19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. 21 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.
James 1:19-21
Dear God, it is interesting that James prefaces the “filth and evil” with talking about anger. To just read verse 21 by itself, my mind might go to the things I watch, listen to, or read. But when I read more closely and check out the footnotes, it says the filth and evil is literally translated “abundance of malice.”
While I still have some malice in my life, I can feel the slow transformation in these areas. While I still am too quick to speak sometimes, I am getting so much better at listening and asking questions of others. The things I get angry about are fewer and fewer. Some Christians would say that I’m getting soft on sin or that I am not living in my convictions enough. I am too tolerant of others and I’m letting them die. But somehow it doesn’t feel that way. It feels like I am seeing people more and more with your eyes. I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt more and more. And so while I might not be living into verse 21 in isolation, in the context of verses 19 and 20, maybe I am.
Father, I don’t want to miss you. I don’t want to miss when you do, indeed, want me to be righteously angry about something. But I don’t want to miss the opportunity to love someone who needs loved. I was with someone recently who is so unsettled. Their spirit is so unsettled. If I were closer to that person (both physically, we are separated by over 1,000 miles) and figuratively, I would love to be able to minister to them a little. But there are plenty of people within my sphere who are like them. So help me, Father, to love well, to see others with your eyes, and to be a minister of your presence.
15 “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! 12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. 16 You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.“
John 15:1-17
Dear God, this whole passage is beautiful. Just beautiful. Oh, how I want to be the fruitful person described here. I want to be so close to you that I just naturally bear the fruit Jesus references.
I hope I’ve been able to be a fruitful person for your kingdom over the last two days. I’ve been attending a funeral for a dear woman, and there are multiple layers of family conflict all over the place. I found myself trying to just be a loving, positive presence in the midst of it all. My wife and I both did. And then we heard something from one of our relatives. One of them told us a story from seven years ago. Apparently, at a previous family gathering, one of our nieces, who would have been about 12 at the time, was looking at my wife and me across the room and told another relative that we are “relationship goals.” That was so sweet to hear. I was so grateful to hear that. Not only because it complimented my wife and me, but because I know this child has witnessed a number of unhealthy relationships. To think that when this, now young adult woman, sees us she sees us as an example to consider is…well, it’s a relief. I’m so glad that, if nothing else, we could offer her that.
Even now, as I sit here, my wife is in another part of the house listening to Ashley Cleveland singing “Jesus” by Rich Mullins. She is connecting herself to your vine as we start our day. I am sitting on the sofa praying to you. Connecting to your vine. And I will make mistakes today. I will sin. There probably aren’t many of the 10 Commandments I won’t violate, including observe the Sabbath since I’ll be driving over 400 miles today to get home. But maybe I can start with making you my God and having no others gods before you. Then Jesus can take it from there. Redeem my failures. Somehow use them to touch others. Make be “fruity.” And do it for my good, the good of the world around me, and your glory.
5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:5-11
Dear God, reading this passage this morning made me think of the people who are hostile, dismissive, or even just indifferent about Jesus. They might think, “He is the author of a faith that hurts people.” They might think, “Oh, it’s ridiculous to believe in Jesus and the things the Bible says about him.” Or they might think, “Yeah, Jesus was fine. But that’s just not for me.” I guess there’s a fourth category I just thought of that bothers me: “Jesus, you’re my God so you’re going to do what I want you to do.” That bothers me just as much as the others.
But one day, all of us will, in unison, understand exactly who Jesus is. There are some people I dearly love who are in all of these categories. Some are friends. Some are family. Some are our political leaders. It really doesn’t matter except that it is my job to represent you well to everyone. It is my job to teach reverence to you, worship of you, submission to you, and then to learn from you and live by your example. That I will worship you well. That I will try to only impact the world around me through prayer, service, persuasion, and suffering. That I will be gentle and forgiving. That I will be humble and repentant–to you and to those I harm.
Father, I literally do not know what today holds. I have no idea. I don’t know what challenges await me or my wife. I don’t even completely know who I’m going to come across as I move through this day. But what I can control is that I will do everything I know to do to carry your Holy Spirit with me. I will do everything I can to love everyone who comes across my path. I will do everything I can to represent you well. Guide me in every moment. Speak to me through your still, small voice and through loud booming voices, as appropriate. And I want to say a special pray for my wife today. She is speaking at her aunt’s funeral. Give her a hedge of protection. Show her everything you have for her today. Help her to feel your presence and your peace. Let your Holy Spirit flow into and out of her. And for all of the family gathered for this funeral, let it be a time of healing. Use this precious woman’s loss as a time of new beginnings for individuals and relationships.
I offer this to you in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
7 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? 10 Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! 11 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.
Matthew 7:7-11
Dear God, I normally look to other sources to bring verses to pray about to me such as Bible Gateway’s verse of the day or the daily readings from different denominations such as the Catholic or Presbyterian Churches. But today, I want to focus on some intercessory prayer. There are four things, in particular, that are on my heart this morning. I want to ask you for these things. I want to knock on your door. I want to be your child and pray for good gifts for your children that I know. I want your best for my friends, family, and me.
For the mother I know who is having “spontaneous” (not through artificial methods) triplets today at 32.5 weeks, I pray your protection. I pray for your mercy. I pray for your power. I pray that your angels will be standing in that room, guarding, protecting, and guiding. I pray that you will bless this mother and father. I pray that you will guide all of them closer to yourself. For the mother, I pray that you will protect not only over her body, which is a given, but her spirit, mind, and heart. Love her well. Fill her with a sense of yourself. Care for her. Help her to feel loved by you, by her husband, by her 8-year-old daughter, her parents, and her friends. This is obviously a unique experience. Be there for every bit of it. As Nancy French put it when she described her in-laws praying for their son who spent time in the NICU in her book Ghosted: An American Story, I would like to put in a personnel request to your heavens and ask that you make some special assignments to that hospital room today. Holy Spirit, there is so much to pray for for them. Please fill in my pitiful prayer with your own groanings that are too deep for words.
For the friend whose wife is going through cancer treatment, I ask for your protection over her. For her healing. For her hope. For her energy. For her strength. For her spirit. For her mind. Help her to feel you and your presence. Again, I ask for some special angel attention over her. Love her. Guide her. Support her husband and her family. Give them strength. Give them hope. Give them a sense of who you are in this. I know they can’t see what you are doing in real-time or what is going on, but I pray that they will be at peace and really know what it means to rest in you.
For the friend who had a bone marrow biopsy yesterday, I ask that you will bring back a good report. He is a cancer survivor from several years ago. I pray that you will touch his body and keep it whole. Speak to him and his wife through this process. Help them to feel your love and support. Help them to feel your Holy Spirit speaking to them. Of the people I’ve prayed for this morning, I know this man and his wife the best. I pray that you will show my wife and me how to love them. Minister to them, Holy Spirit. Cover them. Help them to find you in an even deeper way through this concern.
Finally, there is a funeral in our family this weekend. People will come together over thousands of miles. Family who haven’t seen each other in a while. Some have broken relationships. Some won’t be there because of the broken relationships. I pray that this good woman’s death will count for your and your glory. Protect over each heart there. Make us vulnerable, gentle, and humble. Help us to submit to one another. Help my wife and me to carry your with us, and let the fruits of your Spirit that grow in us abound for such a time as this. And help those there be drawn closer to you through the death of this great lover of you.
Father, I pray for my normal concerns as well. My relative who is recovering from cancer. My coworker who is pregnant. My own relationships that are sources of sorrow for me. Protection for my wife and me as we travel, love each other, and support each other. That I might be exactly who you need me to be. And if personnel can spare an angel or two our way, we won’t turn them away. 🙂 We love you. I love you.
I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
Dear God, I was listening to the Holy Post Podcast yesterday when one of the hosts, Dr. Derwin Gray, made a remarkable, clear, concise presentation of the Gospel message. Here is an excerpt from it:
Most American pulpits are not communicating the greatest story there is. And the greatest story there is is not simply, “Jesus died so we can go to heaven when we die.” The story is, “There is a good and loving Father who wants his children to be his copartners in turning earth into a mini version of Israel called heaven. That story was disrupted, but God, who is the ultimate, decides to enter the story himself like a painter enters his own painting. So Jesus himself comes to do what? To live a sinless, beautiful life that we could never live–all of our hopes, all of our dreams, all of our sin, all of our failures are eclipsed by the sinless life he lives–he dies a substitutionary, sacrificial death on the cross to forever forgive us. To reconcile us to his father, and then he raises from the dead so the tyranny of death is forever destroyed. And when he comes out of that tomb, we come out of that tomb with him now to walk and embody his grace, his mission, his mind, his heart, his love for the world.
There is more, but that’s the gist. To see it someone could go to this YouTube video at about the 28-minute mark. It made me think of growing up. So much of my upbringing was about getting my “fire insurance.” If I didn’t want to go to hell then I needed to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I was rarely pitched the beauty of relationship with you. I was rarely pitched reconciliation with you and how that would impact the life I live here. Yes, I would get a little of that. But mostly I was purchasing a service. My life now for rescuing me from hell and getting to go to heaven. As if I could bargain with you. As if I could use you like that. As if I could manipulate you into letting me get into heaven with you.
No, I am here because of this amazing opportunity to know you. You make me better. You make my life better. It’s like my relationship with my wife. I’m here because I want to be here. Joy is here. You are here.
I like P!nk’s music. I was listening to a song of hers this morning called “All I Know So Far.” It reminded me of the kind of song I would have leaned into 10 or 11 years ago. And it’s the kind of song I might need to lean into again one day. It’s a song about shaking off what is challenging you and facing it head on. That’s great. It’s missing something, though. It’s missing you. It’s missing the power Dr. Gray mentions in his soliloquy. Yes, I have been in tragic times in the past. You know that I have mentioned the constant source of sorrow that follows me around every moment. And I know things will be tragic again one day. I know that. But I will have you not only in relatively peaceful times like now, but in those moments too. But I don’t just use you for those moments. You are just my crutch. You are my joy and strength, even now.
Father, I guess all of this is just to say thank you. Thank you for making all of this possible. Thank you for showing Peter and the apostles they were wrong about Gentiles in Acts 10 and 11. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for wanting me. Thank you for making your life available in me. Help me to make great room for your Holy Spirit. Oh, Holy Spirit, guide me today. Protect me from Satan’s plans for me. Jesus, thank you for who you are and that you loved me, love me, and showed me how to love. Help me to live into that opportunity.
I offer all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
5 Jesus sent out the twelve apostles with these instructions: “Don’t go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, 6 but only to the people of Israel—God’s lost sheep. 7 Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!“
Matthew 10:5-8
Dear God, I wonder this is where the original 12 first misinterpreted Jesus’s instructions and thought that he was here only for the Jewish people. Later, in Acts 10 and 11, they have to go through a process for breaking this paradigm of Jewish-only evangelism.
So I guess it makes me wonder why he did give them this limitation. Why no Samaritans? Why no Gentiles? Was it a concern for their safety? Was he just trying to build up knowledge of who he was among the Israelites of the time? Was he setting up crucifixion week? I’m sure there was a reason that was beyond, “I love the Israelites more than I love the Gentiles and Samaritans.” But is that how they interpreted it?
But what is your call on me? First, how boldly am I supposed to pray? I wrote an article in a newsletter recently about praying more boldly. And I have. But has it been consistent or bold enough? No. Am I supposed to heal? Cast out demons? Raise the dead? These are obviously gifts you gave the original 12 in that moment (Matthew 10:1). I know some of that is available to us now because I’ve seen it happen with my own eyes (mainly the healing from illness, not resurrection from the dead). Am I bold enough? I’m preparing to be with a lot of my wife’s extended family this weekend for a funeral. There are relationships among us that are broken or damaged. Am I praying faithfully enough about their healing? Am I praying over my wife enough as she goes into this environment? Am I expecting enough of the Holy Spirit to do something special?
Father, I want to first pray for my wife. She has a special role to play in the funeral we are attending. I pray that you will prepare her heart for everything she will encounter as she goes through this weekend. Love her well. Help her to feel completely surrounded by you. Help her to feel safe. Give her words to say. Give her ears to hear. Give her eyes to see. Help her to bask in your presence. And help all of these, well, all of these hurt people, including me. Let forgiveness and repentance flow freely. Let your love flow into each heart. Use the pain of this loss to guide each heart on the journey you have for us. Don’t let it be wasted. And as for the demons who are messing with all of us, in the name of Jesus, I pray that they would lose their grip and be sent on their way. Cast out into the swine or whatever needs to happen. The demons of addiction. The demons of entitlement. The demons of offense. The demons of self-righteousness. The demons of lies. I pray that all of these would be bound by Jesus and seen no more.
I offer all of this to you only through Jesus and with the Holy Spirit of the Lord, God Almighty,
4 The people have appointed kings without my consent, and princes without my approval. By making idols for themselves from their silver and gold, they have brought about their own destruction.
5 “O Samaria, I reject this calf— this idol you have made. My fury burns against you. How long will you be incapable of innocence? 6 This calf you worship, O Israel, was crafted by your own hands! It is not God! Therefore, it must be smashed to bits.
7 “They have planted the wind and will harvest the whirlwind. The stalks of grain wither and produce nothing to eat. And even if there is any grain, foreigners will eat it.
Hosea 8:4-7
Dear God, when I read this and the words you were speaking through Hosea, it just occurred to me that you were expressing your pain. Your anger. Your frustration. But the first word I just used was the one that sits with me: pain. It is amazing to me that we can cause you pain. That you make yourself vulnerable enough to us that you would allow us enough space in your heart to cause you pain.
But I suppose that’s what love it. Love isn’t love if I don’t leave myself vulnerable to be hurt by the person I am loving. Even my dog. When we first got her as a stray from the shelter, she was terrified of me. She wouldn’t come to me voluntarily and, frankly, it hurt my feelings. I worked to earn her trust. I wanted to love her and give her a good home.
And so here you are. You love us and you try to show us that love. And sometimes we respond, but oftentimes we don’t. We go our own way. I’ve told people that it was seven weeks before our dog would come to me voluntarily. How many of us never come to you voluntarily. And in passages like this one that you gave to Hosea, you express how hurt you are by that. It’s incredible to consider.
Father, I never, never, never, want to be a source of your hurt or frustration. I know I hurt you sometimes. I know I frustrate you. But please know that I don’t want to. I love you. I’m grateful for you. I appreciate not just the little things you do, but also the essence of who you are. I appreciate how you do things. Some would say there is room for criticism, but I would counter that any other course of action on your part would have unintended consequences that none of us want. So I offer myself to you. I ask that you guide me into being your hands, feet, eyes, ears, and voice in this world. My life is yours.
I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
16 When that day comes,” says the Lord, “you will call me ‘my husband’ instead of ‘my master.’ 17 O Israel, I will wipe the many names of Baal from your lips, and you will never mention them again. 18 On that day I will make a covenant with all the wild animals and the birds of the sky and the animals that scurry along the ground so they will not harm you. I will remove all weapons of war from the land, all swords and bows, so you can live unafraid in peace and safety. 19 I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion. 20 I will be faithful to you and make you mine, and you will finally know me as the Lord.
21 “In that day, I will answer,” says the Lord. “I will answer the sky as it pleads for clouds. And the sky will answer the earth with rain. 22 Then the earth will answer the thirsty cries of the grain, the grapevines, and the olive trees. And they in turn will answer, ‘Jezreel’—‘God plants!’
Hosea 2:16-22
Dear God, when I read this passage this morning it made me think about modern day Israel. From what I understand, the majority there does not actively worship you. They are, once again, where they were. And I know it has seemed that our country has had a Faustian bargain to support Israel as your people and your country at least since World War II. A majority of our country wanted to love who you love out of love for you. But how frustrated are you that their hearts, for the most part, are not yours? I don’t even know how much their leadership’s hearts are yours. And now they are locked in this ugly, ugly battle that seems to me has gone beyond morality, although that only might seem that way to me because Israel hasn’t done as good of a job persuading the world to its side as the Palestinians have. But regardless, I am sad for Israeli people that the majority of them embrace the identity as Jewish, but they have somehow separated that from worshipping you.
But then there is me. Do I treat you like a young bride in love with her husband, or do I treat you like a master to be served and resented? Husbands are loved. Masters are simply respected, but their power is often resented. I want my relationship with you to be as a spouse with their mate. I want to be all in with you. I know we are not equal. I don’t want to be equal to you. But I do want to be with you. I want to be all about you.
Father, I give you this day. You are my God. I don’t want whatever lies baal is selling me–what Satan is selling me through the idols he offers in front of me. I want to worship you. I want to bring you into my life. I want to spread you to the others around me. I want to be not afraid. I want to naturally grow love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control within my heart, mind, soul, and even body. I want others to see it and want you as a result. I want you, Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit,
I offer all of this to you in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
6 If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, 7 even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.
8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:6-10
Dear God, I’ve always read this passage and considered the thorn to be a secret vice Paul had. Or a specific weakness. I’ve heard some say he had a speech impediment. It’s hard to imagine, but maybe. I’ve sometimes myself wondered if, as a single man, he struggled with lust of some sort. I wish he hadn’t been so vague because, frankly, this is the most vulnerable I think we ever see Paul get. There aren’t many times when he suggests he’s less than awesome. But here it is. Proof that there is something that keeps him humble.
As for me, yes, I have vices and addictions against which I struggle. And they keep me humble, to be sure. But this morning, I’m thinking about my source of constant sorrow. And I’ll be a little vague here because I know that others are able to read this as I make these prayers to you available on the Internet. But this constant source of sorrow involves people in my life whom I desperately love. First, I am concerned they are hurt and damaged in some way. Second, my relationships with them are broken, and I desperately want them mended–for their sake, for their sake, and for the sakes of everyone else involved.
I have told my wife in the past that you have certainly used this sorrow to help form me. Without it, in just about every other area my life is unreasonably good. From job, to friendships, to marriage, to my relationship with you bringing me legitimate joy and peace, I live a very fulfilled life. In fact, if it weren’t for this thorn in my side, this area of sorrow, I don’t know who I would be. Would I be arrogant (more arrogant?)? Would I be on my knees in prayer as much to you? I don’t believe you have caused this pain or wanted this pain, but I can see how you’ve used it to form me into someone who is more compassionate and dependent upon you than I would be otherwise.
Father, like Paul, I will continue to pray that you will remove this thorn. But not in my time. In yours. I don’t want to do anything outside of your will. But, well, I love these people. I love them very, very much. There is almost never an hour that goes by that they don’t cross my mind. So please move in all of our lives. But I also recognize that you might be doing something here that I cannot see, and I might not live to see it. So I will press on. I will come to you. I will pray. I will try to become a man who exudes the fruits of your Spirit so that your kingdom might come into this world and your will might be done on earth as it is in the heavens.
8 Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. 9 For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. 10 So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
11 When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature. 12 For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.
13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. 14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.
Colossians 2:8-14
Dear God, verse 8 really cuts me to the quick. I listen to a lot of things. I think a lot of thoughts that I think are high-sounding, but are likely nonsense. The truth is, I am dead because of my sin. I still have it in me. I am so sorry. But somehow you canceled the record of the charges against me. It reminds me of what I prayed a year ago about the “thank you/f*** you” scene from Ted Lasso, when Ted has a conversation with his mom and thanks for the good things she did for him, but blasts her for the negative. I thought about making my own set of lists for people in my life when I felt your Holy Spirit remind me that you have a similar list for me and I am adding to both sides of it every day. The good news is that you cannot see the f*** you list for me through Jesus’s blood, so if you can have that much grace for me how much more can I have for those who have offended me? Oh, thank you for forgiving me. I am here right now to repent and tell you I am sorry. I truly am.
As for why I picked this today, I am fascinated by this image. I decided when I sat down to thumb through Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Upsby Ned Bustard and see if anything struck me. I saw this seemingly simple image called “Sacrament” by Richard Gaston and it caught my eye. What could it mean?
Like most title of poems, which serve as a cypher to break the code of the imagery of a poem, I think the title here is the key for understanding what Mr. Gaston was showing: the body and the blood. The bread and the wine. Jesus sacrifice for me. In the Catholic church there are seven sacraments (baptism, confirmation, eucharist, penance and reconciliation, anointing of the sick, holy orders, and matrimony), but no one can do them all. Two are mutually exclusive: holy orders and matrimony. As a non-Catholic going to a Catholic church with my wife, the only ones available to me are baptism, anointing of the sick, and matrimony. But for Catholics, the base foundational one after one is baptized–even before someone is confirmed–is the eucharist. Submitting to and taking in the sacrifice you made of your body and blood are the whole reason for every mass. Everything else is just there to support that one sacrament.
Here is what Bustard says about this image:
In this passage Paul sues the Greek words eucharistia (meaning “thanksgiving,” from which comes the word “eucharist”) and baptismo (meaning “I wash,” which was used in Jewish texts for ritual purification washings). During his earthly ministry Jesus instituted baptism–replacing the gender-based covenantal membership rite of circumcision–and the Eucharist. In this print either of these two sacraments seem to appear. The artist is either depicting the Spirit descending on the water, the minister raising his hands over the wine in consecration, or both.
I was tracking with Bustard until his last description. I didn’t see the minister raising his hands over the wine. I saw Jesus as the figure as the “body” and the cup, which he is standing in, as representing the blood. I can see where he might get the Holy Spirit coming down to the water, but I don’t see the minister raising his hands. I see Jesus. But I could be wrong. I’m likely wrong.
Father, I come to you this morning grateful for the sacrifice you made. I would like to think it’s a weird plan until I try to think of how else you should have done it. No, I have no problems with you or your plan at all. I am a small-minded fool. I was nowhere when you laid the foundations of the earth. My life is so little and so small. I’m just here to worship, bow down, and say that you’re my God.
I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
Emails to God 