Scripture Plaques You Won't Find at the Christian Bookstore, #16

[This post is one of a series of potential Christian plaques that we would never find at a Christian bookstore. See the rest of the list here.]

This plaque comes from the life of that old friend of God, Moses. There could certainly be enough of these plaques from his life to fill a warehouse of these unmarketable items, but perhaps this is one of the most interesting. Moses is certainly a hero of the Scriptures, and is described as someone who "spoke to God face to face, as a man speaks with his friend." Well, I've never had a friend say this to me, face to face or otherwise:

Numbers 11:15

Scripture Plaques You Won't Find at the Christian Bookstore, #15

[This post is one of a series of potential Christian plaques that we would never find at a Christian bookstore. See the rest of the list here.]

Leviticus 19:18 gets quoted a lot, and for good reason. Jesus himself pointed to it when he was asked to identify the greatest commandment, and part of his response was, "love your neighbor as yourself." How different would things be if, instead of referring his hearers at the time and throughout the centuries to Leviticus 19:18, he had gone to the next verse, Leviticus 19:19:

Leviticus 19:19

You know, I've never paid much attention before, but I may need to do some serious cleaning out of my closet. And come to think of it, I bet that every T-shirt with Jesus' face on it is probably 100% cotton.

Leviticus 19:19 Shirt

A Prayer for the Second Sunday of Advent (Year B)

[This is one of a series of Prayers for the Christian Year. To see the other posts, click here.]

Living, loving Father,

You forgive the iniquity of Your people, and You forgive our sin. Because we need to hear Your voice, we turn to You with all our hearts today. You speak peace to us, even when it involves calling us to repentance. So we pray, Lord, that You would clear our hearts. Heal our rough places, so that You may dwell more fully in us.

Our lives are not long, but we know that our days are in Your hands. You care for us like a loving shepherd, feeding us, gathering us in Your arms, and carrying us home.

Your patience with us is unfathomable, waiting and giving us chance after chance to repent, change our thinking and our direction, and come to You.

But do not delay the return of Your Son, our Savior, Jesus. Use us to prepare the way for His return as You used John to prepare Israel for His coming. Until that day, help us to live lives of peace, spotless and blameless, as we eagerly await the day when we will see Him, and be at home forever in His righteousness in the new heavens and the new earth.

Until that day comes, we will continue to pray in the words of Him whose sandals we are not worthy to untie, saying:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done,  on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are Yours now and for ever. Amen

Notes:

The readings for the week, on which this prayer is based, are:

  • Isaiah 40:1-11: Five of the six Old Testament readings from the beginning of Advent through Christmas Day in Year B come from Isaiah.
  • Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13: Part of a Psalm that describes a trust in God's deliverance, despite the appearance of current circumstances. It foreshadows the coming of the Messiah and of his messenger ("Righteousness will go before him, and will make a path for his steps").
  • 2 Peter 3:8-15a: Peter points his readers' attention toward the day when judgment will come, the earth and heavens will be destroyed with fire, and new heavens and earth will be a place "where righteousness is at home." "While you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace."
  • Mark 1:1-8: The gospel readings for Year B focus on Mark, and this is the second of two gospel readings in Advent come from this book. This is Mark's introduction to the entire gospel ("The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God..."), and he moves immediately into his account of John the Baptist being the one whom prophecies said would prepare the way of the Lord. John recognized that the Messiah would be more powerful than he was, who would baptize with the Holy Spirit, rather than only with water.

A Prayer for the First Sunday of Advent (Year B)

[This is one of a series of Prayers for the Christian Year. To see the other posts, click here.]

Living, loving Father,

Restore us, O God. May Your face shine on us, so that we may be saved.

You are the Almighty God, who has led Your people throughout the centuries, yet many of Your children are suffering today Many are persecuted, lonely, or afraid. Open the heavens and set things right.

Restore us, O God of hosts. May Your face shine on us, so that we may be saved.

Although You have often seemed hidden or distant, for so long, You have shown up at just the right time in the lives of so many who have waited on You. You have done undeniable things among us. You are our Father; we are Your children. You are the potter; we are Your clay. We are the work of Your hands, and we trust You.

Restore us, O Lord, God of hosts. May Your face shine on us, so that we may be saved.

You came to us long ago in the life of Your Son, our Savior, Jesus. His grace continues to enrich us in every way. All that we need to live fully in You is generously available to us through Him, and we expectantly await the day when He will appear again.

Keep us alert and continue Your work of purifying and restoring us until the day when we see Him in His glory.

Until then, we will continue to join together with all of those before us who have lived in Him, praying the prayer that He taught us, saying,

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done,  on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are Yours now and for ever. Amen

Notes:

The readings for the week, on which this prayer is based, are:

  • Isaiah 64:1-9: Five of the six Old Testament readings from the beginning of Advent through Christmas Day in Year B come from Isaiah. This passage is part of a prayer for God's deliverance in 63:7-64:12, and begins with the petition that God would "tear open the heavens and come down."
  • Psalm 80:1-7,17-19: Part of a prayer to God which pleads for his intervention and rescue in the midst of circumstances which appear that God had forgotten his people. It includes the refrain, "Restore us...make your face shine on us, that we may be saved."
  • 1 Corinthians 1:3-9: Part of Paul's opening greetings in this letter to the Christians in Corinth. In it, he blesses them, expresses thanks for them, and looks forward to Christ's return, saying that "you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ."
  • Mark 13:24-37: The gospel readings for Year B focus on Mark, and the first two gospel readings in Advent come from this book. This passage is part of Mark's account of Jesus' teaching on the signs of the end of the age in the week between his triumphal entry into Jerusalem and his arrest, death, and resurrection. In it, Jesus alludes to Daniel's prophecy and points to the day when his hearers would see "the Son of Man coming in clouds with great glory," and urges them to remain ready for that day, saying, "what I say to you I say to all: keep awake."

A Prayer for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time

[This is one of a series of Prayers for the Christian Year. To see the other posts, click here.]

Living, loving Father,

Your glory is on display all around us; may we have the eyes to see it. May we have the ears to hear and hearts to receive Your word. Your word is perfect, sure, right, clear, pure, never-ending, true, righteous, more valuable than gold and sweeter than honey. Your word revives our souls, grows us in wisdom, makes our hearts rejoice and gives light to our eyes. We need Your word more than anything else that anyone can give us.

In Your word, You have given us a way to live, free from sin, and freed to fully love You and those around us. Speak Your word to us, so that we may live.

We saw and heard this way of living most clearly when You sent Your Word to be one of us in the life of Your Son, our Savior, Jesus. His ways were Your ways. His life among us was more valuable than gold and sweeter than honey, and made the pursuit of everything except knowing Him look like worthless garbage.

We want to know Him, the power of His resurrection, and the sharing of His sufferings, so that just as He lives, we also may live.

You sent Your Word, Your beloved Son, and we rejected Him, yet He remains the foundation of all that is good in this world, and it is amazing in our eyes.

Again today as those mercifully given the opportunity to be His students, we pray the prayer that He taught us, saying

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done,  on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are Yours now and for ever. Amen

Notes:

Depending on which system of ordering one pays attention to, this Sunday can also be referred to as Proper 22, or (in 2011) the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost. Regardless of the system, the readings are the same. So, the readings for this week, on which this prayer is based, are:

  • Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20: The sixth of nine consecutive readings from Exodus. This passage contains the Ten Commandments, Israel's response (they were afraid, trembled, stood at a distance and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die"), and Moses' reply ("Do not be afraid...")
  • Psalm 19: Contains a reflection on the goodness of all of God's commandments (including the Ten Commandments), including "more are they to be desired than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb."
  • Philippians 3:4b-14: The third of four consecutive readings from Philippians. In this passage, Paul lists the items that could be considered to his benefit as "reasons to be confident in the flesh," but then points out that he considers them as rubbish compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus.
  • Matthew 21:33-46: All of the gospel readings after Pentecost in Year A come from Matthew. This passage is the second of nine consecutive readings containing Jesus’ teachings during the days of the week between his triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Sunday) and his arrest (Thursday night). This passage is Jesus' parable of the wicket tenants, who first kill the landowner's servants, and then his son, and the chief priests and Pharisees realize that he was talking about them.