A Liturgy for Holy Oddballs

As mentioned before, I like routines, checklists, order and structure. 

I've learned life doesn't always flow this way, but certain predictable patterns, keep the wheels on my faith-cart turning smoothly and not falling off the axles.

Thus, I've learned to enjoy old-fashioned-liturgies, by definition a form of public worship.

In the evangelical world, the liturgy of a church service looks like an opening prayer, worship (3 songs), a message, and a closing worship song. 

Communion boasts a familiar repetitive "formula," a liturgy.

In more recent years, best-selling books like Every Moment Holy and (one I picked up recently) Liturgies for Life Abroad offer us words to help express what we're feeling in our hearts when we're unable to express those emotions ourselves.

I liked the way Gemini explained the "Big Idea" of a liturgy, when asked: 

A liturgy isn't just a list of instructions; it's a "pedagogy of the heart." By doing the same actions and saying the same words repeatedly, the participant is meant to be internally reshaped by the practice.

A Pedagogy-of-the-Heart.  

We've gotten away from "pedagogy."

(Pedagogy - a teaching method that repeats certain facts with the intent to help internalize the lesson.)

Why am I going to this trouble to explain?

Well, perhaps the best way to close out this series on Living As Holy Oddballs is to gift you a liturgy you can use just for this purpose: A closing prayer meant to wrap up all that we've covered. 

Perhaps in providing this tool, we close the circle of our discussions; and, even, as we find ourselves praying these lines time and again, begin to recognize our lives are slowly being reshaped accordingly.

A Liturgy for Holy Oddballs

God of Sojourners,

Thank you for planting our feet on this sacred journey, we call pilgrimage.

Thank you for adding to our identity that we might celebrate the truth of being elect exiles, set apart sojourners, peculiar pilgrims.....holy oddballs.

Thank You for calling us out of darkness into Your marvelous light.
Thank You for making us Your people—chosen, loved, and sent.

As we complete Peter's letter to the exiles of his day, we ask that You would help us live faithfully in the world where You have placed us.

Make us willing servants—humble, attentive, and ready to care for those You entrust to us.

When suffering comes, remind us not to be surprised.
Give us courage to follow the example of Jesus,
and even to rejoice that we share in His sufferings.

Keep us sober-minded and alert.
Open our eyes to the schemes of the enemy,
and strengthen us to stand firm in the faith.

It's true, we don't often feel like rejoicing in this space between two worlds; so remind us of the truths we have learned and help us not conform to the patterns of this world. 

Renew our minds; and, set our hearts on things above where You are seated at the right hand of the Father. 

When we feel weak, remind us that You are near.
When we feel scattered, remind us that we belong to You.
When we feel weary, remind us that Your grace is sufficient.

And after we have walked through the trials set before us,
be faithful, O God, to restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us.

Send us out now as people of Your Kingdom—
living between two worlds,
yet anchored in a living hope.

We entrust ourselves to You,
our faithful Creator.

To You be the glory and dominion forever and ever.

Amen.

In the Hands of the God of All Grace

 

And after a little while, the God of all Grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To Him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 

(1 Peter 5:10-11)

The end. 

I'm so grateful for Peter's closing. 

He has chosen his most encouraging and tender words to leave for us, his Holy Oddballs. 

As I've studied through the book of 1 Peter over the last several months, I have noted that Peter's challenge is not an easy one. 

He's admitting, in fact, this call is down right difficult.

His ask is for the recipients of his letter to live set apart (between two worlds - this one and the coming Kingdom), to be different (social misfits), and his only assurance is that they can be certain of suffering. 

And, so, the questions that sit heavy on my heart - perhaps yours, as well - are these: 

Am I going to be OK?

Is it worth it?

Will I make it through unscathed and still remain faithful to the Lord who rescued me and awaits me in heaven? 

Peter anticipates these questions, and, he practically shouts, "YES!"

I offered this study with a bit of a fun twist...and, when I coined the phrase, Holy Oddball, I meant it to be a bit quirky, curious, and attention-commanding. 

However, I realize it's so much more. It's demanding. It's costly. It comes at a great price.

It means choosing submission, when you'd rather just follow your want-to.

It means enduring suffering, when you'd rather escape all pain.

It means remaining ceaselessly alert, when you'd rather put your brain in neutral.

It means serving others, when you'd rather isolate (hard words for this little introvert to type). 

And like the Psalmist, we want to cry out, "How long, O Lord (Psalm 13:1)?"

Peter doesn't ignore that question; he tells us "after a little while," meaning suffering is seasonal; but, it will come to an end. 

It may be part of our Holy-Oddball-Story, but it's not the end-all-story.

We have a God-of-all-Grace!

(Please re-read the words on the meme at the top of this blog post. Several times, in fact. Let them sink deeply inside your heart.)

The God of All Grace promises Himself to us: 

His presence and His work.

He never delegates the work, He performs it.

He will faithfully grant us divine resources, restoration and redemption....always!

One author of a commentary I read explained it this way:

He will restore what feels worn down,

Confirm what feels shaky,

Strengthen what feels weak, and...

Establish what feels uncertain. 

Peter is reminding us, we don't just grit our teeth and hope to survive...we entrust ourselves to a God who has promised to finish what He began in us.

No wonder Peter ends with worship...He knows:

God's got this!

Rest easy, my fellow Holy Oddballs...

(Thankful to ChatGPT for AI generated images on this series.)

Holy Oddballs Walk Free of All Cares (What a Concept!)

Little by little, I'm working my way through the first letter Peter wrote to elect exiles, sanctified sojourners, peculiar people....holy oddballs.

I've reached this passage in chapter 5...

God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you. Be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith (5:5b-9a)...

Thus far, we've established this world is not the home of Jesus-followers.

We've confirmed our identity in Christ.

We've celebrated both; and, noted, because of these truths, we'll endure suffering.

In spite of the suffering, we've got a job to do while we're still here on earth: 

to submit to the Lord in every area of our lives, to serve others as His hands and feet, and to shepherd God's flock.

Now Peter offers a statement that feels a little bit like an invitation, but also a quiet rebellion: 

Cast your cares on Him, because He cares for you...

Do you see how upside down this is (which makes it perfect for Holy Oddballs)?

Everything the world tells us is just the opposite:

Carry your cares.

Manage them.

Control them.

Figure them out.

Fret over them. 

Curate them into something impressive.

Or, more often than not, hide them well!  Stuff them waaaaaaay deep down. 

Stuffing them will quickly turn to discouragement, which leads to depression, which leads to despair, which leads to....well, at times, the worst possible scenario.

So, Peter proclaims to us all, "No! That's not what Holy Oddballs do with their worries. They throw them onto SOMEONE else (Jesus)!"

They get rid of them like a hot potato.

Instead of shoving them down inside our souls, we cast them upward - to a God who literally wants to carry the weight of our worries.

Peter never says deny them, just admit them, and give them away for the Lord God to deal with in His timing.

There is a pre-requisite, however.

It's the line that comes before: 

"Humble yourself under God's mighty hand." 

It's not a random phrase shoved in among a lot of words. 

Before we can cast, we have to admit something we don't like confessing, "I can't carry this thing well."

But, humility is the door way to letting go. It loosens our grip. It brings peace to our troubled spirits. 

And, the Lord says in return, "You were never meant to carry this thing." 

Casting sounds a bit dramatic (especially to someone - me - who is having shoulder pain 🤔).

Yet there's an assurance that comes with casting - SOMEONE BIGGER THAN MY PROBLEMS is actually on the receiving end, catching, carrying, working all things out for good! 

Someone who cares for us!

He's not distant.

He never slumbers, never sleeps.

He's personally, intentionally, constantly watching out for us. 

So here we are - holy oddballs, once more.

We live in the same pressure filled world as everyone else. 

Yet, we make a choice not to carry our problems the same way. 

We'll stay alert and clear minded - cause that sneaky enemy of our souls would love to use our worries and fears to defeat us. 

We'll walk humbly before our God; and, we'll lessen our load through casting, allowing us to walk freely.

Just like the peculiar people Peter always knew we were meant to be. 

Every! Sheep! Matters!

FACT: 

God is fervently, ardently calling His Holy Oddballs to step up and be selfless shepherds--shepherdesses, too. 

Good shepherds that follow in the footsteps of the Savior.

Apprentices to the Chief Shepherd, learning His ways day in and day out.

Peter puts it like this:

Here's my concern: that you care for God's flock with all the diligence of a shepherd. Not because you have to, but because you want to please God. Not calculating what you can get out of it, but acting spontaneously. Not bossily telling others what to do, but tenderly showing them the way (1 Peter 5:2-3, The Message)...

The ESV uses a stronger word - I exhort you...

Exhort.

It's not casual; it's urgent. 

It's the Apostle Peter, passionately admonishing us as Jesus-followers.

It's Peter, on his knees, pleading. 

He's beseeching us to shepherd whatever flock He has assigned to us in the midst of the world in which we are placed - 

Showing them the way...

Leading them to the safest place where they can rest...

THE SAFEST PLACE FOR A SHEEP IS NOT BESIDE THE SHEPHERD, BUT NEAR HIS HEART, BETWEEN HIS SHOULDERS.

I feel the heaviness of Peter's heart.

He's seen sheep wander. 

He knows the danger.  

He's carrying a weight for sheep being led astray by false teachers (2 Peter 2), the "wolves" sneaking in among the flock (Acts 20).

And, there's Jesus' own parable in Matthew 18:12-14...

What do you think? If any man has one hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go search for the one that is straying? And if it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray...

Shamefully, I say, I don't know my response...

Probably, I'd shrug my shoulders and hope for the best for that sheep-gone-missing...I still have 99 left.

Not a GOOD SHEPHERD - that's not his heart.

EVERY SHEEP MATTERS.

Say it slowly -- Every! Sheep! Matters!

There's a story that sticks in my mind from the book While Shepherds Watch Their Flocks, by Timothy Laniak. 

A shepherdess lost her favorite ewe.

She dropped everything.

For two months, she searched. She asked every passing shepherd. She wept. She prayed. She refused to give up.

Then one day, as another flock passed through her village, a single sheep lifted its head at the sound of her voice.

Her ewe!

The lost heard and responded.

She shrieked. She rejoiced; and, the village rejoiced with her. All for ONE EWE!

Two questions come to mind as I close.

What sheep in my world have gone missing? 

Will I go in search? 

 

Last week's blog post? That was more about shepherds who will disciple - - teaching, reminding.

This week's lesson? It's about pursuit. 

About diligence.

About refusing to let the wandering stay missing.

Oh, and Peter hints that there might even be a heavenly crown waiting (verse 5) - but, what will that matter ? Because, the lost has come back to the Shepherd. The wanderer has come home.

God's Pointing At You...

Back in 1917, the US Army created an iconic poster meant to instill patriotism and enhance recruitment as we ventured into the war-to-end-all-wars (World War I). 

Even though the war officially began in Europe on June 28, 1914, the US didn't enter the war until April 6 of 1917. 

A artist by the name of James Montgomery Flagg borrowed a design from Britain, used his own face (to save on hiring a model), and offered the image, first to a national magazine in 1916 asking the question, "What Are You Doing For Preparedness?" 

(Just FYI, I was NOT born yet; I did research the history published for the World War I Museum and History.)

This famous morale booster showed a caricature of a very serious "Uncle Sam" (have we forgotten him in our history?) pointing his finger to create the illusion of a direct, personal call to duty, saying:

I WANT YOU!

No question, Uncle Sam appeared quite grave...war's intensity shares no frivolity. 

I know this from my own son; he understood this well when he vowed to defend the constitution.

So, as Peter closes out his letter enlisting his aliens and strangers to receive their calling as "holy oddballs" (social misfits), I get the feeling that the Lord is saying the same thing to His people (especially us "olders"). 

I WANT YOU!

For what?

As Shepherds/Shepherdesses.

It's serious business. 

The sheep wander off.

They are as stubborn and stiff-necked as the flock Moses tried leading out of Egypt into the Promised Land.

They get themselves in trouble, come home wounded, and battle-scarred. 

They need constant care, good pasture, still waters, protection from the wolves threatening to carry them off (2 Peter 2). 

They need rescuers to carry them home.

Most of all, they are a forgetful flock. 

As I've recently been reading through Moses' interaction with his group of exiles (DEFINITELY, HOLY ODDBALLS), I took note of the amount of time Moses spent on REMINDERS. 

He continues repeating God's Words (His faithfulness, His compassion, His awesome works, His commandments, His moral code, His Levitical law) over and over and over and over...**

I wonder why until I remember what an amnesia-ridden-group-we-are. 

GOD'S PEOPLE SUFFER FROM AMNESIA.

Hence, the Lord WANTS SHEPHERDS to speak these things He wants them to remember, to write them down, to share them often in the comings and the goings.

He needs us to never forget to rehearse His faithfulness to the generations who come after us...

to tell our stories of the times He has intersected Himself into our lives...

to present the stories that bring hope...

to speak the words that He has used to transform our hearts...

and, maybe more than anything to bring to mind His unfailing Promises...

After all, 

...not one of God's good promises fail; they all come to pass (Joshua 21:45)!

God wants shepherds/shepherdesses in His spiritual army!

It's serious business.

Holy oddballs are somewhat desperate for them. 

AND...It's a finger-pointing, direct, personal call to all of us who are older, wiser, and who've walked around the burning bush a time or two...

**Various sources tell me that the words remember and do not forget, appear between 148-200 times in the Scriptures (121 times in the Old Testament, 27 in the New). I'd say this is an important mandate. Again, the Lord needs help reminding His people...of EVERYTHING!

From Surprised to Soul-Settled

Last week I promised we'd look into the Apostle Peter's personal theology of suffering. 

Before I bullet point his thoughts, I want to add a P.S. to last week.

It's only natural to feel surprise at the arrival of any unexpected event in our lives...

For goodness sake, only a Dr. Spock (if you're a Trekkie fan) calmly and unemotionally reacts.

So, Peter's not trying to send us on a guilt-trip for expressing a little knee-jerk-shock before we've had time to process. 

Nope.

Peter wants us to put tools in our pockets so that we've already processed when the time comes, and the lapse between the astonishment and the reigning of peace in our hearts grows shorter with the onset of each trial. 

Peter was no stranger to suffering. He desired his teachings to settle hearts even amidst exile-living, AND reduce that element of surprise. Instead of reacting negatively, we have time to catch our breath and respond positively. 

During our stint serving  in Africa at a school for missionary's children, if I'd studied and taken ownership of even just Peter's words (not to mention the whole counsel of God's words), I'd have spared my heart a lot of turmoil when difficulty landed on my doorstep.

Instead, it took me weeks and weeks of a troubled spirit, disquieted within me, to finally discover this truth. With God's help, a timely message placed strategically in my mailbox on a cassette tape (smile), and the soothing words of Scripture, I ultimately arrived at that place of a quieted soul.

Hear what Peter wants to remind us...

SUFFERINGS ARE MOMENTARY

In the midst of the hardship, time drags. Yet, in light of eternity to come, what we experience is the blink of an eye. So, my focus needs to transfer on the there and then, not the here and now. Do I allow the burdens of today to put me on a merry-go-round of a troubled mind, or am I resting in the fact that Jesus has a plan even in this? And, in light of our heavenly hope, this is just a "little while."

TRIALS REFINE US.

While trials feel fiery they will reveal to us the genuineness of our faith (down through the ages, the "gold" of our faith is always purified by fire). What might the Lord be doing in me right now that will ultimately bring Him glory? Thank Him!

GOD'S FAVOR WILL BE POURED OUT ON US IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MESS

All trials come in various shapes and sizes (various - the word means variegated, as in different shades); but, good news (!) God's grace is described with the same word (1 Peter 4:10, God's varied grace). For every shade of trial there is a grace from God to help us endure what we are experiencing. Where can I see God's grace in the midst of today's difficulties? Give Him praise! 

TRIALS HELP US KNOW OUR SAVIOR MORE INTIMATELY

In the midst of our hard times, as we seek the Lord and His word, we get to share in the fellowship of His suffering.  The Apostle Paul tells us that through this sharing we will know Jesus even more and live even closer to His heart, knowing His thoughts, and experiencing His deep love for us - (Philippians 3:10). What might God be teaching me in the midst of my trials - about His character, His relationship with me, His word, His watchcare over me... Respond with gratitude...

JESUS SUFFERED FOR ME...with so great a salvation, how can I not receive suffering as a gift if He asks it of me?

Peter (and even Jesus) said that if one's teacher suffers, won't His students also experience the same (Matthew 10:24-32)? No student is better than the master! How can this lead to appreciating His suffering on our behalf even more? 

TRIALS DON'T MEAN WE'VE DONE SOMETHING WRONG; so, there is no need to live in shame.

Simply because we are suffering doesn't mean we've sinned. This has been a typical belief down through the ages. BUT, remember the story of the man born blind? Jesus was asked, "Who sinned, the baby in the womb or the parents?" Oh my! He responded - "Neither!" And, remember dear Job and his three tiresome friends? The trials Job endured are a testimony of his right living, not wrong actions. 

NOW THEN...SIDE NOTE: we should always check our hearts...is there something we need to confess? We often suffer consequences for our actions. Paul warns us that we will "reap what we sow." Sin does have consequences. 

Have I examined my heart? Have I repented of any sin that might lead to difficult consequences? Or, are these trials I'm experiencing for another reason? A refinement? A new lesson? A testimony of God's goodness to the lost around me? An opportunity to show the world that loving Jesus and living for Him looks different on us than the rest of the world? A way to know Him better? 

ULTIMATELY, OUR SUFFERINGS LEAD TO REJOICING.

Over and again as Peter discusses the trials of life, he clearly expresses that our outlook should be one of rejoicing. Why? Because God, the Father, the King of Kings, the Good Shepherd, the Almighty, Creator of the Universe is watching over us. 

Tuck these truths in your pocket. Pull them out in difficult times and let them work God's peace right into your heart. 

SURPRISE!

Surprise! 

What rises in you when you hear that word?

Do you love surprises?

Or do you prefer predictability—knowing what’s coming and when?

A little internet research informed me that most people like to be surprised. 

(I was, actually, surprised by this). 

Those who don't have a need for PREDICTABILITY...and, surprise always falls into the category of uncertainty. 

I’m a bit neutral. Most of my surprise-experiences have been good ones.

But it’s the hard surprises—the ones that arrive uninvited and unwelcome—that tend to shake me (and probably you, as well):  the loss of a loved one, a difficult diagnosis, a fractured relationship…
even the smaller disruptions—delays, cancellations, misplaced luggage.

Those are the ones that throw us.

And yet…surprises are part of life.

If we’ve embraced our identity as holy oddballs—elect exiles, sojourners, pilgrims—Peter tells us there is one “surprise” we should actually expect.

SUFFERING! 

In fact, Peter goes so far as to say DIFFICULTY shouldn’t surprise us at all.

“Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you…as though something strange were happening to you.” (1 Peter 4:12)

Peter is helping us redefine what is normal.

Trials are not interruptions to our lives.
They are part of the pathway of our faith.

“…though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith…may be found to result in praise and glory and honor…” (1 Peter 1:6–7)

During the years I studied to obtain my degree in counseling, one of my professors encouraged all of his students to develop a theology of suffering. 

In fact, the final for that class wasn't an exam, but basically a dissertation on the subject.

That exercise revealed, with clarity, how little I understood what the Scriptures tell me about dealing with this topic. 

Peter knew we'd need our own theology; a firm foundation to stand on when we have to face the trials of life.

He starts with two simple truths intended to shift our understanding of "normal" and help us to steady our souls.

His goal for us is to move more rapidly from  SURPRISE to SOUL-SETTLED when suffering lands in our laps.

First—tribulation is normal.
There is nothing unusual happening when hardship comes.
It is not personal. It is not proof that something has gone wrong.
It is part of living in a broken world.

Maybe… it’s just our turn.

Second—the Lord is present.
We do not suffer alone.
And if He is with us, He is not passive—He is purposeful.

He is refining.
He is strengthening.
He is preparing something in us that will one day result in glory.

Again, Peter’s goal is not to explain away suffering—but to prepare us for it.

So that we can move, more quickly,
from surprise…to a settled soul.

And, I believe he's inviting each of us to develop our own Biblical understanding of suffering... (praise the Lord, he won't be giving us a grade!). 

In Peter's experience, he knows we're going to need it...and he wants his listener's to be ready.

So, let's add this exercise to the top of our to-do-lists (even I need a refresher on my theology of suffering)...and more of Peter's advice next week.