Pray Without Ceasing

POURING COFFEE Why is it that the simple act of pouring oneself a cup of coffee provides an immediate sense of calm, comfort, and a sense (however fleeting) that all is right with the world? The benefits of coffee are spiritual as well as physical. In terms of spiritual benefits, consuming this beverage at significant points in the day is a cherished tradition in the Western world. At home and at work coffee serves as our trusted friend. At home we drink coffee at quiet times, perhaps to accompany casual reading. At work it is a companion that accompanies our labors. Away from work, we gather with friends over coffee for a leisurely visit. In restaurants it is an act that signifies the formal part of the meal is over and diners may now relax for an indefinite time in the company of their companions. It also offers a point of entry into fellowship: "Let's have a cup of coffee sometime" provides a less cumbersome way than meeting for lunch or dinner to forge new r...

And so I said, "Here I am; I come.      In the scroll of the book it is written of me: "I love to do your will, O my God;      your law is deep within me."                          (Psalm 40:7-8) The Holy Spirit is alive in scripture each time we open our Bible. Is there any other way to account for the mysterious force that surrounds us and pulls us into the heart of a given passage or verse as our eyes pass over it? Without knowing how, suddenly we find ourselves in God's presence. We know this power is living because, even in the context of a single passage, we never encounter God the same way twice. The triune God always meets us exactly where we are at that moment, in the midst of the currents that are swirling through our lives. God finds us through scripture, helps us see our own situations and surroundings more clearly, and then calls to us at that place: "I see you, I know ...

Thus I make it my ambition to proclaim the good news, not where Christ has already been named, so that I do not build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written: ‘Those who have never been told of him shall see, and those who have never heard of him shall understand.’                                                                        (Romans 15:21)   How far out of our “comfort zones” this prescription of Paul’s would take us, were we to apply it to our own forms of ministry! Most of us confine our proclamation to places where the gospel is already recognized. We preach before congregations comfortable with the idea of Jesus. We write for church-oriented publishers whose clientele is solidly Christian. We teach in institutions sanctioned (if not supported) by the church.   W...

Our culture is in high gear for Thanksgiving. But for those who love the church and its seasons, Thanksgiving means we have almost arrived at the first Sunday of Advent. Yet it is well to remember that Advent, as our hymnody reminds us,  is not only a time of quiet reflection but also one of thanksgiving and rejoicing: Hark the glad sound! The Savior comes, the Savior promised long; let ev’ry heart prepare a throne, and ev’ry heart a song!” (Evangelical Lutheran Worship  # 239) Rejoice, rejoice, take heart in the night, though dark the winter and cheerless, the rising sun shall crown you with light, be strong and loving and fearless. (ELW #242) For we know that, come Christmas, we will sing: On this day God gave us Christ, the Son, to save us; Christ, the Son, to save us. (ELW #291) But what is all the rejoicing really about? Yes, the birth of Christ, the advent of the Messiah. But what does that mean to us? From what are we saved? We find ou...

Examine my heart, visit me by night,      melt me down;      you will find no impurity in  me.                                   (Psalm 17:3) We cannot live without the psalms. They are indispensable in our lives because the psalmist, in every instance, speaks directly to God for us in ways we cannot muster on our own. The words are eloquent, furious, capricious, heartbreaking, joyous, desperate, soul-searing. In my Bible the psalms occupy about one-eighth of an inch of the depth of the book. But the entirety of what it is to be human is encapsulated in those pages. We dismiss them from our lives--as too many worshipping bodies have done--at our peril, for without their fortifying nourishment we are much easier targets for the devil. God grant us the will and courage to welcome them into the innermost recesses of our hearts. Consider the verse above from P...

The days of our life are seventy years,    or perhaps eighty, if we are strong.... (Psalm 90) Why is baseball such an enduring part of the American psyche? Not because of gargantuan feats of heroism, death-defying catches or mighty blasts that clear the bases; not because the Red Sox have vaulted from "the working definition of hell" in 2011 and 2012 (ESPN SportsCenter) to world champions in 2013. Quite the contrary: The sport is intimately familiar to us because it unfolds on a scale that approximates that of our lives. How long will a given game be? No one knows. Nine dull innings, 26 record-setting innings? How long does each inning last? How many pitches? Enough by the third inning to send the starter to the showers, or a masterly demonstration of brevity that will stand forever in the record books (Charley "Red" Barrett in 1944, playing for the Boston Braves, who shut out the Cincinnati Reds 2-0 in a mere 58 pitches)? How long will our lives be--seventy...

"For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." (Luke 14:11) For students of scripture, this is a familiar refrain. Luke makes it tangible in this Sunday's Gospel reading, in his parable of the wedding banquet: Far better it is for you, he cautions, to take the lowest place at the table and then be invited to be seated closer to the host, than to assume a lofty position without invitation and find yourself re-seated in a lowly spot. But this proverb (indeed, Luke takes his cue from Proverbs 25:6-7, which concludes "for it is better to be told, 'Come up here,' than to be put lower in the presence of a noble") holds true in all walks of life. But because we demand immediate satisfaction in our busy lives, we may not be witnesses much of the time to the way that God's justice is served. At some point, though, it always comes to pass that the proud are humbled. When we do observe this, we must bew...