Bonhoeffer on Psalms

This week's readings for the Covenant Study (episode 18) are from the Book of Psalms, and I am enjoying re-reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible. For a synopsis of Bonhoeffer's book check out this article by Carson Reed: Bonhoeffer and the Psalms.

In the article Carson notes that Bonhoeffer's book is an "attempt to place this rich prayer resource on the table of the twentieth century church."  Bonhoeffer writes that the book of Psalms is a "school of prayer," which teaches us what prayer means, what we should pray, and how we should pray together in community.

Perhaps not surprisingly, there are a number of resources on how to use the Psalms as part of the daily practice of prayer. I am particularly interested in how these ancient words provide a history and a continuity of prayer all the way from early Israel to the current times. Looking forward to a great discussion with all of you on the power and richness of this book!

Christians and Civil Disobedience

This past week, we discussed leadership and government and the role of Christians in resisting a corrupt government, especially in light of Romans 13 which says,

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

1 Peter 2 also says,

Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

Does this mean that Christians ought to acquiesce to a corrupt government? At first glance, it seems so. However, the Scriptures also offer up a number of examples of what might certainly be called "civil disobedience." There were the Hebrew midwives in Exodus 1:

"...But the midwives feared God and did not do as the King of Egypt commanded them. ... So, God dealt well with the midwives. ...And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families."

In Joshua 2, Rahab defies the King of Jericho and refuses to give up the Israelite spies. In 1 Kings 18, Obadiah hides the prophets from Jezebel, a clear defiance of the queen. And there were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3:

Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.

Daniel himself defied the king's command in Daniel 6. And many hundreds of years later, in Acts 5, we read:

But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men."

The case for civil disobedience seems clear when the authorities are directly defying God or endangering the people of God. What does this mean for us today? What kind of resistance is permissible? Are there times to go beyond a refusal to obey the orders of the government? Are there times for active resistance?

For an example of this, many turn to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a well-known and revered Christian theologian, who is thought to have been part of a conspiracy to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Some quick research, however, reveals that Bonhoeffer was somewhat removed from the assassination plan, though he must certainly known of it. It is unclear whether or not he approved and exactly how involved he was. His own words seem unclear on whether he would consider such an action right before God. From his book, Ethics:

"Before other men he is justified by dire necessity; before himself he is acquitted by his conscience, but before God he hopes only for grace.”

Are there other examples we might turn to? Other passages of scripture? Other examples among the saints and theologians of the past? I look forward to hearing more responses, thoughts and ideas on this over the coming weeks as we continue to explore Living the Covenant. 

Positions on Public Confession

This week's homework regarding confession raises some questions for me about the practice of public confession and/or confession to those NOT involved with a particular offense. I have definitely experienced situations where public confession seemed to do more harm than good. As this article from Christianity Today so aptly describes  (The Trouble With Confessing in Church):

"In a church setting, I think public confession should be prefaced with a spiritual Miranda warning: Anything you say may well be used against you. Your confession might easily become a shorthand way to brand you: 'Jeff? He's the embezzler.' 'Cindy is an alcoholic.' 'Missy got pregnant at 16.'"

I ran across this article by D.A. Delafield from Ministry: International Journal of Pastors called The If and When of Confession. Essentially, Delafield makes the case that scriptures are very clear that we need to confess to God, but less clear about confession to others. The scripture most often cited for public confession is James 5:16

"Therefore, confess  your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed." 

Delafield takes a careful look at the word for "sins" in this passage, as compared to the word "sins" in other parts of the New Testament. There appears to be a distinction between sins that only God can forgive and sins that can be forgiven by people (and God, of course):

"Wrong deeds secretly done are to be confessed to God alone. Sins that involve others are to be confessed also to those who have suffered injury." 

In the cases where sin involves others, confession to those involved can help to heal the relationship. This is what the scripture in James seems to be saying, not necessarily that every sin needs to be confessed to others.

I can't say that I necessarily agree with the examples given in Delafield's article, but I lean toward agreeing with the general message. Some caution seems prudent in confessing sins that were previously unknown to the other person. Aside from the possibility that confessions may be simply fodder for gossip, as mentioned by the Christianity Today article, it is also important to be thoughtful about the motivation of a confession. Is it to assuage personal feelings of guilt? Will it help or harm the other person? Is it to appear "spiritual?" Is there an air of arrogance or piety about the confession? How will the confession impact the community?

Having said these things, though, I find that I can also see the other "side" of the argument. It would also be possible to misuse the above information as a defense for hiding sin, and, unfortunately, many sins that do not directly involve others still have an indirect impact on families and communities. In his book, Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer states:

"...there is no sin in thought, word, or deed, no mater how personal or secret, that does not harm the whole community. When the cause of an illness gets into one's body, whether or not anyone knows where it comes from, or in what member it has lodged, the body is made ill."

When stated this way, it seems that public confession of sin is both necessary and beneficial. Families and communities are often harmed by secrets and sins that didn't seem necessary to reveal or confess. I find myself remembering conversations about family secrets from earlier this year when we were discussing Emotionally Healthy Spirituality.

I do not claim to have answers, but I think that studying the questions and the range of interpretations can help guide us as we make decisions for ourselves and seek to practice faith together.

Notes from Patti about Prayer

Patti mentioned this at our last group meeting and graciously passed it along to me in email so that I could share it with all of you!

Many years ago I was given a copy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's writings on "Daily Meditation" from his letters, lectures and notes titled, The Way to Freedom. Through the years,  I've adapted his notes with my thoughts to come up with a recipe to begin my day.  Through the various chapters of my life of mothering, working, healing and tending, the amount of time I spent varied, but the method remained helpful in enhancing my conversations with God.  My tangible tools are my Bible, my notebook and a pen. I often begin with jotting down initials of persons or situations occupying my head and heart.  This is simply to unload so that I can truly "devote" to my relationship with God.  I then use the following guide:

COME:

A quiet prayer to the Holy Spirit is a precious guarantee of guidance and blessing.

CONCENTRATE:

Choosing a Scripture verse can be as simple as using a verse or two from a Psalm, Bible app, devotion book or daily calendar of verses.  If the Spirit brings you to a memorized verse, use that.  Read the words aloud or to yourself.  Spend time focusing on these words.

CONSIDER:

Most verses lead me to separate scripture thoughts into 2 columns:  God's part/My part.  (This is often a humble reminder that God is God and I am not! Whew...)  

CREATE:

Praise and written prayer, using the words of scripture and the counsel of the Spirit, more naturally flows from our "time together".     

CARRY ON:

Taking the promises, lessons and perspective with me into the rest of the day has me more likely considering God beside me thru the mundane, the mountain tops and everything in between.  Journaling at the end of the day may be a consideration in the future...

Example of today's entry:

"Come, Holy Spirit.  Reveal yourself to me that our relationship may grow to your glory and my peace."

Concentrate on Proverbs 3:5,6  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Paraphrase might be "You promise to make my path straight as I trust in you instead of myself.  Help me to acknowledge you in all ways."

Consider the my part to be to trust in YOU, Lord.  I spin my wheels trying to understand, fix, control etc.  but instead want to acknowledge that you see and know so much more than I do.  Your part will be to make my path straight...change the chaos into peace at the right time and in the right way.

Create in me a clean heart,  oh God.  Renew a right spirit in me.  Thank you for this time of transforming grace.  Thank you for your patient love.  Amen

Carry On with a sweet reminder to trust in a God who loves me.

Resources for Prayer

Our group continues to gather in some fantastic resources for assisting us in prayer! Here are a few more that were mentioned on Wednesday:

The Hour That Changes the World by Dick Eastman is a guide to 12 steps or "movements" (as Brian McLaren might say) of prayer. Each "movement" is intended to take about 5 minutes, leading the individual through an hour of prayer. Linda mentioned this book to the group and was quick to note that the book is not written in a legalistic manner, nor should it be taken that way. It's a practical guide, with room for flexibility. (Note: The book is available both in paperback and as an ebook.)

If you do a search for Eastman's book, you might stumble upon the article How To Pray at  www.714movement.com, a site developed in collaboration with Dr. James T. Bradford. Bradford has used Eastman's principles of prayer (which are listed in the article at the link above) to develop a prayer journal called Seven: Fourteen. The 714 website and app include daily readings, devotionals, and real-time maps of people praying around the world!

Also, I cannot recommend highly enough Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Prayerbook of the Bible. This book is often sold in a combined volume with his book Life Together, which also includes some lovely readings on the role of communal scripture reading, silence, and prayer. Bonhoeffer makes a convincing case for the daily reading of the Psalms as our Prayerbook. The Psalter is the prayer book that Jesus would have used in prayer. It was the prayer book of the early church. And it still relevant today as it encompasses a range of human emotion and experience.

For previously mentioned resources, see Daily/Weekly Practices, The Daily Office, Contemplative Spirituality, and Fixed Hour Prayer, and Praying the Divine Hours.