Year B, Holy Trinity, Thursday

Inspired by Isaiah 1:1-4, 16-20

“Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.”  Isaiah 1:16-17

What does faithful living look like?  According to many adherents of Christianity, faithful living means abiding by a strict morality code.  Such adherents put their faith in acting or dressing modestly, avoiding ‘worldly’ pleasures such as movies or literature that are not explicitly Christian, and preaching against the dangers of sexually immoral lifestyles.

Living according to a strict morality code can help to keep one focused on God, but is not itself what makes a good Christian.

The word of the Lord that came to Isaiah was for the people of Israel whom God called a sinful nation, utterly estranged from God.  His instruction for them was to cease to do evil, learn to do good, and then that ‘good’ was defined: seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.  The evil that the Israelites were doing that was so offensive to God had nothing to do with sex or leisure activities; the evil that God wanted the Israelites to turn from involved practicing injustice, oppression, and disregard or exploitation of the poor and marginalized.

What does faithful living look like?  It looks like someone working to see that justice is served regardless of the power or social status of the parties involved.  It looks like someone giving up some of their own comforts and even rights in order to protest the forced labor of those who have no choice other than to provide goods or services at a price lower than their work is worth.  It looks like someone lending their voice to the plight of those who have no voice of their own, whose interests and wellbeing are beneath the concern of those in power.  Those are the behaviors that God considers moral, and practicing them is how we can answer God’s call to live faithfully.

Let us pray.  God of justice, you sent your Son to rescue the oppressed and help the disenfranchised.  Save us from our evil ways, that we may reflect his grace in our lives and do the same.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Pentecost Wednesday

Inspired by John 20:19-23

“When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’”  John 20:19

There are many things to fear in this world.  We fear instability, poverty, lawlessness.  We fear injustice, chaos, persecution.  Sometimes we have very clear images of exactly what we fear, and sometimes we know the faces of the people we fear.  Many of us live in constant fear, venturing out only when we have to, looking over our shoulders when we do, hiding behind the safety of locked doors when we can.

Even if we aren’t consciously aware of our fear, many of us are ruled by it nonetheless, and we make our decisions based on it, and we limit our interactions with others and the world because of it.  What if I’m rejected?  What if I’m ignored?  What if I’m made a fool of?  What if I fail?  Better to not try at all.  So we lock ourselves away, and hope that those we fear will never find us.

But no matter how deeply we bury ourselves, Jesus will always seek us out and offer us his peace.  No matter how hunted we may feel, Jesus will bring us respite.  No matter how risky or frightening the situation might seem, Jesus will stand with us, and remain with us, and assure us that he has already conquered death for us, so we have nothing to fear.

Let us pray.  Lord of peace, you have already conquered that which we fear most.  Let your peace reign in our hearts, that it may drive out all fear and we may engage with the world confident of your grace and love.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Pentecost Tuesday

Inspired by 1 Corinthians 12:12-27

“If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.”  1 Corinthians 12:26

Our modern society operates as though life is a zero-sum game.  If there are going to be winners, then there has to be losers.  There are limited resources, and some will be the ‘haves’ while others will be the ‘have-nots.’  We all want to make sure we’re the winners and the ‘haves,’ and while we may not actively spite the losers or the ‘have-nots,’ we are certainly guilty of overlooking them, or of making up reasons to justify their unfortunate circumstances as appropriate or deserved.

But that’s not the community that God in Christ has called us to.  The Lord our God created this world and all its resources, and he made sure that there was enough for everyone.  He created humanity with wondrous diversity, and he made it clear that only when we honor each other’s differences and contributions can all people live with the dignity that God intended and with sufficient resources to meet everyone’s needs.

Rather than looking at those who suffer and thinking, “There but for the grace of God go I,” let us instead suffer with them, and work to alleviate their suffering as though it were we who suffered.  Rather than being envious of those who have achieved more than we have, let us celebrate that they are using the gifts that God has given them to do well, and let us strive to do the same.

We’re all in this world together.  We’re all in this life together.  We’re all living by God’s grace.  What happens to one of us happens to all of us.  Living as though we are responsible only for our own happiness not only denies the good gifts of God’s grace, but also guarantees that we will never achieve the complete satisfaction and contentment that only comes from recognizing God as Lord.

Let us pray.  God of abundance, you created this world and everyone in it.  Enable us to see the world and its inhabitants as you see us, that we may recognize that we all possess dignity and honor, and that we are all connected to one another.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Pentecost Monday

Inspired by 1 Corinthians 12:4-11

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone…All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.”  1 Corinthians 12:4-6, 11

What is the proper way to serve Christ?  Most churches spend a good deal of time encouraging their members to serve Christ, and many of them have pretty clear ideas about how their members should do that.

And most of those ideas are good examples of how one might serve Christ.  However even the most creative, innovative congregation is going to be limited in its vision.  Each individual person is a member of the body of Christ in his or her own right, and each individual person has a unique blend of gifts, experiences, and perspectives which can be used for the good of the Church as well as all of God’s creation.  Churches should certainly encourage each of their members to discern what their gifts are, and they should certainly be willing to give some suggestions on how those gifts might be used.  But churches must beware of valuing certain gifts over and above others, because that can lead some members of the body of Christ to mistakenly believe that they have nothing of importance to offer, or that God has forgotten them, or that they don’t belong in the fellowship of believers.

No matter who you are, no matter what your position in life and society, you have a place in the body of Christ.  You have gifts that are needed for proclaiming the gospel to the world, even if those gifts are more solitary, understated, or behind-the-scenes than we usually think of evangelical proclamation to be.  God created you thoughtfully, lovingly, and with a purpose in mind that you and you alone can accomplish, using the gifts that you have, which may not necessarily be the gifts that everyone else sees and recognizes.

Let us pray.  Lord of all, you created each of us individually.  Help us to discern our gifts and the gifts of others, that we may work in harmony to proclaim your good news to the world.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, The Day of Pentecost

Inspired by Romans 8:22-27

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.”  Romans 8:26

God is the creator and we are his creation.  He is holy, and we are sinners in need of his grace.  With all that we’ve done against him and his creation, be it intentionally, accidentally, or thoughtlessly, it is no wonder many of us fear to approach him in prayer.  We don’t know what to say, or else we fear saying the wrong thing and making our situations worse.

But God wants us to approach him in prayer.  He has sent us his Spirit not only to guide us in our ways, but also to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.  When we don’t know what to do, the Spirit will encourage us in the ways of righteousness.  When we don’t know how to pray, the Spirit will pray for us.

We are welcome and encouraged to bring our concerns, our desires, our praises, our fears, and our thanksgivings to God.  If we have something to say, God wants us to say it.  But even when we don’t know what to say, God still wants us to come before him in prayer, and his Spirit will express those feelings which defy words, which defy explanation, but which help define us.  God knows us to our very core, even better than we know ourselves, and when we trust his Spirit to guide even our wordless prayers we will grow closer to the One who created us out of his love, who redeemed us with his mercy, and who sustains us with his grace.

Let us pray.  God of life, you sent your Spirit to guide us in our ways and bring us closer to you.  Enable us to trust in your Holy Spirit, that we may indeed grow closer to you in our prayers and in our lives.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Pentecost Saturday

Inspired by Exodus 15:6-11

“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?  Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders?”  Exodus 15:11

In this day and age, it’s very hard to be truly impressed by something.  To one degree or another we’ve seen it all, done it all, been everywhere, and we know all the tricks.  Even when we do acknowledge that something is impressive in one way, we’re very quick to point out all the other ways in which it falls short.

Many of us live in a constant state of disappointment because we want to find something that is truly worthy of our adoration, but everything we put our faith into fails.  Money loses its value, beauty fades, power and prestige are fleeting, and relationships require compromise.  Even while we may take some contentment or satisfaction out of some or all of those things, none of them is impressive enough to warrant our adoration.

Perhaps we’re looking in the wrong places.  All those things—money, beauty, power, even love—we set up before ourselves as gods, but none is God.  God alone is worthy of our adoration; God alone is impressive in every way and disappointing in none.

Put your faith in the One who created the world and everything in it: the One who is more valuable than the world and all its contents, the One who created the very concept of beauty, the One who is all-powerful, and the One who is himself love.  Put your faith in the One who gifted his people with all these good things, and worship the giver instead of the gift.

Let us pray.  Magnificent God, your majesty is beyond our comprehension.  Remove the cynicism from our hearts, that we may experience anew the wonder evoked by your awesome works.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Pentecost Friday

Inspired by Psalm 33:12-22

“A king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.  The war horse is a vain hope for victory, and by its great might it cannot save.”  Psalm 33:16-17

We have many resources at our disposal.  Some of us have great wealth, some of us have great physical strength, some of us have a keen intellect, and some of us have an ability to connect with people well.  Some of us have elements of all those things; some of us have other resources and abilities entirely.  But none of us can save ourselves, and all of our earthly resources will fail us when we need them most.

All that we have is from God, and he gave us what we have so that we can live according to his will in the world that he created.  All that we are is from God, and he made us who we are because he loves us, and we have an important role to play in his creation and in his kingdom.

Whatever challenges we may meet, whatever trials we may face, we are encouraged to use whatever gifts God has given us to stand firm in his word.  But remember that our deliverance is from God, not from ‘our’ resources, and his grace and mercy will not fail us when we need him.

Let us pray.  Omnipotent God, your steadfast love endures forever.  Turn our heart toward you, that we may recognize your grace in all that we have.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Pentecost Thursday

Inspired by 1 Corinthians 15:42b-49

“Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.”  1 Corinthians 15:49

Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.  Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.  These words that are heard on Ash Wednesday and at burials of the dead respectively remind us that we are creations, given the gift of life by the Creator but possessing nothing of our own.  Our bodies were born of earthly elements, they are tied to the earth, and they will return to the earth.

But because of the grace of God through Jesus Christ, we are more than our bodies.  Jesus Christ, Son of God, became flesh and lived as a human being.  His body was born of earthly elements, and it was tied to the earth.  He experienced pain and pleasure, hunger and satisfaction, exhaustion and contentment, just as we do.  When he was nailed to the cross, he suffered as much as the two very human thieves on the crosses next to him suffered, as much as any of us would suffer.  But when he died, though he was buried in a tomb, he did not return to the earth.  He was raised, body and spirit, and through the power of his resurrection we are promised the same.

This life is not all there is.  Dust is not all we have to look forward to.  God in Christ broke into the human, earthly world, and proclaimed that his kingdom is at hand.  We have his grace now, and we can live beyond the limits that the mere dust we were made from would suggest; we are children of God, and we are heirs with Christ of the kingdom of heaven.

Let us pray.  Lord of heaven and earth, you sent your Son to be one of us.  Comfort us with the knowledge of your presence with us, that we may live fully today and have no fear of tomorrow.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Easter 7, Wednesday

Inspired by Ezra 9:5-15

“O my God, I am too ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.”  Ezra 9:6

It starts small.  A little indulgence here, a little loosening of your self-control there.  A little cover-up to avoid some minor unpleasantness, a little more indulgence because there are so few pleasures in life right now, and then, all of a sudden, you’re in deep.  Your life seems to have spiraled out of control; your own behavior has hurt the people you love most and your closest relationships are strained or damaged.  You can’t understand how things went so wrong, because you didn’t do anything terrible; it was just a little thing here and a little thing there, until you’ve become someone you simply don’t recognize anymore.  But you know that you did it; you made your choices, these are the consequences.  It’s your fault.  How can you ever expect to be forgiven when you so willingly walked away from God and all that he has given you?

It is in those moments, when we’re in our deepest despair and loneliness, that God in Christ is closest to us.  When we know our guilt, when we know our sin, and we know we don’t deserve any help at all, God in Christ gives us his grace.  No matter what hurtful things we’ve done or how deeply in trouble we’ve managed to get ourselves, we’re never beyond the reach of God’s forgiveness.

It is because we don’t deserve it that Christ came, and his grace is more than sufficient to cover your sins and encourage you to live the life you were meant to lead, a life that will cause you no shame or embarrassment.  Because God will never be too ashamed or embarrassed to call you his own.

Let us pray.  Merciful God, you know our guilt and our sin.  Embrace us with your love, that we may live in the knowledge that you have wiped away our shame and removed our embarrassment.  Through Christ our Lord.

Year B, Easter 7, Tuesday

Inspired by Titus 1:1-9

“For a bishop, as God’s steward, must be blameless; he must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or addicted to wine or violent or greedy for gain; but he must be hospitable, a lover of goodness, prudent, upright, devout, and self-controlled.”  Titus 1:7-8

Leaders of the church, whether ordained or lay, are not perfect.  Leaders of the church are saved by grace just like everyone else; neither their position nor their works brings them any closer to God than those they lead.

But as God’s stewards, leaders of the church are expected—both by those they lead and by God—to be of a certain character and moral uprightness.  Sadly these expectations are often not met, and the resulting damage to the body of Christ has been devastating.

How many Christians have been harmed—physically, emotionally, or spiritually—by a church leader?  And with each incident numerous people are driven away from the good news of Jesus Christ by the very people who are supposed to be proclaiming the transformative power of his grace with their words and actions, with their very lives.

A position of leadership within the body of Christ is a privilege, not a right.  All Christians must engage in prayerful discernment when choosing a leader, and all Christians must hold their leaders as well as themselves and each other accountable.  We are all sinners, saved by grace, and we all must forgive as we have been forgiven.  We must recognize that no one is going to be everything that the passage above lists at all times, and we must allow our leaders their humanity and forgive them when they stumble.  But forgiveness for a stumble is not the same as excusing harmful behavior, and we must all be willing to acknowledge that many people, though good and faithful Christians, lack the specific gifts necessary to be a good leader.

Let us pray.  God of mercy, you have entrusted your good creation to us even though we are sinful beings.  Grant us the discernment to appoint leaders in your church who will further its mission, that we may see by their example not only how to live faithfully, but how to recognize our own need for forgiveness and accept your grace with humility.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Easter 7, Monday

Inspired by Philippians 1:3-11

“I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.”  Philippians 1:6

Have you ever had one of those days when it feels like nothing you do is right?  No matter how hard you try nothing works out the way it’s supposed to, and you begin to question why you’re bothering to try so hard, and you begin to doubt your own abilities.  You may even question your own self-worth.

You have worth.  You have value.  Not one of us is perfect, and most of us aren’t anywhere close to perfection.  But we don’t need to be perfect or close to perfection for God to cherish us; he called us as we were, where we were, with all our faults and shortcomings firmly intact.  And when he called us, he enabled us to take the first tiny steps toward him, in response to his call.  He gave us the ability to become the people he created us to be, but most of us have a long way to go before we achieve that goal.

God has begun a good work in you, and you are a work in progress.  There will be days when you take a few more steps closer to his ideal of you; there will be days when it’s all you can do to stand firm where you are.  And there will be days when you lose ground.  But no matter what day it happens to be, know that God has not given up on you or abandoned you.  His love for you is perfect, and he will complete the good work he’s begun in you.  Even if it takes a while.

Let us pray.  God of perfection, we are a long way away from fulfilling your will for us.  Encourage us in our journeys, that we may remain committed to following your path no matter what discouragements we may suffer.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Seventh Sunday of Easter

Inspired by 1 John 5:9-13

“And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.”  1 John 5:11

We know that God has called us to be witnesses, to go out and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to all the world.  But how?  It seems simple enough, until you sit down and think about what you’re going to say.  How do you articulate the gospel to someone who isn’t familiar with the bible?  What if you’re not fully confident in your own ability to understand the bible?  What if you’re shy, and you just don’t know how to approach people?  Perhaps it would be better if this whole evangelism thing was just left to someone else.

None of us has that luxury, because we’re all called to be witnesses.  We’re all called to be evangelists.  But it doesn’t have to be that difficult.

We don’t have to be biblical scholars or systematic theologians in order to be witnesses for Jesus Christ.  We don’t have to have outgoing personalities.  All we have to do is live the lives of grace we have in Christ Jesus, confident of God’s love for us.  And when someone sees the love of God reflected in our lives and asks us what it is that they’re seeing, we don’t have to instruct them in the faith; all we have to do is say, ‘Come and see,’ and then invite them into the fellowship of believers.  Once we’ve invited them in, we’ve engaged the whole body of Christ to assist us in our witness.

Our lives are in Christ, and with our lives we testify to Christ.  Fulfilling our call as witnesses doesn’t have to be any more difficult than that.

Let us pray.  God of truth, you give us eternal life in your Son.  Help us to live our lives in such a way as to testify to your love, that we may be your witnesses in all that we say and do.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Easter 7, Saturday

Inspired by Deuteronomy 34:1-7

“Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died; his sight was unimpaired and his vigor had not abated.”  Deuteronomy 34:7

Moses died at the Lord’s command, having seen the promised land with his own eyes but unable to cross into it.  One might argue that it was unfair of God to command his death after all that Moses had done for the people, while Moses still had life and vigor left in him despite his many years.  In one sense, it was unfair.

However God had called Moses for a purpose, and Moses fulfilled that purpose admirably.  The people of Israel had followed Moses out of slavery in Egypt, and Moses had shepherded them through the wilderness for a generation.  The people of Israel were about to enter a new phase in their lives and their history, and it was time to leave the wilderness behind them.  And for their new challenges, God chose for them a new leader.  God was not discarding Moses for a better model; he was demonstrating for the people that their salvation was from God, not from Moses, and that God’s leadership transcended any mortal man.

Moses’ life on earth ended after one hundred and twenty years—a span of life nearly unheard of these days.  He was able to see that he had accomplished what God had called him to do, and he was able to commission Joshua as his successor.  And he was called home to God in his old age but without the challenges and frustrations that old age visits upon most of us.  May we all be so blessed to die under such circumstances!

Let us pray.  God of the living, in you there is no death.  Help us to live as faithfully as Moses, that when our earthly lives end we may know that we fulfilled the purpose for which you’d created us.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Easter 7, Friday

Inspired by Exodus 24:15-18

“Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.  Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain.  Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.”  Exodus 24:17-18

What would it take for you to willingly walk into what appeared to be your certain death?  What would compel you to climb a mountain and enter into what you saw as a devouring fire?

Moses did it because he was heeding the word of the Lord.  God called to him from the cloud on the mountain and bid him to come.  Moses had seen how God had rescued his people from Egypt, allowed them to cross the waters of the Red Sea, and gave them the laws that would ensure a harmonious community if they followed them.  Moses knew that his life and his future were in the hands of the Lord, and he trusted the Lord when he was called into the fire.  And sure enough, the cloud that seemed to be a devouring fire did not devour him, and he was in the presence of the Lord for many days, receiving instruction about the Lord.

It’s unlikely that most of us will be called into a scene that dramatic, however God still calls us into situations that appear to us to be dangerous, painful, or even foolhardy.  But God has saved us from our sinful selves, and he has our lives and our futures in his hands.  We can trust that while our own eyes may deceive us, our God never will.

Let us pray.  Almighty God, your majesty is frightening to us.  Help us to trust in your mercy and your love, that we may obey when you call us to step beyond what is comfortable to us.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Ascension of Our Lord

Inspired by Acts 1:1-11

“‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’  When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.  While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them.  They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven?  This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’”  Acts 1:8-11

We wait expectantly for the return of our Lord.  But while we wait, we have work to do.

Jesus’ last words to his disciples before he ascended into heaven were that they were to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.  And he didn’t mean that in a passive sense.  Jesus had no sooner ascended when two heavenly beings appeared and chided the disciples into action.  “Don’t just stand here looking up at heaven,” they said.  “Get to work!  Go, be his witnesses, spreading the good news of Jesus Christ throughout the world!”

When we gather together for worship, it is so we can be fed, nourished, and sustained for our work in the world.  We are not called to occasionally get together so we can look up to heaven and be comforted; the Holy Spirit has come upon us, and we are called to bring the comfort of the good news of Jesus Christ to all the world.

Let us pray.  Living God, your Spirit is with us.  Inspire us to go out into the world, working to proclaim that your kingdom is at hand, that we may all experience your comfort here and now, rather than daydreaming about the world to come.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Easter 6, Wednesday

Inspired by Deuteronomy 11:18-20

“You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and fix them as an emblem on your forehead.”  Deuteronomy 11:18

Everyone lives by some guiding principles: fundamental beliefs that inform their priorities, their relationships, and their entire approach to life and how best to live it.  We all have them, but many of us couldn’t articulate what they are if we tried to.

If you’re not sure what your guiding principles are, look at the choices you make in your life.  Do you say you value family, but put more time and energy into work?  Do you talk about the importance of living within your means?  Do your bank and credit card statements agree?  Take a step back and look critically at how you spend your time and your money; this will help you see what really guides your heart and your soul.

Or think about this.  How would your closest friend describe you to someone you’ve never met?  How would a casual acquaintance describe you?  How about your worst enemy?  How other people see you is a helpful clue, because they see the persona you choose to project to the world.  They see your guiding principle as though it were an emblem on your forehead.

If you don’t like what you see, it’s not too late to change it.  God loved us so much that he gave us his only Son, and because of that love we live in a perpetual state of grace.  Keep the words of the Lord in your heart and in your soul, and let the truth of his love and grace guide your hand and be on display for all the world to see.

Let us pray.  Gracious God, you have gifted us with your Word.  Let your Word infuse our entire beings, that all we encounter may see your grace reflected in us.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Easter 6, Tuesday

Inspired by Deuteronomy 11:1-17

“You shall love the Lord your God, therefore, and keep his charge, his decrees, his ordinances, and his commandments always.  Remember today that it was not your children (who have not known or seen the discipline of the Lord your God), but it is you who must acknowledge his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm.”  Deuteronomy 11:1-2

The world turns on its axis, the sun rises and sets, rises and sets; the spring turns into summer, the summer into autumn, the autumn into winter, and the winter gives way to spring again.  The years pass, the children replace their elders, and generations go by as the world continues to turn on its axis, day by day, life by life.

We’re so busy living our own lives and dealing with our own immediate problems that we often lose sight of the big picture.  We try so hard to let our children just be children, and do everything we can to give them happy, enriching lives that we forget to train them in the ways they should go.  The torch is ours to carry now; it was handed to us by our parents, and we will pass it on to our children in the future.  What we do or don’t teach them now will impact not only how they live their own lives, but how they will shape the world they live in.  Because shape it they will, whether they are prepared to or not.

What are you teaching the children around you, your own or your relatives’ or your friends’ or your neighbors’?  What experiences have you had that they can learn from?  What values are you instilling in them by your own words and behavior?  Are you passing onto them what you know to be true about the Lord your God, what he’s done throughout human history, what he’s done in your own life?

You are a steward of this world, and as part of your stewardship it is your responsibility to help teach the younger generation how to be good stewards.  God created this world long ago and entrusted it to humanity.  Others cared for it long before you were born, and others will care for it long after you’re gone.  Some have done well; some have caused harm.  What will you do, and how do you want those who follow you to treat what you have done?

Let us pray.  Eternal God, you created the world, you sustain it with your Spirit, and you’ve entrusted it to us.  Help us to teach our children your ways and share with them what we know and have witnessed, that they may grow to be good stewards of your creation.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Easter 6, Monday

Inspired by Deuteronomy 7:1-11

“[T]he Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on earth to be his people; his treasured possession.  It was not because you were more numerous than any other people that the Lord set his heart on you and chose you—for you were the fewest of all peoples.  It was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath that he swore to your ancestors, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”  Deuteronomy 7:6b-8

From the very beginning, our relationship with God has been based entirely on his love and faithfulness.  We have never done anything to earn or deserve his favor.  He owes us nothing; we owe him everything.

That’s a very hard concept for many of us.  We don’t like the idea of being indebted to another for anything.  We want to earn what we have, or find some way to insist that we’re entitled to what we’re given.  Everything is rightfully ours, and it could never be any other way.  Even in matters of faith, we often pride ourselves on our piety or good works, and believe that our superior morality will make God have to let us into heaven, even though we’d never actually come out and say that.

But while we were a small people, God loved us.  When we were helpless and enslaved, God rescued and delivered us.  While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Our love and faithfulness will falter at times, but God’s never will.  Thanks be to God that his grace is based on his faithfulness, and not ours.

Let us pray.  God of faithfulness, you are the source of all life, all love, and all faith.  Help us to accept your grace, that we may live by faith and not by works.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Sixth Sunday of Easter

Inspired by John 15:9-17

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”  John 15:12

Countless couples choose this verse to be read at their weddings, appreciating the focus on love and feeling that it is appropriate for this most romantic of days.

But this verse is not about romantic love; it is about sacrificial love of the highest order.  In the very next verse Jesus explains that such love involves laying down one’s own life for another, just as he is about to lay down his life for the salvation of the world.  For while love can result in warm feelings, contentment, and desire, love is not a feeling but an action.  And even in the absence of those warm feelings love remains, and the one who loves must still be willing to sacrifice him- or herself for the sake of the one who is loved.

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.  It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.  It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never ends.  People are not capable of such a love on their own; people want what they want when they want it.  People want their own way, and frequently walk away from a relationship when the warm feelings, contentment, and desire fade.  Relationships are messy.  But Jesus commands us to love one another as he has loved us.  We have seen such love; we are the beneficiaries of such love.  And when we truly understand that such love is possible with the help of God, couples can do worse than to base their marriage on this commandment.

Let us pray.  God of love, you commanded us to love one another as you loved us.  Give us the strength to be so loving, that others may continue to grow and live in your divine grace.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Easter 6, Saturday

Inspired by Deuteronomy 32:44-47

“This is no trifling matter for you, but rather your very life; through it you may live long in the land that you are crossing over the Jordan to possess.”  Deuteronomy 32:47

How seriously do you take the words of God?  Even those of us who try to remain steadfast in our faith and live accordingly, how seriously do we really take his laws and his commandments, his promises and his warnings?

God knows when we will stray from him and be disobedient, but his foreknowledge does not mean we are predestined to follow that path.  Just before the Israelites crossed the Jordan to enter the promised land after wandering in the desert for forty years, God told them through Moses that they would abandon the Lord their God and worship foreign idols.  And God told them what would happen to them if they did that.  His warning was so that they would remain diligent in observing his words, teaching them to their children so that generations to come would be faithful to the Lord, and not be taken in by those foreign idols.  The word of the Lord was not simply a suggestion, but an explicit commandment for how to live faithfully in their new home.  Failure to live faithfully carried with it dire consequences, so obedience to the law of the Lord was quite literally a matter of life or death for many of their progeny.

Following the law of the Lord is in many ways easier today.  We no longer need to follow strict dietary or agricultural laws; we are called to love one another as Christ loved us, seeking justice and mercy for all in the world, and trusting in the grace and the love of the Lord our God.  Failure to do that does carry dire consequences—the natural consequences of living in a world without selfless love, without justice, and without mercy.  This is no trifling matter; it is your very life.

Let us pray.  God of justice, your will is for us to live according to your laws.  Inspire us to live according to the love, grace, mercy, and justice you desire for all your people, that we may live lives pleasing to you.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Easter 6, Friday

Inspired by Isaiah 42:5-9

“Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it.”  Isaiah 42:5

In these days of constant noise and twenty-four hour news and entertainment, God can seem like a distant, abstract concept.  The bible was written so long ago and within a context so different from our own, we can wonder why we should bother paying attention to the words of a seemingly absent God from a world long gone.

But God is not absent, and his world is not gone.  Cultures and societies have changed beyond recognition, but this world, our world, is his world.  The Lord God created the heavens and maintains the position of the stars and planets to this day.  He created the earth and continually recreates and renews it, bringing forth new life in vegetation, in the wild, and in humanity.  Every person who lives on the earth does so with the breath of life given by God Almighty.  No one lives apart from God or his creation, and God renews and sustains his creation on a daily basis.

This is the same God whose story we know through ancient texts, and who revealed his will through his prophets and through his Son Jesus Christ.  The world has changed, but it’s still God’s world, and neither God nor his will have changed.  When the God of all life gives his word, it’s worth listening and paying attention to.

Let us pray.  God of all ages, all life exists because of you.  Turn our hearts toward you, that we may hear your word over all the competing noise in our world.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Easter 6, Thursday

Inspired by Acts 10:1-34

“The voice said to him again, a second time, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’”  Acts 10:15

We have strong opinions about what is right or acceptable, and what is not.  Some of those opinions are based on our own experiences, some are based on conventional wisdom, some are based on long-standing traditions.  Some are based on ignorance or prejudice.  However those opinions came to be formed, we hold onto them wholeheartedly, and they help inform our lives and our interactions with others.

But they can also hinder us from doing God’s work in the world.  If we understand something or someone to be wrong or unacceptable, we can convince ourselves that God sees them the same way.  We close ourselves off to the possibility that God might be calling us to minister to this person because they make choices that we don’t agree with or live according to values that we reject.

All our judgments are based on worldly observations, but God’s love transcends the world.  Our vision is limited by worldly experiences, but God’s vision is limitless.  Our opinions are based on cultural context, but God transcends culture.  And where we might see a barrier to God’s holiness, God may see an opportunity for growth and sacrificial love.

Let us pray.  Transcendent God, your ways are mysterious to us.  Enable us to be open to your call, that we may show your love to all your people.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Easter 5, Wednesday

Inspired by John 14:18-31

“I have said these things to you while I am still with you.  But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.”  John 14:25-26

Some people question why they should follow a religion based on writings that were first penned nearly two thousand years ago.  Recognizing that those documents—the various letters and narratives that Christians call the New Testament of the bible—were written by specific people in a specific context for a specific purpose, they wonder what relevance the ideas of men who lived in the Middle East nearly two millennia ago could possibly have today.

If Christianity were based on the bible, then that would be a valid question.  But the bible did not come first; Christianity did.  The community of believers of Jesus Christ formed around his life and ministry, and grew from there.  The writings we call the New Testament were not the basis for this community or for the faith that they shared, but a product of it.

The God we worship is triune: three persons, one God.  God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  God the Son was Jesus Christ, sent by God the Father to reveal the nature of God to humanity.  God the Father also sent the God the Holy Spirit, and that Spirit is with us to this day, encouraging us, inspiring us, reminding us of all that the Son taught us so long ago.  For even though God the Son came into the world at a specific point in time in a specific geographical location and in a specific cultural context, his message of love and salvation are for all people at all times and in all places.  It is the continuing work of the Spirit that keeps our faith in him alive, active, and relevant.

Let us pray.  Triune God, your very being is relationship and love.  Help us to recognize your Spirit working in our lives, that we may live in the current reality of the grace and salvation you offered through your Son.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.