Holding Fast to the Works of God

A year or so ago I bought a small book containing fifty prayers of Karl Barth. Barth is not only an acclaimed theologian, he is an exceptional man of prayer. It was Barth's vision that these prayers from the 1950s and 1960s, organized around the liturgical calendar, might stimulate reflection in both personal and corporate worship. Today, prayer number nine, is the stimulus for my reflection.

Lord our God, you wanted to live not only in heaven, but also with us, here on earth; not only to be high and great, but also to be small and lowly, as we are; not only to rule, but also to serve us; not only to be God in eternity, but also to be born as a person, to live and to die. In your dear Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, you have given us none other than yourself, that we may wholly belong to you. This affects all of us, and none of us has deserved this. What remains for us to do but to wonder, to rejoice, to be thankful, and to hold fast to what you have done for us? We ask you to let this be the case in this hour, among us and in all of us! Let us become a proper Christmas community in honest, open, and willing praying and singing, speaking and hearing, and let us in great hunger be a proper Communion community! Amen.

God, in his relationship with Israel, repeatedly called them to remember his work of salvation in the exodus. He called them to remember with wonder the parting of the Red Sea, to rejoice in his faithful provision during their wilderness experience and to live with gratitude.

It was Barth's prayer that the church would be a community that gathered in unity around the Lord's table in remembrance of God's ultimate and gracious work of salvation. Knowing that nothing makes us deserving of God's grace, Barth asked God to ignite, in the church, amazement, joy, gratitude, and confidence in God's steadfast love.

What would our congregations look like if we prayed as Barth did? What if we prayed for clear and constant reminders of God's work in our lives? What if the preaching in our churches focused not on what is required of us but on what God has done in the lives of his people through the ages? Imagine the impact on our relationship with God, if we knew the Old Testament narratives as well as we know the Pauline letters. Imagine a congregation where the members openly and honestly speak about the work of God in their individual lives. Imagine the intimacy of community that is unleashed when Christians listen to one another with hearts softened by the grace of God.

I will never see all that God does, or understand why he does all that he does. That's okay, he is God and I am not. But I do know that I see and understand more when I ask God to reveal himself and I stand, quietly and humbly, in the shadow of the cross watching and rejoicing at what I see him doing in the lives of his people.

So, today I pray that all of us will hold fast to what God has done in the past and ask with great expectations for him to show us what he is doing today.