UNBLOCKING THE WELL OF THE LIVING WORD

DAY 21 MORNING Read 1 Corinthians 2:6-16

PROVERBS:  CHRIST IS OUR WISDOM

Christ is our wisdom and the book of Proverbs emphasizes the importance of wisdom and the dangers of folly. 1 Corinthians: 1:30 says “Christ Jesus who became to us wisdom from God righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” If it is right to read the Old Testament in the light of the New then it is wholly appropriate, when reading the book of Proverbs to put Christ in the place of wisdom. Proverbs is addressed particularly to young men, beginning by addressing those who might be easily tempted to loose living, to have sex outside marriage, or to gain money illicitly or deceitfully, and it ends by describing the virtues of an excellent wife. Proverbs addresses Israelites who are God-fearers and the covenant people of God and it is part of a broader wisdom tradition in Judaism. It uses aphorisms, riddles and maxims that were a familiar method of instruction in the Ancient Near East and the truths and wisdom it contains are not light at all. The book of Proverbs begins with a father’s praise of wisdom chapters  1-9, and is  followed by a section containing the proverbs of Solomon  chapters 10-22, then there are  further words of wise men in chapter 24, then more proverbs of Solomon chapters 25-29. In the praising of wisdom, “The fear of the Lord” is an important theme in this book. Proverbs also identifies various character types, the fool who is described as simple and also the scoffer and also the sluggard who does not finish things, or face things. The power of words in penetrating hearts, but their weakness in not altering facts is contrasted. The importance of marriage and the dangers of sexual sin, “Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned?” is also repeatedly emphasized. God is establishing a family on the earth. But this will not happen, without the fear of the Lord, it will not happen unless folly is exposed and wisdom is loved and put into practice in every-day life. The crucible for God’s purposes is as ever, the human heart. We are to keep our hearts with all diligence for it is from our hearts that the springs of life flow. The message of Proverbs, read in the light of the New Testament is that we are to watch over our hearts, as spiritual sons, making space for the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, with the fear of the Lord, so that obedience might flow from our hearts, and that we might quickly hear and obey.          

MISSIONARY MONKS: CYRIL 826-869[1]

Cyril and Methodius were brothers and their father Leo, was a Greek military leader from a wealthy family and he provided them with private tutors from a young age. Cyril was given the opportunity to study in Constantinople where he was given a thorough education. Although he had good connections because of his family background, he chose to live a monastic life. At age 24 he began a cross-cultural ministry in a diplomatic and Christian mission to Arabs. Following his mission to Arabs he joined his brother Methodius  and together they engaged in an ascetic lifestyle, focussing on reading study, prayer and simplicity. In their latter years Cyril and his brother engaged in ministry to the Slavic peoples. Cyril is credited with the creation of the first Slavic ( Cyrillic) alphabet. The reason for the developing of this Slavic alphabet was that liturgy  and scripture needed to be translated into the language of the Slavic peoples. Speakers of both the Russian language and Slavic languages refer to their alphabet today as Cyrillic. Cyril was a missionary and bible translator who had a huge impact on Arabs, Khazars and Slavs and one of the main reasons was that he had a burden for those who had not received the gospel.        

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PRAY for “the Turk in Bulgaria the ninth largest people group in Europe, whose language is Turkish and whose primary religion is Islam They are 503,000, 0.1% Christian and  0.01% evangelical.”[2]   The national library of Bulgaria has two statues of Cyril and Methodius. We pray the church in Bulgaria, would have a missionary burden for the Turks  within its borders, just as Cyril had 1200 years ago for the Arabs, the Khazars and the Slavs. The Turks in Bulgaria need the Gospel and they are a large minority as yet unreached. Lord have mercy on the Turks in Bulgaria, we pray.  

DAY 21 EVENING Psalm 101-105, Re-read Psalm 103

PSALM 103 :FATHER GOD LOVES THOSE THAT FEAR HIM.. SO OBEY CHRIST. 

Psalm 103:8-14 “ The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.He will not always accuse, nor will he harbour his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.” For the last few hundred years the western church has not been pursuing virtue or godly character. Alasdair Macyntyre said in his book[3] “After Virtue” that the history of philosophy took a wrong turn with what he calls the ‘Enlightenment experiment’. In the last sentence of that book he wrote[4] “We are waiting not for a Godot, but for another- doubtless very different- St Benedict.” I am challenged to revisit Benedict’s prologue to his Rule, when looking at Psalm 103, one of the most favourite psalms in the Psalter. It repeats beautifully what many believers say, that Exodus 34:6-7 reveals ‘The Father heart of God’ in the Old Testament. We sometimes forget that Psalm 103 repeats these words. “As a father has compassion on his children so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.” It is all unto obedience. Benedict confronts his reader with an urgent Wake up “call” to hear and obey. The word obedience is derived from the Latin obediere, which shares its roots with the Latin ‘audire’, which means ‘to hear’. So ‘to obey’ really means ‘to hear and then act upon what we have heard’ or, in other words, to see that the listening achieves its aim. We are not being truly attentive unless we are prepared to act upon what we hear. There is a ‘calling’ going out to the whole world, inviting all to come to Christ, and it is an invitation to hear and to obey.

Lectio Divina[5] was a practice used by Benedictine monks and literally means a ‘divine reading’, unto obedience. It was a way of reading the Bible practised by monks tocultivate their relationship with God. We are not just passive listeners to what God has said and done in the past. It is the way of reading that would havebeen expected by individual monks as they engaged in private Bible reading and prayer. In Benedict’s time reading was not a silent mental activity; people tended to read aloud, even to themselves. There were four stages of Lectio Divina, firstly “lectio” = I read, secondly “meditation” = I reflect, thirdly  “oratio” = I respond, fourthly “contemplation” =  I rest. In his book “Reading with God” [6] Brother David Foster of Downside Abbey, calls the four stages Hearing the word, Receiving the word, Praying with the word, Wondering at the word.Esther de Waal says,[7] “in some ways Benedict’s rule might be thought of as a… commentary, a practical working out of the central theme of the primacy of the word. The rule is simply an aid for us to live by the Scriptures.” Benedict says [8] “..take up the powerful and glorious weapons of obedience, renouncing your own will with the intention of fighting for the true king, Christ the Lord.”

If our lives are to be transformed by the love of God, fearing him, and obeying Christ, then maybe as Alasdair Macytyre says, in the final sentence of “After Virtue” [9]  “it is time for another doubtless very different Benedict.” Hans Boersma says that in the early church,[10] virtue is the  prerequisite for Good reading, it is the content of the text, and the aim of the exegetical process.’ Early church exegesis was interested in transformation of character, through hearing and obeying Christ. Through listening and obeying Christ, in the fear of the Lord and through being conformed into the likeness of Christ, we can grow in Christian character.

PRAYER Lord, you are compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. Help me to hear… receive… pray.. and ..wonder at your word. Teach me the fear of the Lord that I might have a heart of wisdom….  that I might hear and obey YOU Lord Jesus Christ, the Living Word.

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[1] Smither, E.L.  Missionary monks, Cascade books, 2016, 119-137.(summary)

[2] Data provided by Joshua Project https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/18274/BU

[3] MacIntyre, A. After Virtue, Gerald Duckworth, 2007.

[4] Macyntyre, A. After Virtue, Gerald Duckworth, 2007, 263.

[5] Foster, D. Reading with God: Lectio Divina. Continuum, 2005,1.

[6] Foster, D. Reading with God: Lectio Divina. Continuum, 2005, 18-112.

[7] De Waal, E. Seeking God, Liturgical Press, 1999, 17.

[8] Benedict. The Rule. Penguin, 2008,The Prologue:7, 9.

[9] MacIntyre, A. After Virtue, Gerald Duckworth, 2007, 263.

[10] Boersma, H.  Scripture as real Presence, Baker Publishing, 2017, 263-266.