Month: March 2020

Family Quips

Every family has them..those memories of childhood created by favorite family  expressions and anecdotes. Most lay long forgotten, startled awake only occasionally by a recent event or comment. Yet, their wisdom and joyful images remain a part of who we are. Sadly, we revisit them all too rarely. Now is an attempt to change that. Here are some of the memories we have of growing up as the Maugel family in the small rural village of Farmer, Ohio. We’ll entitle this “Family Quips.”

 

Dad’s favorite expression when I had done something wrong and I tried to explain it by saying I didn’t think that it would happen: He would quickly reply, “That’s just it, you didn’t THINK.”

“Hard work never hurt anyone.”

“Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.”

“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”

“You need to gather your hay when the sun is shining.”

“He who lives in a glass house should not throw stones.”

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.””

“Caution is the better part of valor.”

“What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.”

“It’s no use crying over spilled milk.”

“A penny saved is a penny earned.”

“She took off like a horse heading for the barn.”

My brother was a very good basketball player; and he tells the story, after a particular difficult loss, turning to Dad and asking, “Dad, I just don’t understand. I try to honor God and do the right thing, why did he allow us to lose such an important game?” To which my father quickly responded, “I know, but he’s not going to move your feet for you.”

Another quip from Dad is said to one of my brothers who will remain nameless, “You know, you do two things really well…telling other people what to do and standing there and watching them do it.”

Dad’s response to us kids getting home late on weekends: “Son, if it can’t get done before midnight, it doesn’t need done.”

 

 

 

Meditations on the Stations of the Cross:

The Stations of the Cross:

“Stations of the Cross” refers to the key moments of Christ’s last days before his crucifixion and resurrection. In the Latin, Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) or via Dolorosa (Way of Sorrows), it has become a fixture of meditation upon Christ’s Passion.  Beginning with St. Francis of Assisi and later throughout the Roman Catholic Church it now consists of a series of paintings or sculptures that portray the events of Christ’s “Way” to the cross. These images are often used during Lent as focuses for devotions or meditations individually or corporately.

Initially there were a varied number of stations of the cross, (at one time up to 36), but in 1731 there were fixed at 14 by Clement XII.
Traditional form: (usually a series of 14 pictures or sculptures depicting the following scenes):[1]
1. Jesus is condemned to death
2. Jesus is given His cross
3. Jesus falls the first time
4. Jesus meets His Mother
5. Simon of Cyrene carries the cross
6. Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
7. Jesus falls the second time
8. Jesus meets the daughters of Jerusalem
9. Jesus falls the third time
10. Jesus is stripped of His garments
11. Crucifixion: Jesus is nailed to the cross
12. Jesus dies on the cross
13. Jesus’ body is removed from the cross
14. Jesus is laid in the tomb and covered in incense.

Alternate forms: although not part of the traditional set of Stations, the Resurrection of Jesus in now more and more integrated as part of The Way.
1. The Last Supper
2. The Garden of Gethsemane
3. Jesus before Pilate
4. The Scourging and the Crowning with Thorns
5. The Receiving of the Cross
6. The Fall
7. Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus
8. The Women of Jerusalem
9. The Stripping of His Garments
10. The Good Thief
11. Mary and John below the Cross
12. The Death of Jesus
13. The Laying in the Tomb
14. The Resurrection

“Out of the fourteen traditional Stations of the Cross, only eight have clear scriptural foundation. Stations 3,4,6,7, and 9 are not specifically attested to in the gospels and Station 13 (representing Jesus’ body being taken down off the cross and laid in the arms of his mother, Mary) seems to embellish the gospels’ record which state that Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus down from the cross and buried him. In order to provide a version of this devotion more closely aligned with the biblical accounts, Pope John Paul II introduced a new form of devotion, called the Scriptural Way of the Cross on Good Friday 1991…they follow this sequence:”[2]

1. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
2. Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested
3. Jesus is condemned by the Sanhedrin
4. Jesus is denied by Peter
5. Jesus is judged by Pilate
6. Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns
7. Jesus takes up His cross
8. Jesus is helped by Simon to carry His cross
9. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
10. Jesus is crucified
11. Jesus promises his kingdom to the good thief
12. Jesus entrusts Mary and John to each other
13. Jesus dies on the cross
14. Jesus is laid in the tomb

 

LEM’s Modified “Stations of the Cross” with meditations: 4/9/09

1. The Last Supper
2. The Garden of Gethsemane
3. Jesus is denied by Peter
4. Jesus before Pilate
5. The Scourging and the Crowning with Thorns
6. The Receiving of the Cross
7. Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus
8. The Women of Jerusalem
9. The Stripping of His Garments
10. The Good Thief
11. Mary and John below the Cross
12. The Death of Jesus
13. The Laying in the Tomb
14. The Resurrection

 

Endnotes:

[1] Wikipedia, “2009 Stations of the Cross”

[2] Ibid.,  “2009 Stations of the Cross”

 

The Christian Calendar: Lent

 

“Lent begins the fortieth day prior to the Resurrection, excluding Sundays. (To determine the beginning of Lent count back 46 days from Resurrection day.) The focus of Lent is spiritual renewal through the disciplines of fasting and prayer. Early Christians never fasted on Sunday since each Sunday is a little celebration of the joy of resurrection. Thus, Sundays were excluded from Lent.”[1]

Initially, in the Catholic tradition it was a time of preparation for those who were to be baptized at Easter. However, later, this time was identified as a time of self-examination and penitence preceding Holy Week and Resurrection Day. The parallel of the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness has been used to fashion individual preparation for the celebration of Easter by focusing on fasting, self examination, and prayer.

“By celebrating Lent, we follow Jesus into the wilderness, resist temptation, pray and proceed “on the way” to Jerusalem, and the cross of Good Friday. Our Lenten journey is one of repentance, that is, changing directions from self, self-serving patterns and a myopic focus toward the others-focused way of life of following Jesus. We follow Jesus in laying down ourselves for others and trust that the power that raised Jesus from the dead is enough to guide us in repentance and renewal…”[2]

Hold a true Lent in your souls, while you sorrow over your hardness of heart. Do not stop at sorrow! Remember where you first received salvation. Go at once to the cross…this will bring back to us our first love; this will restore the simplicity of our faith, and the tenderness of our heart.[3]
-Charles Haddon Spurgeon

As a season of fasting, self-examination, and prayer, Lent may well be described as one of the most deeply devotional times of the year. Perhaps as a result, many formalized modes of worship have evolved in which to assist one to more meaningfully enter into the reality of and significance of Christ’s sacrificial death and redemptive resurrection for all humankind.
One of these traditions is the meditation of Christ’s wilderness experience as He prepares for His earthly ministry. Themes of fasting, solitude, silence, profound prayer all are demonstrated as Christ battles with the temptations of pride, power, and desire. Described in the Gospel accounts (Matt. 4: 1-11; Mark 1: 12-13 and Luke 4: 1-13) Christ, led by the Spirit is led into the wilderness for a period of testing. Satan tempts Christ with the empty promises of the lust of the flesh, pride of life, and lust of the eyes (see I John 2.16); only to be rebutted by Christ with the admonition of Scripture. As perfectly human He experienced all that each one of us suffers: the loneliness, the desires of our hearts, the weakness of humanity.
Can we walk the wilderness experience during Lent?

Resources for Celebrating Lent:
 Begin each day with a time of reflection.
 Identify sins or an area needing renewal.
 Confess a problem that needs God’s mercy.
 Make an effort to set apart time to read God’s Word and pray every day.
 Plan time to “be still and know God.”[4]…

Psalm 50:13-15, 23
“Think of ways you can honor the Lord with your praise during Lent.”
 Truly recognize and thank God.
 Keep your promises.
 Trust God in time of trouble.
 Give Him the Glory!”[5]

The Significance of the Pretzel:
By the fourth century, strict fasting was observed during Lent. People avoided meat, cheese, cream, butter, milk and eggs. By the fifth century, a tradition of eating small breads made simply from flour, water and salt was practiced. As a visual reminder that this was to be a period of prayer and fasting, the little breads were rolled and twisted to represent crossed arms over the chest, the traditional position for prayer. The breads were called “little arms” in Latin. Later, the Germans gave them the familiar name we use today, “pretzel.”[6]

 

Endnotes:

[1] Martha Zimmerman, Celebrating the Christian Year, (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1994), p. 107

[2] Lent Prayer Guide, the Evergreen community

[3] Charles Haddon Spurgeon, “Morning and Evening,” (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House), quoted in Celebrating the Christian Year by Martha Zimmerman, p. 107

[4] Martha Zimmerman, Celebrating the Christian Year, (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1994), p. 111

[5] Ibid, p.112

[6] Ibid, p. 115

 

The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross

Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross

The Last Utterances of Christ
F. W. Robertson

“Seven dying sentences” recorded in the Gospels

Categorized by the book of the Bible:

  •  “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?”
    (recorded in both Matthew and Mark)
  •  “Verily, I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
  • “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
  • “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.”
    (recorded in Luke)
  •  “I thirst”
  •  “Behold thy mother; behold thy son.”
  •   “It is finished”
    (recorded in John)

Categorized as 1) the natural exclamations of the man; and, 2) the utterances of the Savior

1) The Natural Exclamations of the Man
a. “I thirst”
b. “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”
c. “Father, into Thy hand I commend My spirit.”

2) The Utterances of the Savior
a. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
b. “Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise.”
c. “Behold thy mother.”
d. “It is finished.”

Chronological arrangement:

1. “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
2. “Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)
3. “Woman, behold thy son…Behold thy mother.” (John 19: 26,27)
4. “My God, My God, why has thou forsaken Me?” (Mark 15:34)
5. “I thirst.” (John 19:28)
6. “It is finished.” (John 19:30)
7. “Father, into Thy hand I commend my spirit.” (Luke 23:46)

F. W. Robertson, James Stalker, et. al., ” Sermons and Outlines on the Seven Words”, F. W. Robertson, James Stalker, et. al., (Grand Rapids: Baker Press, 1965)