Friday, August 22, 2008

Friday, August 22, 2008

Today’s text

Matthew 16:13-18

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Phillipi he put this question to his disciples, 'Who do people say the Son of man is?' And they said, 'Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.' 'But you,' he said, 'who do you say I am?' Then Simon Peter spoke up and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' Jesus replied, 'Simon son of Jonah, you are a blessed man! Because it was no human agency that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my community. And the gates of the underworld can never overpower it.

Prayer

What made this Peter a ‘rock,’ Jesus? Was it his ‘rocky,’ impulsive stubbornness? Did you see something in him that would make him a leader long after you had physically left the scene?

No, none of this works. He is the rock because of his knowledge of you, knowledge gotten by living near your voice, so near that God revealed in his depths a depth of knowing that can be had no other way.

Others observed from a distance, but Peter from near at hand. He could touch your flesh and feel the infection of your speaking.

So let me live this close to you, so close that I hear that elusive but unmistakable voice of truth in deepest soul, assuring me that you are the Son of the Living One, the face of the Eternal Wonder, the bringer of the world’s future … and of mine.

You call us into the community of your future, Jesus, the assembly of tomorrow. There we may live so close to you and yours that we may possess the knowledge that is the rock, solid foundation for our lives, unchanging amid the shifting sands of human fortune.

Let us be close to you, and we will have what we need, now and forever.

Pr. David L. Miller

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Today’s text

Matthew 16:13-17

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Phillipi he put this question to his disciples, 'Who do people say the Son of man is?' And they said, 'Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.' 'But you,' he said, 'who do you say I am?' Then Simon Peter spoke up and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' Jesus replied, 'Simon son of Jonah, you are a blessed man! Because it was no human agency that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.

Prayer


The awareness that blesses, that makes us truly alive comes as a gift of God. That’s what you say, Jesus. There is no other way to this knowledge, and a strange knowledge it is.

How did Peter know? What tipped him off? For that matter, why is it that the truth that comes to life in you, Jesus, comes as such welcome awareness in my soul?

You heal and bless. You push back against arrogant voices and forces that lord over others. You create a gracious space around you where the outcast is welcome, where the confused and inquiring can ask clumsy questions without reproach, where there is no need to be anything other than who and what we are because we are wanted, treasured.

Your presence creates this space, and you call it God’s kingdom, God’s realm.

And then you welcome us, inviting us into arms of God’s eternal embrace, a holy homecoming. You take us into that space where we know our lives and graces are the generous outpouring of the Loving Mystery expressed in your every word and act.

I can’t figure this out by act of mind or will. But when I know you, when I am in that space you create around you--and even now in my soul--I know, even as Peter knew.

He didn’t figure it out any more than I do. He just knew you--and understood, a gift of awareness from an Infinite Source of unending generosity.

Pr. David L. Miller

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Today’s text

Matthew 16:13-16

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Phillipi he put this question to his disciples, 'Who do people say the Son of man is?' And they said, 'Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.' 'But you,' he said, 'who do you say I am?' Then Simon Peter spoke up and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' Jesus replied, 'Simon son of Jonah, you are a blessed man! Because it was no human agency that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.

Prayer

I see the warmth in you your smile, Jesus, as Peter replies. The love I witness melts ice … and hearts, mine at least.

But yours, too. You are pleased. His answer warms you through. You love him for the wonder that is in his heart, true knowledge of you.

But what does he know, and does he really understand you? No, I suppose not. Who can?

You are the revelation of God’s own heart, and who can plumb the dazzling darkness of those depths?

Yet in knowing you as the Messiah, the Christ, the walking presence of the Loving Mystery of God, our search is done.

We are born on fire, hungry, wanting, needing … more. But what this more is or can be is a mystery to us. Fashioned in the image of God, your image, Holy One, we feel restlessness in our bones for something more to still the ache within. Nothing but you can satisfy.

And seeing Jesus, knowing him, we meet the reality for which we ache, the more we need, the food that begins to satisfy the in-born hunger you put in us.

Our search is done. This is the One for whom we are made, for whom we were intended. Yet, our search only begins here. For what does it mean to know you Jesus? Just who are you? What does it mean to live close to you?

This searching goes on for as long as we draw breath, Jesus. For you are the height and depth, the length and breadth of the Love for whom no name will do.

So let us live into greater knowledge of you, and in our quest to know your heart, teach us who we are and how we are to live for you.

Pr. David L. Miller

Monday, August 18, 2008

Monday, August 18, 2008

Today’s text

Matthew 16:13-16

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Phillipi he put this question to his disciples, 'Who do people say the Son of man is?' And they said, 'Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.' 'But you,' he said, 'who do you say I am?' Then Simon Peter spoke up and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'

Prayer

I wonder, Jesus, how did you ask your question, and how did Peter respond? For years I have heard sermons that paint this moment in hues of high drama. Your question points a challenging finger directly at your friends. And brimming with blood-red passion, Peter immediately rises up on his hind feet to answer with surest conviction.

I have never been comfortable with this picture. It doesn’t seem right. Now that I am older, I am almost certain that the moment was nothing like this.

I wonder if the conversation came late in the evening when minds are tired and hearts unguarded. Or maybe it happened in the heat of day as you escaped the incessant sun and rested in the shade with friends.

You speculated with them about what people were saying about your little movement … and you. I doubt you raised your voice or that you intended your question as a pointed challenge. ‘And who do you say that I am?’

Did you know what they’d say, Jesus? Did you wonder if they understood anything about you? Or did you need some assurance yourself as your identity and mission were leading you down dangerous paths? Were you like us, needing encouragement from the hearts of your friends? You were human, too.

And Peter, did he speak with cocksure conviction? Or did he whisper his words into the darkness as your friends sat at a fire, half believing yet wondering if he was speaking utter craziness? Did he wonder and doubt, like us, speaking the truth through a divided soul?

There is nothing inspiring about my speculation Jesus, except maybe this. Faith in who you are most often comes not amid the strength of assurance but is laced with questions and uncertainty.

It arises in the hours when the heart is vulnerable and unguarded, allowing us to entertain thoughts about what is central to our lives, what shows us what life and truth are. And in those moments, you are always there, one way or another, asking, ‘who do you say that I am?’

Pr. David L. Miller