Luggaged

Glorious Benefactor,
we can meet you on good terms,
for we are full of poverty—as empty as we can be.
Since you would display your mercy— here is our sin.
Since you would show your strength—
   here is our weakness.
Since you would manifest your loving-kindness—
   here are our needs.
Since you would glorify your grace—
   here we are,
   people who can never have a shadow of a hope
   except through your grace.
For we are undeserving,
   ill-deserving,
      hell-deserving,
and if you do not magnify your grace in us
   we must perish for ever. –Charles Spurgeon

Dear Saviour, we come to you as beggars,
dependent on your heavenly charity.
You are a Saviour,
always looking out for those that need saving.
And here we are, and here we come,
the men and women you are looking for,
   men and women needing a Saviour.

Great Physician,
we bring to you our wounds and bruises.
The more diseased we are
and the more conscious we are of the depravity of our nature,
   of the deep-seated corruption of our hearts,
the more we feel that we are the sort of beings
   that you are seeking,
for the whole have no need of a doctor,
   but only those who are sick. –C. H. Spurgeon

Now if you are not able to believe,
   then you should pray to God for faith.
But rouse yourself to this end.
First, do not behold Christ’s sufferings any longer,
   for they have already done their work and terrified you.
Instead, behold how full of love
   is Christ’s friendly heart toward you—
   love that constrained him to bear
the heavy load of your sin.
In this way your heart will be sweet toward him,
   and the assurance of your faith will be strengthened.
Then ascend higher through the heart of Christ
   to the heart of God.
See that Christ would not have been able to love you
   if God had not willed it in eternal love.
There you will find the good, fatherly heart of God,
   and so be drawn to the Father through Christ
(John 3 v 16). –Martin Luther

Eve of The Fourth Sunday of Easter: Good Shepherd

O God, whose Son Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd of your people: Grant that, when we hear his voice, we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

But, just as an awareness of sin flowed out of Christ,
   so should we pour our sins back again onto Christ
   and set our conscience free.
So then, cast your sins from yourself onto Christ,
   believing that your sins are his wounds
   and that he carries them and makes satisfaction for them.
You must rely on God’s promises (e.g. Isaiah 53 v 6)
   with all your weight,
   and so much more when your conscience martyrs you.
For if you miss the opportunity to still your heart,
   then you will never secure peace
   and must finally despair in doubt.
For our sins will become too strong for us to manage
   and they will live for ever. But when we fearlessly believe that our sins are laid on Christ
   and that he has triumphed over them by his resurrection,
then they are dead and have become as nothing. –Martin Luther

Sam Bush quoting Scottie Scheffler after winning his second Masters last Sunday:

When asked about the secret to his success, Scheffler often shifts the subject from golf to his faith. After winning his second Masters, he candidly shared how his friends responded to his honest desire to win. “My buddies told me this morning, my victory was secure on the cross,” he said. “And that’s a pretty special feeling; to know that I’m secure forever and it doesn’t matter if I win this tournament or lose this tournament. My identity is secure forever.” In other words, one reason why Scheffler may be winning so much is because he is playing like he has nothing to lose.

You meditate on the Passion of Christ aright
   when you become terror-stricken in heart at the sight
   and your conscience sinks in despair.
Recognize you are the one who martyred Christ,
   for your sins most surely did it (Acts 2 v 36-37).
Therefore, when you see the nails piercing his hands,
   firmly believe it is your work.
Do you behold his crown of thorns?
   Believe the thorns are your wicked thoughts.
Now see that where one thorn pierces Christ,
   more than a thousand thorns should pierce you,
   yes, and they should do so eternally.
Where one nail is driven through his hands,
   you should eternally suffer this same fate.
Jesus commanded the women who wept for him,
   “Do not weep for me; weep for yourselves
   and for your children” (Luke 23 v 28).
In other words,
   “Learn from my martyrdom what you deserve
and how you should be rewarded.” –Martin Luther

Eternal God, as a loving Father,
you have heaped on me innumerable blessings;
   and I have heaped up many sins.
I have despised that which is good, holy, pleasant
   and acceptable in your sight,
and I have chosen that which was delicious, pleasant
   and acceptable in my sight.
It was no surprise that I did this
for I refused to know you and learn your ways.
I loved darkness better than light.
Indeed, darkness seemed to me to be light.
I embraced ignorance as knowledge;
   and rejected true knowledge as pointless.
I had little regard for your word
   but gave myself to the vanities and shadows of the world.
I abandoned you, in whom all is truth,
   and followed the foolish imaginations of my own heart.
You spoke many pleasant and sweet words to me,
   and I would not hear.
You called me in many ways,
   but I would not answer.

I count myself one of the most wicked
   and miserable sinners in the world
   because I have been so contrary to Christ my Saviour.
Christ was innocent and empty of all sin,
   and I wallowed in filthy sin
   and was free from no sin.
Christ was obedient to you, his Father,
even to the death of the cross,
   and I was disobedient and stubborn.
Christ was meek and humble in heart,
   and I most proud and self-serving.
Christ despised the world with all its vanities,
   and I made it my god because of its vanities.
Christ came to serve his brothers and sisters, and I longed to rule over them.
Christ despised worldly honour,
   and I delighted to attain it.
Christ loved the lowly and simple things of this world,
   and I esteemed the most fair and pleasant things.
Christ loved poverty,
   and I loved wealth.
Christ was gentle and merciful to the poor,
   and I was hard-hearted and unkind.
Christ prayed for his enemies,
   and I hated mine.
Christ rejoiced in the conversion of sinners,
   and I was not grieved to see them revert to sin. Shall I fall in desperation?
No, I will call upon Christ,
the Light of the world,
the Fountain of life,
the relief of all careful consciences,
the Peacemaker between God and man,
and the only health and comfort
of all true repentant sinners. By his almighty power he can save me
and deliver me out of this miserable state.
For this is the life everlasting, O Lord,
   to believe you to be the true God,
   and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
By this faith I am assured,
and by this assurance I feel the forgiveness of my sins:
   this is what gives me confidence,
   this is what comforts me,
   this is what quenches all despair. –Catherine Parr (1512-1548, Henry VIII’s sixth and final wife)

May we remember that we have here no continual abiding city, but may we diligently and earnestly seek that which is to come. May the uncertainty of my life, the changeableness of all things earthly, and the certainty of death wean my affections more and more from the world, and center them more in the things above. May I never live unto myself and unto the world, but unto you and unto eternity: teach me to test my faith, my love and repentance, whether they are well grounded, and if so, preserve me continually in fear of you; with all diligence may I proceed on my journey toward the Canaan above, and with all watchfulness await your coming. –Johann Habermann (16th Century)