Category: Reflections

“I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant,

for I do not forget your commandments.”

Psalm 119:176

I have always been fascinated by the Psalmist of the Long Psalm (119). Early in my Christian life I was appalled by his love for God’s law (caught up as I still was in the after effects of the devil’s lie that ‘my way’ was always the ‘best way’).  But today, I am enthralled by the love, and desire to emulate the Psalmist in the experience and expression of it.

So, what does the Psalmist know that we need to know?

First of all, that there is indeed an ‘order’ within creation itself, a way of life, that if embraced, leads to ‘life’—that is, more and abundant life! Just look at some of the statements from today’s lection that ends the psalm itself:

“The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.” V.160

“I rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil.’ V. 162

‘Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.” V. 165

The deep conviction that there IS an order to creation, and that to embrace that order leads to life, lies at the heart of the psalmist self-awareness.

But note as well, that the Psalmist knows that the discovery of that order is itself a gracious gift from the Creator himself! Without this gracious self-disclosure, the order would be hidden from the psalmist.  Note again the Psalmist’s own words:

“I rise before dawn and cry for help” Why? Because “I hope in your words” – I hope in your self-disclosure (v. 147).

“My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise’ – the ‘promise’ of ‘more, and abundant, life’ (v. 148).

All of this leads to his pleas to “give me life according to your promise’ (v. 154); “give me life according to your rules’ (v. 155); “give me life according to your steadfast love” (v. 160). The very character and ways of God are graciously revealed in the Word of God.

Knowing all of this, I still found myself struck by how the psalm ends:

“I have gone astray like a lost sheep!” (v. 176).

The Psalmist who has received the revelation of God – the revelation of God’s good order—and has embraced the ways of God –“for I do not forget your commandments’ (v. 176)—nonetheless, at the end of the psalm, still finds himself as a ‘lost sheep’, one who has wandered “astray”.

This is a sobering thought.

It is not enough, it seems, to possess the revelation, nor even to embrace the revelation! There are forces within our world and within ourselves that nevertheless cause us to ‘go astray’.

So what is the Psalmist’s solution?

“Seek your servant!”

He throws himself upon the shepherding heart of his Creator!  The heart of the One who not only created the order and has revealed it to us, but who alone can help us to live by it—even when we are led astray by the forces that confront us!

The Psalmist describes the Divine-human partnership that lies at the heart of the gospel; the key part being the ‘shepherding heart of God’.

May we daily commit ourselves to his ways, while crying out for his ‘seeking presence.”

 

The Rev. Dr. Brian G. Campbell

“Who rises up for me against the wicked?

Who stands up for me against evildoers?’

Psalm 94:16

The contrast could not be sharper:

At the end of June, Janis and I attended the Anglican Church in North America’s Assembly in Wheaton, Ill., where the reality and beauty of multi-ethnic communities of faith were celebrated and encouraged.  It was glorious, and a foretaste of the fullness of the Kingdom of God (see Revelation 7 among other texts).

Then, during the first week in August, nine of us from Christ the Redeemer spent time rejoicing with and learning from our brothers and sisters in Rwanda.  If you were present for worship last Sunday you caught a glimpse of the power of the gospel to bring cultures together within the fellowship of the Kingdom of God.

And then we returned to America and the horrors of Charlottesville!

The circumstances that defined the events of the past weekend were bad enough; however, the inept, confusing, and disturbing responses to the circumstances are frightening (while the violent behavior from both sides is to be condemned, there is no moral equivalency between the ideology of racism and supremacism and misguided modern liberalism; the latter is lamentable, the first is contemptible).

All of this led to the questions: What is happening within our country? And, how should the Church respond to it?

I am not competent to answer fully either question.  But what I found helpful was to consider these questions in light of the Psalm set for the Daily Office last evening-Psalm 94.

The Psalm is a lament penned by an unknown author concerning an unnamed, but disturbing, crisis.

The first seven verses are the lament itself. The psalmist addresses the prayer to the “God of vengeance”, because THIS was the God he desired to intervene (such was the horror of the crisis he faced!).  In his opinion, it was time for the “proud to be repaid” and the “exultation of the wicked” silenced. These boastful wicked people of power were “crushing God’s people…Killing the widow and the sojourner, murdering the fatherless”, all the while defying God (“The Lord does not see” they say, “the God of Jacob does not perceive.”).

He first brings his lament before his God, and then turns to address the wicked themselves (v. 8-11). He issues a word of warning, reminding them of who it is they are dealing with!  “He who planted the ear…who formed the eye…who disciplines the nations…who teaches humankind…The LORD knows…” and will act in his good time.

This confession-like-warning leads the psalmist to make a personal confession of the blessings that come from God’s presence (v. 12-15). “Blessed is the man whom you discipline” (obviously seeing himself among that throng), “whom you teach out of your law”. And what is the conviction that comes from this blessing? “For the LORD will not forsake his people, he will not abandon his heritage; for justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.”

This personal remembrance of blessing, and this communal confession of faith, leads to a publicly voiced defiant question: “Who rises up for me against the wicked? Who stands up for me against the evildoers?”  The psalmist, by voicing his lament to the only One who can intervene, discovers himself in the very presence of God, and is renewed by the reality of his partnership with God (“When I thought, ‘My foot slips,’ your steadfast love, O LORD, held me up. When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.”

All of this leads to the conviction that “the LORD has become my stronghold”. The Psalmist is ready to face his crisis from this solid ground, trusting that the LORD “will bring back on them their iniquity.”

So what might this psalm teach us about our current crisis?

The first and foremost task of the Church (and individually each of its members) is to PRAY! To bring the crisis, and our personal response to it, before God as honestly and as passionately as we are able.  This remains the genius of the Jews, and must become the habit of the Church! Let’s stop our ‘ranting and raving’ to others, and begin our ‘lamenting’ to God.

We need to pray BEFORE we speak to those in the crisis! And then, we are to simply remind them of the danger they are in, responsible as they are for their actions and convictions, before the One who made them and who will hold them to account.

And finally, we are to remain in prayer until we ourselves are changed simply by being in the presence of God, having renewed our partnership with him. Then, and only then, can we dare re-engage with the crisis from that “stronghold”, while trusting in and waiting for the fullness of the Kingdom.

In the midst of this crisis, may the Church be the community that brings it into the presence of God, seeking to be changed by that presence, so that we might be agents of change –in partnership with God—within our culture.

A Reflection on the Call to Prayer for Lent:

At our last Leadership Council meeting we began with the question: ‘Where do you see the Spirit’s movement within and among us at Christ the Redeemer?’  It is a question we return to often. For me, the answer was dramatically clear: within the growth of our Community Life groups. Let me explain.

When the church was planted, Janis and my children were the only ones still living at home among the original six couples! This (predominantly) empty-nest group chose to combine the ‘communal’ and ‘discipling’ aspects of their lives by forming same-sex Discipleship-focused study groups. These were blessed by God initially with slow, but steady growth.

When the first wave of young families with children arrived, their longing was for ‘community’—especially community which included and involved their children–and this took precedence over their desire for ‘discipleship’ (though it did not eliminate this!). These gathered together (with their children in tow) to share a meal, to get to know one another, to pray together, and—over time—develop the trust to go deeper together.  God has blessed this initial grouping beyond my comprehension.

That initial group grew over time that it eventually gave birth to a second group (one meeting in Chesapeake, the other a combination of Norfolk and Virginia Beach).  To the initial draw of ‘affinity’, the pole of ‘geography’ began to exercise a greater influence. In the next two years, the second group (the Norfolk-Virginia Beach one) has birthed a second and third group, and is now prepared to give birth to a fourth (three of which will be based in Norfolk, one in Virginia Beach). That, to me, is a sign of the Spirit’s blessing.

If the Spirit continues to bless this movement, could we expect to see those three Norfolk groups multiply into six in a year or two?  I, for one, am eager to find out.

But here is the thing: only 40% of our Norfolk contingent are involved in these ‘Community Life’ groups. If we could form three such groups from the 40%, could we form four from 60%, five from 80%, or (dare I say it), six from 100% of us who hail from Norfolk? And again, IF the Spirit continues to bless these groupings, might we see six, (or eight, or ten, or twelve!) such groups in the next year or two?

In our renewed vision for our community, we have discerned that God desire us to ‘intentionally grow’ (which means we are committed to discerning and cooperating with the Spirit), ‘Norfolk-centric’ church (which means that while we seek growth from all areas, we especially seek growth from Norfolk, the ‘mother’ of the ‘mother-to-be’ church).

All of this raises a question:  If you are not presently involved in one of these ‘Community groups’, is the Spirit stirring you up, at the present moment, to become part of this movement?  Especially if you reside in Norfolk: is this the time for you –and your family– to become involved?

I would encourage all of us to add this to our Lenten prayers. Seek the direction of the Spirit in this, as in all things.

A Reflection for This Day

By
The Rev. Dr. Brian G. Campbell

“The LORD will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the LORD!”

Psalm 146:1-10

It is finally over!

We have just lived through one of the most horrendous election cycles of our history, one which offered two of the most flawed candidates ever to run for the Presidency, and have now emerged as divided and entrenched as ever before.

Lord, have mercy.

I woke up this morning with Psalm 146 on my mind, and I thought I would share it with you:

Where do we begin this morning? Whether we are in the depths of despair, or secretly pleased by the results of the election?

We begin where the Psalmist begins, with praise:

Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul!
2  I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

Then we go on with the psalmist to remind ourselves that our hope is not in any particular political system:

3  Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
4  When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.

Instead, we affirm the reality of where true blessing is to be found:

5  Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD his God,
6  who made heaven and earth,the sea,
and all that is in them,who keeps faith forever;
7  who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.

We go on to remember who this God is, and how he has revealed himself to us and to all:

The LORD sets the prisoners free;
8  the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the righteous.
9  The LORD watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

Finally, in the light of his gracious self-revelation, we confess– with all the saints– the glorious truth of the assurance of his purposes:

10  The LORD will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the LORD!

I commend this psalm to you this morning; may you take comfort and direction from it.

I also encourage you to pray;

-for yourself or for others you know who may be distraught (it is far better to lament in prayer than to vent on Facebook);
-for our nation (that God would protect us, help us heal our divisions, and guide and direct our leaders);
-and for the Church (that the People of God, by their life lived together, witness to the One who reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords).

“Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD his God.”

A Reflection on the Daily Office Readings

The Rev. Dr. Brian Campbell

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

“(Paul and Barnabas) returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.“

(Acts 14.21-22)

Read that text slowly once more. Be honest, don’t you love the ‘strengthening the souls” and “encouraging in the faith” part, but are a little leery about the ‘many tribulations’ statement! It just doesn’t sound like good news to us. But here’s the thing: It did to them!

The folks in Antioch (of Pisidia), of Iconium, and especially of Lystra, who had responded by faith to the call of God through the preaching of Paul and Barnabas, knew that the ‘many tribulations’ were not something to be feared but to be embraced.  And the reason they knew this was because they saw the evidence first hand in the scars on the body of Paul.

Remember the story we have been reading in the Daily Office: Paul and Barnabas have been consecrated by the Church in Antioch to take the gospel to the Gentiles of Asia. At every stop on their preaching tour they experienced both great success and great opposition:

• At Antioch of Pisidia, though they attracted the entire city to the synagogue to hear Paul preach, the Jews incited the leaders of the city to ‘stir up persecution against them, and drove them out of their district.’ (13:50)
• At Iconium, despite great numbers coming to faith, ‘but the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against them…. (ending with) an attempt..to mistreat them and to stone them.’ (14:2,5)
• At Lystra, what the unbelievers could not do in Iconium, they succeeded in doing in Lystra—‘they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.” (14:19) And this only days after they had declared he and Barnabas to be the incarnation of Zeus and Hermes!

And how did Paul and Barnabas respond to this abuse?  They went on to Derbe and preached the gospel there, and then ‘returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”   Their ‘many tribulations’ could not deter them from fulfilling their calling! And the disciples knew that, received that, and embraced that for themselves.

How can this be? What is it that would enable Paul not only to endure such suffering but to return to the place of that suffering? What did he know that we need to know, so that we too can ‘enter the kingdom’ come what may?

The answer, as seen in the text of Acts, is this: They were absolutely convinced that God had raised Jesus from the dead; thereby declaring him to be both “Lord and Christ” (2:42). Not only this, but God had exalted him to his right hand (7:56), and had thereby “appointed him” to be the One “to judge the world in righteousness” (17:31).  In other words, they were utterly convinced that through his death, resurrection and ascension, that Jesus had been declared the Last Adam, the One who would give birth to a New Humanity, who themselves would be enabled to inherit and inhabit God’s New Creation.

They were so convinced of the reality and the meaning of the resurrection, that they could easily understand the ‘many tribulations’ as ‘birth pangs’ of the New Creation; and thus were enabled to embrace them without fear.

Paul and those first disciples were so convinced.

Are we?