"Although God does not need creation to be God, the creation stands in a real, if contingent, relation to God. God's creatures are gratuitously created from abundant love. In classical theology it is because God is always already abundance and fullness of life that creation is wholly gift and grace. It is not out of need but from pure love and delight that God creates."
(Janet Soskice, Naming God. Page 81)
Monday
Romans 11.33-36 “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counsellor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them? For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever!”
Sometimes prayer is to feel the breath-taking wonder of who God is. Truly, God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, and in the end we simply bow before the glory of God, trusting wisdom unsearchable and love beyond the furthest reaches of our thought. Doxology is what happens when we stand in the radiant light of God’s mercy, and lift our heads in grateful praise. “To God be the glory, great things he has done!” Yes indeed! “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Let the earth hear his voice.”
Tuesday
Romans 15.13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
All the big words are here – hope, joy, peace, trust, power, and all them embedded in the love of God in Christ from which nothing whatsoever can separate; and each of them sustained by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is as comprehensive as a prayer of blessing can be. “Blessed assurance! All is at rest, I in my Saviour am happy and blessed.” I often insert someone’s name in this Benediction, turning it into a brief but powerful prayer of intercession for someone in need of such assurance.
Wednesday
2 Corinthians13.14 “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
The irony is that “The Grace” is the closing sentence in one of Paul’s most upsetting, tension-laden and emotionally intense exchanges with any church. The Corinthian Christians gave Paul many a headache and serial disappointments. He writes to them out of his hurt, his anger, his daily anxiety for them; he leans over backwards to bring about reconciliation; he doesn’t hide the hurt he feels. Then, at the end, he writes the Grace! What finally and ultimately underpins Christian fellowship is the grace of Christ, the love of God, the communion of the Holy Spirit. We exist as Christians only as we are drawn into the life of the Triune God of grace, love and communion.
Thursday
Ephesians 3.20-21 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen”
Each one of us is a work in progress, and it is God who is at work. In ways we can never fully understand, we are being transformed by the inner working of God in our mind and hearts, and in our inward and outward lives. That’s also true of each Christian community – in even the smallest faithful and faith-filled church, God can do immeasurably more than our boldest prayers. Remember. God is able, and God is at work, within us and amongst us, in ways we don’t always perceive.
Friday
Philippians 4.20, 23 “My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.”
Paul’s closing words are quite confident about where the necessary resources come from that enable us to live in faithful and loving obedience to God. This letter is prompted by the generosity of the Philippian church – it’s a letter of thank you for gifts of money and for sending the valued and beloved Epaphroditus. Paul is saying, nothing we give is ever given away; however generous we are, God is more generous still. The glorious riches in Christ Jesus contain everything necessary to sustain our faith, deepen our love, strengthen our peace, kindle our joy, and nurture our hope.
Saturday
1 Thessalonians 5.23-24 “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.”
God has called us to holiness, and it is God himself who makes us holy, “through and through.” The whole of who we are, thought and motive, word and action, desire and choices, the God of peace is at work in us as we grow into the “measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”. And all of this looks forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, when all that God has promised in Christ comes to full fruition in a people found blameless in Him. And if all that seems a bit far-fetched, Paul has an answer to that as well – “The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.”
Sunday
2 Thessalonians 3.16 “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.”
This is a wish prayer. This is what Paul wants for these young converts, new Christians still finding their way in a culture hostile to these followers of a strange religion. Paul prays for them a comprehensive peace “at all times and in every way.” Inner peace can be elusive. We all have our anxieties, times of sadness, the friction of worry. Paul’s wish prayer is for us too. This is a good Benediction to say to each other at the close of a worship service – and then to say The Grace!
Prayer of Intercession written for our Morning Worship today in Crown Terrace Baptist, Aberdeen.
Lord God, whose power is the power of love in pursuit of justice, we pray for our broken world.
Forgive us when we close our ears and eyes to the relentless deluge of heart-breaking news and endless analysis, of facts and figures, of graphic images of human suffering and human cruelty.
Give us inner strength to overcome compassion fatigue, so that we never stop caring; renew in us the power of conscience to recognise and to name injustice and cruelty; give us words to pray, and words to say that make for peace and reconciliation, in a world divided into enemies and allies and everyone claiming they are right and everyone else is wrong.
God of Love, Mercy and Justice,
We follow the crucified and risen Jesus, the one called the Prince of Peace. Help us today to kneel at the cross and look again at the cost of forgiveness and the price of reconciliation; then help us to stand at the empty tomb and hear the words of life, “He is not here – he is risen!”
So may we in our daily lives be peacemakers, bridge-builders, life-givers, couriers and carriers of the love of God, light shining in the shadows of fear and sadness, ambassadors of Christ whose message is spoken in acts of grace and words of healing and forgiveness.
God of grace
use us, each one of us, in your ministry of compassion for the broken
equip us, each one of us, with the gift of a forgiving spirit and a passion for reconciliation
Strengthen us, each one of us, to speak the truth in love, to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with you, our God
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Monday
Proverbs 12.1 “He who loves correction loves knowledge, he who hates reproof is stupid.” (REB = Revised English Bible. One of my favourite Bible translations)
The writers of Proverbs might today be called life coaches, or relationship counsellors, work place mentors, or even therapists. But they would prefer to be described as what they were – wisdom teachers. And behind their wisdom was the assumption that the best life is the righteous life, and each life should be lived with God in mind. In which case how we live, the way we treat each other and everyone else, our everyday choice of words and the long-term formation of our character – each of these matters in our relationship to God.
Tuesday
Proverbs 12.25 “An anxious heart weighs a person down, but a kind word cheers them up.” (REB)
Russell Harty, was a British TV presenter of the 1970s. He once gave this advice: “There are two kinds of people, radiators and drains. Always stand near the radiators.” We have all experienced a heavy heart, whether grief, a sense of failure, anxiety about ourselves or those we love, even a low mood that’s hard to explain and harder still to shake off. That’s when it’s wise to stand beside those people in our lives who are radiators, and whose kindness and care radiate around us. In turn, our own spoken kindness can make all the difference to someone else who is struggling.
Wednesday
Proverbs 12.10 “A right minded person cares for his beast, but one who is cruel is wicked at heart.” (REB)
Care of creation is a recurring theme throughout the Bible, and time and again teaching about compassion and care for God’s creatures. To be right minded is to be wise, it is to know that we have a responsibility of kindness, empathy, practical care and respect for all the life around us. Stewardship of creation and care for the world around us is a daily and practical recognition of God the Creator. Cruelty to animals is incompatible with worship of God – we can’t celebrate the Creator God and God’s creation while being OK with the avoidable suffering of God’s creatures.
Thursday
Proverbs 12.6 “The wicked by their words lay a murderous ambush, but the words of the upright save them.” (REB)
The book of Proverbs keeps coming back to the damage caused by wrong words spoken for wrong reasons. Dishonesty aiming to deceive, anger intended to wound, flattery that is insincere, gossip that undermines a reputation, aggressive self-assertion for the joy of conflict – the wisdom teachers had heard it all, and they kept coming back to the damage limitation of words that are upright, honest, peaceful, careful and care-filled. Put bluntly, “The Lord detests a liar, but delights in honesty!”
Friday
Proverbs 12.2 “The good man wins the Lord’s favour, the schemer his condemnation.” (REB)
Proverbs makes a strong distinction between intelligence and cunning, a right mind and a warped way of thinking. “Intelligence is commended, but a warped mind is despised.” (12.8) God is faithful, just and compassionate, and those who love and worship God reflect minds of similar virtue. To be faithful in our thinking, and just in our behaviour, and caring in our imagination – that is the mind-set of wisdom, a God-given intelligence, a way of thinking that “wins the Lord’s favour.” Christians don’t ‘scheme’ in that negative way that’s always thinking of how to get our own way, or making sure things work out for our own interests. Wisdom is sanctified intelligence.
Saturday
Proverbs 12.20 “Those who plot evil delude themselves, but there is joy for those who seek the common good.” (REB)
Several retired people wearing high visibility vests, with hoes and buckets, clearing the edges of the paths in the town to restore their neatness. A man with a large water container on his back, pumping water above his height to the hanging baskets that make the roundabout colourful. Instead of plotting evil, they are plotting and doing good, and not their own good, the common good. Now there’s a phrase, and a social attitude that requires repristination in our communities, and in our politics. Joy is not at its best when it is private and mine, but when it is public and ours. Common good means “Love your neighbour as yourself.” So get started on the path edges, and the water pumping, and anything else that makes life better for all and each of us.
Sunday
Proverbs 12.28 “The way of righteousness leads to life, but there is a well-worn path to death.” (REB)
Yes, finally and ultimately, how we live our lives is a matter of life and death! We either build on sand or on rock, on deceit or truth, on cruelty or kindness, on a self-serving lifestyle or a God-honouring way of thinking, speaking and behaving. One is foolishness, the other is wisdom, one leads to the death of all that matters, the other to life in all its fullness. “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God and it will be given him, for God is a generous giver who neither grudges nor reproaches anyone.”
Monday
I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Come unto Me and rest;
Lay down, O weary one, lay down your head upon my breast.”
I came to Jesus as I was, weary, worn, and sad;
I found in Him a resting place, and He has made me glad.
In the past five years which began with the Covid pandemic, the world has become less safe, and it seems humanity has become less humane. There’s a world-weariness of soul and a heaviness of heart. Christians have always turned at such times to Jesus for assurance, strength, and resilience. In the noise of social media and 24/7 news, we turn to the risen Lord and hear again the invitation, “Come unto me all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Jesus is not offering an escape from the reality of a broken world – but a place to refresh, renew, and go again.
Tuesday
I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Behold I freely give
the living water; thirsty one, stoop down and drink, and live.”
I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life-giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in Him.
In recent years the phrase, “I can’t do this anymore”, has been the signal of exhaustion and emotional burnout, a confession we can’t go on like this. Jesus’ words are intended for such moments. Living water is revivifying and uninterrupted in supply. “My grace is sufficient” is the promise Paul heard when he hit the wall of demands too overwhelming to carry. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” is the same promise. In a parched world thirsty for hope, Jesus offers living water. Drink it, then become carriers and couriers of the Living Water.
Wednesday
I heard the voice of Jesus say, “I am this dark world's Light;”
Look unto Me, your morn shall rise, and all your day be bright.”
I looked to Jesus, and I found in Him my star, my sun;
and in that Light of life I'll walk till traveling days are done.
Jesus is the Light of the World. Any shining Christians do is with borrowed light, as reflectors of the glory of Jesus. These are strong words of hope and direction for life. If we rely on Jesus our star and sun, we will have light enough to walk, and renewable energy for each day’s discipleship. This verse, in fact the whole hymn, provides an important antidote to the creeping despair and exhausted passivity brought on by too much bad news. Not words of escape – instead, an urgent reminder where to find energy, fuel, hope and resilience to keep up with Jesus!
Thursday
Matt 11.28 “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
An invitation and a promise to folk who have had enough. Respite care is what enables those whose self-expenditure is unsustainable, and who need support, time and rest. Time spent in the presence of Jesus is never wasted. Rest is more than stopping doing what tires us. Take time for replenishment, to renew the sources of energy; listen again to the life we are leading, breathe deeply in the strong presence of the One who cares for us, and says – “I will give you rest.” Grace is always gift.
Friday.
Matt 11.29 “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.”
Rest is not empty time, it is stewardship of time. To learn of Jesus, to take his words to heart, to think deeply of all Jesus asks of us and offers us, that is to take on the yoke of His teaching. A yoke enables strength to be harnessed to purpose, and guides and directs energy towards fulfilling that purpose. Jesus later said, “If you love me you will keep my commands.” We spend our lives learning the teaching of Jesus, living our lives in Christ in response to knowing the life of Christ indwells us by the power of his Spirit. Discipleship is commitment to Christ-centred lifelong learning.
Saturday
Matt 11.29b “I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
No one understands us more thoroughly, no one looks on us with more compassion, and no one is more on our side, than Jesus. This is the best comment on these words: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4.15-16)
Sunday
Matt 11.30 “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
The paradox is a paradox of grace. In the service of Jesus a yoke isn’t an ill-fitting instrument of exploitation; the yoke of Jesus is easy, fitted to who we are, enabling us to grow into who God calls us to be. A light burden sounds like a contradiction in terms. But it depends who shares that burden, and who does the weight-bearing. Jesus’ invitation to us, to come to him and spend our lives with him in his service, comes with conditions and promises. The condition, “Take my yoke upon you.” The promises, "My yoke is easy, my burden is light, and you will find rest for your souls.”
And if you stay with him, you will learn stuff not easily found elsewhere!
Monday
Romans 12.9 “Love must be sincere.”
I learned chunks of Romans by heart as a young Christian, in the King James Version! “Let love be without dissimulation.” Reading the older translation increased my word power as a teenager new to reading the Bible. Dissimulation is deliberate play-acting, pretending something is true when it is not. Paul is saying that in a Christian community there’s no place for pretence. God’s love poured into our hearts is the real thing. Its authenticating hallmarks are faithfulness that creates trust, costly service to others, and compassion and practical help. Love without dissimulation.
Tuesday
Romans 12.9b “Hate what is evil, cling to what is good.”
Hate is a strong word, but if love is to be genuine, then its flip side is to hate what is evil, to abhor and resist what harms, hurts and diminishes others. Paul is well aware of the many ways sin gets in the way of love, and Christian community can be so easily undermined when love falters. The positive is to cling to what is good. In our thinking, lifestyle and actions to support what is life-giving, to encourage kindness and generosity, to be a persistent voice for good and a vocal opponent of the common undercurrents of jealousy, dislike, gossip and resentment that drain the joy and affection out of Christian fellowship. Cling to what is good, hold on to love.
Wednesday
Romans 12.10 “Be devoted to one another in love as brothers and sisters. Honour one another above yourselves.
These two imperatives say much the same thing. Mutual affection and honour is love that is emotionally grounded in friendship and respect. What proves love in the Christian community is sincere is the quality of relationships being built. Being devoted to one another means we notice who is not there, we care what happens in each of our lives, we appreciate each other’s gifts, we bear one another’s burdens, we look not only to our own interests, we want to see each other flourish in our relationship with God. We will be there for each other, as God is ever there for us.
Thursday
Romans 12.11 “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord.”
Paul learned the hard way that unrestrained and unexamined zeal can do serious damage to those who get in our way! Our first zeal is to love the God who in Christ revealed what love is – reconciling grace and costly forgiveness. We love because God first loved us. Our spiritual fervour is nothing less than the fire of God’s love igniting everything in us that will burn, the love of God poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, and overflowing in Spirit-enabled and loving service to others for Jesus’ sake. “Still let me guard, the holy fire / and still stir up Thy gift in me.”
Friday
Romans 12.12 “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer”.
There’s a three point sermon if ever there was one! Joyful hope, patience in the tough times, and faithfulness in prayer; three ways in which we can know our love for God is real and without dissimulation, and be confident that our faith is rooted and grounded in the faithfulness of God. This demands an inner discipline of faith, a heart receptive to God’s Spirit-given grace, grace that is always sufficient and a mind guarded by God’s peace which is beyond our understanding, but no less real for that!
Saturday
Romans 12.13 “Share with God’s people who are in need.”
Sharing is by definition a habit of generosity, a willingness to give what is ours for the benefit of others. ‘Share’ is the English translation of ‘koinoneo’, Paul’s word for fellowship as partnership. In Christian community we are committed to the care of each other, we are all in this following Christ thing together! Make fellowship real by looking after each other, making sure each has daily necessities. Let no one be overlooked, or left to struggle on their own when life is hard. Whatever else pastoral care is, it is a community commitment to each other’s welfare, physical, emotional and spiritual. In that sense too, “Let love be without dissimulation.” Martin Luther once said that property, including money, is fellowship in created things.
Sunday
Romans 12.13b “Practice hospitality.”
Hospitality is both a practice, and a disposition. Hospitality is something we do as an expression of welcome and goodwill to others. In Paul’s world hospitality was an obligation for Jewish people rooted in their own experience of being strangers in Egypt, wanderers in the wilderness, and exiles from their homeland. The community of Christ is to be a place of welcome, inclusion and refuge. It is more than a shake of the hand and an invitation to coffee afterwards. “Welcome and accept one another as Christ has welcomed and accepted you”, is Paul’s spelling out of hospitality as doing to others as God in Christ has done to us. This is no optional afterthought. Paul is telling all Christians to treat others as God has treated them in Christ. To practice hospitality is to be a community of consistent love, open welcome, and generous sharing.
Monday
James 1.12 “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”
In every life circumstances change, difficult times come, relationships go wrong, and hopes are disappointed. The old wisdom “these things are sent to try us” can seem heartless when someone says that to us. But James has a point. Resilience is built by resistance; character is shaped by all our struggles to make life work; faith and trust in God are strengthened by a determined inner love, enabled by God’s grace. The crown of life is God’s ‘Yes’ to our love, when we have never taken the option of walking away, but have persevered and found God’s grace more than sufficient.
Tuesday
James 1.17 “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
The best translation of what James meant is still the opening verse of the hymn: “Great is Thy faithfulness, O God, my Father; / there is no shadow of turning with Thee. / Thou changest not, the compassions they fail not / as Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.” We live each day beneath the constant generosity of God. As we say of those we have come to trust. “You always get them the same way.” Or as the old KJV says, in God “there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
Wednesday
James 1. 19 “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this. Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry…”
Pay attention! Take note! Get your head round this. In three phrases James provides an outline for a TEDS talk on learning to keep our mouths shut! Peace-making, conciliation, negotiation, relation building, community health and safety – they all depend on three things. First, the discipline of listening in order to understand rather than find fault; second, install a good braking system on the urge to talk back, correct, or control the conversation; third, enough self-knowledge to recognise that our anger is seldom righteous anger! James’s words should be in bold print at the top of every day planner and displayed at every supermarket checkout!
Thursday
James 1.20 “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, because anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”
Anger is a problem. There are times when it is absolutely right to be angry, and when it would be wrong not to be outraged. But that is anger on behalf of others when, for example, we witness injustice or needless suffering. James is talking about anger as that inner aggression that wants to win the argument, to get our own way, or to put someone in their place – which usually means beneath us! The righteous life that God requires is the opposite of self-serving anger. If we want to know what that looks like then think of an upper room, dirty feet, a basin and a towel, and Jesus defusing the anger of disciples who had been arguing about who was the greatest.
Friday
James 1.26 “If anyone considers himself religious, and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.”
Those words could have come straight out of Proverbs, and they have the same concern. Gossip, harmful words, innuendo, wounding sarcasm, lying, angry retorts, broken confidences, the clever take-down – the list is long of the ways that our words undermine trust and poison a community environment. Religion, as James sees it, is demonstrated in the practice of the faith we profess. As followers of Jesus we are called to a discipleship of the mind and heart, – and of the mouth!
Saturday
James 1.27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:”
Our religion, according to James, is nothing more, nothing less, than our faith being put into practice. We don’t just hear God’s word, we do it. Religion is both our inner piety of prayers and devotional affection and commitment to God, in response to God’s great love towards us in Christ; and our religion is how we behave in the light of God’s great love for us. The mercy and compassion of God has acted in love towards us in the gift of his Son. “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless” will likewise be visible, actual and real in the practice of mercy to others.
Sunday
James 1.27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
Care for the vulnerable, compassion for those who need help; in other words seeing the world through the eyes of Jesus who never, ever, ignored those in distress. Perhaps the worst pollution by the world is allowing our hearts to harden and become complacent about the distress of those who have no power to rescue themselves. Looking after folk who are struggling is of the very essence of Christian love, and love for Christ. “Forasmuch as you did it for one of the least of these…”