Forgiven and forgotten


Downtown Lausanne (Photo: Irene Bom)
 

“How happy is the one whose wrongs are forgiven,
whose sin is hidden from sight.”

(Psalm 32:1, The Voice)
 

If we freely admit our sins when his light uncovers them, he will be faithful to forgive us every time. God is just to forgive us our sins because of Christ, and he will continue to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

(1 John 1:9, The Passion Translation)

“All of our sins were paid for on the cross and we can do nothing to remove them, but confession acknowledges God’s faithfulness to restore our intimacy with him.” (source: The Passion Translation footnotes)
 

8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
       slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
       nor will he harbour his anger for ever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
       or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
       so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
       so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

(Psalm 103:8-12 NIV UK)
 

14 This is what the LORD says –
       your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

25 I, even I, am he who blots out
       your transgressions, for my own sake,
       and remembers your sins no more.’”

(Isaiah 43:14, 25, NIV UK)

 

How remarkable that God has selective memory.

Prayer of confession

O Lord God, our Father most loving, we would not, even if we could, conceal anything from you, but rejoice rather that you know us as we are and see every desire and every motive of our hearts. Help us, Lord, to strip off every mask and every veil when we come into your presence, and to spread before you every thought and every secret of our being, that they may be forgiven, purified, amended, and blessed by you; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Charles Vaughan (1816-97)

from The Book of a Thousand Prayers by Angela Ashwin, #350

We will remember them


 
Somehow, via via, I’d found my way to Bar3, next to Rotown, a pop podium/bar/restaurant in Rotterdam that I like to visit. Rotown had a concert on that evening, so Bar3 would have to do.

I took out my laptop to work on Joost Pot’s guest post (War and Peace).

“What’s the wifi code?” I asked the bar man.

He rummaged around for some paper and wrote it down for me: JelleVogel (capital J, capital V).

“Who is Jelle Vogel?”, I asked.

“Someone who used to come here often, but doesn’t come anymore. This is our way of remembering him.”

Who are the Jelle Vogels in your life? How do you remember them?

Guest post: War and peace

Loods memorial Rotterdam 32Jewish Children’s Monument, Rotterdam (Source: wikipedia)
 

Each year, since the mid-1920’s, the Scots International Church Rotterdam hosts an annual Peace Service on Remembrance Sunday.

Joost Pot – retired auxiliary minister of the Church of Scotland and long-standing member of this congregation – reflects on his war-time experiences and our abiding need to pray and work for peace.

Joost writes,

I remember, I remember,
the house where I was born

Thomas Hood (1798-1845)

 
I remember. I was ten years old when the war started in the Netherlands on the 10th of May 1940. On that day, without warning, in the middle of the night, the Germans invaded our country. The fighting only lasted 5 days; the German army and air force were too powerful and overwhelmed us. Many Dutch soldiers were killed, and, after the bombing, the centre of Rotterdam was on fire for days. When the government and royal family left the country, the war went on from London with the Royal Navy (also around the former Dutch East Indies).

Please, not that tune

It was not easy in the war to live under an unloved regime. Most Germans knew very well that they were hated. To show their power and impress the population, the solders marched through the streets, singing. They had a complete repertoire of songs full of fighting spirit, sung to their own German tunes. One of these tunes was a Croatian composition by Franz Joseph Haydn. This same tune has found its way into English hymn books as the tune for John Newton’s wonderful hymn, ‘Glorious things of thee are spoken’. Now you understand why older Dutch church members have difficulty singing that hymn (tune).

No more war

The German occupation lasted 5 years. When they capitulated, they left the Netherlands in chaos, with hunger and starvation, people being executed in reprisal or punishment, the Jewish population almost completely murdered, and so on.

I remember May 1945 when the Germans capitulated; we were free but I knew of many who had been killed, never to come back. That was the start of local Remembrance ceremonies and speeches. We vowed we would all tell the younger generation, ‘Never again war’. But younger generations in some countries are not listening; they glorify war, it seems.

I remember the stories I heard from people who survived the concentration camps and other awful things. What war does to people is terrible, humiliating and cruel. The Bible tells us that a time will come when war will be studied no more and swords will be transformed into ploughshares and the spears into pruning hooks. (Isaiah 2:4) Jesus taught us to love our enemies and he did not condemn those who crucified him. He taught us to forgive . . .

Abiding legacy

I married Marion in Edinburgh in 1961, and we moved to Ridderkerk (15 minutes’ drive south east of Rotterdam centre) and found our way to the Scots Church in Rotterdam. Like many churches in Britain, we have a Remembrance service on the Sunday closest to 11 November, with a bugler and piper. That same evening we hold our annual Peace Service.

In reference to this long-standing tradition, Mrs Jean Morrison, a minister’s wife, writes in her book, Scots on the Dijk (1981):

“Dr Brown’s abiding legacy to the church is the annual United Service for Peace, an idea, stemming originally from a conference in Stockholm in 1924”.

In this service clergy from different nationalities and churches in the city of Rotterdam are invited to take part in their own language, so underlining the international prayer for peace. The service has a special atmosphere and is very inspiring.

A Prayer

Almighty and Everlasting God,

As the annual day of Remembrance approaches, we pray for the survivors of war. This is the time that they think of all that has happened – the destruction, their fears, the tragedy, the cruelty, asking why? It all comes back: the pain, the loss. It looks as if their scars get deeper and deeper. Is there no healing for those who once were the brave ones? But You are the Everlasting, the God of Peace, goodness and healing of all the wounds. When will our friends get rest?

Yet, we must confess the shortcomings of the world; its pride, its selfishness, its greed, its evil divisions and hatred. Yes, we must confess our share in what is wrong, and our failure to change things for the better.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God”. Lord, we pray for all who are united in their passion for peace, justice and righteousness.

Lord grant us Your Peace.
Through Jesus, our Lord and Saviour.
Amen.

Also see From generation to generation

Do this remembering

“Do this in remembrance of me,” Jesus said. (Luke 22:19)

Do this. Take bread and wine, and share it with the gathered people of God. Do this. As a memorial. Words and actions from long ago, re-enacted and made real in the present, so we too may be fed. Not just once a year, like Passover, but as often as we do this. What a privilege.

Here is a prayer by Katherine Hawker that captures some of the drama as we do this remembering and discover Christ in our midst and in each other.

Prayer at the Table

Welcome:
And so we gather at the table.
We come from many places,
differing in age, differing in race,
differing in orientation, politics and even religion.
As we come together around the table
we discover that our differences are not something we tolerate
but that our differences are indeed a blessing,
the more difference we bring, the more fully we experience
the presence of the sacred in our midst.
So come, children of God, just as you are.
Wherever you are on this journey of life, you are welcome here,
here in this place, here in this community, here at this table.
Come, children of God, come and remember with us.

Remembrance:
We remember the stories that Jesus’ friends tell,
stories of bread broken and shared, feeding a multitude,
stories of being gathered together, enemy and friend, around tables,
stories of unlikely guests revealing the face of the sacred.
They say that
it was on a night of both celebration and betrayal
that he took the bread leftover on the table,
blessed it and broke it;
reminding them that it is
in the breaking that we become whole,
in losing our lives that we find them,
in serving that we are served.
As the grain scattered becomes one in the loaf,
when we eat this bread, we become one with one another.
They say that he took the cup also leftover on the table,
poured out and sharing,
remembering with them, the life-giving breath
even now pounding a rhythm through our veins,
the breath of life from whence we come
the breath that precedes and follows all that we can see.
As the grapes find life in the vine,
when we drink this cup,
we become at one with the source of life itself.

Blessing:
And so we pray:
Come, holy Spirit, come.
Bless this bread and
bless this fruit of the vine.
Bless all of us in our eating and drinking that our eyes might be open,
that we might recognize the risen Christ in our midst,
indeed in one another.
Come, holy Spirit, come.

— written by Katherine Hawker, and posted on Liturgy Outside.

Also see Gift #3: Re-minder.
And check out Jan Richardson’s post on The Cup of the New Covenant.

Forget not


Shop front in Gibraltar (Photo: Irene Bom)
 

A few selected verses from Psalm 103 as introduction to our November theme of the month: Remember

1 Praise the LORD, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, my soul,
and FORGET NOT all his benefits –
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he REMEMBERS that we are dust.

17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children –
18 with those who keep his covenant
and REMEMBER to obey his precepts.

Digging deeper

Why not make time in the next few days to read the whole psalm and commit a few of the verses to memory, so the psalm can minister to you now and in the future?

Also, check out the Expanded Bible version. Not only does it amplify the words, it also includes cross references.

3 Prayers to the Sacred Trinity


Outside St Andrews Scots Kirk, Lausanne (Photo: Irene Bom)

 

Here are 3 short prayers affirming our communion with the holy and glorious Trinity and seeking to deepen that relationship of love and trust.

Loved

To God the Father, who first loved us,
and made us accepted in the Beloved;
To God the Son, who loved us,
and washed us from our sins in his own blood;
To God the Holy Ghost, who sheds the love of God
abroad in our hearts,
Be all love and all glory
For time and for eternity.

Thomas Ken (1637-1711)

from The Open Gate: Celtic Prayers for Growing Spiritually
by David Adam, p. 114

Near

God, we praise you,
Father all-powerful, Christ, Lord and Saviour, Spirit of Love,
drawing us to share in your life and your love.
One God, three Persons,
be near to the people formed in your image,
close to the world your love brings to life.
We ask you this, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
one God, true and living, for ever and ever.

The Liturgy of the Hours

from The Book of a Thousand Prayers by Angela Ashwin, #869

With us

Father, go with us on the journey of life,
and may the peace of Christ
and the power of his Spirit go with us.
Amen

from 500 Prayers for all Occasions by David Clowes, #498

 
For more posts on the theme of “on a journey”, click here.

Together we pray

Have you heard?

This year, the General Assembly asked the Church to focus on prayer and particularly to pray as the Church thinks about its priorities for the future.

Source: http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/connect/together_we_pray

Back story

In 2016 a series of meetings were held around Scotland
a) to listen to the hopes and concerns of church members and
b) to explore solutions to the challenges of ministry and discipleship in the 21st century.

One of the outcomes is a prayer initiative called “Together We Pray” that runs from September 2017 to the next General Assembly in May 2018, with a National Day of Prayer scheduled for 25 November 2017.

“Our hope is that through Together We Pray, people will join together bringing all of life before God in prayer and imagine the future for the Church of Scotland and our communities.”

It would be good if we, as the International Presbytery of the Church of Scotland, also responded to this call to prayer, giving “Together We Pray” an international dimension.

Check out the Church of Scotland website for inspirational resources and for information on how you and your congregation can get involved.

From generation to generation


Do you recognize any of the names? I certainly recognize a few …

This weekend I was part of a Presbytery Local Church Review team to St Andrews Church, Gibraltar. On Saturday, at the close our meeting with the church leaders, I read this benediction based on Psalm 103:

As you go from here, remember this:
God’s love is from everlasting to everlasting,
from generation to generation.
Just as a father has compassion on his children
so God has compassion on those who fear him,
who listen to his voice,
and who do his will.

Go out in the knowledge
that the everlasting love of God goes with you.
Amen.

I got as far as “from generation to generation” when I teared up and had to ask our team leader to take over.

Let us pray

We join the congregation in praying for God to make something happen so there will be many generations to come to witness to the everlasting love of God in this place. We pray the same for churches everywhere.

Pray too for life-giving relationships between the different generations in our congregations, as we seek to be faithful followers of Jesus in our time.

CREDITS

Benediction from re-worship.blogspot.nl

In the school of prayer with Anselm

Anselm of Canterbury, also called Anselm of Aosta after his birthplace and Anselm of Bec after his monastery, was a Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher and theologian of the Catholic Church, who held the office of archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 till his death in 1109. (Wikipedia)

In 2015 the current Archbishop of Canterbury, set up the Community of St Anselm, to bring together Christians aged 20 to 35 from many countries and cultures, and many church denominations and traditions for 10 months under a shared Rule of Life focused on prayer, study and service to the most vulnerable in society.

Most of us are not in the right age bracket or circumstances to join the Community of St Anselm ourselves. There’s nothing stopping us from joining them in spirit, though. Here’s some material to get you started.

Theology as prayer

About Anselm’s development as a writer on spiritual matters, Eugene Peterson writes:

“[Anselm] had written his Monologian, setting forth the proofs of God’s existence with great brilliance and power. It is one of the stellar theological achievements in the West. Then he realized that however many right things he had said about God, he had said them in the wrong language. He rewrote it all in a Proslogian (ed. Latin for Discourse), converting [talking about God] into [talking with God]: first-person address, an answer to God, a personal conversation with the personal God. The Proslogian is theology as prayer.” (from The Gift: Reflections on Christian Ministry, p. 93)

Call to prayer

The Proslogian begins with this call to prayer:

Come now … leave behind for a time your preoccupations; seclude yourself for a while from your disquieting thoughts. Turn aside now from heavy cares, and set aside your wearisome tasks. Make time for God, and rest a while in Him. Enter into the inner chamber of your mind; shut out everything except God and what is of aid to you in seeking Him; after closing the chamber door, seek Him out.

Together, one-on-one with God.

You can find the full text of the Proslogian here.

A prayer

based on Anselm’s writings

Jesus, like a mother you gather your people to you;
you are gentle with us as a mother with her children.
Gather your little ones to you, O God,
as a hen gathers her brood to protect them.

Often you weep over our sins and our pride,
tenderly you draw us from hatred and judgement.
Gather your little ones to you, O God,
as a hen gathers her brood to protect them.

You comfort us in sorrow and bind up our wounds,
in sickness you nurse us, and with pure milk you feed us.
Gather your little ones to you, O God,
as a hen gathers her brood to protect them.

Jesus, by your dying we are born to new life;
by your anguish and labour we come forth in joy.
Gather your little ones to you, O God,
as a hen gathers her brood to protect them.

Despair turns to hope through your sweet goodness;
through your gentleness we find comfort in fear.
Gather your little ones to you, O God,
as a hen gathers her brood to protect them.

Your warmth gives life to the dead,
your touch makes sinners righteous.
Gather your little ones to you, O God,
as a hen gathers her brood to protect them.

Lord Jesus, in your mercy heal us;
in your love and tenderness remake us.
Gather your little ones to you, O God,
as a hen gathers her brood to protect them.

In your compassion bring grace and forgiveness,
for the beauty of heaven may your love prepare us.
Gather your little ones to you, O God,
as a hen gathers her brood to protect them.

from A Service for Mothering Sunday from the Church of England website.

Digging deeper

Article: “St. Anselm of Canterbury: Scholarship Rooted in Prayer” by John P. Bequette

Article: “Faith Seeking Understanding” featuring Pope Benedict XVI’s reflections on St. Anselm from September 2009 (900th anniversary of Anselm’s death).

See also In the school of prayer with Ann Lewin and In the school of prayer with Eddie Askew