Category Archives: Daily Devotion

Unsealing the Tomb

Easter

April 17, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Matthew 27:57-66

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, ‘Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, “After three days I will rise again.” Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, “He has been raised from the dead”, and the last deception would be worse than the first.’ Pilate said to them, ‘You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.’ So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.

Seal the tomb so Jesus’s body could not be removed and, thus, his followers would be unable to say he had risen from the grave. In what tombs do we lock Jesus? If he had not been resurrected what of his message would we still follow? We now pick and chose the things he taught with which we agree, we ignore or explain away things with which we do not agree, and finally, we put words in his mouth that we do not have a record of him saying. As followers of God one of our greatest challenges is not recreating God in the image, we desire God to be.

God is calling us this Easter morning to unseal the tomb we place around Jesus. Studying the scriptures is a good place to start, but they, too, are limited to space and time that no longer apply to all our situations. We must also spend time in prayer and meditation seeking God’s guidance in understanding the world around us and how its systems work together for the fruition of the Kingdom of God or pull apart to stop its coming to reality. We must allow God to grow our faith trusting in God’s wisdom as it is given to us. Today we must step out in faith and let go of one thing that is holding us back from being fully the persons God created us to be. If it is a big step we may need to break it down into smaller parts, changing one at a time. If it is a small venture. We must finish it and move to the next. Make Easter your starting place for newness in faith.

Prayer: Lord, lead us into seeking and implementing your plan for the Kingdom of God. 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.

Provoked to Love

Good Friday

April 15, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Hebrews 10:16-25

 ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them
   after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their hearts,
   and I will write them on their minds,’
he also adds,
‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.’
Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Our world is being pelted by divisiveness designed to divide and conquer. It works by distracting us from issues that really matter by focusing on highly emotional, judgmentally driven subjects. Abortion is probably the leading issue and the longest-lasting one. Please note that while law after law has been written to criminalize abortion few attempts have ever been enacted to establish programs to prevent unwanted, unplanned pregnancies. A few years ago, Colorado reduced its abortion rate by 40% in one year by simply making birth control available to anyone who wanted it at no cost. Abortion is closely related to poverty. Immigration is another divisive and distracting issue. The USA has needed to revamp its immigration policies for years, but it never happened. Why? Because there are a lot of people making money off the backs of undocumented aliens who do not have to be paid the minimum wage or receive mandatory benefits. That does not only hurt the migrants, it also takes jobs away from citizens for whom minimum wage and benefits are required. There are jobs in the USA for which there are not enough workers that migrants could fill but they should be paid appropriately.

These examples cross my mind when I read the phrase quoted above that says, let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds. How do we turn around a society driven by greed? Rather than provoking people to anger and violence on issues that divide us, we need to provoke people to love and do good deeds, drawing all God’s children together in support of one another.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we are distracted from caring for the needs of all people with love.  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.

God with Us in Justice

Lent

April 13, 2022

Scripture Reading: Psalm 70

Be pleased, O God, to deliver me.
   O Lord, make haste to help me!
Let those be put to shame and confusion
   who seek my life.
Let those be turned back and brought to dishonor
   who desire to hurt me.
Let those who say, ‘Aha, Aha!’
   turn back because of their shame.

Let all who seek you
   rejoice and be glad in you.
Let those who love your salvation
   say evermore, ‘God is great!’
But I am poor and needy;
   hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
   O Lord, do not delay! –Psalm 70

Justice advocates climb steep hills to make little progress.  Often when a solution is reached, the principalities and powers punish those who worked for justice by making matters even worse.  Vladimir Putin is a very public example of the marriage of greed and lust for power. That kind of narcissism lives and harms in every attempt to turn justice around.

The above scripture was a timely message for me as we deal with the challenges of our time. I pray for the people of Ukraine. The frustration I deal with and the problems I try to address are not comparable to what is happening to them. In either case, the lord is our help and deliverer and sets the example for us to be helpers and deliverers, too.

Prayer: O Lord, let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream*. Amen.

*Amos 5:24

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.

Our Cloud of Witnesses

Lent

April 12, 2022

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 49:1-7

Listen to me, O coastlands,
   pay attention, you peoples from far away!
The Lord called me before I was born,
   while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.
He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
   in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow,
   in his quiver he hid me away.
And he said to me, ‘You are my servant,
   Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’
But I said, ‘I have labored in vain,
   I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my cause is with the Lord,
   and my reward with my God.’ –Isaiah 49:1-4

Our world is broken in many ways. Are we each and altogether doing the very best we can to bring our world to wholeness? Isaiah, in the scripture above, may have written this poem to strengthen his commitment to following God’s call to be a prophet. He assesses his skills and talents to determine that he had done the very best he could to answer God’s call. However, he discerned that he had labored in vain, but concluded that the final measure of his work, rested with God and he took comfort in that. Did Isaiah even consider that over 2,700 years later his words would be giving encouragement and hope to God’s people trying to find wholeness?

Many working for justice in our world today have the scars of taking one step forward and two steps back. We too assessed what we could have done better, and that is important as we search for better ways to love God and love our neighbors as we love ourselves—all our neighbors, the sick, the hungry, the rich, the poor. Staying in sync with God is the only goal we can depend on to measure our contributions toward the Kingdom of God. While we may not see the success we want, in our lifetime we may have planted the seeds for our descendants in faith who continue the work to which we are called.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for our ancestors in faith who provide us hope for the work we do in your name. 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.

Justice Is Good for All

Lent

April 11, 2022

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 42:1-9

Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
   my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
   he will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry or lift up his voice,
   or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
   and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
   he will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not grow faint or be crushed
   until he has established justice in the earth;
   and the coastlands wait for his teaching. –Isaiah 42:1-4

Jesus lived, and thus modeled, Justice in his time on earth. His standing up against the injustice of powerful religious leaders ultimately got him killed. God’s demand for justice flows through the entire Bible because justice out of balance is bad for everyone even those who seem to be benefiting from the distribution of rights. For example, people who cannot afford routine, preventive health care often land in the emergency room, the most expensive health care available. These people are often in advanced stages of all kinds of diseases that could have been prevented but now require major intervention. We all pay higher insurance rates to cover the expenses of care for everyone.

The poetry of the above scripture is heartwarming. Justice is described as not breaking bruised reeds not putting out the light of a dimly burning wick. The Lord makes it a priority to care for the most vulnerable. We should too.

Prayer: Lord, help us be doers of justice. 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.

When Hope Seems to Stop

Lent

April 10, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 23:1-49

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’ Having said this, he breathed his last. When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, ‘Certainly this man was innocent.’ And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts. But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. –Luke 23:44-49

Pictures of death stream into my home from Ukraine, spreading across my thoughts causing me to skip through the sequence of events that led to Jesus’s death—Jesus before Pilate, Jesus before Herod, Jesus Sentenced to Death, The Crucifixion of Jesus. I saw a woman with no more tears to cry telling the reporter, “They killed my grandson.” As she stared at a place on the ground where he must have been found dead along with all his hopes and potential. Why?

This day marks the beginning of what we call Holy Week where we remember the way of the cross. Reading the entire scripture cited above will help us relive the events throughout this week.  It is a solemn time. It is a good time for each of us to take stock of our lives and determine what the meaning of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection has for the way we live.

4 For me, kind Jesus, was thy incarnation,
thy mortal sorrow, and thy life’s oblation;
thy death of anguish and thy bitter passion,
for my salvation.

5 Therefore, kind Jesus, since I cannot pay thee,
I do adore thee, and will ever pray thee,
think on thy pity and thy love unswerving,
not my deserving*.

Prayer: Lord, guide us in finding ways to make our lives can more meaningfully represent the life you modeled for us.   Amen.

*Verses 4 and 5  of the hymn Ah, Holy Jesus by Johann Heermann See at https://hymnary.org/text/ah_holy_jesus_how_hast_thou_offended

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.

Kingdom Building

Lent

April 9, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Luke 22:14-23:56

When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, ‘Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table. For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by whom he is betrayed!’ Then they began to ask one another which one of them it could be who would do this. –Luke 22:14-23

Jesus served the disciples the Passover elements of bread and wine, but apparently, he did not eat it himself in Luke’s writing. Is Jesus saying here that he would not partake until the kingdom of God is fulfilled? At what point does that happen? Is it realized in Jesus’s resurrection or at the end of time? Is it when we get our acts together, all our acts together, and figure out how to love like Jesus resulting in a world where all are welcomed and encouraged to be the person God created each of us to be? A world where everyone has enough of not only the basic needs of life but also enough love, enough faith, and enough hope. I do not know the answer to any of these questions, but I do know we are called to be kingdom builders as Christ envisioned it and I think Jesus Christ would love to eat the bread and drink the cup with us sooner than later.

Both Matthew and Mark imply that Jesus did eat the bread and drink the cup as the word “again” is added before he says he would not partake until the kingdom of God was fulfilled. John chose to tell the story of Jesus washing the Disciples’ feet at that Last Supper together demonstrating their calling and our calling today of serving with humility. I Think Christ would love to pitch his tent among us when we had fulfilled our part in kingdom building and just enjoy a day of Sabbath taken together.

Prayer: Lord, open our hearts and minds to find our way in implementing 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.

Lord of All

Lent

April 8, 2022

Scripture Reading: Philippians 2:5-11

Therefore God also highly exalted him
   and gave him the name
   that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
   every knee should bend,
   in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
   that Jesus Christ is Lord,
   to the glory of God the Father. –Philippians 2:9-11

The word “Lord”, written with a capital “L” and often with small caps for the rest of the word, means God, the ruler of the universe*. The act of taking a knee is considered the ultimate act of acknowledging the status of God as the ruler of the universe, except when Colin Kaepernick took a knee to express his concern about racism. God is not a personal possession that no one else can turn to in times of trouble, not an idol that we wear like a badge of honor. We are all God’s creations.

In the scripture above Paul is exclaiming that Jesus Christ is Lord, the glory of his father. I took a class a few years ago where the professor went through all the various triangles to explain the idea of the trinity and other theological definitions of the Supreme Being. I am probably a heretic for this but throughout that segment of the class, I kept thinking we cannot ever put the Lord God in a box or a triangle, and that is a good thing. I like being loved by One who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and always present without having to define that One. My big challenge is learning how to love like Jesus Christ, the Lord.

Prayer:

Thank You Lord for saving my soul
Thank You Lord for making me whole
Thank You Lord for giving to me
Thy great salvation so rich and free**. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/2962.htm

**Chorus from the hymn Thank You Lord by Seth Sykes, Bessie Sykes. See at https://digitalsongsandhymns.com/songs/5739

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.

Getting Rid of Greed

Lent

April 7, 2022

Scripture Reading: Philippians 2:5-11

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
   did not regard equality with God
   as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
   taking the form of a slave,
   being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
   he humbled himself
   and became obedient to the point of death—
   even death on a cross. –Philippians 2:5-8

How do we Let the same mind be in [us] that was in Christ Jesus?  How do we empty ourselves of all the clutter that separates us from God so that we have room to expand our ability to love like Jesus? The intentionality of effort must be great to grow in the faith, hope, and love that Jesus professed. I woke up this morning distracted by the greed that is causing much of the destructive behavior in our world today. Greed is the primary driver of poverty and war. Greed is our idol of choice and the pandemic that will destroy us if we cannot excise through God’s help, its power over us. The rich cannot get richer unless the number of people who are poor grows.  Greed drives a man to try to steal an entire nation from his neighbors. None of us are immune to greed. All must take the time to understand our motivations for what we do and why we do it. We then need to give to God that which has taken control of us leading us away from our faith, hope for the future, and the love of God.

The scripture above is one of the most meaningful and beautiful lessons in the Bible. Claiming it for a time, memorizing it, and recalling it regularly would be a great place to start the process of clearing out the clutter that distracts us. Once, clear we must let God fill us with love so the distractions do not return and our actions reflect our love.

Prayer: Lord, Let the same mind be in [us] that was in Christ Jesus 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.

Mental Health

Lent

April 6, 2022

Scripture Reading: Psalm 31:9-16

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
   my eye wastes away from grief,
   my soul and body also.
For my life is spent with sorrow,
   and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my misery,
   and my bones waste away.

I am the scorn of all my adversaries,
   a horror to my neighbors,
an object of dread to my acquaintances;
   those who see me in the street flee from me.
I have passed out of mind like one who is dead;
   I have become like a broken vessel.
For I hear the whispering of many—
   terror all around!—
as they scheme together against me,
   as they plot to take my life.

But I trust in you, O Lord;
   I say, ‘You are my God.’
My times are in your hand;
   deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
Let your face shine upon your servant;
   save me in your steadfast love.

The homeless on our streets came to my mind when I read this. Some years back my church participated in a feeding program for the homeless providing a meal in rotation with other churches. When one of the so-called homeless women saw the name of our church on our T-shirts her eyes twinkled and she said, “I got married in your church in 1952.” As some of our members got better acquainted with her, we learned she was a retired schoolteacher, who received Social Security and teacher retirement. She said she had an apartment a few blocks from the library where we served the meal. One of the couples who volunteered asked if she would like a ride home and she did. They watched her enter the building and as they drove away, they saw her exit the building from the back pushing her grocery cart that carried all her possessions. She did not trust the demons in the building. I suppose we took special notice of her because she was one like us, but all the homeless are ones like us. I dabble in genealogy, and in many of my families, I have recorded the comment about someone in a family that just left, and we never heard from them again. And those people still exist today.

Our health care system is not what it needs to be, but the mental health care system is even worse. As we try to meet the basic needs on the street, let us not forget to advocate for better systems of care.

Prayer: Lord, help us to see the homeless as children created in your image that need our care and our advocacy. 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.