Chariots of Fire

And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. (2 Kings 6:16-18)

Things did not look well for the prophet Elisha. The King of Aram, bent on capturing and destroying him, laid siege to the city by night. The next morning when Elisha’s servant saw the enemy army with horses and chariots surrounding the city, he panicked: Oh no, my lord! What shall we do? Elijah, utterly calm, said: Don’t be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them. Then Elisha asked God to open his servant’s eyes and, looking up, he saw the hills around them full of horses and chariots of fire.

Sometimes we feel besieged, surrounded by problems and challenges that seem far beyond our ability and resources. At such times we need the eyes of our heart opened to the reality of God who is ever with us and who can do far above all we ask or think. Truly, we are surrounded by "chariots of fire" -- if only we had eyes to see. Or as Paul put it in his letter to the Romans: If God is for us, who can be against us?

Not By Bread Alone

Jesus answered, “It is written: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).

 

The Gospel writer tells us that after fasting forty days and forty nights, Jesus was hungry. Surely that's an understatement. He must have been famished. And it’s precisely at this point of overwhelming physical need that the tempter set his first trap: If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.

One can only imagine how Jesus must have felt at that moment. Make no mistake about it, Jesus felt the awful power of that temptation. The author of the book of Hebrews tells us he was “tempted in every way, just as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). Yet with every cell in his body crying out for nourishment, Jesus declared: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

How can we not be moved by such devotion to the Word of God? Is it possible that we, with our plentiful food, are spiritually malnourished? This Lent, inspired by Christ’s example, let us nourish ourselves, not just with bread, but with the Word of God.

Let us nourish ourselves with the Word of God.

Dust to Dust: Ash Wednesday

 For dust you are and to dust you will return.

Genesis 3:19

Perhaps the most sobering words ever spoken to the human race are the words spoken by God to Adam and Eve after they ate the forbidden fruit: dust you are and to dust you shall return. Traditionally, these words are spoken during the imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of a forty-day journey from Lent to Easter.

A young man who had been to an Ash Wednesday service went to the grocery store. While standing in line at the checkout counter, a little girl pointed her finger at him and said, “Mister, you’ve got dirt on your face.”

That’s what Ash Wednesday is all about. We acknowledge before God and one another that we have “dirt on our faces”. We acknowledge our mortality – dust to dust, ashes to ashes. We acknowledge our frailty and need for cleansing. All of this is done with faith, hope, and love in our hearts as we look forward to a joyous Easter and the resurrection to everlasting life.

The beginning of a forty-day journey from Lent to Easter.

Paul's Unlikely Boast

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Boasting is never acceptable. Well, almost never. In his second letter to the Corinthians Paul indulges in a most unlikely boast: Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses.

We live in a culture that has raised boasting to an art form. Professional athletes, talk show hosts, infomercial hawkers, and a host of others routinely proclaim their own praises. They are the greatest! Their products are the finest!

But Paul takes the act of boasting and turns it on its head. He boasts not of his strengths, but of his weaknesses. Which begs the question: why in the world would any one boast of his or her weaknesses? Because in the spiritual life weakness is like a magnet that attracts God’s grace – which makes us truly strong! Boasting and inflated self-confidence, on the other hand, repel God’s grace and that makes us weak indeed.

It’s really quite simple: our weakness + God’s grace = strength. 

Now that’s something to boast about!

Our weakness + God's grace = strength!