

Humble leadership breaks down walls and builds up with love

Readings

• Jeremiah 23:1-6 - He shall reign as king and deal wisely.
• Philippians 2:5-11 - Who… did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited.

Reflection

True Leadership

Jeremiah denounces the bad leadership of the kings of Israel who divided and scattered the people, a leadership that destroyed nations and drove their citizens into exile. In contrast, the Lord promises a shepherd-king who will ‘execute justice and righteousness in the land’ and gather the flock as one.

Only in Christ have we seen the example of a leader truly after God’s heart. In him we encounter a loving, humble servant who does not regard equality with God as something to be exploited. He comes to serve, rather than be served, and his followers are called to do the same.

Today, the Middle East is experiencing the loss of its people to exile as ‘righteousness and justice’ are becoming scarce commodities, not only there but throughout the world. Yet leaders, both in the world and in the Church, have a responsibility to bring together rather than to scatter or divide. The more faithfully Christians emulate the servant leadership of Christ, the more division in both the world and the Church will be overcome. As we work for righteousness, justice and peace for all, we witness humbly to the shepherd-king, and draw others into his presence.

Prayer

Just and righteous God, we confess before you that we often covet worldly models of leadership. Help us to seek our Lord Jesus Christ not in the palaces of the powerful but in the humble manger. May we emulate him in his meekness and become servants to each other in obedience to you. We pray in the name of Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit reigns forever in glory. Amen.

Verse / Poem

It was the day of the strong men

the day when truth retired, redundant

because lies had more glitz,

and justice disabled, mocked,

in the name of a golden god

cast from melted down lives.

And then came the pestilence

and the day of the servant

ubiquitous, anonymous,

in nursing home and ICU,

and the temple profligate with treasure

in cylinders of breath.

Questions

• Global: How have you seen the Church follow Jesus’ pattern of leading through service?
• Local: What Christian leader (either local or national) do you admire for the ability to inspire unity and a concern for justice? What qualities enable that person to lead effectively?
• Personal: When have you been inspired to take the lead in seeking justice or working towards unity?

Go and Do

(see www.ctbi.org.uk/goanddo)

Global: Focus on a number of examples of where you consider good leadership to be evident. Try to identify the shared principles of leadership in these examples and consider how they can be encouraged in the work of creating unity.

Local: Invite a local leader to a gathering of the churches in your area to hear more about their work and to find out how you can best support and encourage them.

Personal: Find out about or refresh your memory on the circle of concern and circle of influence (https://www.habitsforwellbeing.com/the-circle-of-concern-and-influence/) and consider how you can best exercise your personal leadership this week to help the cause of unity.

Prayers for Christian Unity - Day 1

“We observed his star in the East” 

(Mt 2:2)

Raise us up and draw us to your perfect light

Readings

• Psalm 139:1-10 - Your right hand shall hold me fast
• 2 Timothy 1:7-10 - This grace… has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus

Reflection

In this fragile and uncertain world, we look for light. We look for the good within ourselves, but often we are so overwhelmed by our weakness that hope fails us. Our confidence rests in God, who in wisdom, enables us to hope for his mercy. We are surprised when it comes in human form: Christ is the light in our midst! God’s gift to us is a ‘spirit of power, and love’. We are drawn forward on the way to this perfect light  by God’s Holy Spirit, not by relying on our own strength and ability.

In the midst of darkness, the star from the East penetrates the depths of the darkness that separates us from one another. The star’s light continues to shine and to change the face of history. Throughout the ages, by the lives of Christ’s followers, the world has come to know the hope that is inspired by the Holy Spirit. And the Risen One continues to shine, like a beacon guiding all into this perfect light and overcoming the darkness which separates us from one another. 

The desire to overcome the darkness that separates us compels us to pray and work for Christian unity.

Prayer

Creator of light, illumine our path by the light of Christ who moves before us and leads us. May he be a beacon for our pilgrimage. Enlighten us and dwell within us. Guide us to discover a manger in our hearts where a great light still shines. We thank you for the gift of that unfading Star, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Heal our divisions and draw us closer to the Light that we may find our unity in him.

Amen.

Hymn Verse

New Every Morning

John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

It seems appropriate on the eve of the week of prayer for Christian Unity that we should consider Christ’s new commandment. Having thought of a new heart, a new mind and a new spirit, perhaps it is right to ask, how should we follow this commandment in practice.

Love one another was the guidance of Jesus. This was not an easy, sentimental invitation. Jesus had just seen his friend Judas go out into the night, with a view to betraying him. He had loved Judas with an unselfish love, but had he lost him.

Perhaps with all this talk of newness we should ask, “Lord, you know me. I can have no illusions about myself. I too could act as Judas did with you. You know that I do not want to go that way, but rather to live in such a way that everyone would know me as your disciple.”

I read of an owner of a drive though coffee business who was surprised one morning when a customer not only paid for her mocha but also paid for the mocha of the person in the car behind her. The owner smiled as she told the next customer her drink had already been paid for.

The second customer was so pleased that she bought coffee for the next customer. This string of loving kindness - one customer paying for the beverage of the next customer - continued for two hours and twenty seven customers. But just think about it, it only took one to start the chain reaction.

This is how it is with God’s love. It starts with his unexpected love for us, which is passed to others, who in turn pass it on.

Perhaps as we move into the week of Christian Prayer it would be good to reflect what it means to love one another in spite of our difference in a poem by Deborah Ann Belka.

I may not like,
what it is you do
but, I still need . . .
to be kind to you.

How I believe,
may make you upset
but, I’ll still treat . . .
you with respect.

I may not like,
what you say
but, I still need . . .
for you to pray.

You may laugh,
poke fun at me
but, Jesus’ light . . .
in me you’ll see.

We may not have,
the same point of view
but, I want you to know . . .
I still love you!

New Every Morning

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Some Twenty Years ago, I did some research work with Christian Schumacher regarding the transformational nature of work. In his book “God in Work” Christian Schumacher wrote in the form of a memoir, and analyses workplace structures by drawing on theology for its insights, and retells the author's own journey of discovery.

Our text for today and the thesis behind the “God in Work” book aligns with the transformational  prayer of Jesus; “I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.'

Jesus tells us that we too are ‘sent’ to continue his mission. Friendship with Jesus is being with him, and being sent in his name. Our mission as his followers is in the midst of and in the depths of the world. He wants his love and message inserted in the centre of the world, the city, the neighbourhood. In following him in mission and love, we are ourselves sanctified. How do I experience this ‘being sent’? But in this task we need our minds renewed and for the christian allowing the mind of Christ  to be within us.

A Jesuit Priest on considering Christ’s words, prayed, “No, Lord, do not take me out of the world. I belong there, with all its messiness, just as you belonged there, and took all the risks it involved. I do not seek a lily-pure existence untouched by the struggle for survival. But I do beg you to protect me from the evil one, from the malice in my own heart.”

Once more I turn to the words of David Adams

Help me, Lord, to see

You are about me

You are my hope.

In my lying down and rising

In my travelling and arriving

Help me, Lord, to see

You are about me

Your are my hope.

In my sorrow and enjoyment

In my work and unemployment

Help me, Lord, to see

You are about me

You are my hope.

In my peacefulness and strife

In my going from this life

Help me, Lord, to see

Your are about me

You are my hope.

In my achievement and its waning

In my losing and my gaining

Help me, Lord, to see

You are about me

Your are my hope.

New Every Morning

Ephesians 4:22-24 To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

One of my earliest recollections of going to the theatre was a visit a pantomime staged at the Palace theatre, Plymouth.  I think it was the Cinderella and then of course there was another time when it was Aladdin, including the cry, new lamps for old.

This renewing; this putting off the Old and taking on the New has been the sought by many over the years. 

Socrates, for example urged humanity to discover, “the secret of change is to focus all your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”

How often do we change our mind? Or more to the point how often do we need to renew our minds?

One writer, Stuart Strachan  puts this New for Old like this, “If you really want to change, it starts with your story. If you want to change the story of your life, you need to change the stories in your mind. So what story do you want to live? Do you want to experience God’s presence deeply in your own life? Do you want to be the hero in your own story? Or at least, do you want to be proud, not prideful, but proud of who God has made you to be? If so, keep reminding yourself that you are God’s beloved child, and His love for you is so immense he was willing to sacrifice his one and only son on your behalf.”

I turn again to David Adams a prayerful consideration for this renewing process.

Lord,

When our steps are weary

And the going is rough

When our life is dreary

And our journey is tough

Open the gate of glory.

Lord,

When the dark clouds thicken

And the storm rides high

When the troubles quicken

And danger is nigh

Open the gate of glory.

Lord, 

When our work is completed

And the battle is done

We are not defeated

The victory you have won

Open the gate of glory

New Every Morning

 

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

I wonder how many preachers can remember the text of their first sermon. Well in my case, not so much a full blown theological treaties but a sermonette I ‘preached’ as part of a service when the youth of the church took the lead.  I must have been about 12 or 13 and with the help of my Dad drafted some words on 2 Corinthians 5:17. It didn’t last long and for the life of me I can’t remember what I said all I know is that the words of that text has resonated with me over the last 60 years. Of course, in those days my text was taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Today we use the word, “anyone.”

When we meet some people we know immediately and instinctively that they are different. We are anxious to learn their secret. It is not the way they dress or talk or behave, although it influences these things. It is not that they have affixed a name tag to themselves and proclaimed themselves the adherent of a particular religion or ideology. It’s not even that they have a strict moral code which they faithfully follow. It is that they know Jesus Christ, and that he is a living reality to them. They dwell in him and he dwells in them. He is the source of their life and it shows in everything they do.

Not merely in the words you say,
Not only in your deeds confessed,
But in the most unconscious way

Is Christ expressed.
Is it a beatific smile?
A holy light upon your brow?
Oh no! I felt his presence
When you laughed just now.

To me, ’twas not the truth you taught,
To you so clear, to me still dim,
But when you came you brought
A sense of him.

And from your eyes he beckons me
And from your heart his love is shed,
Till I lose sight of you and see
The Christ instead.

Fred Beuchner puts it this way, to believe in Christ is to give your heart to Christ, which means not to affirm things about Christ, but it’s like what you mean when you say, “I believe in my friend.”

New Every Morning

Colossians 3:9-10 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

A new year and a new me. According to Dannielle Haig, a business psychologist at DH Consulting, New Year’s resolutions date back to ancient times.  ‘Ancient historians tell us that the Babylonians were making new year’s resolutions some 4000 years ago,’ she tells Metro.co.uk.  ‘In various Abrahamic religions there is also a new year cleansing for a fresh beginning, so it would seem it’s an innate desire for humans to have a fresh start.’  The article goes on to say “This is because New Years are great signposts for reflection.‘New years come and go consistently and without a doubt, so it’s a good time for us to be working towards a goal,’ 

But here we are at the 12th of January and I wonder, are the resolutions of the 1st January already beginning to crumble. 

In out text Paul encourages us to put on the ‘New Self’.

From an unknown source comes an article titled, "How To Be Miserable." It says, "Think about yourself. Talk about yourself. Use "I" as often as possible. Mirror yourself continually in the opinion of others. Listen greedily to what people say about you. Expect to be appreciated. Be suspicious. Be jealous and envious. Be sensitive to slights. Never forgive a criticism. Trust nobody but yourself. Insist on consideration and respect. Demand agreement with your own views on everything. Sulk if people are not grateful to you for favours shown them. Never forget a service you have rendered. Shirk your duties if you can. Do as little as possible for others."

Where as the new self has to be the Christian’s ultimate goal. As Thomas a Kempis, said in the 14th Century said, “Let this be thy whole Endeavour, this thy prayer, this thy desire, that thou mayest be stripped of all selfishness, and with entire simplicity follow Jesus only.”

If your heart is in the right place, then everything else in a person’s life will be right.” Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will help us to make our hearts more like the loving and compassionate heart of Jesus.

Dear Lord, please help me to feel Your spirit deep within my heart. Help me to feel Your strength behind me, and to choose selflessness over selfishness. Help me to truly want to show compassion and kindness to other people, those that I know and those that I will never meet. Help me to realise that You love ALL of your children, including those that I may not like or respect, and those who themselves have chosen the wrong path. Help me to always keep that in mind and to look for ways to help, not hurt the people of Your world. Help my heart to overflow with Your love, and help me to spread that spectacular, sustaining love to those who are without it. Please smile as You recognise my sincere desires, and continue to bless me with opportunities to passionately bring Your peace and spirit to the lost members of Your earthly family. Amen.