Quiet Devotions is a daily devotion based on one of the readings from the Daily Lectionary (as it appears in the back of Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Augsburg Fortress, 2006). All biblical quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) unless otherwise noted. May these devotions help bring you in closer relationship with the Triune God.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Year B, Transfiguration, Thursday


Inspired by 2 Corinthians 2:12-17

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him.  For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.”  2 Corinthians 2:14-15

Where is God?  So is the question asked by skeptics and those who look to the skies for dramatic signs and wonders proving the existence of a divine Being.

But God’s ways are more subtle than that.  God works through his people, showing love and grace and providing hope through the joyful obedience of those who have experienced his love and grace for themselves.  Where is God when tragedy strikes?  He is there in the people helping with the relief efforts and who are comforting the victims.  Where is God in tyrannical regimes?  He is there in the people working to overthrow such unjust power structures.  Where is God in the dark monotony of our ordinary lives?  He is there in the people performing extraordinary acts of kindness and generosity.

God is in the people who refuse to yield to the norms of evil and self-indulgence.  God is in the people who live lives of hope in the midst of despair.  God is in the people who meet greed with generosity, cruelty with kindness, hate with love, and apathy with genuine concern.  God is active in the midst of his creation, working through his people and for his people, and not sitting up in the sky performing dramatic displays of power for the purpose of impressing the doubtful.

Let us pray.  Inspiring God, your love emboldens us to perform your work in the world.  Help us to display your gracious nature to all creation, that the doubters among us may come to know your love through our actions.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

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