Little Prayers 4

Now if you aren’t into singing through Matins while you are on your way to church or just our running errands, here are some other short prayers you can pray and sing at the same time. 

One of my favorite hymns/ prayers is LSB 422, On My Heart Imprint Your Image.  It is just one verse but makes for a beautiful prayer to God every day of our lives as we ask for his heart to rule and reign in our heart and to sync our heart with his heart—"On my heart imprint Your image, Blessed Jesus, King of grace, That life’s riches, cares, and pleasures Never may Your work erase; Let the clear inscription be:  Jesus, crucified for me, Is my life, my hope’s foundation, And my glory and salvation!”

Another great hymn verse is from LSB 868, “Awake, My Soul, and with the Sun”.  In verse 5 we pray these words concerning our actions for the coming day—“Direct, control, suggest this day All I design or do or say That all my pow’rs with all their might In thy sole glory may unite.”  As we pray this prayer, we also have the added benefit of meditating on our request—we are asking God to have control over every aspect of our life!  Another similar prayer comes from the hymn, “Forth in Your Name,” in LSB 854:1—"Forth in Your name, O Lord, I go, My daily labor to pursue, You, only You, resolved to know In all I think or speak or do.” 

A hymn I remember from early on in my youth is LSB 783, “Take My Life and Let It Be”.  It is a most beautiful hymn in which each verse is a prayer to God to totally mold and shape our heart, mind, body, and soul into the desires and will of His heart and mind.  In verse one we pray that our entire life would be devoted to our heavenly Father and that our life lived would be one of praise and glory to Him! “Take my life and let it be Consecrated Lord, to Thee; Take my moments and my days, Let them flow in ceaseless praise.”  In verse 3 we pray that the words that come from heart and lips may always be His words and may they always be words that build up rather than tear down.  “Take my voice and let me sing Always, only for my King; Take my lips and let them be Filled with messages from Thee.”  And finally, in verse 5 we pray that God’s throne would be our very heart!  “Take my will and make it Thine, It shall be no longer mine; Take my heart, it is Thine own, It shall be Thy royal throne.” 

As Martin Luther would say, these hymn verses/ little prayers are “no child’s play”.  In fact, these prayer requests are pretty heavy duty, for we are asking the Lord in each one of them to turn our life around in a 180 degree turn and do with us as He will do with us; we are acknowledging that he owns us through the blood of His son, Jesus Christ.  But what we give up pales in comparison to what we gain!  The blessing of ceaseless prayer and praise keeps our heart and mind focused on our Lord and his will for us; and we will find the Lord doing for us “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us!”

Little Prayers 3

“If only there were more than 24 hours in a day.”  How many times have we said that or heard someone say that?  “I would love to do _________, but there just isn’t any time to do it!”  How many times have we said that?  We are busy people!  We have jobs that aren’t the traditional 9-5, eight-hour day anymore; meals to prepare and a house and laundry to clean; extra-curricular activities to run the kids back and forth as well as our own outside activities.  Even retired people are busy— “I’m busier now than when I was working! I don’t know how I got it all done before!”

And while it’s true we are busy, we do tend (if we are truly honest with ourselves) to make time for the things that are important to us. I find that there are times in the day when we are busy but not busy!  Such as when you are in the car and going somewhere.  Now it doesn’t take more than 15 or 20 minutes to get around to most places in the metro, so that is the perfect time to get off the cell phone or stop listening to the radio and pray.

On my way in to church during the week and especially on Sunday morning, I leave the radio off and use the time to sing and pray—because some wise person once said that those who sing pray twice!  There are beautiful little prayers that are parts of the liturgy or verses out of hymns that we can use to pray twice!  Talk about bang for your buck!

For example, on Sunday morning I have time to sing/ pray Matins.  I usually finish about the time I turn into the parking lot.  Matins opens with little prayers: “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.”  That little prayer is followed by, “Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me O Lord.”  What a great way to start the day on your morning commute or your first errand run of the day.  We ask to open our lips and loose our tongue that we might praise him in all that we think, say, or do.  And we follow that with asking him to be at our side all day for the purpose of keeping us safe from all that would hurt or harm us.

The Te Deum is a great prayer of praise to God for all that he done for us in Christ.  But the last three verses are especially beautiful little prayers asking God to look down, not only on our own life, but the lives of all who are our neighbor.

We therefore pray You to help Your servants,

Whom you have redeemed with Your precious blood.

Make them to be numbered with Your saints

In glory everlasting.

O Lord, save Your people and bless your heritage.

Govern then and lift them up forever.

Day by day we magnify You.

And we worship Your name,

And we worship You name forever and ever.

Grant, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin.

O Lord, have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us.

O Lord, let Your mercy be upon us, as our trust is in You.

O Lord, in You have I trusted; let me never be confounded.

In these three short verses we are asking God to help us and all believers to remain in the faith and be led safely to their heavenly home.  We are asking God to govern our lives and to rule and reign in our hearts that we might not sin against him and our neighbor.  We are asking that by his grace we might not be confounded—that is, confused, perplexed, filled with doubt—but that we always be sure and certain of his ever-present grace, mercy, strength, and power in our lives.

Matins concludes with a series of short prayers, beginning with the Kyrie—again, a call for mercy and grace.  We pray the Lord’s Prayer, that prayer that encompasses all that we should pray to God!  We then pray Psalm 102:1 in which we are asking God to hear our prayers, let us come into his presence and pour out our heart to him with all of our frustrations, fears and doubts, cares and concerns:  “O Lord, hear my prayer and let my cry come to You.”  We can pray whatever else we want and then pray the Collect for Grace which is the most beautiful prayer to pray at the beginning of each day.  We can even sing/ pray the New Testament benediction, asking God’s blessing and presence on our lives for the day: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with us (not the usual “you” spoken by the pastor) all.”

I leave for church most Sundays around 7:45 at 19 & Ryan.  By the time I get to church at 12½ and Ryan it is just about 8:00 and I have time left over after having prayed and sung through Matins.  Now I’m not patting myself on the back and saying what a good boy am I; not by any means.  I could have used the time to listen to the radio or just let my mind wander to wherever it wanted to wander.  But I use it for prayer.  Now there are some other benefits than just that of prayer time.  As all but the Te Deum are right out of the Scriptures, not only have I prayed but I have meditated and pondered on God’s Word at the same time.  I have spoken to God in prayer and he has responded back by speaking to me through his Word!  My soul has been fed and nourished!  My voice has been warmed up and ready for preaching and teaching through prayer and song!  My attitude, my frame of mind has moved from the things of the world to the things of God!  Talk about killing two birds with one stone!

Coming into the parking lot I am ready to meet with my people, lead them in worship, and serve the Lord with a joyful heart!

Little Prayers 2

It was just an hour or so away from dinner time when Teryl informed me I was making dinner.  I hadn’t thought about making dinner; I hadn’t planned on making dinner.  Like most husbands, I leave that chore up to my wife unless otherwise informed—and with plenty of advanced notice.  Fortunately for me, what I was supposed to make was about as easy as easy gets in making dinner.  That’s the beauty of the recipes out of this “Fast and Fabulous” cookbook we have.  So easy that you could make something at a given moment’s notice.

That’s also the great thing about little prayers—they can be drawn upon at any given moment’s notice (or need) as the saying goes.  And they work!  Troubles, circumstances, problems, and issues all arise out of nowhere, catching us off-guard; and then what do you do.  There may not be enough time to sit down, fold hands, and calmly pray what we might consider to be a “proper” prayer.  Sometimes there is not only no time to sit and pray, but not even enough time to gather your wits about yourself to pray.  Again, that is where little prayers come in handy.

In Service of Prayer and Preaching there are two wonderful little prayers in the opening versicles: “Make me to know Your ways, O Lord.  Teach me Your paths.” and “Sanctify us in Your truth.  Your Word is truth.”  Both of those are right out of John 17:17 and Psalm 25:4. In Responsive Prayer 1 are these short little prayers from the section on morning and from afternoon and evening: “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with a willing Spirit (Psalm 51:12).”  From Psalm 102:1 you can pray, “Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry come to You.”  Psalm 85:7 has us crying out, “Show us Your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us Your salvation.”  You can even pray a quick prayer for our nation, “Lord, keep this nation under Your care, and guide us in the way of justice and truth.” 

Out of Responsive Prayer 2 we find these short little prayers: “Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.”  “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”  Those are right out of Psalm 51, David’s prayer of sorrow over his adulterous affair with Bathsheba.  Out of Psalm 63:3, 7, “Teach me Your way, O Lord, that I may walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.” 

I wound up getting dinner made.  It was as easy as draining two cans of black beans, juice from two limes, some salt, cumin, chili powder, cayenne, and cilantro and some green onion.  Put it on a bed of rice and—presto! Change-o!—dinner is served.  It was so easy, I could probably do it again without the book.  These short little prayers are the same way.  So short and easy to memorize and remember that you have them at your fingertips any time you may need or want them.

AE

Little Prayers, Part 1

Eating healthy and eating as few processed foods as possible is a laudable goal, but not always an easy one to achieve.  At our house we scramble to eat dinner at night because by the time Teryl gets done working and we get dinner on the table, its barely in time some nights before I head back to church for the evening.  Trying to chop, grate, blend, slice, peel, boil, fry, steam, bake, or nuke is just too time consuming.  So, one of our favorite “go to” cookbooks is Lisa Leake’s, “100 Days of Real Food:  Fast and Fabulous.”  She is all about cooking and eating as many foods as possible with the least amount of processing in them.  And her point in this book is that eating healthy and unprocessed foods doesn’t have to be time consuming and stressful.  Most of her meals can be accomplished in about 30 minutes.

I wonder if the same isn’t true sometimes in our devotional life—especially our prayer life.  Our busy schedules can sometimes put the kibosh on it and the next thing we know, we are weighed down with guilt; we don’t pray as much as we should, our prayer time is too short, we don’t seem to pray for people beyond ourselves and our families.  All we seem to get out is some little frustrated/ exasperated prayer such as, “Lord, help me!” or “Lord, have mercy!”  But don’t beat yourself up too much; don’t give up your intentions to spend more time in prayer and to pray for more people, cares, and concerns.  And keep in mind that those little prayers can be very powerful and ceaseless prayers—just as Paul encourages us to pray in I Thessalonians 5:17.

Some of my favorite daily prayers to pray are the little ones found within the various services and offices of the day found in Lutheran Service Book.  Take the little prayer of the disciples on the road to Emmaus found in Luke 24:29. Later, on the day of resurrection, two of the disciples decided to journey home from Jerusalem to Emmaus.  Along the way they were discussing all that had happened in Jerusalem that week and what the women had discovered at Jesus’ tomb that morning.  As they were talking, Jesus came upon them and joined in their discussion.  He began to open the Scriptures to them concerning all that had happened and their “hearts burned within them” (vs 32). 

They were sad to reach their destination of Emmaus.  They had begun to understand so much from Jesus, though they did not recognize him as Jesus.  They wanted to hear more, know more, grow more.  Their prayer was short, sweet, and to the point: “Stay with us, Lord, for it is evening, and the day is almost over.”  This very prayer is one of the versicles found in the Service of Light in Evening Prayer.  Jesus heard their request and honored it.  He stayed with them long enough to sit down at table and bless their evening meal.  And in so doing he opened their eyes and minds even farther and they recognized him, not just as Jesus, but as the risen Christ! 

And how fitting that the next set of versicles that follow in Evening Prayer is another little prayer: “Let your light scatter the darkness and illumine your Church” (I Cor.4:5 and 2 Cor. 4:6). In the Thanksgiving For Light, we sing these words as a little prayer:” Enlighten our darkness by the light of your Christ; may His Word be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.”  Those words come directly from Psalm 119:105.  In the Scriptures darkness is always symbolic of sin, evil, and ignorance of the things of God.  But on the other hand, light is always symbolic of the new life in Christ and the robe of his righteousness that we wear. Out of Psalm 141 in Evening Prayer one prays these three little prayers:  “Set a watch before my mouth, O Lord, and guard the door of my lips’; “Let not my heart incline to any evil thing”; “Let me not be occupied in wickedness with evildoers”.

And here are two little prayers that I like to use at the close of evening meetings and when I go to bed at night.  The Office of Compline (Prayer at the Close of the Day) begins with this invocation: “The Lord Almighty grant us a quiet night and peace at the last.”  And then at the end (almost) of Compline the antiphon to the Nunc Dimittis (The Song of Simeon) is sung twice: “Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping that awake we may watch with Christ and asleep we may rest in peace.”  Short, sweet, little prayers, but what better prayers could one pray at the close of the day?

Hmm.  I see a book in my future:  100 Days of Real Prayers:  Short, Sweet, & Powerful!

AE

Enough Already! Back to Love, Back to The Commandments!

Is it no wonder that the world is in the predicament it is in?  For decades now we have very subtly been losing our humanness and becoming more like wild animals filled with an instinct not to love and care about one another but to prey upon one another for own satisfaction and enjoyment.  In some ways it all goes back to the breakthrough television sitcom, “All in The Family”.  The Bunker household was filled with insults, put-downs, bigotry, intolerance, etc.  And we LOVED IT!  And if one sitcom like that was a success, then surely a dozen more would be even better.  Roseanne, The Simpsons, South Park, just to name a few, were all highly watched shows wrapped around the premise of putting people down and belittling others as much as possible.  With such a steady diet of it we became so numb to it all that I don’t think we even realized it happened.  It has come to seem so normal!

Trash talk is no longer limited to politicians.  Everybody does it!  And worst of all, the supposed leaders of the Christian community can be found doing it and so can the “rank and file.”  And then Christians wonder why the world has the opinion of them that they have.  Could it just be that we brought this on ourselves by our own lack of Christian behavior?  I think it’s more that high time that we be re-introduced to the Ten Commandments—and not just the commandments according to the letter of the law, but what they really mean according to the spirit of the law!

For all of you out there who grew up Lutheran and had to memorize Martin Luther’s Small Catechism, I would urge you go back and re-read his explanations to the Ten Commandments.  For those of you who became Lutheran later in life but never really got into Luther’s Small Catechism, I would encourage you to check out his explanations of the Commandments.  And to those of you who have no clue what a Lutheran is or could care less, the beauty of checking this out is that it applies to everybody whether you are a Christian in general, a Lutheran Christian in particular, or even an avowed atheist! 

For Lutherans the Commandments aren’t just Laws to be obeyed.  The Commandments are all about Love.  Love is one of those words that can be hard to precisely define with a dictionary definition.  One can, however, define love through example—hence (love that word!) the Bible says in John 3:16 that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him might not perish but have eternal life.”  Love defined by example.  Christians can talk all they want about love in general and God’s love in particular, but until we are willing to get beyond talk and actually reflect love (particularly God’s love in Christ) through what we say and do, we are as the apostle Paul says in I Corinthians 13:1, “a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.”  There is enough noise in the world as it is.  The world needs to hear and see the sweet, sweet sound of the love of God as it has come to us through the grace and mercy of Christ.  Okay, I digress (love that word, too).  Back to the Commandments!

I won’t share all of the commandments but just a few.  Consider what Luther says, for what he says is really only what the Bible says.  (You might want to also check out Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount as that is great commentary on the commandments and love.)  You want to see what love looks like, see the commandments.  And again, get beyond the letter and reflect on the spirit of them.

The 5^th Commandment: You shall not murder.  What does this mean?  We should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical need. 

Wow!  Did you catch that—murder is more than just taking someone’s physical life!

7^th Commandment:  You shall not steal.  What does this mean?  We should fear and love God so that we do not take our neighbor’s money or possessions, or get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his possessions and income. 

Holy Cow!  I am my brother’s keeper!

8^th Commandment:  You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.  What does this mean?  We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way. 

Whoa!  The pressure is on with this explanation!  Not only is there a lot slander and betrayal by politicians toward other politicians and citizens, but we have gotten in on the act as well.  Imagine what Facebook would like if in our posts we concerned ourselves with respecting others and their opinions, whether we like the opinion or the person or not.  One can only imagine what Facebook would look like if, instead of tearing each other apart with our insults and put-downs, we actually tried to understand where each other is coming from and considered them and their opinions in the kindest way (or as the catechism used to say—put the best construction on everything).

Love the Lord your God with all your heart summarizes the first three commandments.  The rest are summarized by love your neighbor as yourself.  And Love—that is the epitome of all ten of them! 

My brothers and sisters in Christ, we are born again of water and the spirit.  We are no longer dead in trespasses and sins, but alive in Christ; new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).  We have been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us.  The life we live we live by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave himself up for us (Galatians 2:20)!  If we don’t start modeling the faith in words and deeds that stem from love, how will the world ever know what love really is?  How will world ever come to know the freedom of the Gospel and eternal life in Christ.  If not you and me, then who?

A Handkerchief, Chivalry, And The Christian Man (And Woman, Too)

If you are looking for a really good movie (like they used to make them—no foul language and sex left up to the imagination) then you will want to watch, if you haven’t already, The Intern with Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway.   Robert De Niro plays a retired widower who signs on to be a senior intern for a start-up internet clothing company.  The “generation gap” as it is portrayed in the film is touching, hilariously funny, and eventually reconciled as De Niro and the young 20 somethings interact with one another and come to see there really isn’t a generation gap after all—they all want the same thing:  meaning and purpose in their lives, to be appreciated, and most important of all, have close and personal friendships.

There is one scene in the movie where Robert De Niro explains why he always has a handkerchief in his suit pocket.  He tells this young man whom he is mentoring that men always carry a handkerchief with them so they can give one to a woman when they need one.  De Niro explains that women cry sometimes and (as happened in an earlier scene) they can use one to wipe away their tears.  De Niro goes on to explain that carrying a handkerchief is “one of the last vestiges of a chivalrous man.”

As Christians living in a post-Christian era, we should not lament and mourn the end of chivalry; we should be resurrecting it back to life; not in a sexist kind of way but in the name and spirit of Christian servanthood.  De Niro called carrying a handkerchief an act of service to others, “I carry a handkerchief for a woman who needs one.”  Not for himself but for someone who needs one.  Paul said that we should put the interests of others ahead of our own (Phil. 2:4).  James wrote in his letter (2:14-17) that real faith is found in action.  He gives the example of saying to someone who is in need of food and clothing, “I hope you get some” and none is provided that that man’s faith is dead.  Actions speak louder than words.

Jesus really brings servanthood to the forefront of the Christian life.  John records in his Gospel (13:13-16) Jesus washing the disciple’s feet.  When he finished, Jesus said this: “Do you understand what I have done for you? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.  Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you should wash one another’s feet.  I have set you an example that you should do as I done for you.”  Notice that twice Jesus said he did this for the disciples not to the disciples.  Jesus washing the disciples’ feet was action out of love, not just setting an example.

In Mark 10:42-45 we read, ^“Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Connect this with John 3:16 and again we have not an example but an action born out of love and compassion. 

Servanthood, carrying a handkerchief for the purpose of lending it to someone who needs it, isn’t just about meeting the needs of others or living out a piece of Biblical advice.  It goes to the core of our very Christian heart; that Christ has so changed us that we care about others.  Period.  We care about the big things and we care about the little things.  And it’s the little things that speak with the greatest volume.  If I don’t care about the little things, then I am certainly not going to care about the big things.  Jesus put it into perspective when he said, “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much” (Luke 16:10).  My heart, my faithfulness, to the little things says that I can be trusted to be faithful, have a heart, for the bigger things.

Two other scenes later in the movie play off this handkerchief.  One is where Anne Hathaway (who is De Niro’s boss and head of the company where he is interning) lets him know how much she has come to trust and rely on him.  The other is at the very end of the movie when she is forgiving her husband for having an affair.  He is deeply sorry as he confesses his sin to her and she is forgiving when she hugs him.  In the midst of her tears she tells her husband, “I wish you had a handkerchief”.  That handkerchief, while a small thing and the lending of it a kind gesture, spoke volumes to Anne Hathaway’s character about what it means to care and what it means to be faithful and trusted.  De Niro’s character cared not only about the business but about her as well.  It was chivalrous to be sure, but it was also servanthood that was a result of plain caring.

As Christians we are different from the world because we have a different heart than the world has.  May we remain different from the world rather than conformed to the world (Romans 12:1).  Let’s resurrect the handkerchief and make carrying one fashionable again.  Let the dry bones of Christian chivalry come together and put on muscle and flesh and blood and be alive again.  Not by our power nor by our might, but by the power of the Spirit of God (Zechariah 4:6) may we take on the role of caring servants to one another, beginning with the small things and working our way up to the big things!

AE

A Lifetime of Lifetimes

Time was created by God on the first day of creation when he said, “There was evening and there was morning, the first day.”  It was man whom God endowed with the ability of thought and reasoning, who took that time frame and divided days into seconds, minutes, and hours; It was man who fashioned days into weeks and weeks into years.  Time—a means of marking chronologically the progression of our individual lives and our common lives together.

Time never changes.  A second is always a second; never any longer or any shorter.  Sixty seconds will tick off a minute, and sixty minutes will always be an hour.  That will never change.  And while time is a constant, it is at the same time relative.  The older we get the faster time seems to pass.  When one is waiting for something to happen time seems to march slowly; then before you know it, it is over and weeks have gone by since it happened and it seems like it was yesterday.  Older people wish time would slow down and not pass by so quickly because their lives seem to be winding down too fast.  Young people wish time would speed up because they have their whole lives in front of them and they want to start living their lives; the future seems so far away.

Even the Bible seems to impress upon us an urgency in making use of our time.  Jesus said that we must do the work of him who sent us while it is day for night is coming when no one can work (John 9:4).  Jesus also advised us to stay awake and be found in the faith and putting that faith into practice because he would come again like a thief in the night (Mark 13:35-37).  And yet, in the space of one lifetime we can live a multitude of lifetimes.  Our childhood is one lifetime.  Eighteen years of growing up to a child seems like an eternity; but when you turn 80 or 90 childhood seems like an eternity away as some 50 to 60 years have passed.  Eight years of college to become a doctor or a lawyer or a pastor can discourage many a young man or woman from entering those careers because 8 years can seem too long to wait to get on with life.  But even if you finish all of your studies and graduate when you are 30, you still have 30 to 50 years left to practice your chosen profession.

Moses was forty years old when he fled for his life from Egypt to Midian.  One lifetime.  He lived in Midian 40 years before God called him to lead his people out of their bondage in Egypt.  A second lifetime.  Forty years later, when Moses was 120 years old, called him home to glory.  A third lifetime.  One lifetime, but three lifetimes lived.

My first wife and I dated for 4 years and were married for 15 before she died.  But in that time I went through 8 years of college; we had two children; we lived in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and back to Iowa; and I served 4 congregations as a pastor and vicar.  And while life seemed over when she died and seems like it was just yesterday, twenty-four years have now gone by since the Lord called her home to glory.  I have lived lots life since she died.  We moved to Nevada where my kids finished growing up.

We lived in Nevada longer than anyplace else since my childhood.  I met Teryl and we married and integrated her family and my family together as one family.  And while we both have some very precious memories and a great love for our time in Nevada, thirteen years have passed by since we moved here—another lifetime.  In that time my all of our kids have married and we are the proud grandparents of 6 grandchildren.  We have traveled all over the country and to some places outside the country.

I used to be numbered among the youngest in the congregations I pastored, but now I find that I am numbered amongst some of the oldest.  Many of my classmates from High School and college are retired and many have died.  Where once my whole life was in front of me it seems more and more to be behind me.  Time seems to be running out.  And yet, in many ways, it is just beginning all over again.  If God so wills, perhaps another 8 years of ministry left until retirement.  That seems like a long time from now in some respects, and yet it will be here before I know it.  By comparison to the 8 years in college, the 3 years at my first parish, the 8 years at my dual parish and the nine years in Nevada, and the 13 I have been here, those 8 years are equal to whole lifetime! That will give me 41 years in the ministry.  Eight years of college seems like a drop in the bucket by comparison.

 And should I, by the grace of God, live in retirement for 10 or 15 years after that that will be an entirely other lifetime.  That trite cliché of today is the first day of the rest of your life becomes a very profound truth.  Time is running out the moment we are born and at the same time life is full to the very end.

God has ordained all of our days and they are written in His book before they come to pass (Psalm 139:16).  He knows every one of them.  Whether our lives are long or short doesn’t matter; no matter how we are we still have life left yet to live.  And no matter how young we are, we shouldn’t be anxious about the future.  It will get here soon enough and be gone soon enough.  All of this leads to another even more profound truth:  God sure knows how to pack a lot of life into one lifetime!

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Jeremiah 29:11

AE