Month: January 2021

My Prayer On The Inauguration of President Biden

/ John / Leave a comment

First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

1 Timothy 2:1-2
Photo by Joshua Sukoff on Unsplash

In just a few minutes, Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. As our country marks this historic moment, I’m hopeful that followers of Jesus will listen to the urging of the Apostle Paul and pray for our new President. As followers of Christ, we’re called to pray for our leaders – at all levels of government and from both parties.

My guess is that most of us know that. I know that at our church, we have prayed regularly for our local, state, and federal leaders as we’ve navigated a pandemic, racial injustice, and the recent violence on Capitol Hill. But I think we often lose sight of the purposes that should shape how we pray for our leaders. Notice, Paul urges us to pray “so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” He has three specific purposes in mind:

  • A tranquil and quiet life. Paul prays that political leaders will work together to allow our national life to be peaceful and well-ordered. He doesn’t want government to be a source of chaos in our lives and division in our communities. I’m sure Paul would be all for thoughtful, robust political debate. But we should be able to do that in a way that contributes to a tranquil and well-ordered community.
  • Godliness. Paul prays that Christians will be able to live with our highest loyalty and deepest devotion to God. Our ultimate allegiance isn’t to a political leader but to the One who reigns on a throne that will have no end. We’re to represent that King and be ambassadors of His Kingdom as we engage in our civic life. So, Paul prays that our government would never come between us and our God.
  • Dignity. The word Paul uses here is interesting – it’s about the church behaving in a way “that indicates one is above what is ordinary and therefore worthy of special respect.” (BDAG, 919) Wouldn’t it be great if that word characterized followers of Jesus?

Paul essentially turns prayer for our leaders into a prayer for the church. So, as we pray for President Biden today, let’s do it with a resolve to exemplify the purposes that Paul highlights for us as the church.

What Brings You Life?

/ John / Leave a comment
Calvert Cliffs State Park, January 2, 2021

Wouldn’t it be great if turning the calendar to 2021 enabled us to leave all of the challenges of 2020 in the past? But, at least so far, that doesn’t seem to be working. Covid is still very much a thing, our politics are still very much a mess, and life is still very far from normal. Turning the calendar doesn’t seem to have magically revolutionized the culture in our home nor has it rocketed me to new intimacy with God. If anything, life seems pretty much the same. In other words, life is still hard.

Which is why I’m trying to be as intentional as possible about prioritizing the things that bring me life. I’ve noticed that I never need to go looking for the things that drain me – they have a way of finding me all by themselves. They don’t need my help. But the things that bring me life are different. They’re never urgent, nobody ever demands that I do them, nobody ever gets angry if I don’t do them (with the exception of myself!), and they all require some effort. I rarely stumble into the things that bring me life. I have to plan for them, protect them, and even fight for them. And that’s the big insight for me. The path of least resistance never brings life. It leads to a Netflix binge or mindlessly surfing the internet or one last check of my email before I go to bed.

And I want more for 2021. I want to live with passion, with vigor, with joy. I don’t want to muddle through my days in the vain hope that tomorrow will be better. I want to work really hard on things that really matter with people I really love. And I want to fight for the things that bring me life.

If you’re wanting to walk a similar path, the first step involves determining what actually brings you life. Crafting this list might end up being harder than you think but you owe it to yourself to know what truly replenishes you. For what it’s worth, here’s my list:

  • Hiking…hence the photo and how we spend just about every Sabbath as a family.
  • Long walks with Laura…it’s where we have our best conversations.
  • Travel…at least I remember it fondly!
  • Fire…fire pits, fire places, candles. Really fire in all its forms.
  • Good conversations with good friends….preferably near a fire!
  • Swimming…for fun and for exercise.
  • Reading….theology, leadership, spiritual formation, novels, biographies, and books about politics.
  • Coffee…probably should have been first.
  • Watching movies…we do this about 3 times a year but I always enjoy it.
  • Lake Ontario…DC is home but the Great Lakes are the best!

Obviously, I believe all of those activities need to be built on the foundation of a vibrant relationship with Christ.

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with him in glory.

Colossians 3:4 (CSB)

Christ, who is your life. Jesus doesn’t just bring life. He is life. And no list of life giving activities can ever take the place of the life of Christ in us. But you also can’t bury the life of Christ under a relentless pile of things that drain you and expect to live with joy. We’ve got to fight for the things that bring us life.

So, what’s on your list? Are there any that you can build into the ordinary routines of your life? How can you build more life into your calendar this year? However you do it, fight for the things that bring you life!