Ep.134: The Farmer and the Seeds.

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.  

Today, we look at Jesus’ parable of the sower. Here’s the story. When a farmer sowed his field, some seeds fell on the path and the birds ate them. Some fell on rocky ground where they grew quickly, but soon the sun scorched the new growth. Some seeds fell among thorns, but the thorns choked the young plants. And some fell on good ground and produced a generous crop. 

When the disciples were alone with Jesus, they said, “What was that all about?” 

Jesus explained that the seed is the word of God, it is the message Jesus brings, which gets different responses from different people. When people don’t understand the message, the evil one snatches it from them, like birds pecking seeds on the path. Some people, like seeds on rocky ground, receive Jesus’ message gladly and believe for a little while, but something else attracts their attention and they move on to other interests. Some people, like the seeds falling among thorns, receive Jesus’ words; but the weeds of worry and riches and pleasures choke the little plants. Finally, the seeds on good ground are those with a “noble and good heart, who hear Jesus’ message, retain it, and by persevering, produce a crop” (Luke 8:15).  

Here are three observations on this parable: 

First, some people want to change the title from the “Parable of the Sower” to the “Parable of the Soils” because they say the point of the story is in the different types of soil. In this view, we need to take soil samples in our life, and create conditions in which Jesus’ word will grow in us. I agree that this is one of the points of the parable. But another important point is the sower’s point of view: when people preach Jesus’ message, what sort of responses should they expect? As for the title, since in Matthew’s gospel Jesus called his story the “Parable of the Sower”, I stick with his title. 

Second, the parable demonstrates that Jesus’ words are not always powerful in themselves. In the creation story, when God spoke his word, the universe sprang into being. This makes us think, “God’s word is powerful. It can do anything. Jesus’ words should be the same!”

But the parable of the sower doesn’t teach it that way. The word of God Jesus teaches does not automatically take root in your life and create something new and amazing. 
When I was in seminary, one of the students asked, “Why aren’t people’s lives changed when they hear God’s word preached every Sunday?” I commented to him that Jesus expected his words to be eaten by birds and stolen by the evil one and scorched by the sun and choked by thorns. He anticipated that only some of his words would be received, that only some would find good soil to grow in. 

My last observation is that if you want Jesus’ message to change your life, it requires some cooperation and effort on your part. Let bits of the word settle like seeds into the soil of your life, water the seeds and protect them from the scorching sun, and pull the weeds, until the message matures into a harvest. 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, what kind of soil are we? I suspect most of us are a mixed landscape. Some places in our lives are rocky soil where your word doesn’t grow. Some places are overgrown with weeds that choke your word. And some places are rich soil where we love your word and let it grow in us and change us. 

We ask you to increase the good soil in our lives. Pull up the weeds, pick out the rocks, protect the tender plants that take root, and help us mature in the warm sunshine of your love.

Amen. 

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Ep.133: Psalm 58: Bathe Your Feed in Blood.

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me”. 

There’s a striking and disturbing image in Psalm 58. It says,
    The righteous will be glad when they are avenged,
      when they bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked (v. 10). 

Imagine for a moment a foot bath where you soothe your weary feet in the warm blood of your enemies. Disturbing, eh? But this bloody image in Psalm 58 is as current as today’s news. 

Consider Syria’s nine-year civil war: half a million dead, 5 million refugees, and 7 million internally displaced people. Bashar al-Assad has waged a brutal war, using chemical weapons and targeting hospitals, schools, and other civilian areas. The Economist magazine (KAL, “KAL’s Cartoon.” The Economist.com. Web. 5 Mar. 2020.) published a cartoon with al-Assad and Vladmir Putin in a bathtub filled with blood. Al-Assad says , “Should we be afraid of the corona-virus?” Dismissively waving a bloody hand, Putin replies, “We wash our hands regularly.” 

Psalm 58 responds to news like this with a prayer that those who create needless wars and bloodbaths should themselves be bloodily defeated. 

In reflecting on psalms of vengeance like this, I offer three observations. 

First, the psalms are not about the conflicts of everyday life. They are not about the rude sales clerk or the annoying neighbour or the unreasonable manager. No, they are written and prayed as a response to extreme instances of injustice and bloodshed. 

My second observation is that these psalms paint very real pictures of war, injustice, violence, and evil. We North Americans often turn blind eyes to the tragedy in Syria, the brutal war in Yemen, the imprisonment of Uighurs in China, to ruthless African dictators, and to political corruption and poverty in Haiti. The psalms however paint vivid pictures of violence, and they respond with appropriately violent emotions, and with calls for justice.

My third observation is that the psalms of vengeance are prayers to God, not a call for the oppressed to rise up violently against their oppressors. In the psalms, it is God who executes justice, not us. We pray to him, as does the poet, “Your kingdom come”. We look with Paul for the time when the Lord Jesus will come from heaven with blazing fire to relieve those who suffer and to punish with everlasting destruction the workers of violence (2 Thess. 1:7-9).

Let’s pray. 

Our father, we are less enthusiastic than the poet about bathing our feet in the blood of the wicked. But we share his deep desire that you show yourself powerful on behalf of all the oppressed. We share his conviction that these bloody-minded leaders are like venomous cobras that have stopped their ears to the flute of the snake charmer. Will nothing, will no one convince them to stop the killing? 

With the poet we urge you to destroy the perpetrators of violence. Let your justice hunt them down. Let their actions boomerang on themselves. Let the chemicals they spray on others blow back on them. We agree with the poet, that you should:
– Break their teeth (v. 6)
– Make them disappear like evaporating water (v. 7)
– Make them melt into slime like slugs (v. 8)

And Lord, if you have a better solution for relieving oppression and fighting injustice, we are ready to hear it. With the poet, we express our confidence in you, our God:
    Surely you reward the righteous,
        surely there is a God who judges the earth (v. 11). 

Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.

KAL Cartoon, The Economist, 5 March 2020. https://www.economist.com/the-world-this-week/2020/03/05/kals-cartoon

Ep.132: Book Review: Fosdick, The Meaning of Prayer.

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Today we look at The Meaning of Prayer by Harry Emerson Fosdick (New York: Association Press, 1915), published in 1915 during the first world war. My copy is a pocket size hardcover edition which I inherited from my mother.

The book covers topics like :“Prayer as Communion with God”, “Hindrances and Difficulties [in Prayer]”, “Unanswered Prayer”, and “Prayer as a Battlefield”. Each chapter contains seven daily devotionals, followed by comments and further teaching, and concludes with suggestions for study and discussion.   

I’m using the daily devotional part for Lent this year, marking my place each day with the ribbon. Last week, my wife told me she picked up the book, opened it at random, and read one of the daily devotionals. “It’s really good,” she said. So the book comes not just  with my recommendation, which many people consider unreliable, but also with my departed mother’s recommendation and my wife’s. It must be good.

The daily devotionals are well written, accessible, and usually quote the Bible and two or three authors on the topic of the day. Each finishes with a prayer from someone famous–Samuel Johnson, Anselm, Bernard of Clairvaux, Augustine, Thomas a Kempis, and others. 

The first devotional is titled “First Day, First Week.” Here’s an excerpt: “Samuel Johnson once was asked what the strongest argument for prayer was, and he replied, ‘Sir, there is no argument for prayer.’ One need only read Johnson’s own petitions . . . to see he was not declaring prayer to be irrational; he was stressing that praying is like breathing or eating, that we do it because we are human, and afterward argue about it as best we can” (Fosdick, 1, paraphrased). 

Another devotional reflects the World War One situation at the time Fosdick was writing. He says, “Prayer has been greatly discredited in the minds of many by its use during war. Men have felt the absurdity of praying on the opposite sides of a battle, of making God a tribal leader in heaven, to give victory as Zeus and Apollo used to do, to their favorites”  (Fosdick, 3). 

I like the devotional that quotes Abraham Lincoln saying, “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I have nowhere else to go; my own wisdom and that of all around me seems insufficient for the day” (Fosdick, 6). 

I also like that Fosdick has a chapter on “Prayer as a Battlefield”. Here he quotes the Psalms and Jesus in Gethsemane and Paul on spiritual warfare. He says, “No one. . .has ever succeeded in describing the achievement of goodness except in terms of a fight. As Paul says, ‘The flesh wars against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh’” (Fosdick, 162, paraphrased).

That’s Harry Emerson Fosdick, The Meaning of Prayer. Over a hundred years old, a bit dated, but well written, thoughtful, and encouraging. 

You can buy the book on Amazon, or get a free pdf on the internet. 

Let’s pray. 

Our Father, Fosdick says, “The intellectual puzzles are found in the fringes of prayer; prayer at its center is a simple and as profound as friendship” (Fosdick, 35). 

O God, strip away our intellectual doubts, our false and unworthy thoughts of you, and our false and unworthy prayers, until we are left face to face with you, the living God, in a friendship where we speak and listen to your quiet voice.

Amen. 

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Ep.131: Psalm 57: In the Shelter of His Wings.

Psalm 57 has a striking interplay of images on earth compared with images in heaven. 

On earth, the poet’s enemies have attacked with vengeance. He says,
    I am in the midst of lions;
        I dwell among ravenous beasts–
    men whose teeth are spears and arrows,
        whose tongues are sharp swords (v. 4). 

And again,
    They spread a net for my feet–    
      They dug a pit in my path (v. 6). 

But the poet’s vision is not earthbound and enemy-centered. He twice says,
    Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
        let your glory be over all the earth (vv. 5, 11). 

The poet lifts his eyes above the trouble and chaos of life, above the crouching lions and pit-digging enemies, to see the God who rules above the heavens, who displays his glory over all the earth. 

Let’s pray. 

    Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me,
      I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings
      until the disaster has passed (v. 1).

How often we feel the day of disaster. A day when we succumb to temptation.  A day when we face criticism and rejection from family and friends and coworkers. A day when the enemies described in Ephesians attack us. As Paul says: “Our warfare is not against flesh and blood  . . but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” We want to live a Christ-like life, but it’s more difficult than we imagined. We feel anger and despair we can’t shake off. We face broken relationships we can’t repair. Inner impulses and outer temptations trap us every time. O God, shelter us under your wings. Shelter us against the evil inside us and outside. Shelter us, against the world, the flesh, and the devil. 

I cry out to God Most High,
    to God, who vindicates me.
He sends from heaven and saves me,
    rebuking those who hotly pursue me–
    God sends forth his love and his faithfulness (vv. 2-3).  

Rebuke our enemies, O God. Rebuke the lust and lethargy that creep up on us. Rebuke the arrogance that consumes us as we criticize the media and the politics and the management where we live and work. Rebuke the naysayers who discourage and the prosperity gospellers who entice. Rebuke the spirit of the age–the gospel of consumerism and self-management and individualism. Lord, dwell in us, form our spirits into your image, draw us out of consumerism into stewardship, out of self-management into dependence on you, out individualism and isolation into community. 

     Our heart is steadfast, O God,
        Our heart is steadfast;
        We will sing and make music.
    Awake, my soul!
        Awake, harp and lyre!
        I will awaken the dawn (vv. 7-8).

O God, with the poet we turn our gaze to the warmth of your smile. We rest in the shadow of your wings. We leave our complaints and requests for you to dispose of. We arouse our inner self that has lived in fear and depression. We worship with songs and hymns. We wait for your new day to dawn upon us.

   Send forth your love and faithfulness (v. 3). 
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
        let your glory be over all the earth (v. 11). 

Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Ep.130: Book Review: The Confessions of St. Augustine.

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Today we look at The Confessions of St. Augustine, which is his autobiographical memoir, written about 397 A.D., not long after his appointment as Bishop of Hippo, North Africa. In the book, Augustine recounts his life and wanderings from boyhood through age 33 when he became a Christian. 

The book is a prayer–Augustine’s extended, passionate, poetic communication to God. With remarkable insight and eloquence, he prays the story of his life and his searching, letting the reader eavesdrop on his personal relationship with God.

The book is also Augustine’s confession in several senses. First, he confesses the sins of life–theft, intellectual pride, lust, self-promotion. He also confesses, or discloses, who he is: an intellectual wanderer, a searcher for truth and God, a wayward son, a sensitive and introspective soul. Augustine also confesses his faith in God. For example, he says to God, 

How tortuous were my paths! . . . Toss and turn as we may, now on our back, now side, now belly–our bed is hard at every point, for you alone are our rest. But lo! Here you are; you rescue us from our wretched meanderings and establish us on your way; you say to us, “Run: I will carry you, I will lead you and I will bring you home” (St. Augustine, The Confessions, trans. Sr. Maria Boulding (New York: New City Press, 1997) VI, 16, 26, paraphrased).

I own two copies of The Confessions. The first is Edward Pusey’s 1838 translation, reprinted in 1909 in a Harvard Classics edition (St. Augustine, The Confessions, trans. Edward B. Pusey in The Harvard Classics (New York: The Collier Press, 1909). Since Augustine was schooled in rhetoric and oratory, Pusey’s masterful use of King James English communicates some of the beauty of the original. Alas, the English language has moved on: King James and Shakespeare sound archaic to modern ears. So I recently acquired one of the best modern translations, Maria Boulding’s 1997 version (Boulding).

Here are some of my favorite quotes and stories from The Confessions. 

Augustine’s most famous quote is from the first paragraph of the book, where he prays: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in you” (Pusey, I, 1, 1, paraphrased). 

At age 28, Augustine left North Africa for Rome. His mother, Monica, pleaded with him to stay and prayed to God that he would not go. But Augustine deceived her, departing stealthily at night, leaving her as he says, “mad with grief, filling God’s ears with complaints and groans” (Boulding, V, 15, paraphrased). Augustine sees God’s goodness in this unhappy parting: God denied Monica’s request, in order to answer her prayer. It was in Rome and Milan that Augustine came to faith.

Augustine tells a striking story of his associate Alypius, whose friends dragged him unwillingly to the colosseum in rome. Alypius said to them, “You may drag my body into that place, but you cannot direct my mind and my eyes to the show. I will be present there, and yet be absent” (Boulding, VI, 8, 13, paraphrased). Alypius covered his eyes and disciplined his mind, but at a critical moment in the fight there was a huge roar from the crowd. Overwhelmed with curiosity, Alypius looked up and saw the blood and the brutality and the fallen gladiator. That one look began a deep addiction to the blood sports, that lasted until God delivered him. Violent and addictive shows are not the brainchild of our modern civilization–the only improvement we have made is delivering it right into our homes. 

Of people who read his Confessions, Augustine says, “What then have I to do with men, that they should hear my confessions–a race, curious to know the lives of others, slothful to amend their own?” (Pusey, X, 3, paraphrased). He’s still right today. We are curious about the lives of celebrities, but slow to correct our own faults. 

That’s The Confessions of Augustine. Not an easy read, but well worth the time and effort. 

Let’s pray with Augustine:

O God, the house of my soul is too small for you to enter: make it more spacious by your coming. It lies in ruins: rebuild it. Some things are here which will offend you. . . who will clean my house? To whom but you can I cry, Cleanse me of my hidden sins, O Lord, and for those incurred through others pardon your servant (Boulding, I,6, paraphrased). 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.