Forever-Fellowship
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in Downtown Milford, MI.
If this were a newspaper, you would know immediately from the title what had happened. One more time, dozens of times a day, a threatening person “holds up” another, stealing their belongings. Typically, we are given a choice: “Your money or your life!” We are accustomed to that story. A lot of energy goes into trying not to be robbed, or held up.
But a verse of Scripture – one of dozens – uses that little expression differently, nearly opposite. “Sustain me according to Your word, that I may live; And do not let me be ashamed of my hope” (Psalms 119:116 NAS95). The opening word “sustain” can be translated “uphold.” Hold me up, not to steal, but to sustain.
You may remember the words of the old hymn: “I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore; very deeply stained with sin, sinking to rise no more. But the Master of the sea heard my despairing cry. From the waters lifted me, now safe am I. Love lifted me; love lifted me. When nothing else could help, love lifted me…” The songs transmits the truth that by God, we are not robbed, but deeply and desperately helped. He alone can reach and redeem us.
The word is used in personal relationship – of laying on hands, not to cause harm, but to communicate something significant about the relationship. Used often in Leviticus, the priest, representing the people, places his hand on the sacrificial animal, identifying his sins to that animal, which will be sacrificed in his stead. Good for the priest and people; not so much for the animal. Or, nearing death, Moses places his hands on Joshua, commissioning him to continue the leadership he had begun. Being “held up” in these senses speaks not of fragmented society, one preying on another, but rather, partnership – showing how we are connected with each other.
And so the Psalms, as we might expect, are full of such statements, expressing our need for God to grab hold and rescue, to uphold and sustain, to draw us into a partnership with Him (we being the dependent party in that partnership). And if God does that for us, then we also ought to do it for others. No, not rob and take advantage. But to offer the helping hand, even to the point of risk and rescue; to identify with others, even when that person is different from ourselves; and to partner with those where our love might be required to do some heavy lifting. After all, that’s what God has done for us.
The Problem of Prayer There are a good many things about which our talking outpaces our doing. I would put prayer in this category. We talk about prayer more than we pray. Why? Why is prayer such a problem? There may be a host of reasons, but one would be our desire to solve our […]
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