prayers
Because He’s Been There
by Linda Rex
October 20, 2024, Proper 24 | After Pentecost—In my last blog I looked at what our passage in Hebrews said about who Jesus is, and how that impacts our understanding of who we are as the beloved children of God. In this week’s lectionary passage from the New Testament, Hebrews 5:1–10, the author begins to make a case for how Jesus Christ, as the Son of God who came to take on human flesh, steps in and takes on the role of high priest for us. The role of high priest was originally filled by someone from the tribe of Levi, the branch of the ancient nation of Israel which had been given the responsibility of the priesthood.
The responsibility of the high priest was to represent the people of ancient Israel in their covenant relationship with God, offering gifts and sacrifices at the alter as commanded by God, and offering the Word of God and God’s grace to the people. This ministry of intercession via the priesthood was a gift of grace from God, providing a way in which a sinful, broken people could be reconciled with their Redeemer—the One who had rescued their nation from slavery at the hands of the Egyptians and made them his very own people.
The author of Hebrews brings up an important point—that the priest was selected from among the people—a brother of those who came to worship at the tabernacle or temple. Because this priest was one of them, he was just as broken and weak and disobedient as they were. And this enabled him to minister to them with compassion and understanding. This is a reminder to those of us who are called into pastoral ministry, or any other type of ministry in this world, to be well-acquainted with our own shortcomings, to face and deal with them honestly and humbly, and to allow this truth to temper our care of others with compassion, understanding, and mercy.
In Jesus’ case, he understood our frame as human beings because he, as the Son of God, took on a truly human existence. But he did so without ever allowing the many temptations he experienced to draw him into sin. Unlike us, he did not sin, though his genuine human experience covered a wide range of our human existence.
Jesus hammered out, so to speak, a truly human life lived out in obedience to his heavenly Father in the face of temptation and suffering and death, and he conquered evil, sin, and death in the process. As Jesus lives now in face-to-face union and communion with his Father in the Spirit, he intercedes on our behalf, knowing full well all that we go through and struggle with on a daily basis. And he intercedes on our behalf with great compassion and understanding.
The obedience Jesus perfected was that of bringing our human flesh, in all its rebellion and disobedience back to God, back into humble obedience and dependency upon his Father in the Spirit. Jesus forged within us the capacity for us to receive the indwelling Spirit who writes on our hearts and minds all that God commanded his people to obey. Jesus lived a perfect human life of obedience to his Father in the Spirit, bore our human flesh through death into resurrection, ascending into glory, bearing our glorified humanness into his Father’s presence to remain there forever in right relationship with God in the Spirit. In the gift of the Spirit, each of us individually can begin to participate in what Jesus made possible in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension.
And as our ascended Lord, Jesus reigns as the King of Righteousness (the meaning of Melchizedek), the High Priest appointed by his Father to offer the ultimate sacrifice—himself. As the One who judges, Jesus was judged on the cross, allowing himself to be crucified on our behalf. We have no reason to be afraid in coming to God with our sins, faults, weaknesses, and failures. We have Jesus Christ to intercede for us, to stand in our place, to offer himself as the perfect sacrifice in our place on our behalf. He pleads our case, and does so with great mercy and compassion, because he’s been there—he knows what it’s like to be us in the midst of this broken, messed up world. He prays our prayers to his Father, perfected and acceptable in God’s sight. And he offers the things of God to us in the Spirit, so we can share in his own right relationship with his Father in the Spirit. And Jesus loves us—so much so, that he laid down his life for us. Jesus has forged for us a life in right relationship with his Father and offers this to us in the gift of his Spirit, so we can live in God’s life and love, now and for eternity. What could be more wonderful than that?
Heavenly Father, thank you so much for giving your Son to us for our salvation and redemption. Thank you for giving us your Spirit so we can begin to participate in your own divine fellowship as Father, Son, and Spirit. We are so grateful, Jesus, that you understand us, care about us, and are always interceding for us on our behalf. Grant us the grace to ever live in grateful obedience. Amen.
“For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness; and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself. And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, ‘You are my son, today I have begotten you’; just as He says also in another passage, ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’ In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as aa high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 5:1–10 NASB
“Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet He was with a rich man in His death, because He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth. But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; by His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the booty with the strong; because He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors.” Isaiah 53:4–12
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The One Who Understands
By Linda Rex
October 13, 2024, Proper 23 | After Pentecost—In the message last week, we were reminded of who God is and who we are as his beloved children. We approach our relationship with God from the vantage point of beloved children, who are dependent upon our loving parent, the one who directs us, provides for us, cares for us, and seeks our best.
As we continue our journey through the book of Hebrews, we come to this Sunday’s passage in which we see Jesus at God’s right hand, interceding for us as our high priest. In Hebrews 4:12–16, the author shows us how Jesus, as the One who took on our human form and fully experienced our human existence, is able to intercede on our behalf with deep compassion and understanding. He did not yield to sin, even though he experienced the same temptations we do.
Today, many of us may not even know what someone is talking about when they talk about a high priest. But this is an important biblical concept, especially in regards to God’s covenant of love which he forged with his people, the ancient nation of Israel. The role of the high priest was that of a representative who ministered the word of God to the people, and offered the sacrifices and prayers of the people to God. This was all done according to God’s instructions, and was a way in which the nation could live in right relationship with God even though they were a flawed and faulty people. This relationship with God was a gift, made possible by God’s mercy and grace, simply because of God’s way of being, which is self-giving, other-centered love.
We as human beings do not live our lives in a vacuum, nor do we live our lives unseen by God. No, he knows us down to the core of our being, with all our flaws, all our glories, and all our weaknesses. What is interesting about this passage is that when the author says, “all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do,” it is using an expression commonly used to describe the neck of a creature being exposed so that it can be cut with a blade for sacrifice. In Jesus’ sacrifice, we as human beings are laid open, completely exposed, but in such a way that he stands in our place, interceding on our behalf. As the living Word of God in human flesh, who allowed himself to be crucified for our sake, Jesus Christ wrote the word of God on our minds and hearts. He turned us back to his Father in the Spirit, bringing us into his own face-to-face relationship.
And in that complete openness to the gaze of God, we are held within Jesus’ own life of faith in relationship with his Father in the Spirit. Jesus’ presence with his Father in the Spirit means that we can approach God with confidence and courage, trusting in Jesus’ complete sympathetic understanding of our weaknesses and temptations. In the humble recognition of our need for grace and mercy, we find ourselves welcomed and accepted, since Jesus is interceding on our behalf.
For many of us, this has not always been our experience of God. Do we feel as though we have to get all ourselves all cleaned up and dusted off before we can venture to have any conversation with God whatsoever? If this is the case, we need to reconsider our understanding of who Jesus Christ is, and who he is for us as the One who knows us so completely that he can judge the thoughts and intents of our hearts, while at the same time intercede for us with compassionate mercy and grace.
Do we understand that God created us to live a certain way—the way of other-centered, self-giving love—yet understands our frailty and weakness that seems to always betray us and keep us from walking in that way? We need to have both the humility to allow God to determine how we live our lives, but also the humility to trust in his mercy and grace when we don’t live that way. This is the position of rest God calls us to in Jesus Christ. This rest, which is ours in Jesus, is experienced as we trust in him and all he has done in our place and on our behalf. Apart from his gracious work, we cannot live in the truth of who we are as God’s children, in right relationship with God and each other. So, we put our faith in Jesus alone, allowing him to be who he is—our Lord and our Savior, and our High Priest.
Dear Father, thank you for sending your Son for our salvation and for giving us your Spirit. We acknowledge our sin and our need for Christ’s gracious intercession on our behalf. Thank you, Jesus, for always interceding for us, for enabling us to receive mercy and grace. Enable us to rest fully in you. Amen.
“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:12–16 NASB
“They were even more astonished and said to Him, ‘Then who can be saved?’ Looking at them, Jesus said, ‘With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.’” Mark 10:17–31 NASB
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The Grace of Joy
By Linda Rex
December 17, 2023, 3rd Sunday in Advent | Joy—Sometimes this time of year, we have a hard time coming up with any sense of Christmas cheer. It doesn’t help that our budgets are tight and we’re concerned about possibly catching one of the viruses going around at school, work, and the supermarket. This season may bring to mind significant losses or changes in our lives, and we may sense hovering over us a raincloud of grief, sorrow, pain, or even anxiety at having to cope with family issues as we gather with others.
On this Sunday of Joy in the season of Advent, we look at what the apostle Paul has to say about this in 1 Thessalonians 5:16–24. He tells the believers at Thessalonica to “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks” and goes on to say that this is God’s will for each of us who are in Christ Jesus. If we are in the midst of a snowstorm of grief and loss, it can be really hard to rejoice, much less give thanks. We may even find it next to impossible to pray—the words get stuck in our mind and heart, and nothing comes out. We can only weep.
So how do we respond to this imperative or command given to us in God’s Word? When reading the commands or imperatives in Scripture, we must always first look for the indicatives or foundational spiritual realities on which those imperatives are based. In this case, notice the phrase, “in Christ Jesus.” This is important to pay attention to. Also, when we look a little further on, we see, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.” Notice who is doing the sanctifying and who is bringing to pass our being without blame. Our wholeness is grounded in the God of peace who sanctifies us in and through his Son Jesus Christ.
Our joy isn’t in the circumstances we are experiencing, though at times we may have joyful and happy experiences with family and friends doing things we enjoy. No, the source of our joy is our faithful God of peace, who has given us his Son and his Spirit. As we come to faith in Christ, trusting in God’s grace and love, we are united with Christ and receive from him the Spirit. The Spirit of God pours into us Christ’s own love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, and other fruits of the Spirit.
This means we are able to receive and experience Christ’s own joy, even though at times our circumstances and experiences may be less than joyful. We are also able to be thankful in less than blessed circumstances, because we have already received the greatest gift possible, the gift of Christ in us by the Spirit, who enables us to be thankful in all circumstances.
Going even farther, being in union with Christ by the Spirit means that we share in Jesus’ own life of joy and thanksgiving in his face-to-face fellowship with his Father in the Spirit. Our life of prayer is grounded in Jesus’ own life of prayer with his Father so that he offers the things of the Father to us in the Spirit, and offers our prayers to the Father in the Spirit. When we cannot pray, for our hearts are too broken, Jesus prays for us and the Spirit intercedes for us, already knowing what is in our hearts which so yearns to be spoken.
This offers us great comfort in times when we find it hard to rejoice, pray, or give thanks, even though we know this is God’s will for us. Our faith isn’t in our ability to hang in there and do what is needed in our relationship with God. Rather our faith is in the One who is faithful and will do all that is needed to sanctify us and keep us blameless before God. We can rest in him and trust in his perfect love and grace. What a precious gift!
Dear Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thank you for holding us in the center of your love and grace. As we go through this Advent season, remind us anew of your compassion and tender love, and fill our hearts with joy and gratitude so we may do your will. Blessed Jesus and Holy Spirit, let your prayers fill our hearts, not just for ourselves, but for all those you bring to our minds, that we may fellowship with you and one another as a communion of faith throughout this sacred Advent season. For our Father’s glory, through Jesus and by your Spirit. Amen.
“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16–24 NASB
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Confirming the Testimony of Christ
By Linda Rex
December 3, 2023, 1st Sunday in Advent—I was reminded this morning of the blessing and gift we have been given of fellowship in our Lord Jesus Christ. Last Tuesday when I woke up, I was greatly challenged with being able to write and post this blog and to provide Sunday’s sermon on video, because I was very sick and my head was filled more with congestion that it was with any coherent thought.
I put out a prayer request for those who participate with me in Our Life in the Trinity, and was so blessed to have the Lord’s mercies in clearing up by noon almost completely the congestion and fuzziness of brain I had been experiencing. I was able to post both the blog and the video by evening, and I can give no credit anywhere but to the Lord Jesus Christ, and my gratitude to the believers for their faithful prayers on my behalf.
I believe this is what the apostle Paul was describing in his passage for this week, 1 Corinthians 1:3–9. I do give thanks to God concerning every one of you who support me in this ministry, for the grace of God has not been without effect, and the testimony of Jesus has been confirmed over and over in all of you. As Paul reminds us, this is the work of our God, who is faithful, and who has called us together into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ.
Paul was wise enough to realize that whatever gifts he had been given of speech and knowledge were gifts of the Spirit from our Lord Jesus Christ. He knew that the believers in Corinth valued skills of human rhetoric or speech and knowledge, but what Paul focused on in his letter was fellowship with our Lord. The Spirit generously showers spiritual gifts upon us, but it is Jesus who confirms in us the grace of God by his Spirit, making us blameless. Our identity is in Jesus Christ and as we trust in him, dying in his death and rising in his resurrection and ascension, we participate in his own face-to-face intimate fellowship with his Father in the Spirit.
This is meant to be most evident within the context of spiritual community, where those who trust in Christ are joined together in the fellowship of the Spirit, sharing in their common faith in our Lord Jesus. The gifts of the Spirit showered upon the Body of Christ are not meant for personal glory or aggrandizement, but for the equipping of the saints, to aid in our growing up into the fulness of Christ. Together, we live as those who trust in Christ, reflecting the divine perichoresis or koinonia in our relationships with one another. This is evident testimony to the reality of our living Lord Jesus Christ by his Spirit at work in and through us.
As the psalmist says, apart from what God has done, is doing, and will do through our Lord Jesus Christ and by his Spirit, we are at the mercy of our sins and brokenness (Psalm 80:1–7, 17–19). The prophet Isaiah reminds us that apart from the mercy and compassionate intervention of God, we are not able to live out the covenant life God has called us into (Isaiah 64:1–9). But God is, by nature, merciful and compassionate, so he did not leave any of us in the state of bondage to evil, sin, and death. No, in Christ, he has set us free, and invites us to participate in that freedom by faith in Jesus.
The good news is that, as God in human flesh, Jesus lives in face-to-face relationship with our Father in the Spirit, and he enables us to share in this union and communion by faith in Christ. It’s not all up to us, thankfully, but all up to him, even though he honors our personhood and allows us to say ‘No’ to his ‘Yes’ in Christ. Our Triune God’s ‘Yes’ to us stands in spite of our ‘No’, but if we insist, in spite of and in the face of the consuming fire of his love, we will experience the results of that resistance to God’s love. It is hard for me to imagine someone so forcibly resisting God’s love, but we are persons who at times can be quite stubborn in our resistance against what is beautiful, loving and good. I am grateful, as ever, that it’s not up to me to decide any of this, but up to our loving, gracious Lord Jesus, who is both the judged and the Judge. May his Name be praised evermore!
Our loving, heavenly Father, thank you for your faithfulness by which we are saved and brought, in your Son, into face-to-face fellowship with you in the Spirit. Grant us the grace to allow you to finish what you have begun in us, by fully participating in your saving work, through Jesus our Lord. Amen.
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:3–9 NASB
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A Citizen’s Prayer
by Linda Rex
One of the concerns I have as I watch the political debate and the community of faith’s response to it is the constant appeal to Christians in this nation to work through prayer and righteous living to make America great again. There is a subtle message beneath all of this rhetoric which says that somehow we are a special nation, the Israel of God, the chosen people, and if we just repent and turn back to God, everything will all be better. What I’m hearing is, all of this upheaval is just because America has turned away from God, so if all the Christians in America would humble themselves and pray, God will fix everything.
The main text used to defend this position of calling the nation (or the Christians in the nation) to prayer is 2 Chronicles 7:14: “[If] My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (NASB) I have some real concerns about the way this scripture is being used to promote what are, in my opinion, some very nationalistic agendas. I also believe the way it is presented forces us back upon ourselves as the means of getting God to change our circumstances and to remove the consequences of our choices.
The desire to have America great again I assume must be because we want to live freely and abundantly in this nation we call home. It would indeed be a good thing to be able to practice our faith and to enjoy our freedoms without fear or oppression—and for the most part, we’ve been able to do that in this country. But there are forces at work which are making it more and more difficult for us to do this in this country, and that is what drives this need to ensure our domestic felicity, so that our “happy home” will continue to be just that.
Whenever I hear the statement “Make America great again”, I cringe because I am reminded of how post-WWI Germany sought to make Germany great again. This was the cry of the Nazi’s which enabled them to gain political power, and enabled them to promote many of their agendas which otherwise may have been rejected by the German populace. Sadly, the German church at that time also got caught up in this nationalistic momentum to the point they gave the leadership of their church to Hitler himself, and began to promote his faith rather than the truths of the faiths as established by the early church. It was this battle Dietrich Bonhoeffer chose to fight by remaining in Germany when he could have stayed safely in America.
The point is, we need to get rid of our nationalistic focus and turn back to Jesus Christ as being the central “Who” of this whole matter. Looking at this particular passage honestly, through sound exegesis, would help us to do that if we were willing. So let’s begin by reading the passage in the context in which it was originally written:
“Then the LORD appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, ‘I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. ‘If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place. For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.’” (2 Chronicles 7:12–16 NASB)
The first thing we see is this was a statement God made to King Solomon after his prayer at the dedication of the temple he built in Jerusalem. God was explaining he had chosen the temple as a place for sacrifices to be offered to him just as Solomon had asked him to. The Lord would hear and answer the prayers of his people Israel when they would humbly seek his face in prayer and turn away from evil. The God, whose Name is Father, Son and Spirit, placed his name upon that house and affirmed his eyes and heart would be there as well.
This whole conversation took place within the covenant relationship of God with his people Israel. This was a reaffirmation of that covenant in which God included this house of worship in his relationship with Israel out of his gracious love toward them. Nowhere in this conversation do we read anything about the nation of America—it did not exist back then, nor was it included at that particular moment in this conversation. The whole discussion was with regard to God’s covenant relationship with his chosen people, Israel, and his desire to love them and to receive their worship and prayer.
When we read the continuing story of God’s children Israel, we find they did not honor their part of their covenant with God, and in time even Solomon’s temple was overrun and destroyed. They did not have the heart and will to love and obey God. They did not humble themselves, repent and pray, or the destruction of the nation would have been delayed as it was in the time of King Hezekiah and King Josiah, who led God’s people into a place of repentance and renewal. Instead, Israel and Judah ended up losing everything God had given them in his gracious love.
This passage, we’ve seen, was a conversation God was having with the king of the nation of Israel with regards to a temple which was eventually destroyed and replaced with another one many years later. Some exiles made their way back, thanks to the Persian king Cyrus, and the temple and the city wall of Jerusalem were rebuilt. In time, a baby was born in Bethlehem, who was the true Son of God and would fulfill in his life, death, resurrection and ascension, all the promises made to Israel, for he stood in their place.
Jesus Christ came as the Israel of God, the Son of God, Abba’s Word, who was both God and man. We see Jesus, who had no sin, repenting and being baptized for his people Israel, and for us, and we see him sharing in Israel’s wilderness wanderings by facing the evil one during forty days of fasting in the wilderness of Judea. Jesus lived the life of obedience, humility and prayer Israel was called to live, but never was able to. In his life, death, resurrection and ascension, Jesus fulfilled all of the covenant God had made with Israel—he did what they never were able to do.
Ultimately, we see Jesus after his resurrection, standing in the presence of God as high priest of Israel and of all humanity, bearing in his being the names of all people before Abba in the Spirit, being the One who is truly humble who prays in the Spirit and in truth for each and every person in our place and on our behalf. It is Jesus’ prayer which Abba hears and answers, and each and every prayer we give is caught up in Christ’s prayers and made acceptable to the Father.
In this same Christ, the barriers between human beings were and are torn down. We learn in Acts the early church had to face the reality God did not distinguish between Jews and Gentiles when it came to having a relationship with God or each other. All nationalism was thrown out the window and replaced with the reality we are all a part of the body of Christ by the Spirit. All were included in God’s grace when it was given, and all are called to faith in Christ and offered eternal life—knowing Abba and his Son whom he sent.
The life we live, no matter our race, ethnicity, nation, tribe and tongue, is bound up in Christ and is held in him in God. Whatever good deeds we do, whatever repentance we may muster up, all comes first from God through Christ in the Spirit. It is Christ’s prayers and intercession which will bring about change in America.
But Christ is concerned about a whole lot more than just this nation. He is concerned about all of humanity. And he is a whole lot more concerned about our spiritual transformation and the furtherance of his kingdom than he is about whether or not America is the most prosperous, paradise on earth. This world is passing away. But our relationship with God, whatever it is, transcends this physical world and will last beyond it. And this is what God wants us to invest our effort, time and energy in.
Abba has work he is doing through Christ in this world. He’s sent Christ on a mission of reconciliation with God and man to be worked out into every part of life by the Spirit. We can participate in this through our humility, repentance and prayer—but apart from Christ and the work of the Spirit, our humility, repentance and prayer is worthless. It’s just a bunch of hot air and will not change a thing, except to make us exhausted, and to fill us with disappointment when things don’t go as we expect.
In a nation obsessed with nationalism and power of the state, the apostle Paul instructed his people to pray for their leaders so they could live and preach the gospel in peace. He also reminded them their loyalty was to God first, and not to the nation. We are citizens of heaven, he said. These are words we can take to heart today, because we also are citizens of the kingdom of God, and are seeking a peaceful environment in which to preach and live out the gospel of Jesus Christ.
But we need to see this as our participation in what Jesus Christ is doing in the world today as we share in his mission of reconciliation. It is his work as our intercessor and high priest which will make the difference in the world today. It is his Spirit who calls us back to him, to repentance and faith. It is Abba who pours into us and our world a different heart and mind. We share in the work of the Trinity as God brings about healing and change. In my mind, this is the heart of this passage, and how we should read and apply it today.
“First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:1–4 NASB
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.” Philippians 3:20–21 NASB
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