My Soul Magnifies the Lord

Today is one of the more obscure days within the Church calendar.  In fact, most years it is overshadowed by one of two "bigger" events.  Most years, like this year, it is pushed to the side during the season of Lent as the church continues on the road to the cross.  However, some years, it is completely missed because of the great Resurrection Sunday also called Easter.  Because of these two other seasons, many churches have now chosen unofficially to move the celebration to Advent.  Today is traditionally celebrated as the Annunciation of the birth of our Lord to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Icon of the Annunciation

The reason that the Annunciation is celebrated today comes down to biology.  Nine months after a baby is conceived he or she is born into the world.  Nine months from today is Christmas Day.  Talk about perfect timing!

When I first began to study the Church calendar in earnest, it struck me as somewhat funny that this day and the season of Lent would intersect the way that they do.  I associated the beginning of the good news of Christ with the announcement of his birth to Mary.  I was baffled at how to reconcile the great celebration of the Messiah's coming with this season of ashes, sackcloth, and lament.  How can the celebration occur in the middle of the depression?

The answer to this question came to me one day while I was meditating on Mary's prayer of thanksgiving (the Magnificat) found in Luke 1:47-55.  In this prayer/song Mary says this:

"My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

Just look at this incredible hymn of praise.  On both sides of Jesus' life, he was recognized as turning this world up-side-down.  What human mind would ever think of God coming into full humanity, conceived by a virgin, born in a stable, raised by a poor man, sent as a refugee to an enemy country, and returned to a small town in the most back woods part of the nation?  Then to top all of this off, he has a public ministry of about 3 years only to be sent to the cross for a bunch of sinners who simply did not have a clue.  As Jesus walked the dusty roads of Israel, he continually amazed the scribes, argued with the Pharisees, and simply loved the people.

Even in today's world, we continue to see people reject Jesus and his ministry.  Some people try to put him in an area and tell him to stay put.  These people want to re-phrase the words of Christ so that they can remain comfortable in their lack of discipleship.  Some people simply try to ignore him.  They call him and his story a myth that only weak people believe.  Others say that they don't have enough information to make a decision about him so they will remain "agnostic" about what to believe until more information is made available.

However, I believe that with the annunciation of the Christ child to Mary, God the Father began a revolution that is continuing to unfold before us.  Through this strange story of love, the proud are brought low, the weak are lifted up, and the hungry are fed.  People are redeemed because of God's great love and the in-breaking of the Kingdom of God continues to manifest itself through the working of the Holy Spirit and through the faithfulness of God's people.

"The Annunciation" by James Christensen

I love the above picture as painted by an artist depicting Mary right after the angel has left her.  She looks as though she is in awe, afraid, and unsure of herself.  I feel the same way many times as I try to follow Christ's mandate on my own life.  And yet Mary did say "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word."  These are the words that God's people have been speaking since creation.  These are the words that Christ lived out as he journeyed towards Jerusalem and the cross.  As his people, these should be our words too.

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God Grant Us Justice

The last several days I have been reading from the gospel of St. Luke.  In this morning's reading, I came across the parable of the widow and the unjust judge.  This parable is found in the 18th chapter verses 1-8.  

"Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.  He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people.  In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, 'Grant me justice against my opponent.'  For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, 'Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'  And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says.  And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?  Will he delay long in helping them?  I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them.  And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him ...

This parable really intrigued me this morning as I meditated on it.  The first thing that came to me was the characters that Jesus placed within this story.  I remembered that women, especially widows, were generally not treated well during ancient times.  Jesus used one of the least as the example that the people of God should emulate.  In addition, Jesus made it clear that the judge was someone who was not following the two greatest commandments, to love God and to love his neighbor.  Something else that struck me was the fact that it seems as though the judge knows that the woman has been treated unjustly.  She's not coming to him desiring anything more that what the law commands that she receive.

In 2008, Jeb Bush appointed Charles Canady to the Florida Supreme Court.  I can honestly say that I don't know much about Florida politics or their judicial system.  However, here is a quote by Canady on the day he was sworn in:

I did a little bit of research and found out that Canady is a Christian who is active in his local church.  His quote really made me sit up and take notice.  Two things he says here coincide with Jesus' parable.

First, Canady states, "For those of you who pray..."  That is a fascinating statement to me.  I realize that he was speaking to an entire state, some of whom are not Christian.  Even if he were speaking to a group that were all Christian, I'm afraid that he could say the same thing; for those of you who pray.  In my experience, many people talk about praying but few actually follow through.  Over the years I have learned the incredible responsibility and joy in having a prayer life.  I have also been an unfaithful servant who has failed to take time and devote a period of prayer to God.  One thing I have learned from both experiences is that I am a much better individual and can serve God better when I have an active prayer life and that many times the entire community benefits from praying people.

The other thing he says here the I absolutely love is the fact that he is cognizant of the fact that as a man of authority within society he must remain "a faithful servant of our Lord."  He is absolutely correct.  In our capacities within the civil society we are to do our jobs faithfully and completely as servants of the Most High God.

I don't know about any of Canady's decisions or if he has remained a faithful servant of the Lord.  But his statement reminded me that I have not been one who is faithful to pray for justice.  I have not remembered to pray for the judges in the United States or anywhere else seeking that God's "will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

I encourage you to pray for your local judges on a regular basis.  Whether they are Christian or not they are in positions of authority and what they decide matters.  If you know judges, I encourage you to go by and express your thanks to them and offer to pray for them in person.  In general, let's remember to pray for justice so that when the Son of Man comes he will find faith in his justice on earth.
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"Servants are not greater than their master."--Jesus Christ of Nazareth

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday and we started on the journey with Christ to the cross.  We were reminded that "from dust you came and to dust you shall return; repent and believe the gospel."  The community of faith came together again to confess sins, acknowledge our dependence on the true God, and to give thanks for God's great mercy and grace that he gave us by incorporating us into his household.  Since we are incorporated into the Royal Family, shouldn't we look like them?

Over the last couple of weeks I have been reading from the gospel of St. Luke.  As I have been making my way through this gospel, I have continued to read the stories that I have heard for many years now.  Stories about Jesus' birth, stories about John the Baptizer, and stories about Jesus interaction with his disciples.  As I go through these stories my faith is renewed, my heart ponders the teachings of our Lord, and my mind tries to wrap itself around the Kingdom of God.  However, this morning the Holy Spirit showed me something that I have never seen before. 

Now maybe I'm jumping ahead a little bit here, but this is something that the Spirit has laid upon my heart after I read St. Luke 12 this morning.  Here is the passage, "Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks.  Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them." (12:35-37).

When I read this section from the gospel, it seemed as though I was reading these words for the first time.  I honestly do not remember ever reading this section of Scripture.  I am certain I have, but the words failed to penetrate into my heart and transform me into the image of Christ.  But not this morning.  As soon as I read these words, my "heart was strangely warmed" and my mind began to anticipate the truth of the gospel once again.  I flipped over to the gospel according to St. John and I re-read chapter 13.  Jesus lived out this parable!  He fastened his belt and served his slaves.

Now I realize that we still have several weeks before we get to Maundy Thursday.  We still have a long road ahead of us before we take that final trek down the Via Dolorosa.  We still have much to learn along this Lenten voyage and yet I do believe that we can take something away from St. Luke's parable.  We know that the church will remember Jesus washing his disciples feet in a few weeks and we have his story of the master who serves his slaves as a preamble to that.  My prayer is that as we journey this road to the cross that we will be given the heart of the Master and that we will serve.  I hope that the inversion of the Kingdom of God in this worldly kingdom will become evident in our lives and in the lives of the communities in which we find ourselves.  I pray that we remain alert and do those things we see our Lord doing.


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"...so that I may know you and find favor in your sight."--Exodus 33:13

For the past few years, my devotional time has been spent in reading a chapter from the Old Testament and a chapter from the New Testament. I can honestly say that I don't practice this discipline every morning, but it is a part of my regular spiritual formation. Over the last several weeks I have made my way through Genesis and am closing in on the end of Exodus. During this morning's reading, I came across this quote from Moses to the LORD, "Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favor in your sight." The LORD replied to Moses "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. And he (Moses) said to him "For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people, unless you go with us? In this way, we shall be distinct, I and your people, from every people on the face of the earth." (You can see the entire dialog in Exodus 33.)

This passage got me to thinking. I kept coming back to that circular statement from Moses to the LORD...If I have found favor in your sight, show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favor in your sight." What exactly is Moses trying to get at here? If he has already found favor in the sight of the LORD then why does he need to find favor in his sight? As is common in my questioning of the text the commentary in my study Bible doesn't address this particular verse, so I'm on my own to try to work through it.

Why does Moses want to find favor in the sight of the LORD?  Moses answers this question by stating "...so that I may know you..." Moses' desire is to know the LORD who has brought his people up out of Egypt. He is seeking this amazing God who brought forth plagues, who parted the waters, and who handed down the Law. He is seeking to understand this greater person.

I understand Moses' desire. In my first semester of seminary, one of the professors gave a sermon one day in chapel. In that sermon, he used the parable of the pearl of great price that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 13:46 as his text. In that parable, the Kingdom of Heaven is compared to a pearl of great price that a person who collects pearls found. He sold all that he had in order to obtain that pearl. Seeking to understand the LORD really does take that kind of desire; that kind of sacrifice. There really is nothing more valuable to me than knowing God and being known by him. Many times, in my own busy-ness of life I forget this central truth. However, through the power of the Holy Spirit, he reminds me that our relationship is of utmost importance not only for me but for him as well. The God and creator of the universe truly does seek to know and be known by each one of us. The cost may be great but the reward is so much greater!

A few years ago Graham Kendrick wrote a song called "All I Once Held Dear (Knowing You). This song has been a sustaining theme that runs through my life. I share it with you now in hopes that it blesses you and sustains you in your journey to find favor in the sight of the LORD so that you may know the LORD and find favor in his sight.

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"Clap your hands, all you peoples;"--Psalm 47

As I continue to reflect upon my time in Costa Rica, one theme continues to reverberate within my soul.  That is the theme of true Christian worship.  Now, let me state from the outset that I am not one of those who relegates worship as the time that the congregation sings songs to the LORD.  I have come to understand that worship is so much more than that.  Worship is the very act of breathing in and out the breath of God and realizing from whom that breath emerges.  However, this post is not about the nuances of worship or when it occurs.

This post is more about part of the act of worship that I experienced while I was in Costa Rica.  Obviously, the language barrier was something that I could never fully breach.  Even though I was able to follow about 50% of the sermons and songs, that left 50% that remained a mystery to me.  Despite this wall that was erected between me and the Costa Ricans, there was a sense in the worship experience that was without walls.  One thing that impressed me so much during the worship times was how incredibly vocal my brothers and sisters were.  When the leader called for a time of prayer, he or she would begin to pray and everyone would join in.  Even in the most "contemporary" services I have attended here in the United States, I had never seen or heard anything that compared to how these people pray.  Of course with my limited Spanish, it made it that much more difficult to discern what was being said by the pray-er.  But in reality, I came to appreciate the fact that it really didn't matter whether I understood or not.  What mattered was that these wonderfully vocal people were pouring out their hearts and souls to the savior of the world and did so without an ounce of embarrassment or hesitancy.   I have come to relish that time of prayer that I had while in Latin America.  I miss the shouts of joy, the cries of pain, and the willingness to be filled with a joy and peace that wrapped my heart within it.  I realize that in most of the church settings I will find myself, this kind of prayer is not acceptable and yet I yearn for it.  How do I recapture that and balance it within the cultural setting in which I find myself?  I'm not sure I can...

Along the same lines, I found the time of singing to be rejuvenating and exciting.  One thing that was fascinating about the times of worship in song that was different for me was that many times, the Costa Ricans will begin their time of singing with slow and heart wrenching songs.  Songs that cry out to the LORD for salvation and for intercession.  Songs of lament that explains the deep sorrow that we find ourselves in when we are disobedient to the calling that God has placed on our hearts.  At the end of those songs, with the tears still wetting the checks of those in need, there would be a drastic change in direction.  A direction that took us from the pit of despair to the joy of salvation.  The last song before the day's lesson was always upbeat.  It always had the beat of a war march; the cry of victory coming from the same lips that had recently confessed sins and cried out for mercy.

However, no matter what kind of song that was being sung, I was a little remorseful.  I was relegated to the sidelines, unable fully to participate in the time of singing or praying.  The most I could do was clap my hands and periodically shout an "Alleluia!"  Throughout my time in Costa Rica, Psalm 47 became my psalm.  It became my expression of the emotions that were wrapped up within myself.

"Clap your hands, all you peoples;
     shout to God with loud songs of joy.
For the LORD, the Most High, is awesome,
     a great king over all the earth.
He subdued peoples under us,
     and nations under our feet.
He chose our heritage for us,
     the pride of Jacob whom he loves.

God has gone up with a shout,
     the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
Sing praises to God, sing praises;
     sing praises to our King, sing praises.
For God is the king of all the earth;
     sing praises with a psalm.

God is king over the nations;
     God sits on his holy throne.
The princes of the peoples gather
     as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
     he is highly exalted."

Even though all I could do was clap my hands, I was united with these beautiful people of the God of Abraham.  He was our king and we were united in our diversity.  We were united in our sinful past and in our journey of sanctification.  We are the people of God and we certainly shouted loud songs of joy together...theirs with their lips and mine from the heart.

Just in case you're curious, here is one of the songs that we "sang" together.

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"May God be gracious to us and bless us..." Psalm 67:1a

After we landed in Costa Rica, it was really easy for me to spot the differences between the culture that I had been plopped down into and the culture that I'm familiar with.  While I am not a stranger to the Spanish language, it sounded so much stronger than it does in Texas.  The crowd outside of the airport doors with taxi drivers, families calling hello and weeping goodbye to loved ones, and the sheer number of people hanging around, not moving from their location was a little unsettling to me.  No one seemed to leave or arrive as we stood around waiting to be transferred to the Methodist Center.

I continued to be bombarded with differences as we traveled a few miles to where we would be staying.  The traffic was incredibly erratic and seemingly without regulation.  People were everywhere.  They lined the side of the streets, sat around in the public parks, and rode their motorcycles on the sidewalks to get around the slower cars in the street.  I'm not sure that we stopped at any of the stop signs as we traveled along the narrow road, but we finally did make it okay.  The first time I held the Costa Rican colones in my hand, I was shocked at the weight of their money.  At approximately 500:1 exchange rate, I was constantly having to check prices in order to figure out what things cost.  Eating beans and rice for EVERY meal was so strange (as was the hot dog we had for breakfast one morning).

The public park in Alajuela.  I never saw this park empty of
people while we were there.

One of the streets in Alajuela.  Notice the
gutters.  They are about a foot deep because
in the rainy season they get several inches
of rain over a series of days.

However, as the week progressed God began to show me a few things about Costa Rica and his own diversity.  I began to see fewer differences and began to see the similarities that I have with these people.  I saw the pride in their eyes as they talked about their children.  I heard their laughter when I told them a joke and they heard mine when they told me one.  I sensed the excitement of learning something new and then applying it to Bible study as we worked in small groups.  I felt the warm embrace of the little children when they came to VBS each day and felt so special when their screams of "Otra!" reverberated through the classroom after we had finished a skit and they wanted to see it again.

So one of the blessings that I received on this trip was simply seeing that even in the diversity of God's creation, we are still alike in so many ways.  We all need air, food, water, and shelter.  People need one another and enjoy being entertained.  The love that God has for people is made evident in so many ways.

Myranda with one of her girls.

After I got back to Wilmore, I stopped by the bookstore to get my books for this semester so I could start reading.  One of the first books due is one called "Same Kind of Different As Me" by Ron Hall and Denver Moore.  It is about a homeless man and a rich art dealer whose lives intersect in an amazing way. Towards the end of the book, Denver Moore states this about Ron and his wife, "...I worried that I was so different from them that we wadn't ever gon' have no kind a' future.  But I found out everybody's different--the same kind of different as me.  We're all just regular folks walkin down the road God done set in front of us."

This statement sums up one of the lessons I learned while in Costa Rica...they're the same kind of different as me.

Until next time...
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A Few Reflections on Costa Rica: Printable Version

I have decided not to share some of the insights I gained from my mission trip to Costa Rica in this blog.  Instead, I'm going to take a few more days to meditate and reflect on how God worked in mine and Myranda's lives while we were there.  Instead, I am posting some pictures for you to enjoy!

This is the cross on top of the chapel at the Methodist Center where we stayed.  The bougainvillea in the foreground was blooming all over the Central Valley.  It was so warm that I forgot that it was still winter in the United States.

Our first Sunday worship service.  Most of the group is pictured here.  A couple of them were still visiting to the side. 

Sunday lunch at a local restaurant.  It's hard to see in this picture, but the food is served on wooden boards covered with a banana leaf.  The food was very good; although I've never had as many beans and rice in my life.  Literally, we ate them 3 meals a day.

This is a picture of the head chef while we were at the center.  He is an excellent chef and the perfect host.  I visited with his wife one morning and asked her where she got his hat.  She told me that she got it in one of the local stores.  I told her I was going to see if I could find one like it.  She grabbed it off of his head and gave it to me.  I couldn't believe it.  She also gave me one of his aprons.  I am so proud of my hat and apron.

This is one of the women who helped in the kitchen.  Like all of the staff, she was so sweet and welcoming.
 

Bonnie, one of the members of the group, picked up my camera one morning and took several pictures.  This was one of them.  I'm not sure what I'm listening to, but it must have been important!

Myranda was able to experience the IBS class alongside the Costa Rican pastors.  She has not had the opportunity to take a class while we've been in Kentucky, but she did get to while we were there.

Kim is one of the many new friends that was on our mission team.  She is listening to the daily devotional message that we had each morning.

Dr. Steve Gober and Dr. Mike Matlock are presenting the IBS material to one of the morning sessions.  Dr. Matlock is a professor on the virtual campus at Asbury and was the teacher of our Psalms class before we left for Costa Rica.  Dr. Gober was a missionary to Costa Rica for about 17 years and now serves on the Orlando Campus.  Dr. Gober is translating for Dr. Matlock here.

This is one of the girls who came to VBS every day while we were there.  She brought her dog, Benji, with her.  On the first day, the kids made Benji a name tag and placed it around his neck.  You can see the colored string on his back.

For three of the days we presented a story from the Bible illustrating how God is "wild" about people.  Waleska, on the right, narrated the story in Spanish while a few of us acted out the drama.  This is a shot of the final day.  We showed the kids that God is so wild about them that he sent his son Jesus to teach us, die for us, and redeem us through the power of his resurrection.  We received an encore with the chant "Otra! Otra!  Otra!"  We obliged by doing it again.

This is part of the group that I helped with each day.  My buddy and I had the older boys in our group.  They really enjoyed the crafts but couldn't wait until it was futbol time.

My partner in crime, Ed.  He and I worked together each day at VBS.

Many of the buildings have a wall or fence to protect them.  On one side, this church had a large wall in place.  One of the members of the group had the idea to make it into a prayer wall.  We bought chalk and had the kids write and draw on the wall prayers of thanksgiving.  In this picture, you can see that the little girl drew the story of the day.

The kids are lined up for snacks at the end of VBS. 

This man came to VBS with his family.  He enjoyed working on the crafts as much as the kids did.  Myranda entertained him with her Spanish speaking abilities.

Myranda and I both fell in love with this little girl.  Her name is Ashlie and she just melted our hearts.  I think she would have fit right into the Wilhite household.

This little boy was having a rough afternoon.  He was standing over to the side crying on the last day.  I'm not sure what happened, but he was tattling on someone for making him cry.

The kids loved on us before they left the last day.  I was so blessed.

Myranda with part of her crew before they left for the last time.

 This is the ramp that leads to the upstairs Sunday school rooms.  I'm not sure it would pass inspection here, but they didn't have any problems with it.

It wasn't all work.  Part of the group decided to go zip lining through the jungle.  I chose not to participate in this activity but Myranda was gung-ho about it.

While the others were zip lining, the rest of us went into La Fortuna.  As we waited in one of the cafes, the bird landed across the ally from us.  I'm not sure what kind he is but he was beautiful.

Some plants growing in La Fortuna.

This is a house at the end of the ally in La Fortuna.  I really think I could live here.

 Waleska was such a treasure to all of us.  She is originally from Puerto Rico and is bilingual.  I'm sure she got tired of me asking her "Como se dice..."  but she never complained. 

That's it for now.  I will be posting again soon. 

+God bless each one of you and please remember to pray for Costa Rica.
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