Entries from Forward Day by Day, Part II:
Faith and Pilgrimage,
Life and Growth
“And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it.”
—Isaiah 35:8 NIV
“The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon.”
—Psalm 92:12 NIV
In the previous post I quoted and commented on two of four entries for the month of June taken from Forward Day by Day, the Episcopal daily devotional. As I noted in the introduction to that first post, each of these four brief entries spoke to me specifically for one reason or another. All of them relate to events or situations either in my own personal or spiritual life or in my work as a religious copyeditor over the past thirty-plus years.
As in that first post, I have given each of these entries titles summarizing what are to me the two primary themes in each. After each of these double titles I have inserted one or two quotations (mine or others’) that came to mind as I read and copied the entries.
In addition to the italicized scriptures quoted in each entry I have inserted my own comments in parenthesis and set italics in the copy to highlight the points I want most to emphasize. Finally, I have also inserted some explanatory copy in brackets and/or links to other sources or previous related posts on my personal blog.
Each of the entries is endnoted as to source, copyright, and permission to quote from the Forward Movement.
Faith and Pilgrimage
“The Bible is filled with stories of people who had to take journeys they didn’t want to take.”
—Adam Hamilton, Journeys
“No true prophet ever made a profit.”
—Jimmy Peacock
I can relate to the above quote from Adam Hamilton. I’ve been on one of those undesired journeys for the past thirty-six years. I call that “wilderness wandering” in biblical terms “My Oklahomian Exile.”
That journey and exile, and the labor that has been the necessity and the cause of both, have also been the core of the writings. These writings, which I have titled in biblical terms “My Oklahomian Exile Literature,” have been the only tangible evidence or “profit” I can show from those thirty-six years.
They are also the core of this blog, which took me three decades to compose, compile, and publish for “mass consumption”—for free. I say they are free, but not to me since these writings and the experiences I relate in them have cost me “the best years of my life” (i.e., my youth, my health, and my home) in service to “foreign missions” as “the prophet from Arkansas.”
Thus they and the “undesired journey” they describe are the reason for my self-quote above about no true prophet ever making a profit—meaning that Christian missions are by definition a “nonprofit business” and often a costly and even hazardous endeavor.
FRIDAY, June 28
Luke 22:31-38. And Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death!” Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the cock will not crow this day, until you have denied three times that you know me.”
Doubting Thomas. Denying Peter. The faults or calamities of biblical characters sometimes figure large into their stories. [As in mine!] Jonah ran away and was swallowed by a fish. The prophet Jeremiah got thrown into a well. Jesus was crucified. [I have spent thirty-six years in exile and labor, both of which have contributed to my advancing age and declining health!]
But of course, especially with that last example, the calamity is actually the crucial piece of the story, never praiseworthy on its own, but in the larger picture of what God is doing in the world it becomes a lens and a hinge. God breaks the chains of death forever through the cross. Peter becomes the Rock of the church through his never-dull coming to faith. [I hope something good comes from my exile and labor—even if they have been involuntary, which is why I identify with Jeremiah, known as the “reluctant prophet”!]
Throughout most of the Bible, pilgrimage is an enduring image of faithfully lived human life. It is a journey that is seldom a straight path, with events and detours that seem like Plan B—or C, or D. Our road will likely look like a lot of the saints’—like Peter’s or Jesus’, complete with betrayal and abandonment.
We are in good company, and the story is not over yet. [I sincerely hope not—not until it ends with me back home and back whole!]
Copyright 2013 Forward Movement. (www.forwardmovement.org). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Life and Growth
“North America is the only continent in the world where the Church is not growing.”
—Eric Ramsey, North American Mission Board,
Southern Baptist Convention,
quoted in The Future of the Church,
Christianity Today Study Series
“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. . . . And I, when I am lifted up . . . , will draw all people to myself.”
—Jesus, as quoted in John 12:32 and Mark 16:14 NIV
In regard to Christian missions and church life and growth, it is worth noting that in Jesus’ words quoted in John 12:32 NIV above, according to BibleGateway.com from which it was taken, “The Greek for lifted up also means exalted.”
Thus, combined together, these two quotes seem to suggest the real key to spiritual life and growth both individually and collectively: lifting up and exalting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord by showing forth His life and love in our own lives.
I was once part of a church board whose purpose and goal was officially stated as finding ways to “grow the church.” As part of the overall strategy of that board, it commissioned a secular business organization whose multi-paged, multi-phased program was based on applying “proven principles of public relations,” including such tactics as identifying, locating, and “courting” the business, financial, commercial, industrial, and political leaders in the city who could hopefully be influenced and persuaded to contribute to the growth of the church.
As a professional religious copyeditor and writer who had at one time earned an MBA in marketing and economics, I quickly recognized and realized that this carefully designed and craftily devised plan had absolutely no biblical or spiritual foundation. So I felt compelled to call the board’s attention to that fact by making up and submitting a detailed presentation quoting many scriptures on the subject of true spiritual life and growth. In that report I reminded the board that “Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain” (Psalm 127:1).
Although that incident occurred many years ago, it has stayed in my mind and was recalled when I read the following entry on the subjects of true spiritual life and growth: through love of others and service to them, and through worship of God and reliance on Him to “grow the church.”
FRIDAY, June 21
Acts 2:37-47. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, . . . they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
Gandhi said, “It’s not that I don’t like your Christ. I like your Christ, but I don’t like your Christians; they are so unlike your Christ.” [Gandhi has also been quoted as saying, “I might have become a Christian had I not met one first.”] I also remember a clergy friend’s quip about her experience as one of the first women bishops in the Anglican Communion. “No one knows how to hate like Christians.”
That’s why this passage has always gripped me. Whether it is hagiography [a biography of saints, or saints’ lives] or an accurate description of the early Christian community, there is a quality to it that is at least aspirational. It’s not about a style of government [either religious or political], it’s about manifesting a spiritual transformation. It’s not the only way the church will grow, but it’s the only way the church will follow Jesus. “Glad and generous hearts.”
I would suggest that this is the only gospel way to live, and that when we live this way, the church will grow—more like Jesus.
Copyright 2013 Forward Movement. (www.forwardmovement.org). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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