Bryan Richardson – Page 11 – The Everyday Prayer

Winning

Re:Verse passage – John 19:5-16 (day three)

“If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar.”

The Jewish leaders suddenly found their inner imperialist. Appealing to Pilate’s political insecurities was a shrewd move. This was going to happen; they’d had enough. They were not going to lose this game of brinksmanship. Somewhere along the way, where there had been any genuine engagement with Jesus, the shock troops of establishment power trampled it all underfoot. The powers that be determined Jesus now had to be destroyed to preserve the status quo. But they did not realize they presided over a crumbling regime. What they managed to save that day would all be razed to the ground within 40 years. The pursuit of political victory becomes all consuming, and sacrifice of the good becomes a justifiable price to pay.

Burden

Re:Verse passage – John 19:1-5 (day three)

“Pilate then took Jesus and scourged Him.”

When did Jesus bear on himself all the sins of the world? The bearing of those sins culminated with his death on the cross. But prior to that, the soldiers mocked him and beat him and tortured him with thorns. Prior to that, Pilate scourged him. Prior to that, he was assaulted about the face in front of the high priest. Prior to that, Peter’s denial occurred within earshot. Prior to that, he was handed over to the authorities in history’s most infamous betrayal. Prior to that, his hometown rejected him. Prior to that, many followers turned away from him. He was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, says the prophet. When did Jesus bear on himself all the sins of the world? When did he ever not do so?

Kingdom

Re:Verse passage – John 18:33-40 (day three)

“My kingdom is not of this world.”

“Heaven good, earth bad” might seem like an implication present in this passage. But when Jesus speaks of the world here, what does he have in mind? The marvelous creation we read of in Genesis? The seas teaming with life? The dry land? The vegetation? Animals? Human beings? Has he at long last now, here before Pilate, given up on this place where we are born and where we live? Or does he mean the system of striving for power over one another, the system that has unleashed unbearable and unfathomable suffering – from warring families to warring nations, from depression to deforestation, from cancer to concentration camps? Pilate was a man of the system. Jesus stood before him as a man of the good. Pilate forced. Jesus loved. The system cannot stand against such a kingdom.

History

Re:Verse passage – John 18:15-18, 25-27 (day three)

“Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.”

One of the continuing conversations regarding the concept of time travel concerns the immutability question: Could one actually change history if one possessed foreknowledge of an event and took steps to prevent it? Peter was no time traveler, but he did receive a revelation from Jesus about a specific event soon to occur: his denial of his friend. It was repulsive to him — unthinkable. St. Matthew’s gospel quotes Peter: “I will never disown you.” It didn’t matter. Peter tried to alter history, but he could not. He had focused on the denial instead of the fear that had produced it. Now it was done. If only he could have that moment back. If only he could have one more exchange with the Lord. But that was impossible. Wasn’t it?

Grace

Re:Verse passage – 1 Peter 5:7-14 (day three)

“After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

Do spiritual characteristics – those qualities the Bible often calls “gifts” – ever show up where no suffering has occurred? Possibly – probably, even – but the consistent witness of the New Testament is that spiritual gifts are the residue of suffering. When suffering passes, gentleness – or faithfulness or patience or joy or courage or kindness or generosity or leadership or love – remains. These things increase and suffering loses its power to terrorize you. In this way, you move toward perfection, confirmation, strength, and steadfast confidence. The actual experience of suffering catalyzes the formation of the Spirit’s attributes in you. This is grace – the very word translated as “gift.”

Imitate

Re:Verse passage – 1 Peter 5:1-6 (day three)

“Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily.”

When pastors are hearing the Lord’s invitation – “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” – they will invite, not demand. When pastors are watching the way Jesus builds fellowship – “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” – they’ll turn toward, not away. When pastors and leaders are following Jesus’s concern for self-care – “Come away with me by yourselves and get some rest” – they will release, not control. Pastors will discharge their duties in the way that they experience Christ’s shepherding nearness in their own lives. An increasing knowledge of Christ’s character is necessary not so pastors can have a lot of information about Jesus, but so they can live with people like Jesus did.

Empath

Re:Verse passage – 1 Peter 4:12-19 (day three)

“To the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.”

When you’re suffering, and there is no end in sight, what do you need? You need someone who acknowledges your pain with an understanding so deep that you finally believe someone has actually entered into your suffering. That someone will speak out loud the very thoughts and fears that have been screaming in your head. No “if you’ll just try this” or “let me tell you about a similar experience I had.” Just someone recognizing, appreciating, and speaking your anguish. This is empathy, and empathy originates with Jesus. Jesus comes to you as a fellow sufferer. This is “sharing the sufferings of Christ.” And in his beautiful company, you will endure and rise.

Comfort

Re:Verse passage – 1 Peter 4:1-11 (day three)

“The end of all things is near.”

The might possessed by the powers-that-be has a shelf life, and there is nothing to be done about that fact. No suffering meted out by any powerful person or state can outrun the time God has set for the end of all things. Let that reality encourage you to keep company with him who is eternal, Peter says. This comforting statement can also invite unbelievers to reconsider the commonly held notion that the world will go on as it always has. Peter’s audacious remark can lead someone to a crisis of confidence, which can then lead to faith in Christ. May we recognize that the world systems are winding down, and may we invite people to join us in awaiting the age that’s coming, when Christ appears and renews all things.

Concern

Re:Verse passage – 1 Peter 3:18-22 (day three)

“…[Christ] went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah…”

Some will interpret this passage as describing Christ’s preaching in the Holy Spirit through Noah to an unbelieving generation, while others will see a description of Christ himself preaching to those who have died. These varying interpretations each lead to further implications about the human person’s relation to God after bodily death, so they are not unimportant. But one thing remains clear. There is not one human being who lives or has ever lived about whom God is unconcerned. God notices when someone is absent from his table. He will spare no effort to seek and to save. And he will teach you to to seek with him.

Companion

Re:Verse passage – 1 Peter 3:8-17 (day three)

“For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.”

What is the difference in the quality of suffering in each of the cases Peter mentions? Why is one better than the other? Righteous suffering would seem to be primarily formative in effect, while punitive suffering would seem to be primarily corrective in effect. If that is true, then punitive suffering would involve a costly repair of one’s standing within earthly systems of authority. Righteous suffering, on the other hand, is an opportunity to spend all of one’s God-given internal resources not on repair, but on more direct identification with Christ. Christ walked the path of the innocent sufferer. All who suffer for doing good walk right beside him.