Devotional 6-27-13

Born Free!

Lectionary Readings for the Week:  2 Kings: 1-2 & 6-14; Psalm 77: 1-2 & 11-20; Galatians 5:1 & 13-25; and Luke 9: 51-62.      "It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life.  Just make sure that you don't use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom.  Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that's how freedom grows.  For everything we know about God's Word is summed up in a single sentence:  Love others as you love yourself.  that's an act of true freedom.  If you bite and ravage each other, watch out--in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?"  Galatians 5: 13-15

This week's passage from Paul's letter to the Galatians provides several instructions on how to live a God-like life. God has given us freedom to choose our life style. In verse 23, Paul invites us to take on the fruits of the Spirit:  love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control as behaviors that signify that we are allowing God to guide our actions. The key to accomplishing this God-filled life seems to hinge on relying on God for guidance in all our choices and living out the commandment to love one another.  When we choose to love, our actions and behaviors become more God-like.

At first reading, the freedom idea seems great. "You can choose any behavior or activity you desire."  But then Paul shares the "rest of the story".    "Be prepared:  if you choose to live without God--you will have a life filled with all manner of negative emotions and heartache."  In verses 19-21, Paul warns of results that occur when we try to get our own way all the time and that if we continue to use our freedom to live only as we choose, we will not inherit God's kingdom.  God gives us freedom and with the freedom to choose, we must understand that there will be dire consequences when we choose to ignore the commandment to love one another.

I don't know about you, but my daily walk usually starts out with all good intentions for making wise use of my freedom of choice, but when I examine it at the end of the day, I am highly disappointed and I'm sure God is also.  Loving my neighbor is easy enough for my friends and family, but what did I do for those not in my "inner circle"?  It has been said that what we spend the most time and money on are the things that we value the most.  My lack of regard for following God's will for my life shows up in my checkbook and debit card receipts.  God is asking me to examine my DAILY choices.

Freedom is not easy.  Freedom is not to be ignored or taken for granted, either.  And it seems that the more we struggle with our personal freedoms and when and how we should be protecting other's freedoms, we begin to see how living a God-like life requires a greater effort on our part.  We live in a very "connected" world.  But are we connected to God and have we listened for His voice of guidance?    Are we connected to the needs of those in our backyards?  Have we noticed those around us who are not free to make their own choices because of poverty, infirmity or the prison of a lifetime of poor choices?  What is God calling us to do with these observations?  How can we "love our neighbor" a little better each day?

Paul says in verses 25 and 26:  "Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.  that means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse.  We have far more interesting things to do with our lives.  Each of us is an original." (The Message)

Dear Gracious and Loving God, you have provided all the tools to guide our behaviors and you call us daily to listen to your guidance.  We thank you for the bounty of love that you shower on us without reserve and the freedom to choose our path.  We are heartily sorry for all our missed choices to serve one another in love. Please forgive our negligence and selfishness.  Help us to make better choices each day that serve to increase our connectedness to you and to ALL our neighbors. AMEN.
 

Chyrl Budd

Devotional 6-23-13

A Prophet Loses His Nerve

I Kings, chapter 18 and 19

The lectionary texts in recent weeks have followed the life of Isaiah.  In one story, Elijah quite boldly, and derisively, challenged the prophets of Ba’al to a contest on Mount Carmel.  Let the true God send fire to consume a sacrifice.  The prophets of Ba’al cried out to their idol to no avail.  “Call him louder!” Isaiah mocked.  When their prayers failed, Isaiah modestly called to the one true God to send fire for the sacrifice.  Fire came; and it consumed not only the bull offered for sacrifice but also the wood and stones of the altar as well as the moat Isaiah placed around the altar to flood the sacrifice.  Isaiah then supervised a general slaughter of the prophets of Ba’al.

King Ahab learned of this and told his wife, Queen Jezebel.  Jezebel, quite displeased with this news, threatened Isaiah with a painful, torturous death which, frankly, frightened the bejezebel out of Isaiah.

Isaiah discerned the voice of God telling him to go to God’s mountain, Mt. Horeb.  He went, but rather than standing boldly on the mountain, Elijah hid in a cave.  He listened for the voice of God which he did not find in the wind, nor the earthquake, nor the fire. Rather, the voice of God spoke through a still, small voice.  While God can choose however God wants to speak, in this case, it was in a “sheer silence” as some translations put it.  “What are you doing here?” God asked him.  Twice.

Eventually, Elijah emerged from the cave to stand on the mountain and receive his next marching orders from God.

Many readers of this text focus on the “still small voice” that spoke to Elijah.  While it is important to listen for God to speak in whatever form God chooses, from the dramatic to the subtle, this text is more about God pursuing a prophet who had become frightened and who lost his prophetic courage.

Pastors and laity alike are called to serve God and to be in ministry.  There are times when we can stand boldly with Elijah and speak for God.  There are other times when peer pressure, criticism, desire to get along, or social fear get in the way and we feel weak or timid, perhaps embarrassed, to speak the word from God to an unreceptive audience or to a hostile world.  Battle scars can make us weary for the work of God. 

Even so, this text reminds us that God still pursues us, as the Lord pursued Isaiah into the cave, with a claim on us and an embrace that can give us the nerve – the courage – the guts, if you will – to be bold in our faith.

In the church, we draw strength to serve God in the world outside.  And in the church, others look to us for strength for their daily ministries.  Let us faithfully and boldly emerge from Isaiah’s cave; and let us also be the support others need to stand firmly for the Lord.

Dear God, you gave your prophets difficult tasks and you gave them strength.  When they faltered in sin, you chided them.  When they stumbled with fear, you gave them new courage.  Forgive us when we fail you and one another, and strengthen us for our daily walk with you.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.

Rev. Jack Lipphardt

Devotional 6-14-13

³⁴ Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ Fr I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ --Matthew 25:34-36

A + B = X

A. In Alice Hoffman's book The Third Angel, a country doctor tells his daughter that when he makes house calls he usually encounters The Angel of Life, The Angel of Death, or The Third Angel. The first two are obvious but the third one needed an explanation. When one helps a Third Angel, one becomes a better person. In my Koinonia Sunday School Class, Theo Tippett was our Third Angel. By loving and caring for Theo during her fight with cancer, we all became better people and a more cohesive, purposeful class.

B. My friend Marv Jones taught our Koinonia Class on May 19. In the course of his lesson, he told us that in college he was not always the best money manager and more than once went hungry due to lack of funds. "I know what it's like to be hungry," he said. Therefore, when someone asks him for food, he'll give it to them. Not handing them money, but physically going to the nearest restaurant and buying them a meal.

X. My birthday was three days later. I had a good morning with my co-workers treating me to gifts and the parents of my students (thanks to a couple of well-placed signs) stopping by to wish me a happy day. As I left work I was feeling pretty loved. I stopped at Speedway on the way home. Since it was my birthday I got 200 extra Speedy Points! As I got out of my car and started the process of pumping gas, a young woman came up to me and asked if I could help her. She said she had not eaten in a while and was hungry. (Marv's words were ringing in my head). She said, "You can watch me eat if you want to." Translation: "I am not going to use your money to buy drugs." I told her to go inside and pick out some food and I would pay for it after I finished at the gas pump. When I went inside she'd selected a pizza. "This is big enough, I can have some now and save some for later." I told her to pick out a drink too. As I paid for it (and got my 200 points), she thanked me and hugged me. As I walked back to my car, it dawned on me that I had been sent a Third Angel for my birthday, and that was the best gift of the day.

Anita Gardner Farrell

Today, June 14, is my son Marty's 27th birthday. He was born the day before Fathers' Day. When my Dad came to the hospital to see us, I said, "Your Fathers' Day gift is on my dining room table." He nodded toward the baby and said, "That's gift enough." That's a nice memory. Happy Fathers' Day to all the dads reading this.

Devotional 6-7-13

Lectionary:1 Kings 17:8-24, Psalm 146, Galatians 1: 11-24, Luke 7:11-17

 

Psalm 146:5 Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.

 

A Sure Thing

 

"Oh, I hope I can make it to the top.", pants a hiker midway up a steep and rocky trail.  With sore feet and aching muscles, the hiker has good reason to wonder whether or not he'll be

among those who reach the summit of the mountain. It's not a sure thing.
 

You place your hope in God, but not the uncertain hope of the hapless hiker. In his Word, God has shown you his path and the direction he wants you to take. Yes, sometimes the way gets steep and you face barriers, crevasses, and canyons that make you believe the way impassible. Sometimes you tire in mind and body and you are tempted to say, "I just can't make it any further." God knows all the obstacles alongyour path and he knows your strength and endurance. Therefore, he helps. He comes to your aid in the form of his spirit, who increases your faith....by the hand of a friend who helps you out.....in the discovery of a bridge that allows you to move past the hardship and forward on your journey.This is the kind of assistance he promises you, and it's the kind of assistance that makes you say with confidence, "I place my hope in him." Though you cannot yet see the summit, you proclaim with certainty, "My hope is sure. In him, I will make it to the top.

God has promised to take you to the summit--eternal life with him in heaven. He has also promised to help you get there.You might not always know how. Nonetheless, you know he's going to come through for you. You know he will never leave you stranded on any part of the path. Your HOPE rests in the fact he has promised you his strength and power. And since he has promised, it's a sure thing.

 

Taken from Mountain Prayers: A Vacation for Your Soul.

Honor Books
 

Kay Lewis