Hopeful
Watchfulness!
Discipleship Questions for
Sunday November 30, 2008
Scripture
First
Psalm
Second
Gospel:
Mark 13:33-37
First
A reading from the Book of the Prophet
Isaiah
Oh,
that you would rend the heavens and come down!
You, LORD, are our
father,
our redeemer you are
named forever.
Why do you let us
wander, O LORD, from your ways,
and harden our hearts
so that we fear you not?
Return for the sake of
your servants
the tribes of your
heritage.
Oh, that you would
rend the heavens and come down,
with the mountains
quaking before you,
while you wrought
awesome deeds we could not hope for,
such as they had not
heard of from of old.
No ear has ever heard,
no eye ever seen, any God but you
doing such deeds for
those who wait for him.
Would that you might
meet us doing right,
that we were mindful
of you in our ways!
Behold, you are angry,
and we are sinful;
all of us have become
like unclean people,
all our good deeds are
like polluted rags;
we have all withered
like leaves,
and our guilt carries
us away like the wind.
There is none who
calls upon your name,
who rouses himself to
cling to you;
for you have hidden
your face from us
and have delivered us
up to our guilt.
Yet, O LORD, you are
our father;
we are the clay and
you the potter:
we
are all the work of your hands.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19
(R.) Lord, make us turn to
you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
O shepherd of
from your throne upon
the cherubim, shine forth.
Rouse your power,
and come to save us.
(R.) Lord, make us turn to
you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
Once again, O LORD of
hosts,
look down from heaven,
and see;
take care of this
vine,
and protect what your
right hand has planted,
the son of man whom you yourself made
strong.
(R.) Lord, make us turn to
you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
May your help be with
the man of your right hand,
with the son of man
whom you yourself made strong.
Then we will no more
withdraw from you;
give us new life, and we will call upon
your name,
(R.)
Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face
and we shall be saved.
Second Reading
1 Cor 1:3-9
A reading from the
first Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians
We wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Brothers
and sisters:
Grace
to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus
Christ.
I
give thanks to my God always on your account
for
the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus,
that
in him you were enriched in every way,
with
all discourse and all knowledge,
as
the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you,
so
that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift
as
you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He
will keep you firm to the end,
irreproachable
on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God
is faithful,
and
by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Gospel Mk 13:33-37
A reading from the holy Gospel according
to Mark
Be watchful! You do not know when the lord of the house is coming.
Jesus
said to his disciples:
“Be
watchful! Be alert!
You
do not know when the time will come.
It
is like a man traveling abroad.
He
leaves home and places his servants in charge,
each
with his own work,
and
orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.
Watch,
therefore;
you
do not know when the lord of the house is coming,
whether
in the evening, or at midnight,
or
at cockcrow, or in the morning.
May
he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.
What
I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”
Discipleship
Questions:
1. This
is traditionally the Sunday of “Hope.”
The Scripture references for today focus on the wonderful reality that
we are not orphans – not left to our own devices but we have hope – wonderful
hope – in the certainty that Jesus loves us!
This is a time to get in touch with our yearning for God. Take a moment to get in touch with your
desire for God and acknowledge that this very yearning is a signal of your
birthright as a child of God and a Brother or sister of Jesus His Son.
2. Please
read the Scripture readings above and not the theme of “yearning” in the
verses. Now focus in on the Gospel
reading. Look at the final verses. Jesus is calling you and me to “Stay awake”
and “vigilant.” We follow and worship
and God who wants us to remain attentive to His coming – to His adventing in
our midst. How do you stay attentive to
God’s Presence with you – all of the time.
Please discuss.
3.
Please read the following and
discuss: “One of his most widely influential
devotional works was a pamphlet entitled "The Game with Minutes."
(1961) (found in Narthex) In it, Laubach urged Christians to attempt keeping God
in mind for at least one second of every minute of the day. In this way
Christians can attempt the attitude of constant prayer spoken of in the book of
Thessalonians.
The pamphlet extolled the virtues of
a life lived with unceasing focus on God. Laubach's insight came from his
experiments in prayer detailed in a collection of his letters published under
the title, "Letters by a Modern Mystic."
I’ve sought to discipline myself to
do this and I’ve shared with you how I’ve done this in the past. I’ve sought to include God in my every
thought. Let us remember that we are to
lead every thought captive to Christ:
2Cor. 10:5 . . . and we brng every thought into captivity and
obedience to Christ;
b) The
"The apostle says,
‘pray unceasingly.’ By this he means to express in these words that we should
remember God at all times, in all places and in all things. If you are making
something, you should think of the Creator of everything that exists, and if
you see the light, remember Whoever gave it to you; if you look at the sky, the
earth, the sea and all that they contain, admire and glorify He Who created it.
If you are wearing a garment, think of Him to whom you owe the clothing and
thank Him for providing for your existence. In short, may every movement you
make be a cause for you to celebrate the Lord. Thus you will pray constantly
and your soul will always be joyful.” Pierre Damascene, quoted in the 4th story from
Stories of a Russian Pilgrim
c) The Jesus Prayer – A Christian Pilgrim – the
Philokalia[1] “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me!” the short version of “Lord Jesus Christ, Son
of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”
The
key to all of this is the sanctified imagination – that magnificent capacity in
each and every one of us that God graciously gave to us to reach out for
Him!
But
at the end of it all is this one astounding reality – God wants to reveal
Himself to us – wants us to look for and find Him – He wants to be found –
wants to be sought after. He tells that
if we will desire Him He will be found by us!
So
in this Advent season get in touch with your deep desire to know and be known
by God and take time to be present to Him and listen to Him. Take time.”
4. Please
take some time to rest before our resurrected Lord and invite Him to help you
be become more and more attentive to Him.
5. Please
take some time to read “The Game of Minutes” and adopt it’s disciplines –
THE GAME
WITH MINUTES
Frank C.
Laubach
1953
CHRIST IS
THE ONLY HOPE OF THE WORLD
‘Disillusioned
by all our other efforts, we now see that the only hope left for the human race
is to
become like
Christ.’ That is the statement of a famous scientist, and is being repeated
among ever more
educators,
statesmen, and philosophers. Yet Christ has not saved the world from its
present terrifying
dilemma. The
reason is obvious: few people are getting enough of Christ to save either
themselves or
the world.
Take the
church. Less
than half of this third attend service regularly. Preachers speak about Christ
in perhaps one
service in
four—thirty minutes a month! Good sermons, many of them excellent, but too
infrequent in
presenting
Christ.
Less than
ten minutes a week given to thinking about Christ by one-sixth of the people is
not
saving our
country or our world; for selfishness, greed, and hate are getting a thousand
times that much
thought.
What a nation thinks about, that it is. We shall not become like Christ until
we give Him more
time. A
teachers’ college requires students to attend classes for twenty-five hours a
week for three years.
Could it
prepare competent teachers or a law school prepare competent lawyers if they
studied only ten
minutes a
week? Neither can Christ, and he never pretended that he could. To his
disciples he said:
‘Come with
me, walk with me, talk and listen to me, work and rest with me, eat and sleep
with me, twentyfour
hours a day
for three years.’ That was their college course—‘He chose them,’ the Bible
says, ‘that
they might
be with him,’ 168 hours a week!~
All who have
tried that kind of abiding for a month know the power of it—it is like being
born again
from center
to circumference. It absolutely changes every person who does it. And it will
change the
world that
does it.
How can a
man or woman take this course with Christ today? The answer is so simple a
child
can
understand it. Indeed unless we ‘turn and become like children’’ we shall not
succeed.
1. We have a
study hour. We read and reread the life of Jesus recorded in the Gospels
thoughtfully
and prayerfully at least an hour a day. We find fresh ways and new
translations,
so that this
reading will never be dull, but always stimulating and inspiring. Thus we walk
with
Jesus
through
2.
We make Him
our inseparable chum. We try to call Him to mind at least one second of
each minute.
We do not need to forget other things nor stop our work, but we invite Him to
share
everything we do or say or think. Hundreds of people have experimented until
they
have found
ways to let Him share every minute that they are awake. In fact, it is no
harder to
learn this
new habit than to learn the touch system in typing, and in time one can win a
high
percentage
of his minutes with as little effort as an expert needs to write a letter.
While these
two practices take all our time, yet they do not take it away from any good
enterprise.
They take
Christ into that enterprise and make more result full. They also keep a man’s
religion steady. If
the
temperature of a sick man rises and falls daily the doctor regards him as
seriously ill. This is the case
with
religion. Not spiritual chills and fevers, but an abiding faith which gently
presses the will toward
Christ all
day, is a sign of a healthy religion.
Practicing
the presence of God is not on trial. It has already been proven by countless
thousands of
people. Indeed, the spiritual giants of all ages have known it. Christians who
do it
today become
more fervent and beautiful and are tireless witnesses.
Men and
women who had been slaves of vices have been set free. Catholics and
Protestants find this
practicing
the presence of God at the heart of their faith. Conservatives and
liberals
agree that here is a reality they need. People who are grateful for what this
booklet has done for
them are
ordering wholesale quantities to give to friends. Letters from all parts of the
world testify that in
this game,
multitudes are turning defeat into victory and despair into joy.
The results
of this program begin to show clearly in a month. They grow rich after six
months,
and glorious
after ten years.
Somebody may
be saying, ‘All this is very orthodox and very ancient.’ It is indeed, the
secret of
the great
saints of all ages. ‘Pray without ceasing,’ said Paul, ‘in everything make your
wants known unto
God.’ ‘As
many as are led by the Spirit of God these are the sons of God.’
HOW WE WIN
THE GAME WITH MINUTES
Nobody is
wholly satisfied with himself. Our lives are made up of lights and shadows, of
some
good days
and many unsatisfactory days. We have learned that the good days and hours come
when we
are very close
to Christ, and that the poor days come whenever we push Him out of our
thoughts.
Clearly,
then, the way to a more consistent high level is to take Him into everything we
do or say or think.
Experience
has told us that good resolutions are not enough. We need to discipline our
lives to
an ordered
regime. The ‘Game with Minutes’ is a rather lighthearted name for such a regime
in the realm
of the
spirit. Many of us have found it to be enormously helpful. It is a new name for
something as old as
Enoch, who ‘walked
with God.’ It is a way of living which nearly everybody knows and nearly
everybody
had ignored.
Students will at once recognize it as a fresh approach to Brother Lawrence’s
‘Practicing the
Presence of
God.’
We call this
a ‘game’ because it is a delightful experience and an exhilarating spiritual
exercise;
but we soon
discover that it is far more than a game. Perhaps a better name for it would be
‘an
exploratory
expedition,’ because it opens out into what seems at first like a beautiful
garden; then the
garden
widens into a country; and at last we realize that we are exploring a new
world. This may sound
like poetry,
but it is not overstating what experience has shown us. Some people have
compared it to
getting out
of a dark prison and beginning to LIVE. We still see the same world, yet it is
not the same, for
it has a new
glorious color and a far deeper meaning. Thank God, this adventure is free for
everybody,
rich or
poor, wise or ignorant, famous or unknown, with a good past or a bad—‘Whosoever
will, may
come.’ The
greatest thing in the world is for everybody!
You will
find this just as easy and just as hard as forming any other habit. You have
hitherto
thought of
God for only a few seconds or minutes a week, and He was out of your mind the
rest of the
time. New
you are attempting, like Brother Lawrence, to have God in mind each minute you
are awake.
Such drastic
change in habit requires a real effort at the beginning.
Many of us
find it very useful to have pictures of Christ where our eyes will fall on them
every time
we look
around. A very happy hobby is to collect the most friendly pictures of Christ,
pocket size, so that
we can erect
our own shrine in a few seconds.
HOW TO BEGIN
Select a
favorable hour; try how many minutes of the hour you can remember God at least
ONCE each
minute; that is to day, bring God to mind at least one second out of every
sixty. It is not
necessary to
remember God every second, for the mind runs along like a rapid stream
from one idea to
another.
Your score
will be low at first, but keep trying, for it constantly becomes easier, and
after a while
is almost
automatic. It follows the well known laws of habit forming. If you try to write
shorthand you are
at first
very awkward. This is true when you are learning to play a piano, or to ride a
bicycle, or to use any
new muscles.
When you try this ‘game with minutes’ you discover that spiritually you are
still a very weak
infant. A
babe in the crib seizes upon everything at hand to pull himself to his feet,
wobbles for a few
seconds and
falls exhausted, Then he tries again, each time standing a little longer than
before. We are
like that
babe when we begin to try to keep God in mind. We need something to which we
can cling. Our
minds wobble
and fall, then rise for a new effort. Each time we try we shall do better until
at last we may
be able to
remember God as high as ninety per cent of the whole day.
HOW TO TRY
THE EXPERIMENT IN CHURCH
You have a
good chance of starting well if you begin in church—provided the sermon is
about
God. When
our congregation first tried it, we distributed slips of paper which read:
GAME WITH
MINUTES
Score Card
During this
hour I thought of God at least
once each
minute for…………….minutes.
Signed………………………………………………..
At the
opening of the service the pastor made this announcement: ‘Everybody will be
asked to fill
this score
card at the end of one hour. In order to succeed, you may use any help within
reach. You may
look at the
cross, or you may leaf through your hymn book or Bible, looking for verses that
reminding you
of God.’
The sermon
that Sunday explained how to play the game. At the end of the hour, the
Score cards
were collected. The congregation reported scores ranging from five to sixty
minutes. The
average was
forty-four minutes, which meant 73 percent of the hour. For beginners this was
excellent.
Such an
experiment, by the way, will encourage the congregation to listen better than
usual, and will
remind the
preacher to keep his sermon close to God.
If you score
75 per cent in church, you can probably make a rather good score for the rest
of the
day. It is a
question of being master of every new situation.
Never use a
score card more than an hour, and not that long if it tires you. This is a new
delight
you are
learning, and it must not be turned into a task.
WHILE GOING
HOME FROM CHURCH
Can you win
your game with minutes while passing people on the street? Yes! Experiments
have
revealed a sure way to succeed: offer a swift prayer for the people at whom you
glance. It is easy
to think an
instantaneous prayer while looking people straight in the eye, and the way
people smile back
at you shows
that they like it! This practice gives a surprising exhilaration, as you may
prove for yourself.
A half-hour
spent walking and praying for all one meets, instead of tiring one, gives him a
sense of ever
heightening
energy like a battery being charged. It is a tonic, a good way to overcome a
tired feeling.
Some of us
walk on the right side of the pavement, leaving room for our unseen Friend,
whom we
visualize walking
by our side, and we engage in silent conversations with Him about the people we
meet.
For example,
we may say: ‘Dear Companion, what can we do together for this man whom we are
passing?’
Then we whisper what we believe Christ would answer.
WHERE TO
LOOK FOR CHRIST
We have a
right to use any aid that proves useful. One such aid is to think of Christ as
in a
definite
location. To be sure, He is a spirit, everywhere at once—and therefore anywhere
we realize Him
to be. Many
of us win our game nearly all of some days by realizing His unseen presence
sitting a chair
or walking
beside us. Some of us have gazed at our favorite picture of Him until it floats
before our
memories
whenever we glance at His unseen presence, and we almost see Him. Indeed, many
of us do
see Him in
our dreams. Others, like St. Paul, like to feel Him within the breast; many,
like St. Patrick, feel
Him all
around us, above, below, before, behind, as though we walked in His kindly
halo,. We may have
our secret
ways of helping us to realize that He is very near and very dear.
ON A TRAIN
OR IN A CROWD
We whisper
‘God’ or ‘Jesus’ or ‘Christ’ constantly as we glance at every person near us.
We try
to see double,
as Christ does—we see the person as he is and the person Christ longs to
make him.
Remarkable
things happen, until those in tune look around as though you spoke—especially
children.
The
atmosphere of a room changes when a few people keep whispering to Him about all
the rest.
Perhaps
there is no finer ministry than just to be in meetings or crowds, whispering
‘Jesus’ and then
helping
people whenever you see an opportunity. When Dr. Chalmers answers the telephone
he
whispers: ‘A
child of God will now speak to me.’ We can do that when anybody speaks to us.
If everybody
in America would do the things just described above, we should have a ‘heaven
below.’ This
is not pious poetry. We have seen what happens. Try it during all this
week, until a strange
power
develops within you. As messages from England are broadcast in Long Island for
all America, so
we can
become spiritual broadcasters for Christ. Every cell in our brain is an
electric battery which He
can use to
intensify what He longs to say to people who are spiritually deaf to hear Him
without our help.
WHILE IN
CONVERSATION
Suppose when
you reach home you find a group of friends engaged in ordinary conversation.
Can you
remember God at least once every minute? This is hard, but we have found that
we can be
successful
if we employ some reminders. Here are aids which have proven useful:
1. Have a picture
of Christ in front of you where you can glance at it frequently.
2. Have an empty
chair beside you and imagine that your unseen Master is sitting in it; if
possible
reach your hand and touch that chair, as though holding His hand. He is there,
for
He said:
‘Lo, I am with you always.’
3. Keep
humming to your self a favorite prayer hymn—for example, ‘Have Thine Own Way,
Lord, Have
Thine Own Way.’
4. Silently pray
for each person in the circle.
5. Keep whispering
inside: ‘Lord, put Thy thoughts in my mind. Tell me what to say.’
6. Best of
all, tell your companions about the ‘Game with Minutes.’ If they are
interested, you
will have no
more trouble. You cannot keep God unless you give Him to others.
WHEN AT THE
TABLE
All the
previous suggestions are useful at mealtime. If possible, have an empty chair
for your
Invisible
Guest, who said, ‘Wherever two or three are gathered together, I am in the
midst.’ Another
useful aid
is to recall what the Quakers believe about every meal. Jesus told us: ‘Eat this
in
remembrance
of me.’ They think that He meant, not only consecrated bread, but all food so
that every
mouthful is
His ‘body broken for you.’
You might
read and discuss this booklet. It helps immediately if others at the table
agree to try to
win this mealtime
together.
WHILE
READING A BOOK
When we are
reading a newspaper or magazine or book, we read it to Him, or at His picture
and
continue a
running conversation with Him inwardly about the pages we are reading. Kagawa
says
scientific
books are letters from God telling how He runs His universe.
Have you
ever opened a letter and read it with Jesus, realizing that He smiles
with us at the fun,
rejoices
with us in the successes, and weeps with us at life’s tragedies? If not, you
have missed one of
life’s sweetest
experiences.
WHEN
THINKING
If you lean
back and think about some problem deeply, how can you remember God?
You can do
it by forming a new habit. All thought employs silent words and is really
conversation with
your inner
self. Instead of talking to yourself, you will now form the habit of talking to
Christ. Many of us
who have
tried this have found that we think so much better that we never want to try to
think without Him
again. We
are helped if we imagine Him sitting in a chair beside us, talking with us. We
say with our
tongue what
we think Christ might say in reply to our questions. Thus we consult Christ
about everything.
WHEN WALKING
ALONE
If you are
strolling out of doors alone, you can recall God at least once every minute
with no
effort, if
you remember that ‘beauty is the voice of God.’ Every flower and tree, river
and lake, mountain
and sunset,
is God speaking. ‘This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears all
nature sings…’ So
as you look
at each lovely thing, you may keep asking : ‘Dear Father,
What are you
telling me through this, and this and this?’
If you have
wandered to a place where you can talk aloud without being overheard, you may
speak to the
Invisible Companion inside you or beside you. Ask Him what is most on His heart
and then
answer back
aloud with your voice what you believe God would reply to you.
Of course we
are not always sure whether we have guessed God’s answer right, but it is
surprising
how much of the time we are very certain. It really is not necessary to be sure
that our answer
is right,
for the answer is not the great thing—He is! God is infinitely more important
than His advice or
His gifts;
indeed, He, himself, is the great gift. The youth in love does not so
much prize what his
sweetheart
may say or may give him, as the fact that she is his and that she is here.
The most precious
privilege in
talking with God is this intimacy which we can have with Him. We may have a
glorious
succession
of heavenly minutes. How foolish people are to lose life’s most poignant joy,
seeing it may be
had while
taking a walk alone.!
But the most
wonderful discovery of all is, to use the words of St. Paul, ‘Christ liveth in
me.’ He
dwells in
us, walks in our minds, reaches out through our hands, speaks with our voices, IF
we obey His
every
whisper.
BE MY LAST
THOUGHT
We make sure
that there is a picture of Christ, or a Bible, or a Cross or some other object
where it
will greet
our closing eyes as we fall asleep. We continue to whisper any words of
endearment our hearts
suggest. If
all day long we have been walking with Him, we shall find Him the dear
companion of our
dreams.
Sometimes after such a day, we have fallen asleep with our pillows wet from
tears of joy, feeling
His tender
touch on our foreheads. Usually we feel no deep emotion, but always we have a
‘peace that
passeth all
understanding.’ This is the end of a perfect day.
MONDAY
MORNING
If on Sunday
we have rated over fifty per cent in our game with minutes, we shall be eager
to try
the
experiment during a busy Monday. As we open our eyes and see a picture of
Christ on the wall, we
may ask:
‘Now, Master, shall we get up?’ Some of us whisper to Him our every thought
about washing
and dressing
in the morning, about brushing our shoes and choosing our clothes. Christ is
interested in
every
trifle, because He loves us more intimately than a mother loves her babe, or a
lover his sweetheart,
and is happy
only when we share every question with Him.
MEN AT WORK
Countless
thousands of men keep God in mind while engaged in all types of work, mental or
manual, and
find that they are happier and get better results. Those who endure the most
intolerable
ordeals gain
new strength when they; realize that their Unseen Comrade is by their side. To
be sure, no
man whose
business is harmful or shoes methods are dishonest, can expect God’s
partnership. But if an
enterprise
is useful, God eagerly shares in its real progress. The carpenter can do better
work if he talks
quietly
to God about each task, as Jesus certainly
[1] The Philokalia (Gk. φιλοκαλία "love of the beautiful/good") is a collection of texts by masters of the Eastern Orthodox, hesychast tradition, writing from the fourth to the fifteenth centuries on the disciplines of Christian prayer and a life dedicated to God. The work was compiled by St. Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarios of Corinth.