Vigil

Candlelight Vigil - Photo: Pixabay.com

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Luke 6:1-16

TO CHEW ON: “Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles.” Luke 6:12,13


Yesterday I mentioned the vigil that some churches hold on the evening before this day, All Saints Day (called an All Saints Vigil). Today we see Jesus keeping vigil.

[Vigil: wakefulness maintained for any reason during the normal hours for sleeping; a watch or period of watchful attention maintained at night or other time; a devotional watching or keeping awake, during the customary hours of sleep.]

The instances in the Bible of people keeping vigil illustrate some of the times we might be prompted to keep vigil ourselves.

• When we’re facing something we fear.

Jacob was awake and alone all night before he was going to meet Esau again. This was many years after Esau had threatened to kill him. Was he still holding murder in his heart? Then Jacob wasn’t alone any more - Genesis 32:24.

• When we’re spiritually troubled.

Samuel was “grieved” and “cried to the Lord all night” after God told him that He had rejected Saul (1 Samuel 15:11).

• Just because…

Maybe praise and prayer fills our minds all day and wakes us at night as it does the psalmist in Psalm 55:17 and Psalm 119:62. I like to think, too, that when we are wakeful for no particular reason—just can’t sleep— that can be interpreted as an invitation to prayer—a mini-vigil you might say.

• When we’re about to make an important decision.

Choosing twelve disciples from His larger number of followers seems to be what preoccupied Jesus during His vigil in our reading - Luke 6:2,13.

• When we’re in trouble.

Paul and Silas in jail in Philippi were still praying and singing at midnight when an earthquake set them free - Acts 16:25,26.

• When someone else is in trouble.

Jesus begged the disciples to keep vigil with Him on the night before His arrest. We all know that sad story of how the disciples couldn’t stay awake (Matthew 26:36-46).

So, next time we’re on the eve of something fearful, or a big decision, or  are burdened by our own or someone's problem, or just can’t sleep, let’s consider spending those wakeful night hours in prayerful vigil.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, help me to see night wakefulness as an invitation to keep vigil. Amen.

MORE: All Saints' Day

Today the church celebrates All Saints' Day .

The Christian Almanac says about this day: "In the earliest years of the church, so many martyrs died for their faith, Christians set aside special days to honor them.  ... Originally celebrated on May 1, the festival in commemoration of all the saints was eventually moved to November by Pope Gregory IV as a time of remembrance of all those who had suffered persecution for their faith" - The Christian Almanac, p. 642.

The liturgy for this day begins with this prayer:

"Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen."

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The prize of heaven

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Revelation 7:1-17

TO CHEW ON: "And the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." Revelation 7:17

This heavenly scene from John's vision is full of mystery but also certainty. There are ambiguities like who exactly are the 144,000? What does it mean to "seal them"? Is the mark of God's seal on their foreheads a literal mark or symbolic?

However, many things in this chapter are clear.

• The great multitude in heaven will be made up of people from all around the world: "...of all nations, tribes, peoples and tongues" - Revelation 17:9.

• They are absorbed in praising God and Jesus in a scene that reminds us of a combination of Palm Sunday (John 12:12-14) and the wedding feast in Jesus' story (Matthew 22:1-14).

• The creature inhabitants of heaven are also completely wrapped up in praising God. They chant what my Bible footnotes describe as "a sevenfold ascription of adoration":

"Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honour and power and might Be to our God forever and ever. Amen."

• When John, in his vision, asks who this great crowd is, one of the elders tells him it is "...the ones who came out of the great tribulation." The grammatical makeup is literally the "ones coming out" expressing a continuous (not once-for-all) action. My Bible's footnote explains: "This is not a post-consummation picture. Therefore tribulation is to some degree taking place throughout the entire church age....The great tribulation describes the acceleration and intensification of troublesome times as this age comes to an end, climaxing with the Rapture and Second coming" - Earl Wesley Morey,  New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1827 (emphasis added).

• The setting in heaven is idyllic.

- no more hunger or thirst.
- no more sunstroke or energy-sapping heat.
- the Lamb-Shepherd (Jesus) leads its inhabitants to living fountains of water (Psalm 23:1-6).
- and finally, there is comfort as God wipes tears away. Note that it doesn't say there won't be tears but that God will wipe them away. I see a picture of a tender parent, wiping the tears of a distressed child: "There now, it's all better." (See also Isaiah 25:8, 35:10.)

Sometimes I wonder why we hang onto our sick and dying loved ones who have trusted Jesus so tenaciously when this is what awaits them. No matter what we go through on earth of persecution, suffering, bodily illness, or decay, we have this wonderful place to look forward to. As we face the challenges of life's race today, let's focus on this "prize" (Philippians 3:14, 1 Corinthians 9:24).


PRAYER: Dear God, heaven, as shown in the Bible, is beyond my most wonderful imaginings. Help me to keep these scenes in mind when I meet up with derision and scoffing, pain and sickness today and in the days ahead. Amen.

MORE: All Saints' Day

Today the church celebrates All Saints' Day—a commemoration of saints and martyrs who have died. The liturgy for today begins with this collect:

"Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen."

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The saintly reaction

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Luke 6:17-36

TO CHEW ON: "But love your enemies, do good and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil." Luke 6:35


She (let's call her Joan) was on her way to do an errand and decided to stop en-route at a drive-through to pick up a coffee. The lineup merged from two different streams and the order of the cars was a bit confused. As Joan inched forward she saw another car angling for the opening in the line, and was about to wave the driver in when the woman rolled down her window and released a string of expletives, then did it again when Joan smiled and waved at her.

On getting to the order station, Joan put in a request before ordering her coffee: "Please, whatever that woman ahead is having, I'll pay for it."

The irate driver didn't accept Joan's offer. Though in her brief conversation with the waitress at the delivery window,  on discovering Joan's offer, she expressed deep embarrassment.

Joan, reflecting on the incident (in a blog post which I haven't been able to find again after reading it once), said, in effect, "What surprised me was the honest love and compassion I felt for this woman." She was encouraged by the unexpected progress in her ability, this once at least, to love someone who had been hateful to her.

I'm challenged by Jesus' words to be that way—to love everyone and be completely open-handed with my stuff. We have an awesome, perfect, holy model in God the Father, lived out by Jesus His Son. Let's set our minds on being like Him, on blessing all whose lives we touch, one day at a time—today—with the love and generosity of our Father, no matter how they treat us.

PRAYER: Dear God, my instincts to defend myself and hang onto my things is strong. Please grow in me the grace of giving love and being generous with my things to all, especially the undeserving. Amen.

MORE: All-Saints Day

Today the church celebrates all the saints, past and present.  The liturgy for the day begins with this collect:

"Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen."

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New King James Version (NKJV) Used with permission. The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.