Discovering Discipleship

Look at what happened when the small group prayed after Peter and John were released from prison.

When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.   Acts 4:31


Repeatedly we hear that when the believers prayed that God be with them and strengthen them the result took them into places of the mind, heart and soul that were previously unknown.  The foundation of their life was Christ -- solid!  But that foundation shook the structures of their life.  The words they spoke, rooted in Christ, were activated with a boldness that gave them power and authority in His Name.  


Wow!  


That is still happening today.  


When we worship each Sunday and pray together, do we trust that the place in which we gather will shake? When we go out in His Name how do we pay attention to the Holy Spirit's nudges that guide and energize us?  


I invite each one of you reading this post to visit CRLC's new online resource,  Discovering Discipleship, which will be up and running in the next few days.  It is a place for you to visit in the days following Sundays sending words:  Go in peace, serve the poor!  Go in peace, share the Good News!  (or any number of sendings).  


The point is, Sundays and our worship experiences are the bookends for our ministry during the other days of the week.  We want to be intentional about discovering how God is guiding us through the world, because discipleship isn't always the first (or dominant) thing on our minds all seven days of the week.  


Discovering Discipleship postings will appear at least twice a week.  Come.  Be open to discovering the path God is placing before you as you "Go in peace".      

Christ is Risen!  Alleluia!  


Not the end of the story.  It is the beginning of the story.  


Like buds sprouting or blades rising, something new is emerging in your life.  


Life will never be the same.  

We are, of course, Easter People.  We live and move in the joy of the resurrection, which we will celebrate VERY soon. 

According to creed and tradition,  between the crucifixion and the resurrection, Christ descended into hell.  He claimed redeemed those who had been trapped there. 

The Harrowing of Hell

Soul wails

Grovels in torment’s tendrils

Body long worm eaten, soul empty.

             Agonized.

Every small or grand wrong committed (every good omitted) wraps around

             the remains of the heart of soul – cords of iron, forged in pain’s flame. 

Every movement, the slightest motion, clamps the vice of sin another degree. 

             Every day I am drawn more deeply into the yawning maw that is

             Eternal.  Dark.  Despaiar. 

I thought death was finality—that it was total nonexistence. 

             That would have been better.  Far better. 

The empty desolation of all that I ever was sees a something lurking, skulking, stalking.

            A presence that is frigid emptiness.

The dark angel flutters.   It holds me in its chilling burning clench, piercing with empty infusions

that saturate with perpetual, hopeless LOSS.

In the core of my heart’s remains, yet in the remote distance I hear LOVE silently moaning.

 A strong yet beaten voice cries out:   "Father....Why have you forsaken me?"

∞∞∞∞

From beyond wherever I am, a stirring of windy breath and a voice shouting softly.

The cosmos splits with: “It is finished!"

In the center of my desire, yet in the unreachable distance something stirs,

like new life nestled deeply in a womb.

Chains, shackles and weights are loosened, lifted up in life breathing joy.

Eyes long dissolved see Love and hear forgiveness claiming a parched soul.

 I am enfolded.

 Claimed.

Gathered into the ONE who formed every fiber of my flesh in the

                        bowels of the earth long before time began, before there ever was time.

Alpha.  Omega.  Priestly Beloved Companion. 

 My God,  how can it be that
you came here to find me?


by Pamela Czarnota

Good Friday

The Solemn Reproaches

Read the text silently.  Stay with it as long as you wish.  Then read aloud the words in bold.  Move on. 

O my people, O my church, what have I done to you? How have I offended you? Answer me! I led you out of slavery into freedom, and delivered you through the waters of rebirth, but you have prepared a cross for your Savior.

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.

Forty years I led you through the desert, feeding you with manna on the way; I saved you from the time of trial and gave you my body, the bread of heaven, but you have prepared a cross for your Savior.

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.

 I led you on your way in a pillar of cloud and fire, but you led me to the judgment hall of Pilate; I guided you with the light of the Holy Spirit, but you have prepared a cross for your Savior.

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.

I planted you as my fairest vine, but you have brought forth biter fruit; I made you branches of the vine and never left your side, but you have prepared a cross for your Savior.

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.

O my people, O my church, what more could I have done for you? Answer me! I poured out saving water from the rock, but you gave me vinegar to drink; I poured out my life and gave you the new covenant in my blood, but you have prepared a cross for your Savior.

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.


O my people, O my church, what more could I have done for you? Answer me! I gave you a royal scepter, but you gave me a crown of thorns; I gave you the kingdom and crowned you with eternal life, but you have prepared a cross for your Savior.

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.

I struck down your enemies, but you struck my head with a reed; I gave you my peace, but you draw the sword in my name, and you have prepared a cross for your Savior.

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.

I opened the waters to lead you to the promised land, but you opened my side with a spear; I washed your feet as a sign of my love, but you have prepared a cross for your Savior.

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.

O my people, O my church, what more could I have down for you? Answer me! I lifted you up to the heights, but you lifted me high on a cross; I raised you from death and prepared for you the tree of life, but you have prepared a cross for your Savior.

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.

I grafted you into my people Israel, but you made them scapegoats for your own guilt, and you have prepared a cross for your Savior.

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.

I came to you in the least of your brothers and sisters, but I was hungry and you gave me no food, thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me, and you have prepared a cross for your Savior.

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.

Maundy Thursday

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

 Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself.

 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"

Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand."

 Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me."

Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!"

Jesus said to him, "One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you."

For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, "Not all of you are clean."

After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you?

You call me Teacher and Lord--and you are right, for that is what I am.  So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.

For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them.

If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.

If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.  Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.'

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.

 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Wednesday of Holy Week

Isaiah 50:4-9a

The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens-- wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.

The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward.

I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting.

The Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me.

It is the Lord GOD who helps me; who will declare me guilty?

Tuesday of Holy Week

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

 For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart."

 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe.

 For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.
Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.

But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God.

He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,in order that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."

Monday of Holy Week

Isaiah 42:1-9

Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.

He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.

He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it:

I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

I am the LORD, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols.

See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them.

Notes for Holy Week

Pray Your Way Through Holy Week

Write if you wish, but try to focus upon what is going on in your faith life right now during Holy Week 2012 rather than in the past. 

Try not to look at this week as a Bible Study or a Writing Exercise.  Rather, look at it as a time for sitting with God in the presence of scripture.  Perhaps you can let God “read” you – your thoughts and emotions that go deeper than your written or spoken word. 

Go all the way to the Cross.  Abide with Holy Saturday, allowing yourself to contemplate what it means that God searches for you all the time, especially in the dead and dark, hellish places of your existence.

Avoid the temptation to fast forward to Easter’s Alleluia!!!!

(even if you are leading or preparing for Easter Sunday Worship)

Before you pray:  Pay attention to how you are right now. 

God meets you where and how you are, not as you think you should be or wish you could be. 

Take this short but comprehensive inventory:

How am I physically (level of fatigue, tension, headaches, misbehaving organs, even sore toes.)

How am I emotionally?  Quality and intensity of emotions.  Name them.  Are the feelings rapidly changing or fairly consistent?

How am I mentally?  Clear thinking?  Muddy?  Focused?  Chaotic?  Linear or swirling? 

What can you say about how you are in prayer right now?

That is, are you feeling close to God?  Distant?  Hungry for God’s presence?  Wanting to hide?  Ready to just “hang out” with God for a while? 

This inventory helps you to become more aware of how God is reaching out to you through scripture.  Remember, God meets you where and how you ARE. 

Now: 

Read the lesson slowly.

1.       Name the words,  phrases or images that catch your attention. 

2.      Sit with that portion of the passage.  Where does the passage touch your life?  What emotions are arising? 

3.       What does God seem to be saying to you through the passage?  How is God inviting you to be?  What might God be inviting you to do? 

If you accept God’s invitation, how might you change or what might be changed in your life? 

After you pray, consider the following: 

If you could talk with God about this time of prayer, what would you want to say? What would you want to hear from God?                                                                                                      .

Is there anything that you want to take with you from this time of prayer? Anything you want to continue to be with?   

Love Palm Sunday? Why?

Mark 14:1-15:47

Today you will attend church and you have an opportunity to be a part of the parading crowd, singing “Hosanna!” (which means, God save us!)  You will hear the Passion Story read in its entirety.  You will pass through the gates of expectations and experiences that have been building throughout the story of your life as you have written and reflected throughout Lent. 

You will now enter Holy Week 2012.  Do everything you can to stay present to each day this week.  This week I encourage you to pay attention to what God is moving and molding in you now rather than what has gone on in your faith journey in previous years. 

Begin today by envisioning the scene when Jesus enters Jerusalem.  Given the truth of who you are TODAY as a person of faith, where would you be?  Following Him?  Standing on the sidelines but still singing out?  Hiding timidly behind closed doors, waiting for the crowd to pass?

Go deeper:   Many people “love” to come to church on Palm Sunday.  Do you?  If so, why?  If not, why not? 

What do you do with the palms you receive every Palm Sunday?  Do you keep them?  Weave them into a cross?  Hang them over a picture?  Place them into your Bible?  Leave them behind? 

Why do you think you do what you do with them?  What do they mean to you?