Daily Devotions – August 1 - September 2, 2023
August 1 – The Holy Spirit’s alarm clock – John 16:8- 9 And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9about sin, because they do not believe in me;
In this beautiful passage taken from Jesus’ last supper with his disciples on the night he will be betrayed, Jesus has given them the fresh commandment about loving each other and promised them the coming of the Holy Spirit to be their advocate and helper. His compassion for his friends is palpable. He knows them, and us, so well that he sees how confused and frightened we can become when we do not have his presence with us. Here he assures the disciples, and us, that the Spirit’s presence will never leave them no matter the circumstances they face. In these two verses he offers a wonderful reminder of a special beneit of Spirit’s presence with us. Spirit will help us recognize the difference between sin and goodness, and stand beside us as we face the consequences of our blurry vision. Picking up on the language of the Spirit as Advocate, Jesus again uses the language of the law court. ‘Prove’ means to expose or convict. ‘Do not believe’ refers to ongoing rejection. Sometimes in our lives and world we see more gray than black or white. We can become confused about what is a right choice in a complex situation. We may not know whom to believe or where real authority lies in the realm of moral and ethical choices. We can convince ourselves that what we want is what God wants, and that what we wish were true is what is true. That can skew our aim at goodness profoundly. Jesus knows this tendency in us and reminds us that the Spirit, like an alarm clock that shakes us from a nightmare, will awaken us to what is right and true and what is sinful and a lie. Take a moment today to quiet your mind. See if you can let thoughts go for a split second until your mind is free and open space. In that split second, welcome the Spirit’s wake-up call in your life. Ask the Spirit to show you what is right and true and to help you aim only in that direction.
Prayer: God of Mercy, we need you today to help us discern good and evil, sin and righteousness. Whenever we must choose, help us always to choose as your Spirit leads. Forgive us when we err and awaken us daily to a new way. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.
August 2 – Impossible to Hide – Numbers 32:23 But if you do not do this, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out.
The book of Numbers is a tough read for those of us that wear New Testament lenses. The whole of this chapter is about waring in the name of obedience to God. If we look beneath the text to the underlying truths, there is much to beneit us even so. Moses and the people of Israel are preparing to cross the Jordan river to claim the land of promise that God has told them for generations is to be theirs. They have spent a long time in the wilderness and some have found some land there that they like and want to stay there. They are tired of having no place. They don’t want to face the battles that surely lie ahead. They are making the best of what they can scratch out for themselves, and have ceased to ind God’s promises alluring enough to risk the struggle. In this verse, those who want to stay have agreed to cross the Jordan and share in the battle as long and they can come back to the place they have found that they think they like better. Moses agrees to this compromise and then warns them with the verse we read today. It is a poignant reminder indeed. If we make choices that compromise our faith, God’s values, and the good of the community, it will quickly become obvious not only to God but to others as well. There is no such thing as secret sin. Sometimes we can come to believe that our choices are victimless. That is never true. God is always the victim, and so is our own self-esteem and integrity. Take a moment today to sit quietly with God. Know that you are always surrounded by grace as you face your truth. Ask God to show you areas in which you have made sinful choices that now need to be faced to be released. If you are anything like me, you will need to do this in manageable chunks so as not to be overwhelmed. That is ok. God has time.
Prayer: O God of Mercy, like Adam and Eve in the garden, we sometimes try to hide from you when we have done wrong. How silly and fruitless that is! Help us today to come before you and see the truth of our lives. Surround us with mercy and ill us with hope for a more faithful future. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.
August 3 – Punishing – Psalm 51:3 – For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
Psalm 51 is perhaps the most beautiful song/prayer for pardon and cleansing from sin ever written. The prophet Nathan has come to King David to force the king to face the carnage and violence of his conquest of Bathsheba and the subsequent murder of her innocent husband to hide her pregnancy. He has been told that the consequences of his adultery and murder will be generational. To his credit, he hears what Nathan says without being defensive or making excuses. He knows what he has done and that knowledge has punished him internally long before Nathan lays before him the physical consequences of his actions. In this beautiful psalm, David asks God’s forgiveness, but he doesn’t stop there. He asks that God will create a clean heart in him. The heart is the center of the will in Hebrew thought. So he is asking God not only to forgive him but to change his character and his capacity to make good choices. He knows that his only hope for restoration is in God’s cleansing and liberating presence. Perhaps we have not sinned quite so spectacularly as David did, but we, too, know the inner punishment of a guilty conscience. None of us has lived life perfectly. We even know what it is like to ind ourselves degenerating faster than we can lower our own standards. So today, I invite you to read Psalm 51 in its entirety in your own Bible. Read it slowly. Linger on any images or phrases that call to you. Allow this prayer to become your own prayer. Fill in the blanks with your own personal experiences. Notice the feelings in your body that arise. Those are the prickles of your conscience. Release all that you think and feel to God and humbly ask for restoration. It will come completely at exactly the right time.
Prayer: O God of Mercy, hear my prayer. In Jesus’ holy name I pray. Amen.
August 4 – The Call to Repentance – Romans 2:4 Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
In this beautiful passage Paul is trying to help the Roman Christians see the harm their judgmental attitude toward others is doing, not to the ones they judge, but to themselves. Their hypocrisy is obvious to Paul and he knows that it must be addressed. Here he has told them that, if they imagine that they can judge others without taking a hard look at their own behavior irst they will ind that they themselves are judged. One of the things that has stumbled the Romans up is God’s grace and forgiveness of ‘them,’ those ones that they have decided are in the wrong and sinful. Sure, they themselves, might not be perfect but in their minds they are in a whole different category of righteousness. In this ‘what goes around comes around’ passage, Paul reminds them, and us, that God’s patience and kindness toward others’ failings is none of our business. Rather, it is God’s kindness that leads to repentance, for others and for ourselves. Repentance is not the same thing as remorse. Repentance is a radical change of mind, heart and world view away from damaging behavior and toward loving behavior. Paul suggests that it is not judgment and wrath that lead to change. Rather, it is God’s kindness, forbearance and patience that help people see their truth and choose another way. Today, take a moment to relect on two things. Do you hold a double standard in which you freely condemn the sins of others, yet freely excuse or downplay your own? What does it mean to you for God to lead you to change through kindness rather than wrath? Do you sometimes feel motivated from fear more than love? Ponder these things in a spirit of prayer. Read the questions in today’s verses as personal to you. How do you respond?
Prayer: God of Mercy and Kindness, show me today where you call me to repent and change my behavior, my priorities and even my world view. Thank you for your patience and forbearance. In Jesus’ holy name I pray. Amen.
August 5 – Confession and Release – 1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
One of the wily things about sin and evil is that they lie. It is not surprising that the Evil One is called the father of lies. (John 8:44) It is, of course, not possible to truly confess, repent and ind release, if we love the lies more than the truth. When we accept lies as truth we cannot stand in the truth. Until we are willing to stand in the truth, we will not be able to see or accept grace and forgiveness. This is not as easy or obvious as it may seem. As we explored yesterday, it is very easy to condemn the lies we see in others while refusing to see our own lies and excuses. In 1 John, the author begins this letter in which he will focus on love, by declaring that God is irst of all light, enlightenment. It is God that sheds the light that allows us to see the truth. If there are areas of our lives that we prefer to keep in the darkness then, the writer says, there is no truth in us. No truth, then no experience of release. God is not dependent on our doing in order to forgive, obviously. Still, God uses our willingness to see the truth, to turn from the lies, and embrace a new way of life, in order to give us the feeling of release from the burdens of sin. We may try to be better people, but we will carry the burden of our blindness on our shoulders like a bag of rocks. To lay the rocks down we must be willing to look at them. Today, take a deep breath and ask yourself if there are areas of your life in which you are living a lie? Are there times when you have failed, by choice, to live up to Christ’s rule of love? Have you made excuses for those choices? If so, in a spirit of prayer, take those rocks from the burdensome sack you carry. Look at each one with as clear eyed a focus as you can bear. When you have done that, ask God to forgive you. Give the rock to God to dispose of, and go about your day feeling a bit lighter.
Prayer: God of Mercy and Truth, help us today to live in the light of your truth. Help us to turn and live new lives, free from the burdens of unexamined sin and surrounded by your grace and forgiveness. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.
Week of August 6 – Grace and Gratitude
August 6 – Flows through our Stories – Acts 4:33- With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.
In the New Testament, grace is a multifaceted word. It often refers to God’s redemptive mercy, and the pleasure or joy that those who receive that mercy experience. Sometimes it simply means delight or lovingkindness or even goodwill. However, we may try to nail down the nuances of grace, the experience is always one of joy and gratitude for who God is and what God has done, and does, for us every day. The gathered disciples in today’s scripture have learned that it is in sharing our stories of God’s goodness and love that we experience both our power and our delight. The word used in this verse for power comes from the same root as our English word dynamite. It is speciically the power or capacity to understand what God wants done and to do it. Often when we tell our stories of God’s working in our lives, we see the many ways that God powerfully raises us up. Maybe we are buried in a cave of despair, or relationship troubles, or job stress, or poor health. Even in those hard times, if we relect and share the times that God has come to our rescue in the past, we can feel the power of God anew in the present. When we do that the delights of grace become apparent. Today, take a moment to relect on a time when you experienced God’s help or special presence. What was happening in your life? How did God’s mercy come? Was it directly, or did it come through others? See how it feels in your body to remember that time of mercy. See if you can feel the power of grace and thanksgiving that accompanies your testimony.
Prayer: God of Grace, I thank you that you walk with me every day, offering mercy and power. Awaken me to your presence and the daily experience of your grace. Make me ever thankful. In Jesus’ holy name I pray. Amen.
August 7 – Flows from Good News – Acts 20:24 – But I do not count my life of any value to myself, if only I may inish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God’s grace.
In this verse, Paul is speaking to the elders in Ephesus. He has ministered there for some time and is planning a dangerous journey to Jerusalem. He knows that he will face threats there, including arrest and possible death. Still, he feels a special calling to go and so he sets off to meet his fate. Paul is not saying that his life doesn’t matter or has no real value. He is saying that his unique calling matters more. Nothing is as important to him as testifying to the good news of God’s grace in Christ Jesus. Think for a bit today about your life’s mission. What is it that you feel compelled to do, even if there may be tough consequences? What is your particular ministry? Can you think of a time when you felt awash in God’s grace and wanted to share that with others? Is this such a time? What is the good news that moves you forward? Who might you share your thoughts with today?
Prayer: God of Grace, we thank you that you have a unique purpose for each of us. Help us today to celebrate that purpose and ind our own ways to testify to the good news of God’s grace. In Jesus’ holy name I pray. Amen.
August 8 – Justiies Us – Romans 3:22c-24 – For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justiied by this grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
From beginning to end, Paul insists that it is God’s grace alone that clears the path for right relationship with God. He calls this path clearing redemption. The result of the path clearing, he calls justiication. Sometimes we call this process ‘being saved.’ Whether we experience God’s saving grace suddenly in an emotional moment of faith and release, or whether we experience it quietly and humbly over time like stepping stones through a forest loor, God’s loving redeeming grace is the same for each of us. Paul reminds us that we are all sinners in one way or another, but even so, God does the heavy lifting of putting our relationship back on track. Not only does God do the work, it is free. We do not earn God’s love or our salvation. We simply live into it through faith. Do you have a story of awakening to God’s love in your life? Do you have stories of faith growing or of coming to faith? When you realize that God makes the relationship between you right, apart from anything you have to do irst, how does that make you feel? Take a moment today to rejoice in God’s love for you and the saving grace that secures your life and future. Thank God for the gift of grace and your salvation in Christ Jesus.
Prayer: God of Grace, we thank you for the gift of grace and for our salvation. Help us today to live humbly and gratefully in the love that you so powerfully lavish upon us. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.
August 9 – Suficient for our Needs – 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is suficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
Paul was never one to lack self-esteem. Even his honest attempts at being humble don’t quite work. He knows this. In this section of his letter, he has been wrestling with humility and tells his friends that he believes Satan has given him a ‘thorn in the lesh’ to keep him humble. We don’t know exactly what this thorn in the lesh was. Was it a physical illness or disability? Some suggest so. Was it a mental predisposition to depression or loneliness? Some suggest so. Some even suggest that he was just physically unappealing and that caused him anguish. Whatever it was, Paul asked God to release him from its torment. While we have no indication that God answered that prayer in the way Paul likely hoped, we see here that God did indeed answer. The answer was grace and accompaniment in suffering. God tells Paul that there is often deeper power in weakness, or even inirmity, than in power or perfection. When we hurt, God draws especially near and pours grace into us in extraordinary and bountiful ways. Do you have a thorn in the lesh? If so, like Paul, ask God to remove it from you and see what happens. Whatever happens, know that the power of Christ dwells in you even if you feel weak or helpless. Take a moment now to open your heart to the grace that is within you and know that it is suficient for anything that you face.
Prayer: God of Grace: Your grace is suficient for me in everything I face. Thank you for your powerful love and accompaniment on my path. Open me wide to receive your love and be thankful. In Jesus holy name I pray. Amen.
August 10 – Gratitude and Praise – Psalm 95:1-3 O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all other gods.
Recognizing the gifts of God’s grace and presence naturally lead believers to praise. In Hebrew, several words are translated as praise. Halal, from which we get our word Hallelujah, means to celebrate, to glorify, or to praise. Yadah means to give thanks. The word used here is a form of todah. Usually translated as thanksgiving, this word often refers to a choir singing praises in worship, speciically thanking God for blessings and forgiveness. Here the psalmist reminds us how important it is to share our gratitude and thanksgiving to God together as a worshipping people. Whether we worship with beautiful choirs, or our worship is a humbler stumble of praise, when we come together and sing songs of God’s goodness and grace, the power of praise shapes the contours of our soul work. Think today about all for which you are most grateful. Does a hymn or chorus come into your mind? Does a little tune all your own rise up in you? Sing these songs to yourself and carry that spirit of praise with you into worship the next time you gather. Don’t worry about how you sound or who might hear you. God hears you in the perfect tune of your grateful heart.
Prayer: God of Grace, help me today to sing your praises in all I do. In Jesus’ holy name I pray. Amen.
August 11 – Thankfulness – Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.
The whole beautiful chapter from which we take today’s verse discusses the new self that life in Christ offers and expects. We are to set our minds on Christ, turn from sin, relish our beloved status, wear love like a cloak around us for all to see, open our hearts to Christ’s peace and be thankful. The word we translate as thanksgiving is Eucharistic, from which we get our word Eucharist. It means to be well and to give thanks. Some deine thanksgiving as the expression of joy Godward. How can you express your joy Godward today? Did you see a hummingbird at the feeder this morning? Express your joy Godward. Did you arrive at work or school on time? Express your joy Godward. Did you get a note of encouragement or support from someone? Express your joy Godward? Did you have enough food today, a place to live, a new opportunity, a special blessing? Express your joy Godward. Do not wait for the big things. Give thanks all day long for every little thing and watch what happens!
Prayer: God of Grace, I thank you for my every breath, every day, and every blessing! Today I send my joy to you in grateful thanksgiving. In Jesus’ holy name I pray. Amen.
August 12 – Antidote to Worry – Philippians 4:6-7 Do not worry about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Paul is writing to his friends from prison. There would certainly seem to be much in his circumstances to cause anxiety and worry. And yet this is one of the most joyful and uplifting of all of his letters. Somehow, Paul has learned that the most potent antidote to anxious worry is prayer and thanksgiving. The word supplication means to ask, or even humbly beg, for something. It carries the sense of earnestness and trust. Thanksgiving is joy offered Godward from a sense of wellness. Thanksgiving rises from a sense of joy and wellbeing. It also serves to create or magnify a sense of joy and wellbeing, even if it is a tiny sense that we have to look hard to ind. Perhaps today you ind that you are anxious and worried about many things. When those worries arise, take a deep breath, and ask God for exactly what you need in your situation. You may trust that God will respond in the right way at the right time. Then take another deep breath and think about anything for which you are grateful or anything that brings you joy. Tell God about these things. Thank God for these gifts. See if you feel a shift in your body and energy as you focus on your joys and gratitude. If so, linger there and thank God for the special grace of gratefulness.
Prayer: God of Grace, I thank you for every good gift. Help me today to focus on all you have given to me. When worries arise, help me to release them, and any outcome, in to your faithful care. In Jesus’ holy name I pray. Amen.
Week of August 13 – Kingdom Building (Justice and Equity)
August 13 – God’s Priority – Isaiah 56:1 Thus says the Lord: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed.
The book of Isaiah gives us a beautiful look into God’s values through prophetic visions and encouragements during times of national and religious calamity. Today’s verse comes from a section in which the prophet promises that no matter what has happened, and no matter the national chaos that threatens the future, God is at work to put things right and moving mightily to deliver. The word ‘salvation’ means to put something broken back together whole. (We will look more carefully at deliverance tomorrow.) The important thing to notice here is that God asks us to ‘maintain justice’ while we wait for restoration and release. The word ‘maintain’ means to put a hedge around something, to preserve and guard from harm. The word ‘justice,’ Mishpat, is something that people actually do. Justice is not a concept. It is a choice. It is a dynamic thing that calls God’s people to work for fairness and equity, especially for the weak and the powerless that are exploited by others. Justice is not about people getting what other people think they deserve as a result of their behavior. It is about people getting what God thinks they deserve as a result of God’s behavior! Today think about how God’s people can maintain justice in chaotic times. Are there specific things that you can do today to help ensure that people can live with equity and dignity? Are there abuses that need to be named and redressed? Do you see things that are broken that need mending? What do you think the world would look like if everyone had access to all that God dreams for them? That is what justice looks like in God’s kingdom. Describe your vision of wholeness and justice to God in prayer. Ask God to show you any errors, and to help you see your role in kingdom building. There is something that is set aside for you to do that no one else on earth can do in the same way. Spend time today rejoicing in how God can use you.
Prayer: O God, our Deliverer, help each of us today to see the role that you have for us, and to find to courage to do our part. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.
August 14 – Deliverance – Exodus 20:1-2 Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.
God begins the beautiful love letter we call the Ten Commandments with a powerful self-disclosure. Before he shares with Moses and the people the values that are the bedrock of individual and community life, God reminds them that God is the one who delivers them. Of all the words God could have chosen, Almighty, Most High, God of Abraham, etc., God chose deliverer as most foundational. “I am yours,” God says, “I am the one who brings you out of bondage. Nobody else can do that.” The word we translate “Egypt” came to refer to Egypt the place, and even more poignantly, to Egypt the condition. Here God says that God’s deep yearning is that slavery and oppression cease. Slavery is not a condition that has an upside! It is dehumanizing and God will always move against it. This applies not only to the abominable institution of slavery, but also to the more subtle forms of bondage that surround all injustice and live on when formal institutions fail. Power used to benefit the powerful at the expense of the powerless will never be allowed to stand. God always, in one way or another, moves to deliver. God also moves to deliver in our own personal lives. Perhaps we are enslaved to destructive habits, relationships, or world views. Perhaps we are enslaved by fear or anxiety. Perhaps we are enslaved by faulty thinking or even false teachers. If we find ourselves in those situations, we can hear the poignant power of today’s verse as a promise for our own release. Deliverer is who God is. Deliverance from bondage is what God does. Take a moment today to ask God to show you any areas of bondage in your life or community. Sit with that truth for a moment, trusting that God has a plan for freedom. Ask God if there are ways that God needs you to lead God’s people from bondage. Wait with openness and the Sea passage will open before you!
Prayer: O God our Deliverer, help me today to see where your people, including myself, still live in bondage. Show me the path to freedom. Walk before me and show me the way. In Jesus’ holy name I pray. Amen.
August 15 – A Mighty River – Amos 5:24- But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.
In this powerful passage God has taken Israel to court for breach of covenant. Things are disintegrating for them as a nation and a people. The prophet Amos sees the increasing gulf between the poor and the wealthy as a breaking point for the nation. They have normalized and justified injustice to the point that they no longer smell its stench. Rather than deal with inequity, they devise more elaborate worship rituals thinking that God will be somehow seduced by the ‘sound and light shows’ of worship. All the while, Egypt, and Assyria sense the weakness at the core of Israel and plan their advances. In this courtroom scene, God is not fooled by shallow worship even if it is showy and costly. God has told them that the smell of their sacrifices is sickening, and their loud songs of praise are just noise. Rather, what God wants from God’s people is justice everflowing, that is with no impediments, and righteousness that comes from the deeply converted soul and not from ever more desperate attempts to shape God in their own image. If there was ever a more powerful declaration of God’s priorities in the Old Testament, I don’t know where it is. When you think about your life, community, and country, do you see similar divides between the rich and the poor? What impediments do you see that keep the river of justice from flowing for all? How can those be addressed? Today, humbly sit with this verse. Read it over several times and allow the words to sink into your soul. Where does justice need to roll? In what ways do you need to look within at your own devotion and practice? How is God calling you to justice and righteousness today?
Prayer: God of Justice and Righteousness, help us today to uproot any impediment to your justice for all. Give us courage to face the changes called for, and the energy to be the change you expect us to be. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.
August 16 – Justice, Mercy and Faith – Matthew 23:23 – Woe to you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith.
Coming from the prophetic tradition of the Old Testament, Jesus confronts injustice in scathing terms. In the long speech from which today’s verse is taken, Jesus has had a belly full of what he sees as self-righteous, self-serving religious practice, particularly the hypocrisy of trying to look religious while doing the very least possible. The scribes and the pharisees believed that they were keeping the law. And in a literal way there were. The problem was that the law had not changed their hearts toward the weak and powerless in their communities. They boasted in their tithes while widows and orphans starved. Something was so not right about that that it nearly split Jesus in two! Trying to appear faithful while resisting transformation and compassion is horrifying to Jesus and he calls it out passionately. As the passage continues, with example after example, Jesus makes clear that the law is important. Justice, mercy, and faith are just more important. ‘Mercy’ refers to compassion that reaches out to meet the needs of the one to whom it is directed. ‘Faith’ refers not to a set of beliefs, but to an orientation of the heart that rests in trust in God. Today, think about justice, mercy, and faith as the building blocks of Christian community. They are what Jesus looks for in us. In what ways do you see the church living up to these standards? In what ways do we fall short? Think about justice, mercy, and faith as the aspects of your job description as a Christian. How would you rate yourself in each at your performance reviews? Are there ways you can improve? Are there ways the church can help you grow? Bring all of this to God. Wait for God’s guidance. Remember that we do not always see ourselves with the clarity that God does. When we sincerely ask for help to grow, it will always come. It just may not come as expected.
Prayer: God of Justice and Compassion, help us today to reflect your values in our choices. Give us the guidance that we need and the humility to receive it. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.
August 17 – Addressing Systemic Injustice – John 2:14-16 In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” Injustice is not just a matter of individual bad faith actors doing wrong things that hurt people. As if that would not be enough. Injustice also has the wily ability to infect groups, peoples, and public practices. It can become rooted in systems and policies that are normalized and rationalized over time. That was the problem Jesus faced in today’s scripture. He was angry with what these businessmen were doing in the temple. He was even angrier at the normalization of exploitation that they both represented and perpetuated. They had set up their business practices to exploit those who were helpless to fight them, in order to aggrandize themselves. Then they claimed a veneer of superficial religiosity to conceal their true purposes. They might even have come to believe their own excuses. They may have thought that they were doing the exploited ones a favor, actually helping, when all they were doing was making God look bad to the lowly and to the wider unbelieving world. That feels all too familiar. When exploitation and oppression set up in systems and practices that advance some at the expense of others, we, too, can expect God’s righteous fury. God requires that we love God and neighbor. We cannot love and exploit, or benefit from the exploitation, of a neighbor at the same time. It is impossible no matter what pious sounding excuses we make. Today take time to prayerfully think about who, and how, exploitation of others takes place in your community. Who is not given a fair shake? How are the poor set up to remain poor? Who benefits from their poverty? As you think about these things, ask God what tables are yours for turning over. Find others to help you and make a start.
Prayer: O God of Tables Turning, show us today where you are calling us to act for justice for those who are being exploited. Give us courage to follow your example. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.
August 18 – Messiah’s Justice Mission – Isaiah 42:1 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.
Today’s verse from Isaiah is the verse that Jesus chooses, and expands on, as his own personal mission statement in Luke 4:18. Coming after the clarifying and strengthening experience of his temptation in the wilderness, Jesus tells the world, then and now, just what to expect from him, just what he sees his purpose to be. He will bring forth justice. What will justice look like according to Jesus? Good news for the poor, release to those in bondage, sight for the blind and freedom for the oppressed. Not only does he declare this to be his mission, he rolls up the scroll he is reading from and tells those listening that he, in himself, has fulfilled that mission before their very eyes. They have heard his priorities and they are implicitly charged with cooperating with them. Jesus’ hearers bucked and kicked, and, sadly, often we do too. We would sometimes rather think about personal salvation and its benefits than we would contemplate our role in continuing Jesus’ mission of good news, release, insight, and freedom. Knowing that we are loved, forgiven, and redeemed is not the end point of faith, however. It is the launch pad. Today think about how you can carry forth Jesus’ mission of good news to the poor, sight (insight) to the blinded, release to those in bondage of any sort, and freedom for those who are held down. Do you begin to feel a personal call to action in any way? Do not despair or flee because you cannot do everything. You are not the only one God has to work with. You do, however, play a unique and important role in the building up of the kingdom of God. You have a purpose that is set aside particularly for you. You are not too young, and you are not too old to fulfill that purpose. You were born for it and the time is now.
Prayer: God of Power and Justice, show each of us today, the unique purpose you have for our day. Help us to further the goals of your kingdom and to pick up the mantle of your own mission. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.
August 19 – Mary’s Declaration – Luke 1:46-55 And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me! Holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”
After the flutter of angel wings recede, and the dust of the truth of Gabriel’s message to young Mary begins to settle in her heart, she sings one of the most triumphant songs of praise ever written. This song celebrates that God has chosen the lowly to bring Christ to birth, to make God visible in human skin, to bring God’s real and unique presence to the earth. God is using a young, unmarried Hebrew woman to bear the one who will put the broken world together again. As she sings her praise, Mary describes what God is doing in, with, and through Jesus. He scatters the proud, brings down the powerful, lifts up the lowly, fills the hungry, and sends the rich away empty handed. Many of us read this song together in worship on the last Sunday of Advent. I wonder though, softened as we are by the years of Christmas Pageants and manger scenes, if we truly take in how radical Mary’s song is. For those of us who live lives of relative privilege, does bringing down the proud, toppling the powerful and sending the rich away empty, truly sound like good news? Do we spiritualize it all, and in so doing, gut the message? What may keep us from sitting with the discomfort of this song, is that we can’t quite imagine those outcomes as good news at all. Still, Mary tells us that God sees them as such, and even as an act of mercy. Lying pride, crushing power, and unbridled wealth are crippling diseases to those who have them, as well as vehicles of oppression to those that don’t. God does not only care about the poor and oppressed. God cares about the life leaching sins of pride, greed, and the chasm-opening-divides in the human family created by wealth run amok. The Good News of Jesus is that he comes not only to deal mercifully with consequences of injustice for those most harmed, but also with the sin of those who perpetrate injustice on others. Think for a moment today about the promise in this passage that the proud one’s thoughts will be scattered in their hearts, the oppressing powerful will be removed from power, and the rich will be emptied. How do you see that as good news for those ones? In what way does addressing those issues free those whose lives are scattered or toppled? Among those Mary mentions, do you identify with the poor and lowly or the powerful and mighty? If neither, how do you see the kingdom’s call for radical justice that the birth of Jesus inaugurates speaking to your own life and behavior? Carry this pondering with you today and notice if you begin to see things differently.
Prayer: O God, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.” In Jesus’ holy name I pray. Amen.
Week of August 20 – Kingdom Building (Spiritual Practice)
August 20 – A House of Prayer – Isaiah 56:7a – These I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer.
Many of us have prayed as long as we can remember. We pray in times of trouble. We pray in times of joy. We pray for guidance. We pray for forgiveness. We pray table graces, or bedtime prayers. When I was a little girl, my father prayed with me each night. He asked if there was anything that hurt, if there was anything that was worrying me, or if I knew of anyone who needed help. We talked about that, and he taught me the Lord’s Prayer with his hands folded over mine. Some of us have done none of that, or if we have our prayers are confusing, guilt producing or sadly transactional. So, what is prayer anyway? Prayer is simply the intentional practice of relationship with God. As with any relationship, it shifts and changes with time and circumstance. It may happen as we review our day in our minds to God. It may happen as we pour out our longings, fears or guilts to God. It may happen in deep silent awakening to Presence. It may happen as we do the dishes or walk in the garden. It may happen, as encouraged in today’s verse, when we are together in worship, a people drawn into the Presence with one heart and mind (even in our diversity.) Prayer is a mystery. All I can really say is that that intimate mystery is the engine that drives a Christian’s life. It changes us individually and as a people. It moves us. It levels the playing field of the world. It takes us at the same time into the depths of our own hearts, and into the healing mystery that is the heart of God. It is not a slot machine that we put in a quarter and receive an outcome. It is bigger, deeper, sweeter, and more cosmic than all of that. It is the central practice of our faith. Today, think for a moment about your life of prayer. Does prayer come naturally to you? Do words get in the way, or do they carry your prayers? Are you able to feel accompanied as you pray? If not, can you still trust that you are? Pause often today and see if you can breathe in God’s presence. Feel your heart expand with your breath. You are praying!
Prayer: O Holy One, open our hearts to you and fill us with your grace. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.
August 21 – Devotion – Acts 6:3-4 Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word.
The Greek word we translate ‘devoted’ means to attend constantly to something. ‘Serving’ refers to table servants, those who attend to the needs and nourishment of others. The early community, as it organized itself around faith in Jesus, recognized both the need for good and trustworthy leaders, and the need for devoted and disciplined followers. In this verse we learn that being a follower of Jesus means that we constantly attend to both our spiritual lives of prayer and our dedicated service to the study of scripture that must happen to equip us for service in the world. In this passage, the community is struggling because in their zeal for prayer and learning, they are neglecting the needs of widows and orphans. That is the task to which they appoint the seven good men. They knew, and we know, that neither of those tasks can be neglected by thriving Christian communities. Take a moment today to think about how you find that needed balance. What are you and your church doing to meet the needs of those who are struggling? How do you constantly attend to God in prayer and serve God by studying the word? If you feel that you need extra help in these areas, ask God to provide you with opportunities and energy to pursue those goals. We can all grow in these areas and God stands ready to help!
Prayer: God of our Deepest Devotion, we thank you for your triplet calls to serve the poor, to pray without ceasing and to serve your word. Help us today to answer these calls with joy and devotion. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.
August 22 – Endurance – Hebrew 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfector of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
In today’s verses, the Greek word we translate as ‘perseverance’ is often translated as endurance. It is a strong concept that means to bear up courageously, even cheerfully, under pressure. It is often used of withstanding persecution, but it applies to any kind of pressure we might feel that could cause us to give up on life, faith, God and goodness. The people to whom this long letter/sermon is addressed are feeling the crushing weight of both persecution on the one hand and spiritual laziness on the other. Here the author uses the metaphor of an athletic competition to urge his hearers on to achieve spiritual wins and not give up. The concept of endurance in the Bible includes the sense of waiting patiently for God while praising God, not for what is, but for the good that is on the way. How do we do that when times are crushingly hard for us? How do we run with endurance in the race set before us? The verse gives us the answer. We keep our eyes on Jesus who knows what it is like to hurt and feel despairing, and who also knows what it is like to rise above and go beyond. Today, think for a moment about any weight that seems to lie on your heart. Think also of any sin with which you constantly struggle. How might focusing on Jesus help you in that situation? When you look at him in your mind’s eye, how does that feel? Is he comforting you? Is he encouraging you? Is he tending your wounds? Is he clearing your path? Is he cheering you on? Jesus does all of those things at just the needed time! Remember today that you can do what needs to be done, you can finish your race, as long as you focus on Jesus and not the race.
Prayer: God of Grace, we thank you for the model and presence of Jesus that helps us endure hardship and win the laurels of faith. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.
August 23 – Praise – Psalm 47:6 Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.
The Hebrew scriptures always connect faith and praise. The ancestors understood evil almost entirely by its results. Something was considered evil if it obscured the glory of God, made faith difficult, or stopped the ability to praise. Death itself was only considered an enemy because they believed that it stopped our capacity to praise. As Christians, we do not believe that death stops praise. Rather we believe it releases us into new and unending raptures of praise. In this life, we know, as the ancestors did, that praise is a central purpose of our existence. To live, for a believer, is to praise with our whole hearts and lives. The scripture even tells us that it is not just human beings that are called to praise. All of creation praises God as well. The word ‘praise’ means to express joy and warm approval of something, to elevate and dignify something or someone. Reflect today about your thoughts and choices. Do the majority of your thoughts express warm and joyful approval of who God is and what God continues to do? If not, you have the power to choose different thoughts. Does the creation itself sing praise to God? Do you hear it in the waves beat, in the buzz of bees, in the songs of sparrows? Listen closely and you will hear creation praising, even as it struggles and suffers from the weight of climate change and human sinful neglect. How can you do the same when times are difficult? It is not always easy, but with commitment and time, praise can become your way of life too. Not only will that help you feel better, it will also provide you with energy and inspiration to make more faithful choices for the sake of the whole created order. Praise doesn’t change God. Praise changes us!
Prayer: O God of wonder, we do not have sufficient words to sing our praise to you today for all you do, and who you are! Nevertheless, in this small moment we offer our praise saying Hallelujah! In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.
August 24 – Intercession – James 5:13-14 Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.
Prayer is not magic, and God is not Santa Claus. Prayer is not about getting God to do something that God would otherwise not want to do by sheer volume or sincerity of our desires pointed heavenward. Often, we do not know how to pray. Neither did Jesus’ disciples. That is why they asked him to teach them. In response he gave them the great prayer of the church we call the Lord’s Prayer as a model and guide upon which to hang their own personal and community prayer. Why are we moved to pray for ourselves and especially for others when they are in trouble or need? Why does James tell believers to pray for themselves when they suffer, and be cheerful as they await an answer? Why does he tell them to call the elders (those who are most spiritually mature) and have them come and anoint with oil? Because, when we do that, things happen that may not happen otherwise. We pray because in some mysterious way, God chooses to use our prayers both to change us, the praying ones, and to impact those for whom we pray. Our prayers provide, somehow, an opening through which God can do what is most needed in every circumstance, without impediment and with perfect loving power. Prayer, especially for the needs of others, is an act of indefinable cosmic intimacy. It opens avenues of connection through which God pours divine love in and through us. Praying for others in a spirit of hope and trust is powerful healing medicine for those that pray, and an avenue of love and power for those for whom we pray. Does prayer work? It depends on what you mean by work. If you mean does it ensure that you get what you want, when you want it, the way you want it, then not always. If it means becoming saturated with the presence of God, transformed by grace into trusting creatures, and being conduits of God’s loving power, then yes. Every time. Today think of all the others for whom you wish God’s love and wholeness. Lift them up to God in prayer and trust that God will use your prayers perfectly.
Prayer: God of Grace, hear our prayers…….In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.
August 25 – Evangelism – Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Christians find our call to evangelize in these closing verses of Matthew’s Gospel. The words evangelism and evangelical have become politicized and tribal in our day. It is not unusual to hear people claim to be evangelical, and what that really means is that they adhere to a particular Christian theology, and its attendant ideology or even politics. That saddens me deeply. The word ‘evangelist’ in the Bible means to be a messenger of good! When Jesus asks us ‘to make disciples’ that word means ‘to cause people to become learners,’ learners of the grace of God. The word ‘obey’ means to guard from harm. So, rather than a heavy-handed forcing of faith or else, the invitation here is to find ways to cause people to learn of the love of God in Jesus so that they will follow in his way and guard his values of love, justice, mercy and grace. It is the call to create environments of love in which we become messengers of good, not purveyors of vitriol and smug privilege. To evangelize is to, by the power of Christ, actually become Good News People. It is never the Christian’s job to convert. That is the Holy Spirit’s job. It is our job to be good news people in such a way that the winsome wonder of the love of God in Jesus Christ in us is so compelling that others want to taste and see for themselves. As evangelists we are not asked to usurp God’s prerogative to reach people in the ways God sees fit, and in the names that will communicate. It is our job to tell our stories of redeeming grace and to let God do with our devotion what is best for all involved. To me the most important word in this passage is ‘Go.’ It is given in the imperative. I like to translate it, “Go. Get up off the couch right now, and go. Right now. GO!” The stories of God’s grace in our lives are for this very moment! What is your story of grace that you can share with others and with the world? To whom would you like to be a messenger of good today? Are there non-judgmental avenues in which you can listen to the
good messages of people of other faiths, and in which they can listen to the story you have to tell? Are there people who seem hopeless to whom you can bring a story of good grace? Ask God what is yours to do today and do it with joy!
Prayer: O Good News God, help me today to be a messenger of good wherever I find myself! Thank you for your grace and for giving me a story to tell. In Jesus’ holy name I pray. Amen.
August 26 – Prayers of the Saints – Revelation 5:8 When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
In the powerful imagery of the Book of Revelation, the bowls of incense that the elders lift up to the lamb symbolize the aggregate of prayers of all peoples of all times! Every prayer ever uttered and every prayer yet to be uttered, rises like incense to God eternally. God, of course exists both within and beyond all time. God is ever present today and, in the eternal, now. Those who pray around the Lamb are not just elsewhere and later. All praying is also happening right now. The prayers prayed for you by those who care for you are still being prayed even if they are no longer on this earth. Even if we never met them, or they have yet to be born! That is mind boggling I know. What it means for us is that we, in our daily lives, are surrounded by the great cloud of witnesses who now live in the light of the nearer presence of God and even those who will come after us. Our first ancestors and our 18th great-great grandchildren fall to their knees in this moment with love of us in their prayers. Some say that the saints in light are unconcerned with us and the pains and foibles of earth. I don’t think so. They simply have a larger and more cosmic perspective. Love does not end with death. It becomes larger and finer. Are there those that you love, or who have loved you, who now live in the nearer presence of God? If yes, then know that they, and even the angels, pray for you and want what is best for you. We are told that even the Holy Spirit prays for us! So today, even if you feel alone, or far from God, be assured that millions upon millions of prayers are being offered to the Lamb on your behalf right this very moment. You are not alone. You have not been forgotten. Love never ends.
Prayer: Eternal God, we thank you for the power of all of the prayers of the saints in light. Today we add our specific prayers to the bowl of incense for……….In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.
Daily Devotions August 27 - September 2: Last Things
August 27 – The End of the Age - Matthew 24:3 When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?”
As Jesus comes out of the Temple, his disciples remark on the Temple’s beauty and grandeur. (This is more explicit in Mark 13:1-4) Yet Jesus does not seem interested in its grandeur. He sees the wealth and excess of its leadership, and their Roman collaborators, as a symbol for the entire system of domination and exploitation under which people suffer. He shockingly tells his friends that the whole system will tumble, no stone left on another. The disciples were shocked and disoriented by his words. Yet in their shock they realize that it will all be somehow tied to Jesus’ coming and the end of the age. Do they anticipate a time when Jesus will not be with them in the lesh? Probably. Threats are growing daily. Do they think he will escape to some other place and return in triumph with a new army? Maybe. But in either case what is clear is that things are changing. The way things are will not always be. The age of domination and oppression is coming to an end. Everything is going to change, and Jesus is going to be in the midst of it. Without him, it simply will not happen. Even before the cruciixion and resurrection, his disciples know that. Understanding of eschatology, or inal things, has a deep history in both the Old and New Testaments. It refers to a time in the future when the course of history will change so dramatically that it can only be spoken of as a new reality. It refers to many things, from beliefs about death, judgment, resurrection to a cosmic ending of human history. Despite the fact that Jesus tells us that we will not know the times or seasons of these changes and so we should just relax follow him, do justice and love one another, humans, even people of deep faith, often ind ourselves anxious about the future. So did Jesus’ disciples. It is in answer to their desire for a sign that he tells them that there will be wars and disasters but not to be distressed for those are not the end. What is so ultimately hopeful in this passage, is that Jesus promises us that things will change, domination and evil will be overthrown. Not only that, things will change for the better so demonstrably that we won’t even think in the same ways. The old reality will disappear, and a new reality will arrive. He will lead this change and be in the midst of it. That is our good news. Things will always get better. There may be turmoil and confusion, even chaos and suffering, as the change is readied, but the new is on the way, and it will be more than we could hope to dream. Not only will the new age arrive in history at some point in the future. It already arrives daily with each transformed life, soul, heart, and habit. Today, even in the midst of national, or maybe personal chaos, take a moment to remind yourself of this gospel truth: Jesus makes all things new. Domination and exploitation are coming to an end. Even your own life can change so dramatically that you can actually see yourself as born again. Rejoice! This too shall pass!
Prayer: O God of the long view, in times of crisis and chaos, help us to remember your promise that injustice will tumble and that we, even we, can be made anew. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.
August 28 Ripping of the Veil Matthew 27:51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks were split.
The moment of Jesus’ death on the cross, described in this and surrounding verses in Matthew, could not be more dramatic. The curtain referred to here is probably the inner curtain of the Temple that isolated the Holy of Holies, from the rest of the Temple. This was considered the holiest place on earth, where God rested and from which God spoke to people. The tearing of the curtain from top to bottom implies an action taken by God. There are many opinions as to why God did this. Some say it symbolizes God leaving the place due to the people’s rejection of Jesus. Some say that it symbolizes that God is no longer only available to Jewish people and does not have to be mediated by priests any longer. The latter is a more persuasive argument to me, as I do not think that God ever rejects the Jewish people or abandons the covenant. Plus, the splitting of the veil is a symbol of such grace and inclusive love that it leaves me breathless with awe. Seen in that light this verse suggests that Jesus’ death was a cosmic event (the earth shook) that actually inaugurated the new age. We must wait no longer to live in, with, and for God. From that moment on things changed. Attempts to contain God, even for the lofty aims of holiness, could not, and cannot, contain a God of grace who was willing to come, walk, suffer, and die to show who God is and what God does. As Jesus will burst forth from the tomb in three days’ time, God bursts forth from the Temple to embrace a broken and shaken world. Sometimes we may feel that there is a veil hanging between us and God. We may feel that we are too sinful, or that our faith is too fuzzy for us to approach God. We may be afraid of earthshaking changes if we agree to live in the new age of intimacy with God in Christ that scripture offers. That is not surprising. Change is hard. And so is guilt. Still, our faith teaches us that the veil has been split and we are living in ripe times. Today think for a moment about any barriers you experience to your experience of God. Ask God to rip those things from top to bottom in just the right way for all concerned. Take a moment to ponder what it means for you to live life on the other side of the cross and rejoice.
Prayer: God of Power and Love, we thank you that you have removed the containers that people try to put around you. We thank you that you show us that nothing will keep you out of our lives, and nothing will keep you at arm’s length. Help us today to live into the new age you inaugurate in Jesus and rejoice. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.
August 29 Death Isaiah 25:7 And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever.
In this prophetic word, the prophet Isaiah envisions a time when death will be ended.
Chapter 24 has poetically shown the laying waste of earth by God’s judgement against sin and oppression. Chapter 25 is a beautiful poem in praise of God’s deliverance from oppression and all its death dealing horrors. For Christians, we have understood these verses as pointing to the deliverance from death to eternal life that is brought by Jesus Christ. From whatever stand point we read this verse, it is clear that God’s desire is life and not death. Our Hebrew ancestors saw death as the ultimate enemy of God because, they believed, it destroyed creation and stopped people’s ability to praise God. For Christians, death is more of a mixed bag. We don’t exactly love it, but we don’t fear it as an ultimate ending. We know that life wins. Changes, but wins. When I was in seminary, our courses on eschatology (last things) focused 90% of the time on death, facing death, and preparing people to face death with resurrection hope. We spent about 10% of our time focusing on what we might call the apocalyptic end of time. That stands to reason since we will all know death and pass through it to resurrected life. For that reason, eschatology and end times also include the end of our lives here and our move into the nearer presence of God. Here is the simple unimaginable truth of our faith. We are mortal. We will die. Unless something cataclysmic happens, we will all close our eyes on this world for the last time someday. We will release the hands of loved ones we leave behind and clasp the hands of those who have gone before. We are mortal. We will die. We are also redeemed, bought back from sin and death, and we will be raised to new and unending life in Christ Jesus. Nobody can explain this. We haven’t a clue to its mystery. What we have is its model, Jesus who showed us how to live, how to die, and how to rise to new life. What we have is the ultimate hand of Love to clasp as we make that mysterious and glorious passage. In days when death hangs heavily and fear creeps into our hearts, I urge you to remember that though we die, yet will we live. This is true for you, for your loved ones, and even for the whole of God’s creation. Regardless of when or how God sums up life on earth, and when and how Jesus comes again, this remains true: we die to rise. In that alone is a new age.
Prayer: Eternal God of Power and Grace, we thank you that you have defeated death on our behalf, and we can be assured of a hope illed future forever. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.
August 30 Resurrection to New Life John 11:25-26 “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
This is a pivotal verse in John’s gospel, and indeed in the entire New Testament! After waiting a few days for reasons of his own, Jesus has come to Bethany at the request of Mary and Martha to attend to their sick brother Lazarus. In the meantime, Lazurus died and was buried. At this point Martha rushes out to meet Jesus to tell him the news. She is distraught and cannot understand why he waited too long. Jesus responds with today’s verse. Astoundingly, once again he uses the Divine Name (I Am) in reference to himself. ‘Resurrection’, anastasis, means to rise up or cause to stand. Here Jesus is not simply asking Martha or us to believe in his resurrection. Rather he is inviting us to trust in resurrection itself as a state of being. This is who God is, the ever-renewing eternal energy of Love that animates everything and will lose or waste nothing. The word ‘life’ is zoe, the life force itself gushing up eternally. ‘In me’ is interesting. It means to live into or within. This is a very strong word. What he is saying is that those who live into their growing trust in who God is as Jesus has displayed, will be unaffected by their death. The tense in the last clause of the second sentence indicates that this is a living reality now, not just in the future. Jesus knows that until we decide to simply trust in this reality for ourselves, signiicant transformation will be very hard indeed. This does not mean that death has no meaning. It does not mean that we do not grieve the death of loved ones, or even our own when it seems near. What it does mean is that we do not grieve as those who have no hope. Even when we cannot see or imagine the future, Jesus promises that he is it. He is our now. He is our future. He can and does do what he has always done, that is, bring life from death. Today take a moment to sit quietly and praise God for the ininite future that is front of you, for in Christ last things are never really last things.
Prayer: God of Ever New Beginnings, we praise you for your life-giving grace. Help us today to live as those who are not afraid to die, and to know that whether we live or die our song is Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.
August 31 Judgment Day – Acts 17:30-31 While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has ixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.
The prophets of Israel long warned of The Day of the Lord. They believed that, because God is sovereign, just, and good, that God would only put up with sin, evil and injustice for so long. They saw it in military terms. God would raise a messiah who would restore them to a land and to a time of peace and justice. They believed that God took people to court in historical events in order for them to answer charges of unrighteousness. By the time of the events of today’s verses, the early Christians had come to believe that they were living in the end times. Jesus, his radical love and call, and his universe shattering resurrection, had so changed the way they viewed the world that it could only be understood as the beginning of a whole new age which would culminate in Jesus coming to fetch them out of the crumbling world into the joys of a new heaven and a new earth. The Day of the Lord, came to be seen as the Day of Jesus Christ. Even in early Christianity, there were lots of different understandings of what this day would be like. Far more than we can deal with in brief devotions such as these. The shift in understanding of the Day of the Lord as a trial before a righteous God, and the Day of Jesus as a declaration of sentence made by a suffering and risen savior, is an important and mysterious one indeed. When from the cross, Jesus uttered the words “It is inished,” he was not simply referring to his physical life, nor to his saving mission. He was also saying that sin and its consequence of death as the end of life, were inished. So, on the Day of Jesus Christ, our debt owed to God due to sin has been marked paid in full. In no small way due to ictional images, many of us fear the day of Judgment. After all we know that we have not, and do not, lived or live our lives perfectly. Sin has been paid for but not erased. How will all of this spin out? We can’t really say. Righteousness still matters and unrighteousness still has consequences on some level. What we know at the same time, is that the grace of God in Jesus Christ is bigger than anything humans can do or not do, so we can face the future without fear. Today ask yourself if you fear the future? Do you feel that you do not deserve grace, that God is angry and wants to punish you? If so, repent of any behavior that is haunting you, and listen in your heart to Jesus’ words from the cross, “It is inished.” And be thankful.
Prayer: God of Grace we thank you for your saving grace in Jesus Christ that allows us to face the future with conidence and hope. Help us today to take honest looks at our hearts and if there is need for repentance and repair, help us to do both. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.
September 1 Final Battles Rev. 16:16 And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Harmagedon.
The Book of Revelation is a long and wild ride of a vision written for us by John of Patmos from prison. It is a poetic vision of hope and encouragement that many scholars believe was intentionally written in code, some of the keys to which have been lost to us, but not all. Please hear me on this: it was never ever intended to be taken as a kind of literal Hollywood guidebook for the end times. Rather it is much bigger and deeper than that. It is a beautiful poetic promise that right, and justice will win in the end and evil and injustice will lose in the end. The Battle of Armageddon appears only once in the Bible and refers to the place where the inal battle between good and evil will take place. The Biblical location of this battle is in dispute and scholars believe that it was originally intended to depict the inal fall of Babylon and the restoration of Israel. In some circles this battle is seen as the deinitive battle that concludes earth’s history. However you interpret it, one thing is clear. It refers to a massive show down between good and evil in which good ultimately wins. Remember that those to whom John offers this vision are living in times of chaos and oppression. God gives him a vision of hope and encouragement. I often say that apocalyptic literature is the child of hope and despair. It gives us a vision of an ultimately glorious outcome not just to human history but to our own life struggles. Yes, good and evil struggle together in our world, and even sometimes in our own hearts. But there is hope! A good God will never let evil ultimately triumph. Just as Babylon eventually falls, so will all that is death dealing and oppressive on the earth, in our society, and in our own lives. The battle may be hard, but the outcome is assured. In what ways do you see battles between good and evil in the world today? Do you ever struggle internally between contradictory allegiances? Take a moment in prayer to think this through with the Lord. Ask for insight, strength, and an extra measure of hope and encouragement. Remember that in Christ you are equipped to face anything that comes your way, so rejoice.
Prayer: God of Every Time and place, ill us with courage for the battles we must face. Help us today to trust in your goodness and power so that we may choose the right ights to ight, conident in your goodness and love. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.
September 2 Completion and Perfection Rev.21:4 And he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more, for the irst things have passed away.
The scriptures, and Jesus himself give us no deinitive picture of what life after death will be like. Jesus does say that some of the hierarchies and customs of this life will not operate in the next. (Luke 20:34-35) Still, we can gather clues from many passages, not the least of them being Jesus’ own resurrection body. Many of our images of the next life come from the poetry of Revelation with its pearly gates, streets of gold, endless worship, and proximity to God. Perhaps my favorite evocative verse is the one we consider today. This verse comes from the prophecy of a new heaven and earth that is inaugurated after the last things of the age and the inal defeat of Satan. Earlier in this chapter we are told that the sea will be no more. In Biblical poetry the sea is often a symbol for danger and chaos that is unpredictable and untamable. Then one of the heavenly beings, like a sentinel or worship leader, declares the new reality: that God is among mortals, will wipe every tear away and will make all things new. There are no more gulfs between us and no more divisions among us. God has spanned all of that. This is an image of extraordinary intimacy and parental tenderness. God is wiping the tears of a hurting humanity and declaring that all of the old enemies of the human family are powerless and of the past. Whether we think of this as the experience of heaven after we die, or also the experience of the heavenly that we live now in
Christ, the point is the same. God’s desire is our completion and perfection. God’s desire is for chaos and division to end. God desire is for death to be forever behind us. God’s desire is to comfort us, to dry our tears and show us a new way. And. God accomplishes what God desires. It cannot be otherwise. So today, imagine what completion and perfection might be like. Look to Jesus for inspiration. If there is chaos in your life, or tears, close your eyes and let God dry your tears. Here the whisper of God, “The worst is over. The healing has already begun.”
Prayer: O God our Parent, we thank you for your tender care and your beautiful plans for us on earth and in heaven. Help us today to live into hope and make gratitude our irst response to every breath. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.