Wednesday, February 20, 2008              Read Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
"Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due.  But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness."                      --Rom. 4:4, 5  

Maybe the real crux is not faith versus works but wages versus gift.  If I earn my own salvation by what I do, then I have something to boast about.  If my salvation is a free gift from God, then my boasting can only be in God.  I have done nothing to deserve what I have gotten.  A true gift can elicit only thanksgiving from the recipient.  My only part is trusting the giver to have truly given me the gift of righteousness.  In the end, God’s gift is the only one that counts.  

1. How often have I thought that being a Christian makes me better than others?
2. Don’t I really, in my heart of hearts, believe that being good counts for something with God?
3. If being "good" on my terms doesn’t impress God, then what do I do now?  

Thursday, February 21, 2008                       Read John 3:1-17
"Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’"                           --John 3:3  

"Are you born again?" the street corner evangelist asks.  In surveys a significant number of Americans claim to be "born-again Christians."  Do they mean the same thing that Jesus meant when he told Nicodemus about being born from above.  (The Greek word Jesus used can mean both "again" and "from above.")  I am not sure that I know what either Jesus or the modern American "born-again Christian" means.  What I do know from reading John’s Gospel is that what Jesus was talking about had to do with at least two things: 1) that I truly believe in Jesus as the one revelation of the Father; and 2) that I am open to the work of the Holy Spirit in my life.  

1. Do I condemn other Christians if they do not have the same experience that I do?
2. Am I really willing to allow the Spirit to blow me where the Spirit will?
3. What things have I done that point to the Spirit at work in my life?  

Prayer: Spirit of wind and fire, blow through my life.  Cleanse me of the dross that keeps me from following where you lead me.  Through Christ I pray.  Amen.  

Friday, February 22, 2008                         Read John 3:1-17
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

This verse has been called “the Gospel in a nutshell.”  It sums up succinctly what God is about.  Some suggest that I should personalize the verse by saying, “For God so loved me...”  There is truth in that reading of the verse, but it misses some of the impact.  The whole truth is that God so loved (and loves) the “world.”  Not just any world.  Not some ideal world.  This world in all its messiness and even sordidness is the world that God loves.  And if I love God then maybe I had better be about the business of loving this world too.  Beginning right here where I am.  

1. Where do I begin to show that I love this world that God loves?
2. For what reason has God put me in just this place, at just this time, with just these people?  

Saturday, February 23, 2008                       Read John 3:1-17
"Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."      

Sometimes I get in a real condemning mood.  I can wax eloquent about all that is wrong with the world today, especially when compared to the way it was when I was young.  (I remember some thirty years ago swearing that I would never do that.)  That is when I need a good dose of John 3:17.  God’s intent is to save the world.  Now that does not mean that there is no condemnation.  That comes out of the response of each person to God’s Son, Jesus.  My sin is that I can get so busy pointing out all that is wrong that I forget that this is the world that God loves enough to send his Son to save.  

1. Is my life characterized more by the pointing of the finger than the opening of the arms?
2. How can I carry God’s message of salvation to those around me who have never really heard it?  

Prayer: God, my savior, open my heart and my soul to this your world.  In Christ, I pray.  Amen.  

Sunday, February 24, 2008                     Third Sunday in Lent  

Rejoice in the Lord always.  Again I will say it, rejoice.

Monday, February 25, 2008                            Read Psalm 95
"O come, let us sing to the Lord; / let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!"

Even during Lent the note of joy is struck.  I can rejoice in God, the rock of my salvation.  God’s grace to me is the source of my joy at all times and in all places.  It is because of God’s constant care that I can "be thankful in all circumstances."  

1. Where do I look for happiness?
2. How often do I get in trouble because I fail to put my trust in God?  

Tuesday, February 26, 2008                      Read Exodus 17:1-7
"[Moses] called the place Test and Quarrel, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’"     --Ex. 17:7 (my edit)  

It would become a pattern.  Something would go wrong.  The people would blame Moses.  Moses would take it to Yahweh.  Yahweh would provide.  The pattern still holds today.  When something goes wrong, I look around for someone or something to blame.  Of course, I am the last person to come to mind.  Now there are some people who tend to blame themselves first.  Whichever way it works, the tendency to want to assign blame first is destructive of trust.  One of the most difficult parts of this faith for me is truly trusting that God will do what is best. 

1. When trouble comes, do I really trust God enough to let God guide my response?
2. How often do I voice my own version of the question of the Israelites, "Is God among us or not?"

Prayer: God the Provider, when I find myself in deep water teach me how to swim.  Give me the anchor that holds within the gale.  May I trust your love and care in all circumstances of life.  Amen.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008                    Read Romans 5:1-11
"And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us."        --Rom. 5:3-5

For many today the sequence would be "suffering produces despair, and despair produces rage, and rage produces violence, and the violence expresses hopelessness."  What makes Paul’s take on things so different.  It is that ending line which is the key: "God’s love poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit" changes the whole picture.

1. What evidence for God’s love at work in my life can I cite today?
2. Do I make it a point to tell others who are suffering about the love that has come to me through the work of Jesus Christ?  

Prayer: Holy Spirit, so fill my heart with the love of God in Jesus Christ that I will ever live in the light of the hope that does not disappoint.  Amen.

Thursday, February 28, 2008                     Read Romans 5:1-11
"But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us." 

Folk still honor those who risk their lives on behalf of others.  They are especially impressed by those who sacrifice their lives for strangers with no thought as to whether the one to be rescued is worthy or good.  Of course one is  much less likely to think highly of those who send others to do the sacrificing.  Yet Paul says that God  proves his love by having Christ  die.  This makes sense only if it is the divine self in Christ that is going through death on my behalf.  Only if God is in some way fully present in Jesus does all of this have any validity.  It is not a very big jump from here to the Trinity.  Christ’s death is the proof of God’s love only if Christ and the Father are truly One.  

1. How well do I comprehend the sacrifice that God has made to bridge the chasm that I have placed between us?
2. What is my answer to God’s love for me?  

Prayer: Triune God, you have reached out to me in love, bridging forever the chasm between us.  Create in me the answering love that allows you to work in my life to be a bridge builder for others.  Amen.

Friday, February 29, 2008                         Read John 4:5-42
"Just then his disciples came.  They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, . . . 'Why are you speaking with her?'" --John 4:27  

Jesus regularly ignored the conventions that governed his society when they worked to divide people into categories of those who were worthy and those who were not.  He was the incarnation of the God who makes the sun to shine on the just and the unjust.  His disciples were still conventional enough to be shocked, but had obviously been with him long enough not to voice their reservations.  I, too, am called by the Father of Jesus Christ to shatter the walls that divide people from one another.  

1. Do I treat with respect those who differ from me in sex, race, or social class?
2. Am I a reconciler or a divider?  

Prayer: My God, as Jesus brought the water of life to that Samaritan woman and through her to the village, so may I be a bringer of life to my community as I share the good news of Jesus Christ with others.  Amen.

Saturday, March 1, 2008                           Read John 4:5-42
"They said to the woman, ' It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.'"  

Faith begins because of the testimony of another, but sooner or later I must come to know for myself that this is truly the Savior of the world.  Only as I come to know Jesus in himself and through his word do I receive the well of water that springs up to eternal life.  Knowing Jesus involves at least two movements of the soul as the hymn says: "Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."  

1. Do I know Jesus?
2. Have I learned to trust and obey?

Prayer: Father of all, the One who is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth, give me living water, that knowing you in your Son, Jesus, I may live in you forever.  Amen.  

Sunday, March 2, 2008                        Fourth Sunday in Lent

This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Monday, March 3, 2008                                  Read Psalm 23
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."                    --Ps. 23:1  

So begins the best loved of all the Psalms.  It speaks to all kinds of people and conditions.  It is read at funerals and hospitals and sung at communion.  Its simple, yet powerful, images evoke very basic feelings and answer the need for assurances of God’s care in times of trouble.  Often when I read it aloud, I hear the one I am reading to saying it along with me.  Yes, this psalm brings home to me the joy and comfort of trusting God for my life.  

1. When I hear this psalm, is it a nostalgia trip, or wishful thinking, or does it truly define my life as a trusting child of God?
2. At what times in my life has this psalm meant the most to me?

Prayer: Great Shepherd, give to me a trusting heart that will allow me to depend on you to provide for me through Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008                       Read 1 Samuel 16:1-13
"For the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance but the Lord looks on the heart."  

How very often the Lord picks the least likely candidate, at least by our standards: the youngest son, the foreign woman, the persecutor.  When Samuel came to town, David was considered so insignificant that he was left behind to tend the sheep.  But God knew something about David that his family had missed.  How very often I find myself judging by appearances.  I don’t see past the outward shell to the inner potential.  I get put off by the nose ring and the tongue stud and miss the vibrant young woman before me.  God does a lot better at this than I do.  

1. How often have I found my first impressions of someone to be totally off base?
2. How do I learn to look for that which God values in each person I meet?  

Wednesday, March 5, 2008                     Read Ephesians 5:8-14
"For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light.  Live as children of light."                                                                  --Eph. 5:8

This is so typical of Paul.  First he reminds me what I am in the Lord.  And then he urges me to live into what I already am in the Lord.  So much of what happens in church is intended to remind me of who I already am so that I can then live that way.  I think that the most important part of the statement is the words “in the Lord.”  “In the Lord” I am so much more than I can ever become on my own.  It is “in Christ” that my life is reconciled to God.  It is Christ who presents me to the Father cleansed from all stains.  Thanks be to God.  

1. As I live my days do I live as one who remembers that I belong to Christ?
2. Have I really learned to live in the light?  

Prayer: Jesus, Bringer of light into dark places, when I forget who I am and begin again to skulk around in the darkness of shame, bring me back to the light and remind me that I am yours forever.  Amen.

Thursday, March 6, 2008                           Read John 9:1-41
"His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’"                                                             --John 9:2  

Things have not changed all that much.  Blaming the victim was in vogue in Jesus’ day, too.  Jesus’ enigmatic reply has puzzled people throughout the centuries: “Neither . . .; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.”  On first hearing this seems to be as cruel as blaming the victim.  On further reflection I realize that Jesus is speaking a truth about the possibility in every human condition.  When I trust God fully, then God can turn every circumstance into an occasion for God’s works to be revealed.  The key here is that I trust the one who in Jesus Christ is the light of the world.  

1. Have there been times in my life when trusting God has turned what seemed to be disaster into an occasion for praise?
2. What have I learned about me and about God from those times?  

Prayer: Jesus Christ, Light of the World, work in me the works of God, that I may be a mirror of your light to a dark and despairing world.  Amen.  

Friday, March 7, 2008                             Read John 9:1-41
“If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”        --John 9:33  

I have now reached the crucial question that the Gospel of John asks: Where does this man come from?  It is the one question, says John, the answer to which will determine the relationship of each person to God.  My eternal destiny hangs on the answer that I give.  This story in John tells of one man who comes to believe that Jesus is from God and of a group of people who refuse to believe.  Jesus is, not only the one who is “from God,” but the one who is God for us.   

1. In what ways does my life testify to my belief that in Jesus I see God?
2. Where in my life am I still afflicted with the blindness that does not allow me to see the light of Jesus?
3. How am I allowing the light of Christ to fill more and more of my life?  

Saturday, March 8, 2008                              Read Psalm 23
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.”                                                    --Ps. 23:4a (RSV)  

Here I am back at the Psalm that began the week.  Light and darkness figure in this Psalm as well.  Because God is light, I need fear no more.  Near the beginning of these devotions, I asked the question: What Jesus does mean by the reward that would come to those who pray, fast and give alms in secret?  I am beginning to get a glimmer of an answer.  If I can walk through the shadows because God is with me, then my reward is in God’s presence itself.  Life in the light is the reward of trusting God for life.  What else do I need?  

1. In what ways do I experience the sufficiency of God’s love for my life?
2. Am I allowing God’s love to banish my fear?  

Prayer: My God, let me live in your light.  Jesus Christ, light up my life.  Holy Spirit, make me a light for others.  Amen.  

Sunday, March 9, 2008                         Fifth Sunday in Lent  

How good it is to sing praises to our God.  

Monday, March 10, 2008                              Read Psalm 130
“If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, / Lord, who could stand?”  --Ps. 130:3  

Throughout this Lenten period of self-examination, much of the focus has been on God and what God has done.  John Calvin said that knowledge of God and knowledge of self are but two sides of the same coin.  Wherever I start, I really begin and end with God.  My standing before God is not determined by how well I perform on any of a number of measures.  My standing is determined by what God has done for me in Jesus Christ.  The Psalmist also understood this: that before God I cannot stand unless God causes me to stand by cleansing me with an act of divine forgiveness.  

1. Have I truly accepted God’s love for me?
2. How do I respond to God’s gracious act of forgiveness given in Christ?  

Prayer: Forgiving God, in Jesus Christ you reconciled the world to yourself.  Give me the grace to live out that reconciliation through my forgiveness of others.  Amen.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008                       Read Ezekiel 37:1-14
“[The Lord] said to me, ‘Human One, can these bones live?’”   --Ezek. 37:3a  

It was a valley full of dry bones.  God puts the question: Can these bones live?  My first instinct is to say: No way!  But this is God I am dealing with, so I hedge my bets and give a safely pious answer: Lord, you know.  Then God tells me to act so that God can give these bones life.  Despair is an ugly thing; it saps the will to live.  It denies hope.  My message is to be that no matter how bleak things are, God is still acting to bring life.  You and I are called to be proclaimers of the life that God is breathing in the most unlikely places.  

1. In what unlikely places have I witnessed God’s Spirit breathing life?
2. When I am in the dry places, do I expect life or death?  

Prayer: Life-giving Spirit, use me to prophesy the life that you are breathing into the most desperate situations.  Stand me on the side of life.  Through Christ.  Amen.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008                       Read Romans 8:6-11
“To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”                                                                     --Rom. 8:6  

To set the mind on the flesh is to follow human patterns of thinking.  After Peter’s confession of him as the Christ, Jesus began to speak of his coming suffering and death.  When Peter rebuked him, Jesus told Peter that he was now thinking human thoughts, not God’s thoughts.  When I think that I can do it my way; when I believe that I know best how to handle this situation; when I forget God; then I am setting my mind on the flesh.  To set the mind on the Spirit is to acknowledge God’s way in the world, a way that begins with the crucified Christ.  That the Christ, the Son of God, should end up on a cross, is such a radical departure from all that my human mind expects that it offends me at the very core of my being.  Only when I can acknowledge that God’s foolishness is wiser than all my wisdom, only then do I find myself in the Spirit and on the path of life.  

1. Do I truly submit my thinking to God’s Spirit?
2. What evidence do I see that God’s Spirit is at work in me?