Saturday, April 4, 2020
Texts: Psalm 31:9-16; Lamentations 3:55-66; Mark 10:32-34
Scripture Thought (Mark 10:32-34): 32 They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. 33 “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34 who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”
Reflection: Who is the Number 1 enemy in the world? Who has done the most damage to civilizations, communities, social order, and is responsible for any ill we encounter in our life together in this world? Who has caused us the most pain, inflicted the greatest sorrow upon us? Who is properly blamed for everything that doesn’t go right? They are. They, them, the other ones--those who aren’t part of us. Once we’ve identified the others, we have no problem in finding a way to hold them responsible for all the ills we encounter. Look at what they’ve done, listen to what they’re saying. When we stop for very long, however, we might be forced to consider that to “them” we are the “they.” From the other side of the divide, it seems that we are the ones responsible for all of the things we blamed on them.
The question for today is not that of determining which side is in the right and which is in the wrong. There are times when any objective analysis can readily determine the relative assignment of guilt to one party or the other in a dispute. Jeremiah’s tormentors were guilty of just what he indicates in his lament. From their perspective, however, it was Jeremiah himself who was causing social disturbance and unsettling the city. Jesus was “guilty” of the same sort of charge from “their” point of view. But note the difference in the reaction between Jeremiah and Jesus. The former kept about his assignment from God, but had to cry out for not only vindication from the charges of “the others,” but for vengeance as well, with God as the executor. Jesus, aware of what was ahead of him, gave a matter-of-fact summary of what would happen in the ensuing days, yet without calling for revenge on those who would carry out the horrible plan. He was about to announce an end to the need to blame others; he would accept the guilt of both parties. And it would kill him. “They” would kill him.
When we identify with Jesus we identify with one who does not assign blame to others and call down the wrath of God to consume them. We identify with one who was not wrong but accepted blame nonetheless, that he might reconcile two parties, us as humanity and God the Father as the violated Creator. Our fallen human inclination is to accept those we deem to be like us and to exclude all others. God’s way is to accept and embrace all who will come to him. Hard as it is, we are to learn the way of Jesus and turn from all thoughts of revenge upon “them.”
Prayer. Lord, the way of the cross is hard. We’d rather scream like Jeremiah when we are wronged. The way of the cross is hard; we’d rather blame other people for the problems in this world. The way of the cross is hard, Jesus; but nonetheless, help us to walk by its light, for only on that way can we find true life, free from burdens we were not meant to bear. Take us on that way through the troubled world in which we live. Amen.
Friday, April 3, 2020
Texts: Psalm 31:9-16; Job 13:13-19; Philippians 1:21-30
Scripture Thought (Phil. 1:27-30): 27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. 29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
Reflection: "Whatever happens." That’s broad. That’s timeless. That’s universal. "Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of Christ." That’s an order that can only be followed under one condition. That condition is that we know enough about Christ to have an idea of what actions and attitudes would be worthy of him. To put it simply, Paul’s command is meaningless, pointless unless those to whom the instruction is given are in fact learning the ways of Jesus.
There’s another implication that, however, and it’s one that brings us even closer to the Lenten theme of repentance and renewal. That implication is that we are actually in the habit of self-assessment. A very long time ago, before Christ had entered into the world, the Greek philosopher Plato quoted Socrates as saying, “the unexamined life is not worth living.” Paul echoes that same idea in several places throughout his epistles. Yet the business of life often keeps us from taking the time to undertake a difficult, uncomfortable task like examining ourselves. It’s usually the case that something unsettling has to occur to get our attention in sufficient sincerity to engage in it. Job found that out. Everything had fallen apart. He took stock, eventually concluding that he had done nothing amiss, nothing worthy of bringing disaster upon him. We may conclude what we will about the outcome of his assessment, as he found himself innocent; yet the process of scrutinizing his own conduct and character was crucial to his consternation over what had happened to him. David made no claims of innocence in the Psalm; but he did assess his condition while under duress and concluded that his only hope was in the goodness of God. Maybe our present times can be a catalyst for the same sort of self-evaluation.
A manner worthy of Christ. What that looks like remains the same through all ages--it keeps its eyes firmly fixed on the goal of God’s kingdom coming to overthrow the rule of greed, corruption, deceit and the wars and discord they always bring with them. It gives itself in love for the sake of the other, even the unworthy. It counts on the victory of God over every foe, including death itself; and that means it stops counting on and investing ourselves completely in lesser goals. Socrates came before Jesus; but he had advice that suits the Christian well. Examine yourself if you want life to feel worthwhile.
Prayer. Grant us, O Lord, the grace to see ourselves as You do--brothers and sisters of Jesus whom You love and forgive, yet as children in need of growing up into his way. Use this season in the church and in the world to turn our thoughts, our words, and our deeds toward living in a manner worthy of Your Son and our Savior, Jesus. Amen.
Thursday, April 2, 2020
Texts: Psalm 31:9-16; 1 Samuel 16:11-13; Philippians 1:1-11
Scripture Thought (Phil. 1:11-13): 9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
Reflection: It’s quite a contrast at first look. The distress felt by the psalmist is bringing him to the brink; there isn’t much more that he believes he can handle, and he pours out his heart before the only One he believes he can turn to--and that One doesn’t seem to be interested in making things better at the moment. Then we are taken back to the time young David was singled out as the one who would succeed Saul as the king of Israel. There must have been a flood of confusing emotions on that occasion, though the rather brief account of so momentous an occasion does not mention any reaction whatsoever from David himself. It’s hard to imagine that there would not have been a sense of euphoria, along with the difficulty of believing something simply too wild to be true. Maybe a stunned silence was the only reaction possible.
Our lives are never settled on one emotional plane; there are situations that elicit a broad range of responses and leave us in varied states of mind, some of which overwhelm us for a moment, others of which seem like they will be constant companions, welcome or not. We think something is odd about the so-called stoic personality which seems unaffected by the things that cause either great distress or ecstatic joy in most other people. On the other hand, it does not seem normal when a person cannot move past the initial emotional response to a new situation; there is neither ability nor interest for moving on.
We are currently facing a crisis that produces different emotions. Fear and distress, of course. For some, outright sorrow. Yet we also see a sense of calm, of relief in others, as the slowing down of life brings a sense of rest that wasn’t recognized as needful, but now soothes the harried soul. Still others are exhausted, brought to the edge of endurance because of their roles in caring for the victims of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some worry, some help, some just hope to hang on. It’s in thinking about these vastly different emotions and the people who carry them that I believe Paul’s prayer takes on meaning. He’s asking that God will provide knowledge and deep insight so that love will abound. That love, to mean anything at all, must flow in the right direction, through the right channels, in order to produce the best outcomes, those which display the glory of Christ through those who belong to him; and they must do it in the real, concrete situations of life in which people face all kinds of situations. There is a love to be given to those experiencing the high, the lows, and the unbearables in life. We can trust God for the wisdom of how to give it only if we open ourselves for His use.
Prayer. Lord of wisdom, Christ of love, Spirit of all power, come and work within us and through us to all who meet us in the crisis of the day. You have met us in grace and mercy according to our need; so use us for the comfort of those in distress and for the edification of those who know You not. Be glorified in us, that we may share your joy where it is most needed. Amen.
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
Texts: Psalm 143; Jeremiah 32:1-9, 36-41; Matthew 22:23-33
Scripture Thought (Jer 32:36-39): 36 “You are saying about this city, ‘By the sword, famine and plague it will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon’; but this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 37 I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. 38 They will be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them.
Reflection: A lot is being asked of us as citizens of the United States at the present time. Most of us are in areas designated under “stay at home” orders, with very limited freedom to move about, except for very narrowly defined purposes. We’re asked to make an investment, a costly one, in order to gain a return in the future. That return will be the health and well-being of ourselves, our children, our elderly parents, our friends and neighbors--everyone around us. While that return is not completely guaranteed, it is reasonable to believe the medical authorities who have suggested these investments of our time, our delayed or forfeited income, and our trust will bring a good result. This in spite of warnings that it’s going to get worse before it gets better. With numbers of the sick and dying continuing to rise, it would be understandable to disbelieve the forecasts and hold on to our rights, freedoms, income, trust.
Investing something now for the sake of a future return is nothing new. We do it daily. We do it in so many ways without even thinking about it. In many cases we have come to rely on the track record and the continuing ability of the one in whose hands we have placed our labor, our money, our time. Occasionally, we invest with less clarity, less direct evidence of the promised outcome actually coming to pass. Many people have suffered great loss for making such decisions. And then there was Jeremiah. Go ahead, buy that field, pay full price--even though in a short time the whole area is going to fall into the hands of a foreign power, and the parcel will seem to be worthless. You tell people yourself that this disaster is coming; but buy it. And he did. And God only later told him that the story wouldn’t end there, adding that there would be a return, and the land he purchased would have value once again.
God tells us to entrust ourselves to Him and promises an incredible return on that investment. Our hopes, our dreams, our ambitions, our skills, gifts, love--leave it in His hands and trust Him to make the investment pay the best dividend, that being a share in His kingdom. We are learning a bit more about what we can do without in these current days of challenges and sacrifice. While there is reason to expect a satisfactory outcome, even the best of health experts do not have the track record God has in fulfilling what He says He will do. If we believe the former--and we should--how much more should we be ready to believe in what God has in store for those who are His? As Lent continues, let us reflect on where we have invested our best, and on what changes should be made in how we spend our time, labor, and love.
Prayer. God of all wisdom, teach us Your ways, that we might know how best to use this life You have given. We confess that we have invested our labor for that which is not food, and therefore does not nourish our souls or satisfy our hearts. Even as we continue to pray for those who are suffering and those who have experienced great loss, we thank You for also giving us this time to think, reflect, and repent. We do so before your, giving ourselves to Your merciful care and correction. Amen.
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Texts: Psalm 143; 2 Kings 4:18-37; Ephesians 2:1-10
Scripture Thought (Ps. 143:1-4): Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy;in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. 2 not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you. 3 The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground; he makes me dwell in the darkness like those long dead. 4 So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed.
Reflection: Is the news of the day discouraging to you? It should be. There is nothing Christian about making light of the health crisis faced by our nation and many other nations as well. We don’t have to pretend that our faith requires us to say simplistic things like, “God is in control,” or “Just have faith, God will get you through it,” or perhaps the most dismissive of all: “God’s got this.” Now before I’m misunderstood, I do believe that nothing in life or death, heaven or hell can defeat the plans and purposes of God; I do believe that ultimately, faith is the victory that overcomes the world, and that there are many things out of our hands, but none that are out of His.
But what we should understand is that the people of faith in the Bible never took God’s providence, His ability to respond to any event, disaster, time of trouble for granted. They did not presume upon Him. And we should not. There is a deep need for us to feel evil and hardship for what they truly are and what threat they actually pose to human well-being. God has already felt it. Our pain, our sorrow, our confusion over what He seems capable of doing, yet does not do. In our crisis, we are in no position to do anything but grieve with God over the loss that is all around us--and then do what He did about our condition. He entered in. We didn’t ask Him to do that, for we wouldn’t have ever thought of it. While we were lost, dead, doomed in our rebellion against God, as helpless as the Shunamite woman, as desperate as she was in seeking out Elijah, God entered in. He threw Himself onto our lifeless souls.
I have no more of an idea how this pandemic will end than anyone else, far less clear a picture than our experts have. You and I are not responsible for speaking the last word on the crisis. We need to feel the pain around us, however close it does or does not come to our immediate circles of family and friends. We need to hear the cries, we need to shed the tears, we need to marvel at the courage and resolve of those on the front lines of the battle. And when we feel all of this we can take it to God, who will tell us in His own way that He knows. He’s been waiting for us. Then He can engage us in those good works He’s prepared for us to do.
Prayer. Lord, we repent of our need to have the answers to the mysteries of evil and suffering in Your good world. Open our hearts to the cries, the screams and also to the laughter of delight over healing and wholeness restored. Grant us the courage to walk in service to You and our neighbors, even while we feel overwhelmed by what we see. We want to walk by that kind of faith before You give us our sight. Amen.
Monday, March 30, 2020
Texts: Psalm 143; 1 Kings 17:17-24; Acts 20:7-12
Scripture Thought (Psalm 143:10-12): Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. 11 For your name’s sake, Lord, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble. 12 In your unfailing love, silence my enemies; destroy all my foes, for I am your servant.
Reflection: Special favors? Is that what the psalmist is asking for? Does he believe that his desire for the Lord to whom he prays, his faithfulness to the one on whom he calls, and his steadfastness while others abandon the faith have earned him a special hearing and favors that are not granted to others? Is he justified in asking as he does?
Most people prefer life over death. We’re finding that out in our current health crisis. Every new restriction government officials announce is for the purpose of “saving lives.” We don’t want anyone to perish, not at the infection of a virus, not at the hands of an enemy or miscreant. We’re not generally anxious to die ourselves, even when we have confidence in the resurrection hope that follows the season of Lent and the season of trouble that frequently precedes death. Most of us cry out to God in situations that threaten our lives, as did the writer. And like him, we feel a need to convince God that we are worthy of the favor we are seeking. Yet while some have found at least a temporary reprieve in the form of more time with family and friends, more time to invest in kingdom work, more days to praise God, it almost surely is not because of a deserving on their part.
Look at the two miraculous recoveries of life in the Old and New Testament lessons for the day. Two young men, one apparently quite young, the other maybe a teenaged youth. Their passing by disease or severe traumatic injury was “overruled” by the intervention of men of God, whose cries to the Lord were heard and answered. We might be tempted to conclude that each of these men went on to do significant kingdom work in their mature lives, but we have no evidence that this was the case. God displayed His power in these two lives; not because they earned it, and not because they were a cut above all others. So where is the lesson? I’m not at all convinced that we should even venture behind the ways of God, but I do think we should draw conclusions from the Scriptures. The first is that life is a gift we should cherish, and not just when it seems to be threatened. Secondly, it’s perfectly appropriate to cry out to God and seek to extend this gift, yet all the while understanding that we cannot earn it. And we should be taking stock on a more routine basis, and not just at crisis points where life could very well be taken from us. Maybe the health scare we all face, coming at the time of Lent, is an occasion for us to do that.
Prayer: Lord, we, too, are faced with a crisis that could very well claim the lives of those whom we know, and maybe even our own. We cry out to you to end the death, end the painful struggles for people infected with the COVID-19 virus. We cry out for mercy, as did Elijah, as did Paul--and You heard and answered. We don’t claim to have earned Your favor; for your grace was poured out in the cross of Jesus, who died in our place that we might live victoriously in Your kingdom. Your life-giving grace--how we need it, how we rejoice in its provision. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.
Texts: Psalm 31:9-16; Lamentations 3:55-66; Mark 10:32-34
Scripture Thought (Mark 10:32-34): 32 They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. 33 “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34 who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”
Reflection: Who is the Number 1 enemy in the world? Who has done the most damage to civilizations, communities, social order, and is responsible for any ill we encounter in our life together in this world? Who has caused us the most pain, inflicted the greatest sorrow upon us? Who is properly blamed for everything that doesn’t go right? They are. They, them, the other ones--those who aren’t part of us. Once we’ve identified the others, we have no problem in finding a way to hold them responsible for all the ills we encounter. Look at what they’ve done, listen to what they’re saying. When we stop for very long, however, we might be forced to consider that to “them” we are the “they.” From the other side of the divide, it seems that we are the ones responsible for all of the things we blamed on them.
The question for today is not that of determining which side is in the right and which is in the wrong. There are times when any objective analysis can readily determine the relative assignment of guilt to one party or the other in a dispute. Jeremiah’s tormentors were guilty of just what he indicates in his lament. From their perspective, however, it was Jeremiah himself who was causing social disturbance and unsettling the city. Jesus was “guilty” of the same sort of charge from “their” point of view. But note the difference in the reaction between Jeremiah and Jesus. The former kept about his assignment from God, but had to cry out for not only vindication from the charges of “the others,” but for vengeance as well, with God as the executor. Jesus, aware of what was ahead of him, gave a matter-of-fact summary of what would happen in the ensuing days, yet without calling for revenge on those who would carry out the horrible plan. He was about to announce an end to the need to blame others; he would accept the guilt of both parties. And it would kill him. “They” would kill him.
When we identify with Jesus we identify with one who does not assign blame to others and call down the wrath of God to consume them. We identify with one who was not wrong but accepted blame nonetheless, that he might reconcile two parties, us as humanity and God the Father as the violated Creator. Our fallen human inclination is to accept those we deem to be like us and to exclude all others. God’s way is to accept and embrace all who will come to him. Hard as it is, we are to learn the way of Jesus and turn from all thoughts of revenge upon “them.”
Prayer. Lord, the way of the cross is hard. We’d rather scream like Jeremiah when we are wronged. The way of the cross is hard; we’d rather blame other people for the problems in this world. The way of the cross is hard, Jesus; but nonetheless, help us to walk by its light, for only on that way can we find true life, free from burdens we were not meant to bear. Take us on that way through the troubled world in which we live. Amen.
Friday, April 3, 2020
Texts: Psalm 31:9-16; Job 13:13-19; Philippians 1:21-30
Scripture Thought (Phil. 1:27-30): 27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. 29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
Reflection: "Whatever happens." That’s broad. That’s timeless. That’s universal. "Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of Christ." That’s an order that can only be followed under one condition. That condition is that we know enough about Christ to have an idea of what actions and attitudes would be worthy of him. To put it simply, Paul’s command is meaningless, pointless unless those to whom the instruction is given are in fact learning the ways of Jesus.
There’s another implication that, however, and it’s one that brings us even closer to the Lenten theme of repentance and renewal. That implication is that we are actually in the habit of self-assessment. A very long time ago, before Christ had entered into the world, the Greek philosopher Plato quoted Socrates as saying, “the unexamined life is not worth living.” Paul echoes that same idea in several places throughout his epistles. Yet the business of life often keeps us from taking the time to undertake a difficult, uncomfortable task like examining ourselves. It’s usually the case that something unsettling has to occur to get our attention in sufficient sincerity to engage in it. Job found that out. Everything had fallen apart. He took stock, eventually concluding that he had done nothing amiss, nothing worthy of bringing disaster upon him. We may conclude what we will about the outcome of his assessment, as he found himself innocent; yet the process of scrutinizing his own conduct and character was crucial to his consternation over what had happened to him. David made no claims of innocence in the Psalm; but he did assess his condition while under duress and concluded that his only hope was in the goodness of God. Maybe our present times can be a catalyst for the same sort of self-evaluation.
A manner worthy of Christ. What that looks like remains the same through all ages--it keeps its eyes firmly fixed on the goal of God’s kingdom coming to overthrow the rule of greed, corruption, deceit and the wars and discord they always bring with them. It gives itself in love for the sake of the other, even the unworthy. It counts on the victory of God over every foe, including death itself; and that means it stops counting on and investing ourselves completely in lesser goals. Socrates came before Jesus; but he had advice that suits the Christian well. Examine yourself if you want life to feel worthwhile.
Prayer. Grant us, O Lord, the grace to see ourselves as You do--brothers and sisters of Jesus whom You love and forgive, yet as children in need of growing up into his way. Use this season in the church and in the world to turn our thoughts, our words, and our deeds toward living in a manner worthy of Your Son and our Savior, Jesus. Amen.
Thursday, April 2, 2020
Texts: Psalm 31:9-16; 1 Samuel 16:11-13; Philippians 1:1-11
Scripture Thought (Phil. 1:11-13): 9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
Reflection: It’s quite a contrast at first look. The distress felt by the psalmist is bringing him to the brink; there isn’t much more that he believes he can handle, and he pours out his heart before the only One he believes he can turn to--and that One doesn’t seem to be interested in making things better at the moment. Then we are taken back to the time young David was singled out as the one who would succeed Saul as the king of Israel. There must have been a flood of confusing emotions on that occasion, though the rather brief account of so momentous an occasion does not mention any reaction whatsoever from David himself. It’s hard to imagine that there would not have been a sense of euphoria, along with the difficulty of believing something simply too wild to be true. Maybe a stunned silence was the only reaction possible.
Our lives are never settled on one emotional plane; there are situations that elicit a broad range of responses and leave us in varied states of mind, some of which overwhelm us for a moment, others of which seem like they will be constant companions, welcome or not. We think something is odd about the so-called stoic personality which seems unaffected by the things that cause either great distress or ecstatic joy in most other people. On the other hand, it does not seem normal when a person cannot move past the initial emotional response to a new situation; there is neither ability nor interest for moving on.
We are currently facing a crisis that produces different emotions. Fear and distress, of course. For some, outright sorrow. Yet we also see a sense of calm, of relief in others, as the slowing down of life brings a sense of rest that wasn’t recognized as needful, but now soothes the harried soul. Still others are exhausted, brought to the edge of endurance because of their roles in caring for the victims of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some worry, some help, some just hope to hang on. It’s in thinking about these vastly different emotions and the people who carry them that I believe Paul’s prayer takes on meaning. He’s asking that God will provide knowledge and deep insight so that love will abound. That love, to mean anything at all, must flow in the right direction, through the right channels, in order to produce the best outcomes, those which display the glory of Christ through those who belong to him; and they must do it in the real, concrete situations of life in which people face all kinds of situations. There is a love to be given to those experiencing the high, the lows, and the unbearables in life. We can trust God for the wisdom of how to give it only if we open ourselves for His use.
Prayer. Lord of wisdom, Christ of love, Spirit of all power, come and work within us and through us to all who meet us in the crisis of the day. You have met us in grace and mercy according to our need; so use us for the comfort of those in distress and for the edification of those who know You not. Be glorified in us, that we may share your joy where it is most needed. Amen.
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
Texts: Psalm 143; Jeremiah 32:1-9, 36-41; Matthew 22:23-33
Scripture Thought (Jer 32:36-39): 36 “You are saying about this city, ‘By the sword, famine and plague it will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon’; but this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 37 I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. 38 They will be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them.
Reflection: A lot is being asked of us as citizens of the United States at the present time. Most of us are in areas designated under “stay at home” orders, with very limited freedom to move about, except for very narrowly defined purposes. We’re asked to make an investment, a costly one, in order to gain a return in the future. That return will be the health and well-being of ourselves, our children, our elderly parents, our friends and neighbors--everyone around us. While that return is not completely guaranteed, it is reasonable to believe the medical authorities who have suggested these investments of our time, our delayed or forfeited income, and our trust will bring a good result. This in spite of warnings that it’s going to get worse before it gets better. With numbers of the sick and dying continuing to rise, it would be understandable to disbelieve the forecasts and hold on to our rights, freedoms, income, trust.
Investing something now for the sake of a future return is nothing new. We do it daily. We do it in so many ways without even thinking about it. In many cases we have come to rely on the track record and the continuing ability of the one in whose hands we have placed our labor, our money, our time. Occasionally, we invest with less clarity, less direct evidence of the promised outcome actually coming to pass. Many people have suffered great loss for making such decisions. And then there was Jeremiah. Go ahead, buy that field, pay full price--even though in a short time the whole area is going to fall into the hands of a foreign power, and the parcel will seem to be worthless. You tell people yourself that this disaster is coming; but buy it. And he did. And God only later told him that the story wouldn’t end there, adding that there would be a return, and the land he purchased would have value once again.
God tells us to entrust ourselves to Him and promises an incredible return on that investment. Our hopes, our dreams, our ambitions, our skills, gifts, love--leave it in His hands and trust Him to make the investment pay the best dividend, that being a share in His kingdom. We are learning a bit more about what we can do without in these current days of challenges and sacrifice. While there is reason to expect a satisfactory outcome, even the best of health experts do not have the track record God has in fulfilling what He says He will do. If we believe the former--and we should--how much more should we be ready to believe in what God has in store for those who are His? As Lent continues, let us reflect on where we have invested our best, and on what changes should be made in how we spend our time, labor, and love.
Prayer. God of all wisdom, teach us Your ways, that we might know how best to use this life You have given. We confess that we have invested our labor for that which is not food, and therefore does not nourish our souls or satisfy our hearts. Even as we continue to pray for those who are suffering and those who have experienced great loss, we thank You for also giving us this time to think, reflect, and repent. We do so before your, giving ourselves to Your merciful care and correction. Amen.
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Texts: Psalm 143; 2 Kings 4:18-37; Ephesians 2:1-10
Scripture Thought (Ps. 143:1-4): Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy;in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. 2 not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you. 3 The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground; he makes me dwell in the darkness like those long dead. 4 So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed.
Reflection: Is the news of the day discouraging to you? It should be. There is nothing Christian about making light of the health crisis faced by our nation and many other nations as well. We don’t have to pretend that our faith requires us to say simplistic things like, “God is in control,” or “Just have faith, God will get you through it,” or perhaps the most dismissive of all: “God’s got this.” Now before I’m misunderstood, I do believe that nothing in life or death, heaven or hell can defeat the plans and purposes of God; I do believe that ultimately, faith is the victory that overcomes the world, and that there are many things out of our hands, but none that are out of His.
But what we should understand is that the people of faith in the Bible never took God’s providence, His ability to respond to any event, disaster, time of trouble for granted. They did not presume upon Him. And we should not. There is a deep need for us to feel evil and hardship for what they truly are and what threat they actually pose to human well-being. God has already felt it. Our pain, our sorrow, our confusion over what He seems capable of doing, yet does not do. In our crisis, we are in no position to do anything but grieve with God over the loss that is all around us--and then do what He did about our condition. He entered in. We didn’t ask Him to do that, for we wouldn’t have ever thought of it. While we were lost, dead, doomed in our rebellion against God, as helpless as the Shunamite woman, as desperate as she was in seeking out Elijah, God entered in. He threw Himself onto our lifeless souls.
I have no more of an idea how this pandemic will end than anyone else, far less clear a picture than our experts have. You and I are not responsible for speaking the last word on the crisis. We need to feel the pain around us, however close it does or does not come to our immediate circles of family and friends. We need to hear the cries, we need to shed the tears, we need to marvel at the courage and resolve of those on the front lines of the battle. And when we feel all of this we can take it to God, who will tell us in His own way that He knows. He’s been waiting for us. Then He can engage us in those good works He’s prepared for us to do.
Prayer. Lord, we repent of our need to have the answers to the mysteries of evil and suffering in Your good world. Open our hearts to the cries, the screams and also to the laughter of delight over healing and wholeness restored. Grant us the courage to walk in service to You and our neighbors, even while we feel overwhelmed by what we see. We want to walk by that kind of faith before You give us our sight. Amen.
Monday, March 30, 2020
Texts: Psalm 143; 1 Kings 17:17-24; Acts 20:7-12
Scripture Thought (Psalm 143:10-12): Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. 11 For your name’s sake, Lord, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble. 12 In your unfailing love, silence my enemies; destroy all my foes, for I am your servant.
Reflection: Special favors? Is that what the psalmist is asking for? Does he believe that his desire for the Lord to whom he prays, his faithfulness to the one on whom he calls, and his steadfastness while others abandon the faith have earned him a special hearing and favors that are not granted to others? Is he justified in asking as he does?
Most people prefer life over death. We’re finding that out in our current health crisis. Every new restriction government officials announce is for the purpose of “saving lives.” We don’t want anyone to perish, not at the infection of a virus, not at the hands of an enemy or miscreant. We’re not generally anxious to die ourselves, even when we have confidence in the resurrection hope that follows the season of Lent and the season of trouble that frequently precedes death. Most of us cry out to God in situations that threaten our lives, as did the writer. And like him, we feel a need to convince God that we are worthy of the favor we are seeking. Yet while some have found at least a temporary reprieve in the form of more time with family and friends, more time to invest in kingdom work, more days to praise God, it almost surely is not because of a deserving on their part.
Look at the two miraculous recoveries of life in the Old and New Testament lessons for the day. Two young men, one apparently quite young, the other maybe a teenaged youth. Their passing by disease or severe traumatic injury was “overruled” by the intervention of men of God, whose cries to the Lord were heard and answered. We might be tempted to conclude that each of these men went on to do significant kingdom work in their mature lives, but we have no evidence that this was the case. God displayed His power in these two lives; not because they earned it, and not because they were a cut above all others. So where is the lesson? I’m not at all convinced that we should even venture behind the ways of God, but I do think we should draw conclusions from the Scriptures. The first is that life is a gift we should cherish, and not just when it seems to be threatened. Secondly, it’s perfectly appropriate to cry out to God and seek to extend this gift, yet all the while understanding that we cannot earn it. And we should be taking stock on a more routine basis, and not just at crisis points where life could very well be taken from us. Maybe the health scare we all face, coming at the time of Lent, is an occasion for us to do that.
Prayer: Lord, we, too, are faced with a crisis that could very well claim the lives of those whom we know, and maybe even our own. We cry out to you to end the death, end the painful struggles for people infected with the COVID-19 virus. We cry out for mercy, as did Elijah, as did Paul--and You heard and answered. We don’t claim to have earned Your favor; for your grace was poured out in the cross of Jesus, who died in our place that we might live victoriously in Your kingdom. Your life-giving grace--how we need it, how we rejoice in its provision. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.