Discipleship

February 3, 2021

Scripture Reading:
Psalm 147:1-11, 20c
Praise the Lord!
How good it is to sing praises to our God;
   for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.
The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
   he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
He heals the broken-hearted,
   and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of the stars;
   he gives to all of them their names.
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
   his understanding is beyond measure.
The Lord lifts up the downtrodden;
   he casts the wicked to the ground.

One of the significant challenges of committing to follow the lectionary as the source for these daily devotions is that the scripture does not fit my attitude some days. That is true of the scripture above on this day. The good thing about following the lectionary is that at times the scripture is precisely what I need because of my bad attitude. I have the same response when I read Robert Browning’s words in his poem Pippa’s Song, God’s in His heaven; All’s right with the world!  I want to scream all is not right with the world! Yet I have walked among the flowering locust trees with the sun streaming through their branches and recognize God’s presence in warmth on my skin and the fragrance and beauty of the flowers. I appreciate that the news stations I watch have added segments each day reporting some good news.

Browning is right. While still sheltering at home, now wearing two masks instead of one, and becoming an expert at Zoom meetings, nothing seems right. Thomas Paine states it well in The Crisis,

THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods;

Prayer: Lord, the word faith should be a verb as well as a noun in our language. What our situation is calling us to is the verb faith. Strengthen our faithing as we struggle toward building your Kingdom. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.