Valerie Hess

We are not saved by our works but we are saved FOR good works. Sometimes, the whole “saved by faith alone” mantra lulls Christ-followers into believing that what we do/don’t do doesn’t really matter in the long run. That is a lie from Satan to keep God’s people from effectively being salt and light in our culture and society. Our works are a response to our faith, the fruit of our faith, the evidence of our faith.

God is too polite.

He sits smiling,

Waiting for me to settle.

“Oh, let me finish this;

I’ll be right there.”

But the end never comes.

I fall in bed, realizing,

God is still sitting there,

Waiting,

With a smile now sad.

Valerie Hess

From “The Song of Prayer” by the Community of Jesus:

“Praying the central part of the Our Father silently [in community worship] is an ancient tradition that comes from the early centuries of the Christian era when Rome was persecuting the church and only baptized Christians knew the Lord’s Prayer. By publicly reciting only the first and last lines [Our Father/and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil], the persecuted Christians preserved the secrets of the Christian faith.”

This tradition (and others like it, such as ushering out of corporate worship all un-baptized persons when the Eucharistic liturgy began each week) stand in stark contrast to the “seeker sensitive” approach many faith communities have adopted today. Is it legitimate for the secrets of the faith to be kept within the community until someone has been Baptized, i.e. committed to Christ? In an age when sex is OK in or outside of marriage , how do we respond to people wanting to know about the Christian faith before they “buy in”?

I’m not sure there is a right or wrong answer, though maybe there is. In any case, this idea gives me pause.

“He restores my soul” says Psalm 23. The Discipline of Solitude puts us in a position where God can begin to restore our souls.

While hiking the other day, I saw a sign on a new fence in an area where the local forestry people did a major clean-out of non-native vegetation. The sign said “Area closed: Area behind sign is closed for vegetation restoration.” What a great symbol for the kind of sign I need to hang on my soul some days. CLOSED, so that God can restore.

I am also Judas.

I get so caught up in my causes and concerns that I miss the Christ and how His causes and concerns could, would enfold and uplift mine.

And then when things don’t go the way I believe they should (and I believe that that is also the way God wants them to go), then instead of repenting like Peter did, I go out and hang myself on guilt and embarrassment, and vow to move to a desert island and never speak up again and begin the fasting I never quite get to when I am on a roll. The thirty pieces of my silver idea burn my soul.

O God, you would forgive me and restore me with a real mission as you did Peter. If only I would give up my Judas pride and ask You. May the field of blood in my life become the Field of Blood in Your Life.