Readiness

• I also said to the people at that time, “Let every man and his servant pass the night within Jerusalem, that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day.” So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each kept his weapon at his right hand.  (Nehemiah 4:22-23)
• In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD's Passover. (Exodus 12:11)
• Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.  
  (Luke 12:35-36)  

The Bible has a lot to say about readiness, being prepared, watchful, alert, sober-minded; even to the point (as in the verse from Nehemiah above) of sleeping fully dressed with a weapon at their side.  The image is of a soldier, fully alert, armed and ready at the first hint of danger or attack.  The Exodus passage points to another kind of readiness - a sense of urgency and waiting, ready to walk whenever and wherever.  Then, in the Luke passage, we read the description of a servant, always on stand-by, waiting expectantly for his master's return, ready to attend to his master's needs.  


These are all apt descriptions of a Christian disciple.  We are to be prepared and watchful, armed and waiting, listening and serving.  What does that look like in practical terms?  Obviously, we are not armed to the teeth ready to go to war!  Many of us have never served in war-time as soldiers or lived through a miraculous deliverance from slavery in a foreign land like that of the Israelites in Exodus.  


Really?  Are we sure about that?  Have you ever had someone on your mind for no apparent reason - can't seem to stop thinking about them?  The Lord may be calling you into battle - to intercede for your friend even if you don't know the details of the struggle.  Has your friend or loved one been in the middle of a potentially life-changing decision, crisis or moral dilemma - a crossroads where the wrong choice could result in serious consequences?  To pray at this moment is to enter into battle.  Or have you been the beneficiary of such prayers?  Have you been delivered from slavery to a sin or addiction that made you feel as if you were living in a foreign, strange "land"?  


We can't see the war that is being waged, the forces battling for and against us, with our human eyes.  The apostle Paul tells us that our battle is not against flesh and blood; but the battle is no less real, no less "deadly".  Don't kid yourself - it IS a matter of life and death; our enemy is  prowling around, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8) while our God is calling us to choose life. That's why we're given so many reminders and descriptors of readiness, preparedness and watchfulness.



Like Nehemiah, even as we prepare to sleep, we lie down wearing our spiritual "clothes" and "weapons". This "attire" is described by Paul in Ephesians 6:10-20.  We wear our salvation as a helmet protecting our head (our mind, our thoughts, words, imaginations and sight); our righteousness is as a breastplate protecting our heart, the very core of who we are; God's truth is belted around us, holding everything else in place.  Our feet are "wearing" readiness - readiness that is given to us by the Gospel - readiness to walk in the power of that Gospel wherever our Lord leads.  The last two items are at our side and in our hands - the sword and the shield: the Word of God and faith in, of and through our Lord.  These items of warfare are wielded offensively and defensively.  Faith is our shield, our protection against the flaming darts of the evil one (Eph 6:16) - those attempts by the enemy to assault our convictions, our right choices, our testimony and beliefs.  The Word of God - the sword of the Spirit - is the most powerful and, if you notice, the only weapon.  God's word needs to be part of us.  Spend time reading, listening, absorbing the Scriptures.  

• For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  (Hebrews 4:12)
• All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.  (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

So, yes, we are to be alert, prepared and ready to respond to God's call.  Our preparedness is not left to us to figure out.  It is God's work in us, for us, and through us  - with our cooperation, of course.  He allows us to participate with him in his work on earth.  May God's kingdom come, his will be done on earth as it is in heaven!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Reading my Lenten devotional this morning, I was reminded of the prayer attributed to St. Francis, St. Francis' Breastplate.  Growing up in the Episcopal church, I remember (laboriously) singing the hymn version of this prayer; but the words are truly wonderful and worth meditating on.  


As I reread the entire prayer this morning, I was struck by a "new favorite" verse:

I bind unto myself today

The power of God to hold and lead,

His eye to watch, His might to stay,

His ear to hearken to my need.

The wisdom of my God to teach,

His hand to guide, His shield to ward,

The word of God to give me speech,

His heavenly host to be my guard.

And an "old favorite" verse:

Christ be with me, Christ within me,

Christ behind me, Christ before me,

Christ beside me, Christ to win me,

Christ to comfort and restore me.

Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love me,

Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I've included the entire prayer in honor of St. Patrick's Day.  I encourage you to take some time to read and savor these beautiful and powerful words.

I bind unto myself today

The strong Name of the Trinity,

By invocation of the same,

The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this day to me for ever.

By power of faith, Christ's incarnation;

His baptism in the Jordan river;

His death on Cross for my salvation;

His bursting from the spicèd tomb;

His riding up the heavenly way;

His coming at the day of doom;

I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power

Of the great love of the cherubim;

The sweet 'well done' in judgment hour,

The service of the seraphim,

Confessors' faith, Apostles' word,

The Patriarchs' prayers, the Prophets' scrolls,

All good deeds done unto the Lord,

And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today

The virtues of the starlit heaven,

The glorious sun's life-giving ray,

The whiteness of the moon at even,

The flashing of the lightning free,

The whirling wind's tempestuous shocks,

The stable earth, the deep salt sea,

Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today

The power of God to hold and lead,

His eye to watch, His might to stay,

His ear to hearken to my need.

The wisdom of my God to teach,

His hand to guide, His shield to ward,

The word of God to give me speech,

His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,

The vice that gives temptation force,

The natural lusts that war within,

The hostile men that mar my course;

Or few or many, far or nigh,

In every place and in all hours,

Against their fierce hostility,

I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan's spells and wiles,

Against false words of heresy,

Against the knowledge that defiles,

Against the heart's idolatry,

Against the wizard's evil craft,

Against the death wound and the burning,

The choking wave and the poisoned shaft,

Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,

Christ behind me, Christ before me,

Christ beside me, Christ to win me,

Christ to comfort and restore me.

Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love me,

Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,

The strong Name of the Trinity;

By invocation of the same.

The Three in One, and One in Three,

Of Whom all nature hath creation,

Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:

Praise to the Lord of my salvation,

Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Exodus

God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.’”  (Exodus 6:2-8, emphasis mine)


There are times in the Scriptures when God really seems to assert himself.  He's always holy, always God - all powerful, all knowing, all seeing God.  But there are still times when it seems as if he stands tall, puts his foot down and says, Listen to me; this is who I am; I am God.  This passage in Exodus in one of those times. Notice how many times he reveals or identifies himself.  Do you suppose Moses was flat out, on his face in the presence of all that holiness and awesomeness?  Remember the call of the prophet in Isaiah 6.  His encounter with God's holiness left him completely undone:  And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”  (Isaiah 6:5)  We would do well to spend more time reflecting on passages like these. We forget that the God we serve is a fearsome, holy and awesome God.  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."  (Hebrews 10:31)  Holy fear, reverence and awe are things we are not well acquainted with in the 21st century.  We throw around the word 'awesome' until it loses its meaning, its impact.  


God's words to Moses as he proclaims his identity, his character, his glory, are words of deliverance, redemption, promise and relationship on a level never before known.  Israel is being delivered in fulfillment of God's covenant promise to the patriarchs, the fathers of God's chosen people.  God knew the suffering of his people.  He knew their oppression, the brokenness of their spirits.  Exodus 2:25:  "God saw the people of Israel - and God knew."


Don't think for a minute that God doesn't see your brokenness, your suffering.  He sees and he knows. This God - the Great I AM, El Shaddai, God Almighty, Yahweh, the LORD, the Almighty, Everlasting God - sees and knows.  He will bring you out of your slavery to sin, deliver you from whatever is oppressing you, redeem you, make you his own and be your God.  

The LORD is my light and my salvation; 

whom shall I fear?  

The LORD is the stronghold of my life; 

of whom shall I be afraid?  (Psalm 27:1)

But my eyes are toward you, O GOD, my Lord; 

in you I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless!  (Psalm 141:8 ESV)

To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.  

O my God, in you I trust; 

let me not be put to shame; 

let not my enemies exult over me.  

Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; 

they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.  

Make me to know your ways, O LORD; 

teach me your paths.  

Lead me in your truth and teach me, 

for you are the God of my salvation; 

for you I wait all the day long.  (Psalm 25:1-5)