Receiving September 6, 2008, worship scriptures

Scriptures for September 6
Exodus 12:1-14
Psalm 149
Romans 13:8-14
Matthew 18:15-20

Part I - Receiving the Word as spirit and life for yourself
Some people worship where the scriptures of the day are integrated into a service that is an "ordered unity." For example, see http://www.lasierraliturgy.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=44&Itemid=57 where this type of service happens each Sabbath.
If you could attend that kind of service, it would provide an occasion for you to focus on the week's worship scriptures--as part of the day's total worship experience. You would be doing this together with other worshippers who are doing the same. Being with the scriptures this way, as act of worship, would be part of a reverent and coordinated service that helps a person actually worship.
One way to prepare for worship is to receive the week's worship scriptures as spirit and life--for yourself. This blogspot encourages you to do that each week. See http://charistis.blogspot.com/2008/03/receiving-word-as-spirit-and-life.html for a few simple suggestions about how to receive the scriptures as spirit and life for yourself. After you have received the scriptures as spirit and life for yourself, you are prepared to compare notes with others who are doing the same thing; and you are more prepared for the next church worship service.
If you don't have a place to worship where the service is an ordered unity, and where the week's scriptures are an integrated part of worship, you can still benefit from this exercise. You can also begin to talk with people who may be able to help a worship service like that happen as a part of the total program at your church.

Part II - Reflections on this week's scriptures (one place to compare notes)

Prayer for receptivity
"Continuing steadfastly in prayer" speaks to me today about my prayer to You for receptivity. The heart-to-Heart receptivity I seek is not something I ask for just once. It's a prayer I continue in, steadfastly. My heart connected to Your Heart and receiving Your Word as spirit and life--this is what I continue to seek in steadfast prayer right now.

Exodus 12:1-14
"You shall keep it (the LORD's Passover) as a feast by an everlasting ordinance." (vs. 14)
Maybe the LORD's Passover isn't as "done away with" as some think. What if the meaning, the heart and soul, in the LORD's Passover were comprehended? What if those who claim to have Jesus instead of that Old Testament event, discovered Jesus more profoundly and fully in that Old Testament event? Or put another way, what if Jesus encompasses and surpasses, instead of replacing, this everlasting ordinance? What if this everlasting ordinance were meant to help today's Christian discover more of the depths of the mystery of God's Love in Jesus Christ?
It also occurs to me that an everlasting ordinance may be called for because the people of God need to revisit the hard and earthy, as well as transcendent, realities in this account over and over--forever. Who could kill a spotless yearling lamb, without great pain. Who can begin to comprehend the pain--most of all in the heart of God--that this everlasting ordinance exposes. Who can comprehend to any significant degree, without many approaches to this everlasting ordinance, how the Love of God is expressed in every part of the LORD's Passover. It takes time and repetition; it takes an everlasting ordinance to enter and participate in this life-giving, Love-giving mystery.

Psalm 149
"He will beautify the humble with salvation." (vs. 4)
That makes a person want to have a humility checkup! Which person or organization is prepared to provide such a checkup? Humility, like beauty, can often be in the eye of the beholder. Just being agreeable and not making waves may be enough to cause me to pass a humility checkup in some settings. The verse says it's the LORD who beautifies with salvation. Wouldn't the LORD also be the best one to ask about humility? I can ask the LORD about humility, then listen and look for the ways it begins to unfold. Asking the LORD, then listening to those who are sent to help, is different than choosing a right person or organization to ask.

Praise (vs. 1)
Sing to the LORD a new song (vs. 2)
Rejoice in (vs. 2)
Be joyful (vs. 2)
Praise with dance (vs. 3)
Sing praises with timbrel and harp (vs. 3)
Be joyful (vs. 5)
Sing aloud on their beds (vs. 5)
Let the high praises of God be in their mouth (vs. 6)
Vibrant, fully engaged, exuberant!

Romans 13:8-14
"...now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed." (vs. 11)
"...put on the armor of light." (vs. 12)
"...put on the Lord Jesus Christ." (vs. 14)
Salvation moves closer through the centuries from the Exodus (before that from Adam) to the Psalmist (Psalm 149:4) to Paul (Romans 13:11). Now (in Paul's day) that Jesus has lived, died and lives again, our salvation is nearer.
What about in 2008? Is our salvation nearer than in Paul's day? Are we closer or further away from a full appreciation for Jesus Christ? How does salvation get nearer to an individual or a group? Verse 11 is about salvation being nearer than when we first believed. Nearness has to do with growth or development in believing and trusting.
The nearness of salvation (how close, real and realized it is) has to do with the "putting on" of verse 12 and 14, doesn't it? The more Light we are immersed in, the more Light that fills us--the closer salvation is. The more we put on the Lord Jesus Christ, the closer salvation is.
Major events in salvation history have moved us nearer to the consummation at the glorious coming of Christ. Believing, trusting and putting on the Light, our Lord Jesus Christ, also move salvation nearer to God's people every day.

Matthew 18:15-20