Life
is Sacred
Discipleship
Questions for Sunday January 20, 2008
Scripture Readings:
First Reading:
Isaiah 49:1-7
Psalm:
139
Second
Reading: 1Cor 15:20-21,54-57
Gospel:
Luke 1:39-45
Is. 49:1
Listen to me, you islands;
hear
this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the LORD called me;
from
my birth he has made mention of my name.
Is.
49:2
He
made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
in
the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me
into a polished arrow
and
concealed me in his quiver.
Is. 49:3
He
said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in
whom I will display my splendor.”
Is.
49:4
But
I said, “I have labored to no purpose;
I have spent my strength in
vain and for nothing.
Yet what is due me is in the LORD’S
hand,
and
my reward is with my God.”
Is.
49:5
And
now the LORD says—
he
who formed me in the womb to be his servant
to bring
Jacob back to him
and
gather Israel to himself,
for I am
honored in the eyes of the LORD
and
my God has been my strength—
6 he
says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be
my servant
to
restore the tribes of Jacob
and
bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the
Gentiles,
that
you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
Is.
49:7
This
is what the LORD says—
the
Redeemer and Holy One of Israel—
to him who
was despised and abhorred by the nation,
to
the servant of rulers:
“Kings will see you and rise up,
princes
will see and bow down,
because of
the LORD, who is faithful,
the
Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.” Psa. 139:0
For the director of
music. Of David. A psalm.
Psa. 139:1
O
LORD, you have searched me
and
you know me.
2 You
know when I sit and when I rise;
you
perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You
discern my going out and my lying down;
you
are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before
a word is on my tongue
you
know it completely, O LORD.
Psa.
139:5
You
hem me in—behind and before;
you
have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such
knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too
lofty for me to attain.
7 Where
can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your
presence?
8 If
I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I
make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If
I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I
settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even
there your hand will guide me,
your
right hand will hold me fast.
11 If
I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and
the light become night around me,”
12 even
the darkness will not be dark to you;
the
night will shine like the day,
for
darkness is as light to you.
Psa.
139:13
For
you created my inmost being;
you
knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I
praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your
works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My
frame was not hidden from you
when
I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths
of the earth,
16 your
eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were
written in your book
before
one of them came to be.
Psa.
139:17
How
precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were
I to count them,
they
would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.
Psa.
139:19
If
only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you
bloodthirsty men!
20 They
speak of you with evil intent;
your
adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do
I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and
abhor those who rise up against you?
22 I
have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
Psa.
139:23
Search
me, O God, and know my heart;
test
me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See
if there is any offensive way in me,
and
lead me in the way everlasting.
1Cor. 15:20
But
Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have
fallen asleep. 21 For since death
came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
1Cor.
15:54
When the
perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with
immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been
swallowed up in victory.”
1Cor.
15:55
“Where,
O death, is your victory?
Where, O death,
is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and
the power of sin is the law. 57
But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Luke 1:39
At that time Mary got ready and hurried
to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered
Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the child you will bear! 43
But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your
greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed
that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”
In the
beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the
deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
God is love - John 3:16
“For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever
believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
And we were made
in God’s image: Gen. 1:27
So
God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created
him;
God in His infinite love chooses life! Life abundant! Life everlasting! Life with no end!
Imagine what
heaven on earth will look like . . . can you?
Imagine life uncorrupted, unending, unleashed from death,
free, unbounded in its capacity to love and be loved – vital, vibrant –
endless, joy-filled! Life-unleashed!
Life unlimited, life eternal!
Imagine living a life no longer subject to death or
disappointment. A life filled to
overflowing with love!
This is God’s
dream for us! God even dreams about life
– abundant, unlimited, eternal!
God is about life.
Travel to the center of God’s Being and there
you will find infinite love and eternal life!
Let me say it
again – God is about life and since we, you and, are made in His image we too
are about life!
6. Reflect upon the
following: Psa. 139:1 O LORD, you
have searched and probed me and you know me as no one else does. To be known like this . . . by You, my
beloved Lord, is
breathtaking!
2 I’m an open book to you;
even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking.
3 You know when I leave and when I get
back;
I’m never out of your sight. Like a mother lion your watch over me!
4 You know everything I’m going to say
before I
start the first sentence. How Present you are in my
life – in my very thoughts!
5 I look behind me and you’re there,
then up
ahead and you’re there, too—
your
reassuring presence, coming and going is everywhere to the eyes of loving
faith!
6 This is too much, too wonderful—
I can’t take it all in!
Oh, most of us can hear all of this but few of us can grasp how
infinitely majestic You actually are! It takes one’s breath away!
7 Is there
anyplace any place at all - where I can go to avoid your Spirit?
to be out
of your sight?
8 Oh, my
Lord, If I climb to the sky, you’re
there!
If I go underground, you’re there!
9 If I flew on morning’s wings
to the far western horizon,
10 You’d find me in a minute—
you’re
already there waiting for me!
11 Then I
said to myself, “Oh, he even sees me in the dark!
At night I’m immersed in the
light!”
12 It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to you;
night and
day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to you aren’t they?
13. For
you created my inmost being – I am made in Your image
– I am like you! Life and love are an
integral part of my make up – just as they are at the center of You!
You knit me - you wove me
together in my mother’s womb. You wove
all of the little ones who will be aborted tomorrow in their mothers
wombs! In Your infinite love you gave
them a chance at life and their mothers and fathers chose to take it from them!
14 I praise you because I and these little
ones are fearfully and wonderfully made;
your
works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
14 (the Message) I thank you God—you’re breathtaking!
Body and soul, I and these little ones are
marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
15 You know me – You know them - inside and
out,
you know
every bone in my body – and every bone
in their little bodies!
You
know exactly how I – they - were made, bit by bit,
how we
were sculpted from nothing into something.
16 Like open books, you watched us grow from conception to birth;
all the
stages of our lives are spread out before you,
The
days of our life all prepared
before we had
even lived one day. So, Oh Lord, we not
even allowed to live one day!
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them! You are mindful of me and every one of
us! None of us are unnoticed by You! Even those of us
who were not allowed to live!
18 Were I to count Your
thoughts,
they would
outnumber the grains of sand. Were I to
hear them they would break my heart with the intensity of their love!
Oh Lord, When I awake,
I am still with you.
You never leave my side – not even those whom we have deserted! You are with us all!
23 Search us, O God, and know us hearts;
test us
and know our anxious thoughts.
24 See for yourself whether we’ve
done anything wrong—then guide me on the road to eternal life.
Amen!
And Amen!
Knowing all of this
we can join with David in the final prayer – “See for Yourself God whether we
have done anything wrong – and then guide us on the road to eternal life!
God is life – God
is love! We are all made in His image –
we are made for life and love.
At
the moment of his or her creation, each new being proclaims to the whole
universe and throughout all eternity:
I AM!
In
the image and likeness and power of God, I -AM-.
The
world calls me a clump of cells
a "potential
life"
while
wordlessly I say
and
I say
and
I say
I -AM-!
Amen and Amen!