Saturday, March 28, 2020
Texts: Psalm 130; Ezekiel 36:8-15; Luke 24:44-53
Scripture Thought (Ps. 130:5): I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.
Reflection: Waiting. One of the least favorite verbs we have in the language is “wait.” After all, weren’t we taught early in our education that verbs are “action words” that indicate what the subject is doing? What kind of activity is waiting? What is one doing while he or she is “waiting?” Generally speaking, we don’t like to wait. We find patience a difficult commodity to grasp when we are waiting for a car, a friend, a piece of mail, a plane, an appointment, an announcement, an apology. Something is anticipated but not here, and we want that period between now and then to come to a conclusion, even if that conclusion will be something unpleasant; let’s just get this over with, done, finished so we can move on.
What does it mean for the psalmist to say he waits for the Lord? Is he expecting a literal appearance, is he expecting a representative--an angelic visitor who in some fashion announces unmistakably that God’s answer is right here, right now? How will he know that the waiting period is at an end? His “whole being” is involved in this waiting; it’s not just an “I hope it happens” thing that’s in the back of his mind. Everything has been made dependent on the one for whom he waits. He has no alternative hope, no contingency plan just in case it does not happen. All of his eggs are in this basket. So what is he expecting?
What are we expecting when we come before God in our current dilemma? What is His word to us, that we might invest our hope therein--and wait? How will we recognize it? The only sufficient answer is His powerful presence. The promise continues to be this: “Lo, I am with you, even to the end of the age.” It’s the presence which nakedness, peril, sword, virus cannot erase and cannot change. Anything else we might hope for in this world, even an immediate end to the corona crisis, falls short. For there will be other perils, perhaps other diseases, other tornadoes, other earthquakes. They, too, will be incapable of separating us from the love of God in Christ. Carrying that hope will serve us well, and lead us to serve our neighbor without fear. And we’ll find that waiting for Him is not as uncertain an endeavor as we imagined.
Prayer. Our Father, in our time of distress and proposed solutions, remind us that it is not the survival of one crisis or another that presents our greatest need. We ask for the faith of Your people to be strengthened, made equal to the task before us. Give us the grace to wait for Your appearing, the most hopeful promise there can be. Until then, continue to equip us for every good work to demonstrate Your love for the world. Amen.
Friday, March 27
Texts: Psalm 130; Ezekiel 33:10-16; Revelation 11:15-19
Scripture Thought: 13 If I tell a righteous person that they will surely live, but then they trust in their righteousness and do evil, none of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered; they will die for the evil they have done. 14 And if I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ but they then turn away from their sin and do what is just and right— 15 if they give back what they took in pledge for a loan, return what they have stolen, follow the decrees that give life, and do no evil—that person will surely live; they will not die. 16 None of the sins that person has committed will be remembered against them. They have done what is just and right; they will surely live.
Reflection: All of us have known people who have made momentous turnarounds in their lives. Old descriptions of the person no longer fit, even those that might have been considered accurate for many years. It happens in both directions, from one broad category to its opposite. People known for their gruff or caustic manner become approachable and pleasant to be around; and, less happily, some who were once known for their gracious and generous spirit become difficult, perhaps isolated. In a sense, our reactions to these changes are pretty much in line with what God says through Ezekiel. To the first group there is a welcome extended; to the second, He--and we--say a sad “I don’t know you anymore.” With God, and sometimes with us, there is always a door left open for a return--otherwise there is not much point in giving the warning in the first place.
Notice the turning point in the persons who initially were counted among the righteous. “If I tell a righteous person that they will surely live, but then they trust in their righteousness and do evil . . ..” Trusting in our own righteousness is always a prelude to spiritual and personal disaster. We’re good enough, we think, especially compared to THOSE people. We say it once, when “those people” include a wide variety of people who do a lot of things they should not do. Once we do that, there is a slow but steady decline in our own righteousness. We still tend to compare ourselves to those people, but something happens. The group on the other side tends to shrink. The number of things about which we think, “at least I don’t do THAT!” decreases. Our standard of righteousness--that in which we have come to trust--has slipped farther and farther from where God has wanted us to be, farther from representing Him and His ways in our everyday dealings with people.
As we consider Lent, as we consider our responsibility toward our neighbors and family in the current COVID-19 pandemic, let us look with resolve to “follow the decrees that bring life.” If we have followed all along, God is pleased; if we have strayed from those ways in small ways or great, (by hoarding for oneself, by price gouging, by spreading discord) let us turn and follow now. God is pleased. For Christ has come to restore our standing and set our path aright. There’s no better time to follow Him than when our friends and neighbors need Him most.
Prayer. Father, You are gracious and compassionate, forgiving the sins of all who will turn from the evil they have done. May we offer the true repentance for our sins, that which results in new paths of righteousness, of mercy and truth. Hear our prayer for our land, now suffering illness such as we have not known. Show You generous spirit through those who call upon Your name. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Texts: Psalm 130; Ezekiel 1:1-3, 2:8-3:3; Revelation 10:1-11
Scripture Thought (Ps. 130:3-8) If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you. 5 I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. 6 I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. 7 Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. 8 He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.
Reflection: As a creature made in the image of God, placed in God’s world to display that image in all our ways, we surely do fall short. As a human race and as individual members of it, we just don’t seem to look much like God in the way we treat one another. That blatant short-coming has been on display recently as we seem to find it difficult to truly come together in the face of a crisis.
Before going farther, a qualification of the previous sentence is needed. We should celebrate the many instances of people making sacrificial gifts, whether in the form of monetary gifts or of time and effort, even exposing oneself to potentially contracting the COVID-19 virus, or of musicians, young and old, encouraging people with music. These and many more similar actions do indeed give a glimpse of God’s loving nature. We need to focus more attention on these displays and imitate them in ways God equips us so to do. Yet we see another spirit altogether when we turn on the news (or social media) and hear accusations of wrong-doing, from alleged ineptitude to outright carelessness, from poorly conceived plans to outright manipulation of supply chains for the purpose of profit. Fingers point, threats are voiced, and enemies are excoriated.
It’s not the place of this devotional writer to assess the claims and charges brought against one or another of the politicians from either side of what has become a great divide. Nor is it any of ours. Our place is to remember the one in whose image we are made, and specifically how he deals with sin--bad decisions made for personal gain of one kind or another. We are the ones who must say with the psalmist, if a true record of sins were kept by the only record-keeper who matters, we would all fall flat. With God there is forgiveness; with man, there is further condemnation, more accusations, all the while failing or refusing to see that the standard by which we have judged will surely condemn us as well. How much better the atmosphere would be if we acted more like God toward both actual and alleged sins. You and I can play parts in the healing of our land by sharing what we can and by displaying the very kind of grace toward everyone--everyone--that God shows. Yes, God, the One in whom alone there is full redemption.
Prayer. God of grace and God of glory, on Your people pour Your power. Not the power of wealth and positions of influence, but the power of grace to guide our conversations, our actions, and our attitudes. We pray for that grace we have freely received to find a constant home within us, replacing our desire to lash out, to point, to accuse, and to believe the worst of those with whom we disagree. Forgive us of these great sins, we humbly pray. Amen.
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Texts: Psalm 146; Isaiah 60:17-22; Matthew 9:27-34
Scripture Thought (Mt. 9:29-33): 29 Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; 30 and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” 31 But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.
32 While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. 33 And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”
Reflection: It’s hard to resist. We’ve been hearing words similar to the crowd’s commentary on the healings performed by Jesus rather frequently. We’ve never seen anything like this; nothing like has ever happened before; we’re doing an unbelievable job; no one has ever accomplished this.
Whether or not such bravado is warranted in these days of COVID-19 remains to be seen. One of the major differences between the biblical usage of the words and the president’s claims, however, is that Jesus never had to point out what he was doing. In fact, he told more than one of those he healed or delivered from demonic influence to keep quiet about it. Like that would happen, right? It illustrates the nature of the work of God--it is so vastly different from the norm, so far above the ordinary experience that it elicits praise spontaneously. There’s nothing else that can be said, no comparisons to be drawn. The upgrade over what was previously known changes everything, because now the “impossible” is not so far out of the question after all. If the blind can suddenly see, and the dumb now speak, what else might happen? What other inhibiting conditions of life might be chased away with a word?
Isaiah envisioned it. “No longer will violence be heard in your land, no ruin or destruction within your borders.” That sounds wonderful, and it is. We have a hard time imagining such a world because those very things dominate our news every day, every night. It’s true--we’ve never heard such a thing, we’ve never experienced it before. And when it happens it will be readily evident that it has been the work of the Lord that brought it about. No fanfare will be needed. It will be accompanied by something even more remarkable, something else which he alone can bring about--the righteousness of his people. The kingdom begins with his righteousness, which he brings to bear in the lives of those who are his, so that his works may fill the earth.
Prayer: Father, how much You long for our wholeness! You care more about our true thriving than we do ourselves. Teach us to trust You with our whole hearts, to seek Your goodness and be trained in Your righteousness, that the world will see and believe that You are the light that shows us the way to that brings true blessing. Amen.
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Texts: Psalm 146; Isaiah 42:14-21; Colossians 1:9-14
Scripture Thought (Col. 1:9a-14): We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Reflection: It’s hard to imagine a time in which what Paul prays for is more needed than it is today. The wisdom and understanding the Spirit gives would be a wonderful contribution to today’s world. As a nation, and as a community of nations, we seem to be at the mercy of a virus that is working its way through virtually all populations. As we try to slow the spread, we have brought about the beginning of another kind of suffering. An economic breakdown will threaten a lot of people, with effects on our ability to feed, house, and provide security for a large portion of the population. Meanwhile, public health officials seem to be at odds with federal officials; political leaders continue to divide along party lines and are unable to break through and move ahead on; and some businesses are using the opportunity to maximize profits on the materials so desperately needed.
I fear we often fall into the error of thinking that God’s wisdom and understanding are only for “spiritual” matters. Maybe that is bound to occur when we think of the Kingdom of God, or in the Colossians text, the kingdom of light, to a time and place having nothing to do with this world, which is then virtually, if not entirely, equated with “the dominion of darkness.” But that (mis)interpretation overlooks the reason for which Paul is praying for wisdom. He wants the people for whom he is praying--the believers in a city that was every bit as dark spiritually as is our day. He wants them--and believers in any age--to live a life worthy of the Lord. In case we have forgotten, the Lord came to give sight to the blind, set captives free, and proclaim that the Lord’s jubilee, the year of his favor, was coming in Him. It’s here. And it is our task to do what he did, demonstrating to the world that there is a different way of doing things, one guided and directed by a wise, gracious, caring God. We who believe and have come out of the rule of darkness and now engage in the same world, but under a new leader. So when darkness, in the form of personal gain, fear, and desire for power, clouds the decisions being made for the public good, citizens of the kingdom of light will be able to see more clearly--if they will step back and hear the voice of their king, Jesus himself. That’s something to pray for in any day and age. When that prayer is answered, indeed will all the nations of the earth be blessed.
Prayer. Holy Spirit, You who indwell the children of the Father through the redeeming work of the Son, come to us afresh with wisdom we do not yet recognize, and a power the world needs to know. We ask You to overcome the darkness in places where it hinders the truth that will set us free, both from sin itself and from its manifestation in discord, selfish gain at the expense of public good, and prideful refusal to listen. Show your faithful witnesses in all places the way forward from the plight of this illness. Heal the sick of body, mind, and spirit, we pray. Amen.
March 23-28.Monday, March 23, 2020
Texts: Psalm 146; Isaiah 59:9-19; Acts 9:1-20
Scripture Thought (Isa. 59:9-11): 9 So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows 10 Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like people without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead. 11 We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away.
Reflection: At different times and for different reasons, people have called out in seeming futility for justice. They’ve asked dictators, judges, congresses, police officers, legal advocates to release them from oppression. At times they’ve called out to God, only to be met with silence. Hopes rise only to be dashed.
It’s a graphic set of images that Isaiah presents to describe what it’s like to live without justice. Blind people groping along a wall; feeling the way without knowing what the way is, whether one is on it, and not knowing where the way goes in the first place; stumbling as though it were dusk when it’s really high noon. It does things to people to be denied justice. It makes them cynical, argumentative, constantly moaning. People were not meant to live with injustice as the norm. And they do not thrive when it occurs, even for short periods of time. Of course not. It’s not what we were made for. We were made to bear God’s image and display God’s character in our personal dealings and interactions, working for the mutual benefit of all, the way the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit perfectly and lovingly relate to one another. Mutually giving and receiving love.
There’s the rub--mutuality. We love to receive expressions of love; most of us are not nearly as quick to give. We’re quick to notice where we’ve come up on the short end when it’s our turn to receive. That’s when we cry out for justice. It’s in us, we desire it because we are made for it. But we’re not as quick to notice a shortfall on the giving side--when we are the ones whose turn it is to do the right thing by others. Look at the hoarding of goods happening all over our country at the moment. The same ones who call for justice in the handling of our current crisis--because they fear being short-changed in the distribution of what is available--seem focused only on their own procuring of goods and services. It was that way with the people to whom Isaiah was prophesying. Their call for justice reached God’s ear, but the response began by pointing to the lack of righteousness in their own dealings. Perhaps we should learn some lessons this lent season, especially as we deal with a crisis that calls on all of us to work together. Will we be concerned about getting what is coming to us, but less observant about what others need from us? The people of God are people of justice, and even more, people of mercy.
Prayer. Lord, in our time of brokenness and need, lead us to seek less to be given to than to give ourselves. Let us be content with what we have, grateful for what we have that goes beyond our need, and anxious to share with those who look to You for justice. As much as lies within us, may we as your people reflect your glory as a perfect community of love. Amen.
Texts: Psalm 130; Ezekiel 36:8-15; Luke 24:44-53
Scripture Thought (Ps. 130:5): I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.
Reflection: Waiting. One of the least favorite verbs we have in the language is “wait.” After all, weren’t we taught early in our education that verbs are “action words” that indicate what the subject is doing? What kind of activity is waiting? What is one doing while he or she is “waiting?” Generally speaking, we don’t like to wait. We find patience a difficult commodity to grasp when we are waiting for a car, a friend, a piece of mail, a plane, an appointment, an announcement, an apology. Something is anticipated but not here, and we want that period between now and then to come to a conclusion, even if that conclusion will be something unpleasant; let’s just get this over with, done, finished so we can move on.
What does it mean for the psalmist to say he waits for the Lord? Is he expecting a literal appearance, is he expecting a representative--an angelic visitor who in some fashion announces unmistakably that God’s answer is right here, right now? How will he know that the waiting period is at an end? His “whole being” is involved in this waiting; it’s not just an “I hope it happens” thing that’s in the back of his mind. Everything has been made dependent on the one for whom he waits. He has no alternative hope, no contingency plan just in case it does not happen. All of his eggs are in this basket. So what is he expecting?
What are we expecting when we come before God in our current dilemma? What is His word to us, that we might invest our hope therein--and wait? How will we recognize it? The only sufficient answer is His powerful presence. The promise continues to be this: “Lo, I am with you, even to the end of the age.” It’s the presence which nakedness, peril, sword, virus cannot erase and cannot change. Anything else we might hope for in this world, even an immediate end to the corona crisis, falls short. For there will be other perils, perhaps other diseases, other tornadoes, other earthquakes. They, too, will be incapable of separating us from the love of God in Christ. Carrying that hope will serve us well, and lead us to serve our neighbor without fear. And we’ll find that waiting for Him is not as uncertain an endeavor as we imagined.
Prayer. Our Father, in our time of distress and proposed solutions, remind us that it is not the survival of one crisis or another that presents our greatest need. We ask for the faith of Your people to be strengthened, made equal to the task before us. Give us the grace to wait for Your appearing, the most hopeful promise there can be. Until then, continue to equip us for every good work to demonstrate Your love for the world. Amen.
Friday, March 27
Texts: Psalm 130; Ezekiel 33:10-16; Revelation 11:15-19
Scripture Thought: 13 If I tell a righteous person that they will surely live, but then they trust in their righteousness and do evil, none of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered; they will die for the evil they have done. 14 And if I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ but they then turn away from their sin and do what is just and right— 15 if they give back what they took in pledge for a loan, return what they have stolen, follow the decrees that give life, and do no evil—that person will surely live; they will not die. 16 None of the sins that person has committed will be remembered against them. They have done what is just and right; they will surely live.
Reflection: All of us have known people who have made momentous turnarounds in their lives. Old descriptions of the person no longer fit, even those that might have been considered accurate for many years. It happens in both directions, from one broad category to its opposite. People known for their gruff or caustic manner become approachable and pleasant to be around; and, less happily, some who were once known for their gracious and generous spirit become difficult, perhaps isolated. In a sense, our reactions to these changes are pretty much in line with what God says through Ezekiel. To the first group there is a welcome extended; to the second, He--and we--say a sad “I don’t know you anymore.” With God, and sometimes with us, there is always a door left open for a return--otherwise there is not much point in giving the warning in the first place.
Notice the turning point in the persons who initially were counted among the righteous. “If I tell a righteous person that they will surely live, but then they trust in their righteousness and do evil . . ..” Trusting in our own righteousness is always a prelude to spiritual and personal disaster. We’re good enough, we think, especially compared to THOSE people. We say it once, when “those people” include a wide variety of people who do a lot of things they should not do. Once we do that, there is a slow but steady decline in our own righteousness. We still tend to compare ourselves to those people, but something happens. The group on the other side tends to shrink. The number of things about which we think, “at least I don’t do THAT!” decreases. Our standard of righteousness--that in which we have come to trust--has slipped farther and farther from where God has wanted us to be, farther from representing Him and His ways in our everyday dealings with people.
As we consider Lent, as we consider our responsibility toward our neighbors and family in the current COVID-19 pandemic, let us look with resolve to “follow the decrees that bring life.” If we have followed all along, God is pleased; if we have strayed from those ways in small ways or great, (by hoarding for oneself, by price gouging, by spreading discord) let us turn and follow now. God is pleased. For Christ has come to restore our standing and set our path aright. There’s no better time to follow Him than when our friends and neighbors need Him most.
Prayer. Father, You are gracious and compassionate, forgiving the sins of all who will turn from the evil they have done. May we offer the true repentance for our sins, that which results in new paths of righteousness, of mercy and truth. Hear our prayer for our land, now suffering illness such as we have not known. Show You generous spirit through those who call upon Your name. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Texts: Psalm 130; Ezekiel 1:1-3, 2:8-3:3; Revelation 10:1-11
Scripture Thought (Ps. 130:3-8) If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you. 5 I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. 6 I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. 7 Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. 8 He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.
Reflection: As a creature made in the image of God, placed in God’s world to display that image in all our ways, we surely do fall short. As a human race and as individual members of it, we just don’t seem to look much like God in the way we treat one another. That blatant short-coming has been on display recently as we seem to find it difficult to truly come together in the face of a crisis.
Before going farther, a qualification of the previous sentence is needed. We should celebrate the many instances of people making sacrificial gifts, whether in the form of monetary gifts or of time and effort, even exposing oneself to potentially contracting the COVID-19 virus, or of musicians, young and old, encouraging people with music. These and many more similar actions do indeed give a glimpse of God’s loving nature. We need to focus more attention on these displays and imitate them in ways God equips us so to do. Yet we see another spirit altogether when we turn on the news (or social media) and hear accusations of wrong-doing, from alleged ineptitude to outright carelessness, from poorly conceived plans to outright manipulation of supply chains for the purpose of profit. Fingers point, threats are voiced, and enemies are excoriated.
It’s not the place of this devotional writer to assess the claims and charges brought against one or another of the politicians from either side of what has become a great divide. Nor is it any of ours. Our place is to remember the one in whose image we are made, and specifically how he deals with sin--bad decisions made for personal gain of one kind or another. We are the ones who must say with the psalmist, if a true record of sins were kept by the only record-keeper who matters, we would all fall flat. With God there is forgiveness; with man, there is further condemnation, more accusations, all the while failing or refusing to see that the standard by which we have judged will surely condemn us as well. How much better the atmosphere would be if we acted more like God toward both actual and alleged sins. You and I can play parts in the healing of our land by sharing what we can and by displaying the very kind of grace toward everyone--everyone--that God shows. Yes, God, the One in whom alone there is full redemption.
Prayer. God of grace and God of glory, on Your people pour Your power. Not the power of wealth and positions of influence, but the power of grace to guide our conversations, our actions, and our attitudes. We pray for that grace we have freely received to find a constant home within us, replacing our desire to lash out, to point, to accuse, and to believe the worst of those with whom we disagree. Forgive us of these great sins, we humbly pray. Amen.
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Texts: Psalm 146; Isaiah 60:17-22; Matthew 9:27-34
Scripture Thought (Mt. 9:29-33): 29 Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; 30 and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” 31 But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.
32 While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. 33 And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”
Reflection: It’s hard to resist. We’ve been hearing words similar to the crowd’s commentary on the healings performed by Jesus rather frequently. We’ve never seen anything like this; nothing like has ever happened before; we’re doing an unbelievable job; no one has ever accomplished this.
Whether or not such bravado is warranted in these days of COVID-19 remains to be seen. One of the major differences between the biblical usage of the words and the president’s claims, however, is that Jesus never had to point out what he was doing. In fact, he told more than one of those he healed or delivered from demonic influence to keep quiet about it. Like that would happen, right? It illustrates the nature of the work of God--it is so vastly different from the norm, so far above the ordinary experience that it elicits praise spontaneously. There’s nothing else that can be said, no comparisons to be drawn. The upgrade over what was previously known changes everything, because now the “impossible” is not so far out of the question after all. If the blind can suddenly see, and the dumb now speak, what else might happen? What other inhibiting conditions of life might be chased away with a word?
Isaiah envisioned it. “No longer will violence be heard in your land, no ruin or destruction within your borders.” That sounds wonderful, and it is. We have a hard time imagining such a world because those very things dominate our news every day, every night. It’s true--we’ve never heard such a thing, we’ve never experienced it before. And when it happens it will be readily evident that it has been the work of the Lord that brought it about. No fanfare will be needed. It will be accompanied by something even more remarkable, something else which he alone can bring about--the righteousness of his people. The kingdom begins with his righteousness, which he brings to bear in the lives of those who are his, so that his works may fill the earth.
Prayer: Father, how much You long for our wholeness! You care more about our true thriving than we do ourselves. Teach us to trust You with our whole hearts, to seek Your goodness and be trained in Your righteousness, that the world will see and believe that You are the light that shows us the way to that brings true blessing. Amen.
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Texts: Psalm 146; Isaiah 42:14-21; Colossians 1:9-14
Scripture Thought (Col. 1:9a-14): We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Reflection: It’s hard to imagine a time in which what Paul prays for is more needed than it is today. The wisdom and understanding the Spirit gives would be a wonderful contribution to today’s world. As a nation, and as a community of nations, we seem to be at the mercy of a virus that is working its way through virtually all populations. As we try to slow the spread, we have brought about the beginning of another kind of suffering. An economic breakdown will threaten a lot of people, with effects on our ability to feed, house, and provide security for a large portion of the population. Meanwhile, public health officials seem to be at odds with federal officials; political leaders continue to divide along party lines and are unable to break through and move ahead on; and some businesses are using the opportunity to maximize profits on the materials so desperately needed.
I fear we often fall into the error of thinking that God’s wisdom and understanding are only for “spiritual” matters. Maybe that is bound to occur when we think of the Kingdom of God, or in the Colossians text, the kingdom of light, to a time and place having nothing to do with this world, which is then virtually, if not entirely, equated with “the dominion of darkness.” But that (mis)interpretation overlooks the reason for which Paul is praying for wisdom. He wants the people for whom he is praying--the believers in a city that was every bit as dark spiritually as is our day. He wants them--and believers in any age--to live a life worthy of the Lord. In case we have forgotten, the Lord came to give sight to the blind, set captives free, and proclaim that the Lord’s jubilee, the year of his favor, was coming in Him. It’s here. And it is our task to do what he did, demonstrating to the world that there is a different way of doing things, one guided and directed by a wise, gracious, caring God. We who believe and have come out of the rule of darkness and now engage in the same world, but under a new leader. So when darkness, in the form of personal gain, fear, and desire for power, clouds the decisions being made for the public good, citizens of the kingdom of light will be able to see more clearly--if they will step back and hear the voice of their king, Jesus himself. That’s something to pray for in any day and age. When that prayer is answered, indeed will all the nations of the earth be blessed.
Prayer. Holy Spirit, You who indwell the children of the Father through the redeeming work of the Son, come to us afresh with wisdom we do not yet recognize, and a power the world needs to know. We ask You to overcome the darkness in places where it hinders the truth that will set us free, both from sin itself and from its manifestation in discord, selfish gain at the expense of public good, and prideful refusal to listen. Show your faithful witnesses in all places the way forward from the plight of this illness. Heal the sick of body, mind, and spirit, we pray. Amen.
March 23-28.Monday, March 23, 2020
Texts: Psalm 146; Isaiah 59:9-19; Acts 9:1-20
Scripture Thought (Isa. 59:9-11): 9 So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows 10 Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like people without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead. 11 We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away.
Reflection: At different times and for different reasons, people have called out in seeming futility for justice. They’ve asked dictators, judges, congresses, police officers, legal advocates to release them from oppression. At times they’ve called out to God, only to be met with silence. Hopes rise only to be dashed.
It’s a graphic set of images that Isaiah presents to describe what it’s like to live without justice. Blind people groping along a wall; feeling the way without knowing what the way is, whether one is on it, and not knowing where the way goes in the first place; stumbling as though it were dusk when it’s really high noon. It does things to people to be denied justice. It makes them cynical, argumentative, constantly moaning. People were not meant to live with injustice as the norm. And they do not thrive when it occurs, even for short periods of time. Of course not. It’s not what we were made for. We were made to bear God’s image and display God’s character in our personal dealings and interactions, working for the mutual benefit of all, the way the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit perfectly and lovingly relate to one another. Mutually giving and receiving love.
There’s the rub--mutuality. We love to receive expressions of love; most of us are not nearly as quick to give. We’re quick to notice where we’ve come up on the short end when it’s our turn to receive. That’s when we cry out for justice. It’s in us, we desire it because we are made for it. But we’re not as quick to notice a shortfall on the giving side--when we are the ones whose turn it is to do the right thing by others. Look at the hoarding of goods happening all over our country at the moment. The same ones who call for justice in the handling of our current crisis--because they fear being short-changed in the distribution of what is available--seem focused only on their own procuring of goods and services. It was that way with the people to whom Isaiah was prophesying. Their call for justice reached God’s ear, but the response began by pointing to the lack of righteousness in their own dealings. Perhaps we should learn some lessons this lent season, especially as we deal with a crisis that calls on all of us to work together. Will we be concerned about getting what is coming to us, but less observant about what others need from us? The people of God are people of justice, and even more, people of mercy.
Prayer. Lord, in our time of brokenness and need, lead us to seek less to be given to than to give ourselves. Let us be content with what we have, grateful for what we have that goes beyond our need, and anxious to share with those who look to You for justice. As much as lies within us, may we as your people reflect your glory as a perfect community of love. Amen.