In this morning’s Fruit of the Vine, Dan Cammack considers the second of Jesus’ blessings in the Beatitudes – “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” – and Dan asks, “How can this be? About the only blessing we may see in mourning is that it clears out the tear ducts.”
Dan reasons that Jesus could be referring to “tears of repentance. Unless we are deeply grieved by our true condition, we are not likely to look for help or seek change.” The reality, though, is that there is much in the world and much about the world for which we might mourn. “Just as Jesus cried over Jerusalem, we cry, sometimes literally, over our families, communities, churches, nation.”
I’ve been thinking of flooding in Bangladesh, rebuilding in Texas and Florida, distribution of relief supplies in Nepal. I’ve been thinking about a friend from Puerto Rico who finally got through to his family back home, talked to his dad over the phone. I’ve been thinking about a friend without health insurance and another friend who witnessed a crime on the way to church yesterday. There are many who have reason to mourn.
There are many who mourn.
There are many also who pray.
Dan writes that he has “experienced many times the church at prayer in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Usually everyone prays out loud simultaneously – sometimes on their knees and sometimes on their feet. Hands are raised to heaven, and faces are wet with tears.”
Will we join them? Might we pray with them?
God knows the source of our mourning – the meaning of our prayers. I wonder if this is why the very act of sharing our burdens with God and with one another can lighten our load. Dan recommends that we pray through Psalm 30, and Dan reminds us, “Blessed indeed are those who mourn.”
Eric Muhr
To pray for each other
In this morning’s Fruit of the Vine, Eve Garrison relates a conversation she had with a student who had decided to put effort into a late assignment, knowing that he might not get credit for the work. Because of the quality of his paper, though, the teacher had “decided to count it toward the grade.” Similarly, Eve writes, God rejoices when we apply ourselves to understanding, serving, and loving, “even though we don’t deserve the credit.”
Why would God count “late work”? I think it’s because every effort we make to know God and to serve God by loving others makes a difference. It makes a difference in us. It makes a difference for others.
On Friday afternoon, a woman from a small Friends church in Alaska called me. She wanted me to know that she reads Fruit of the Vine almost every day and has been doing so for years. She said that, time and again, the day’s reflection is just what she needs. And she wanted me to know that she’s praying for us.
All of us. The workers at Barclay Press. The writers for Fruit of the Vine. The people who read each day’s devotional reflection. Friends both near and far.
I think this is what Eve is talking about when she writes that God “puts great design, effort, and thought into each of us. How vast are his thoughts!” God intends for us to similarly think about one another, encourage one another, help one another, pray for one another.
I was encouraged by the woman who called me on Friday. I was also inspired to do what she’s doing – to pray for you.
Maybe you’ll join me in this, and all of us – from Alaska to Bolivia, from Ireland to Indiana, from Rwanda to Peru – might take some time each day to remember God’s love. And to pray for each other.
Eric Muhr
On the Bible
In this morning’s Fruit of the Vine, John Ryser recounts how even though he regularly read the Bible in his high school years, it “remained a mystery to me, the only version available being the King James. I had trouble applying it to my life.”
John isn’t alone. In 2012, we surveyed more than 200 high school youth at a Christian camp. Nearly 95 percent reported that they read the Bible, but only half could think of a time God had spoken to them through Scripture. Just over one third of the students surveyed said they couldn’t see how the Bible was relevant to their lives. Most said they struggled to find a regular time to read the Bible or that they didn’t know where to start.
John said a Sunday school teacher made a difference for him. “Gene was a shop worker who had no formal Bible training or higher education, but he had a radical reliance on God’s Holy Spirit and the self-discipline to read, study, absorb, and apply God’s Word.... He made the Bible come alive.”
John clarifies that it wasn’t Gene’s lack of training that made him effective. It was Gene’s love for God, his love for Scripture, and his love for people that made a difference. “He taught me that my belief would naturally be reflected in my behavior.” And as a result, “My life changed.”
John wonders if you’ve “ever thought about teaching others God’s Word through Sunday school, a small group, or Bible study.” Having training helps, but what really matters, according to John, is humility and a willingness to do what Gene did: he “lived exactly the way he taught.”
Each quarter, Barclay Press produces a Friends Bible study called Illuminate, and starting this month, we’ve increased the amount of Scripture included in each week’s study while replacing some of the commentary with discussion questions.
One of yesterday’s passages – Matthew 4:12-17 – is paired with questions to engage your imagination: “Why might Jesus have chosen to make his home in Capernaum, a place where he had never lived, instead of Nazareth, where he grew up? Or Jerusalem, the center of Judaism?” There are questions to help you relate to the text: “What does Jesus’ use of this prophecy from Isaiah suggest to us about how he views his purpose?” There are questions for application: “Jesus refers to himself several times as ‘the Light.’ How does light overcome darkness? How do you experience Jesus as Light?”
Our goal has been to create a resource that might make it possible for one person or two friends or a small group or even a formal class to read and engage Scripture together. Just as Gene’s “love for God and God’s Word planted seeds” in John’s life, I’m convinced that when we engage Scripture together, we nurture those same seeds in one another. We grow together. We experience God’s presence together. We let God shape us through Scripture. Together.
Maybe you’re part of a group that would benefit from this resource. Maybe you’re already using Illuminate and have ideas for additional ways in which we might make it even more useful to you. Maybe you just needed a reminder – like I sometimes do – that the Bible continues to be relevant, useful, and important. John offers a closing prayer: “God, help me to absorb and to apply your word, so that I may teach it to others.”
I pray that this might be true for all of us.
Eric Muhr