Devotion for May 9

Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:9

My earliest memories of faith include my three brothers and me being lined up in front of my mother before we got in the car to go to church. She would tuck our shirts in, slick our hair back and, as a last touch, adjust our clip-on bow ties so that they were straight. Then it was off to church to sit with our parents in one of the middle rows for worship. Faith is more caught than taught, isn’t it?

Paul understands that. He knows that instruction without modeling is rarely effective. So he writes to the Christians in Philippi that they should not only keep on doing what he had taught them, but more than that, what they had experienced of his faith.

I have come to believe that, for the next generations to believe in Jesus Christ, they need to see and hear our faith. I know this is difficult for many of us. The reasons, I suspect, are many. One of them surely is that we have seen the distortion of faith that has been loudly declared and flaunted in the media. For many of us this is a caricature of our relationship with God in Jesus Christ. So, we keep our faith to ourselves. Another reason is that, in our desire to be respectful of others and their beliefs, we have waited for the invitation to share what we believe… and, of course, the invitation doesn’t come.

Given all that, I am wondering if my faith is visible to my family and friends. I don’t need to shout on the street corner. Nor am I prone to arguments with others about where they are wrong and I am right. Instead, I am praying that the Holy Spirit will help me model and tell my faith to those who mean the most to me. I think it would lead to a quiet but confident revolution of belief if we would simply be intentional about demonstrating our faith to those with whom we have a relationship of trust and care, don’t you?

Lord Jesus, give me an eagerness to live my faith in you as best I can. Amen

Devotion for April 25

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 1 Corinthians 15:12

The resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is a statement, first and foremost, about God. God is the one who did this. God is the one who foretold it through the prophets and psalmists. God is the initiator and actor. But, for St. Paul and the Christian faith, what God does always has implications and consequences for humankind. The two are inseparable.

Interesting: St. Paul understands that what God has done in Jesus is not a solitary event but the beginning of a renewal of life itself. What God has done – what God does – changes everything. If Christ is raised, then the resurrection is a possibility for all humanity. The two are not separate. One is the consequence of the other.

To say it differently but in keeping with Paul’s words above: what God does is always for life and the creation which God made with purpose. Our understanding of God is that he brings order out of chaos, life out of death and does so for the sake of love. God is love, St. John writes. This means that God never does things for his own sake. God always acts for the sake of those whom God loves.

So, if Christ has been raised, then the resurrection is an historic reality and it now applies to humanity – at least as a possibility.

The only question left then is one of confidence. How can we know that we, as individuals, or those we love will share in that gift of eternal life? The New Testament is clear on two counts. Only God knows who’s on the waiting list; and, thank God, it is ultimately not our responsibility to make that decision. Second, faith in Jesus Christ brings real confidence – we can have certainty only in him.

This is why we are compelled to share the Good News of Jesus with the world. We are commanded to share this confidence with others. Our hope is not to be kept to ourselves. It is, after all, the hope of humanity.  Amen

Devotion for April 4

A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us… and The Lord opened her heart… and she and her household were baptized… Acts16:14

There was a stream crossing where the ancient Apian Way bisected the region of Macedonia. There Lydia, who worked with fine cloth and purple dye, would gather with others. On that shore, Paul witnessed to Lydia who became Paul’s first convert on European soil.

Today there is a shrine to Lydia and a small chapel beautifully constructed and adorned with icons where Lydia came to faith. These were beautiful to be sure. But the really moving moment came when I walked to the shoreline of this fast-moving stream. Some of the building stones from the old Apian Way are still there. In a bend in the river, we could imagine Paul and Lydia entering the stream where her faith was confirmed in baptism. With her were members of her household, Luke tells us. Whether they were only adults or included children is unknown. What we do know is that Lydia’s informed faith (she believed in the God of the Jews) was claimed by the Risen Messiah, Jesus.

Paul’s witness to Jesus and Lydia’s subsequent baptism were the very beginning of his remarkably successful missionary trip to Macedonia. Yet, these two events would have hardly been noticed if Luke hadn’t recorded them in the Acts of the Apostles. Now, two thousand years later, these barely noticed events continue to shape touch the lives of millions of Christians and shape the faith of countless Greek believers.

This shouldn’t surprise us. Our God takes the barely noticed and creates world transformation. The first Easter was barely noticed: some women and then, reluctantly, his disciples saw the Risen Christ. Yet these encounters – so lacking in being noteworthy at the time and, therefore, so easily dismissed – have shaped the course of human history ever since.

God is willing to take our lives – so easily dismissed and underestimated – and bring eternity into our mortal world. This Easter, let us simply be open to this great invitation from God – and Christ will rise in our lives. Amen

Devotion for February 15

John (the Baptist) sent word by his disciples and said to Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” Matthew 11:2-3

In his book The Jesus I Never Knew, Philip Yancey asks the same question as John the Baptist. This many centuries after the ministry of Jesus, the question seems so much more reasonable than to hear it asked by John who knew his cousin and his cousin’s work. But John had just been jailed by Herod and surely knew his fate. On the edge of eternity, John is not only asking if Jesus is the one; he is also asking if his life’s work had been successful. The answer to both questions is yes. But, of course, we see it from this side of history, and he couldn’t have known how it would all turn out.

I can’t tell you how many people I have counseled who asked the same question of Jesus – most of the time the question is born out of personal need. What I’m suggesting is that the question, “Who is Jesus?” is rarely purely academic. As Yancey writes: In this book I attempt to tell the story of Jesus, not my own story. Inevitably, though, a search for Jesus turns out to be one’s own search. (Pg. 25)

What Yancey is saying is simply that faith questions are always personal. And they are. The tragedy that I’ve encountered is when personal faith questions are held privately by an individual. That’s when uncertainty and anxiety often lead to hasty answers. And quick answers are usually wrong.

What’s at stake in the question of John the Baptist, the question that is at the heart of Christianity, is our confidence in Jesus Christ. In the day-to-day of our lives, this may not seem important. But, like John the Baptist, when the chips are down and we need to really know who to trust, the question is essential. That’s what led Philip Yancey to write his book a few years ago.

Today, rest assured that God has provided us the Bible to lead us to the question and, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, lead us to a confidence in the answer we find there so that we, like Peter, can declare that Jesus “is the Christ, the son of the Living God.” Amen

Devotion for October 12

This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand… 1 Samuel 17:46

The words are David’s. They were spoken while he was a shepherd come to visit his brothers serving in Israel’s army only to find the entire army immobilized for fear of Goliath. After telling King Saul that he would fight the giant, David shrugged off the King’s armor as too unwieldy to wear and, facing the well armed giant of a man, David declared that God would prevail through him.

One of the great stories of the Bible, David’s victory over Goliath teaches us that reliance on God will make the seemingly impossible possible.

But first, David had to believe it. In fact, believing it meant that David would stake his life upon it. This was no flight of faith. David had faced lions and bears in the wild before facing the giant Philistine soldier seasoned in battle. God had been with him in battle before and he was delivered. Now, there was no reason to believe that God wouldn’t do again what God had already done. In one sense, David’s encounters with wild beasts had equipped him to face Goliath.

Believing also means speaking. David had to not only trust God in his heart, he had to declare that trust. According to George Barna, “on any given day about one-third of adults, and a higher proportion of teenagers and college students, report that they are feeling ‘stressed out.’” We have become, according to research, a worried nation.

Perhaps now is the time for Christians to trust God with our lives and livelihoods – and say that – first to ourselves and then to others. Something happens when we declare our faith to ourselves. Years ago I learned that if we say to ourselves something, aloud, we will remember it much longer. So, today I am encouraging you to join me in saying, “Lord, I’m going to trust you. You worry about what I need. You worry about what all of us need. I’ll trust you and do what I need to do for today.”

Devotion for August 11

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God… Romans 5:1

His grief has been enormous. He lost his beloved wife suddenly and without warning. Neither of them could have known that there had been a blood vessel in her brain from birth that was ready to burst. She had lived fully – even been an athlete in school. She had children, laughed and shared friendship and love with her family and neighbors.  She participated in the church – her faith strong and vibrant. On that night, they had retired to bed after another normal day – but he woke up in the middle of the night to find her already gone.

The enormity of his grief led him, naturally, to anger at God. The usual questions filled his mind and then seeped into his heart: How could God take her from him and his children so suddenly, so irrevocably? What kind of God could allow such things to happen?

Because he could not find satisfactory answers, he could not trust God. Because he couldn’t trust God with his tragedy, he had no peace with God. And because he had no peace with God and grew tired of the energy this spiritual warfare exacted, he denied God’s existence. In the absence of a God with whom he could be at peace, he chose no god at all.

St. Paul tells us that trust in God (which is what faith is) brings peace with God. He doesn’t assume that all people are at peace with God; his vision of life includes those like my friend. And there are no easy answers for tragedies like his, are there? The peace of our faith elects, in such circumstances, to dare the unknowing and trust that God laid a loving hand on her heart and ushered her into eternity. Faith ventures into the uncharted territory of God’s grieving heart – and claims that God is at work to bring life and love together again.

Today, I wish for you such unconquerable faith… and the peace it brings.

Devotion for June 9

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John… they were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus. Acts 4:13

Boldness is not a word that is necessarily used to describe many of us as Christians. I think that’s, at least in part, due to our misunderstanding of its use in describing the witness of the early Christians, like Peter and John in this Acts text. The essential element in their boldness was the invitation to share their faith. They did not barge into a conversation; nor did they insist in forcing their religious convictions on others. Peter and John boldly witness to the Risen Christ because there had been a wonderful miracle that so many had seen that they needed to share how and why it had happened – Acts 3. In this text, they are brought before the Jewish authorities and demanded to make an account of themselves. They boldly do so.

In our time, when there is so much noise in society with so many conflicting opinions demanding to be heard, boldness might take a different form for us as Christians. Let me suggest three steps in being bold in our faith. First, let us know what we believe about Jesus, his crucifixion and resurrection. Second, let us be willing to first demonstrate care and respect for others – whether we agree with them or not. Lastly, whenever the opportunity arises, let us be prepared to boldly share our faith in God through Jesus Christ.

The problem we have had is that many of us have seen or experienced a religious boldness that discounts the value of the other person. Spiritual boldness with no respect for the other ultimately does more harm than good. So, like Peter and John, let us be bold in our caring – and equally bold in our sharing of the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Lord, grant me boldness in respecting others as well as sharing my faith. Amen

Devotion for April 14

…we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.  2 Corinthians 4:18

Their love is an invisible but very real force between them. Oh, you can catch a glimpse of it if you pay attention. But you’ll only see the signs of it… not the love itself. The look in his eyes when she is talking; the small smile that changes her face when she glances at him and the ease with which they walk together and talk together are all signs of the love they know is real. But you cannot really see it.

Love is like the wind. We really cannot see the wind. We see it’s passing as the trees sway and the grasses undulate. We feel it brush our hair or tug at our clothing.  We can even hear the sound of it – but we cannot see the air’s movement.

The presence of God is like that. For those who know God, there is nothing more real. We feel his presence; know the touch of God’s healing Spirit or the inspiration that comes unbidden as we open ourselves through the reading of the scriptures or in prayer. We recognize the presence of God’s Holy Spirit when people around us sacrifice for others or go out of their way to provide care and support to someone else. We catch glimpses of the by-products of God’s actions in the good that comes from seemingly empty or tragic circumstances. Our hearts soar in the rhapsody of magnificent music or the painted sunset.

We look for the invisible. It’s the only way we can catch sight of forever. And that is the longing planted deeply within each soul. Our hearts are restless ‘til they rest in Thee… so said a great theologian.

O God, as I approach Holy Week, let me rest in Thee. Amen

Devotion for March 31

Trust in the Lord, and do good… Psalm 37:3

Faith is so daily. Each day we have the opportunity to awaken and greet a fresh new start, the wonderful possibility of beginning. But many of us walk past this treasure of time because we bring into it all that has previously happened in our lives. This is understandable, of course, and we dare not ignore our past. The problem is that we often carry our past experiences and decisions like heavy stones that weigh us down. Yet, each day God gives us the possibility of putting the stones down by dealing with them and choosing a new way of life.

The psalmist reminds us that faith is an active trust – a confidence in God’s presence and involvement in today. To trust God is not to remain passive. Instead it is the invitation to choose to seek God’s way and act as best we can. The psalmist says is succinctly: trust God and do good. With God’s help we can choose the good. And when we fail, we look to God’s love and wisdom to lead us through the consequences of our behavior or attitude to a new beginning. This means to set the stone down, no matter how heavy, and trust God with it.

I have seen people so weighed down by the stones of their lives that they can only see the ground in front of them. Others wonder why they cannot see the blue sky or the birds in the air. The truth is that their past weighs so heavily on their souls that they don’t believe it is possible to set the stone down and look up. But God has created the world with all of its wonders so that we can see them and give our Creator praise.

Faith is so daily. Today I will try to set the stones of my life down and, by the love and acceptance of my Creator, look up in wonder. I know that it is in looking up that I meet God – the God in whom I trust.

Devotion for March 24

Today’s e-devotion was written by Patrick Garland, the Director of Children & Family Ministries.

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“Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah.  Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”  Genesis 22:2

So many years Abraham had waited for God to give him a son, and one joyful day, God delivered.  Then after years of raising him, God commanded Abraham to kill his beloved son.  Unfailing in faith, early the next morning, Abraham left home with Isaac for the place God had told him.  

The Bible does not tell us what emotions Abraham went through prior to raising the knife.  My own son, Kevin, is almost 2 years old.  When I read this Bible story, I think of the immense love and devotion I have to my son, and how unimaginable it would be for me to lose him – let alone, to have to end his life myself.

What is worse for Abraham is that his son was old enough to ask questions.  As they walked along, the innocent Isaac asked his father why they brought no lamb to sacrifice.  Abraham simply told him that God would provide. 

Then Abraham bound Isaac to the altar.  What did Abraham tell his son at that point?  Did Isaac plead with his dad or beg him to stop?

Although most of these emotional details are left out of this story, we know that God wanted to see if Abraham still loved God more than Isaac.  Abraham passed this inconceivably difficult test, and it strengthened his character and his relationship with God.

I thank God that this test will never be placed upon my shoulders because in my heart, I know I would fail.  God provided Jesus for us so that none of us would never have to live through that test, just as he provided the ram for Abraham to sacrifice instead of Isaac.

Heavenly Father, thank you for the sacrifice of your Son Jesus, and for your abundant blessings of love and mercy.  Even in the most difficult times, help me to trust in You and grow deeper in my faith each day.  Amen!