Isaiah 58:9b-11a
If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noon day. The Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your needs in parched places. (Isaiah 58:9b-11a)
Isaiah was a prophet addressing the people of Israel when they returned to Jerusalem after nearly 50 years in exile. He prophesied about God’s promise of renewal and his demand that we live justly. These returnees felt superior to those who had remained and had a deep-seated fear of foreigners. They were obsessed with ethnic and linguistic purity (see Nehemiah 13:23-29), which led to conflicts over religious observances. They practiced widespread predation and enslavement of the vulnerable (see Nehemiah 5:1-2).
Isaiah told them that if they wanted to find favor with God, they needed to engage in massive reform. They needed to be a society that recognizes the intrinsic worth of every individual. In Bread for the Journey, Henri Nouwwen says: “only when we fully claim that God loves us in an unconditional way and looks at ‘those other persons’ as equally loved can we begin to understand that the great variety in humanity is an expression of the immense richness of God’s heart.” Further, we are not called to save the world, to solve all problems, and to help everyone. We need to continually call on God to help us see clearly what we are called to do and to strengthen us so that we might live out that call with trust that he will lead us to where we are meant to be.
Some would like to remind us that the ideals of freedom and justice that are written in books are trampled underfoot in everyday practice. When we reach out with all our energy to the marginalized in our own community and far away, we will discover that our petty disagreements, fruitless debates, and paralyzing rivalries will gradually vanish. The church will be renewed when we shift our attention from ourselves to those who need our care.
Dear God, Give me the courage to live and work for a new heaven and a new earth as Jesus did. Give me the freedom to be critical when I see evil and to offer praises when I see good. Most of all, make me faithful to the vision you have given me so that wherever I go and whomever I meet, I can be a sign of your all-renewing love. Amen (Henri J.M. Nouwen)
Colossians 1:15-23
Colossians 1:15-23 “He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17) As these weeks have gone on, it is easy to feel like we’re coming apart. Strains at home are real as we are forced into non-stop, daily interactions – and daily irritations – with one another. Too much time apart makes it feel like we aren’t a church body anymore. We might even feel ourselves fraying within ourselves. In this short devotion, I want us to focus and trust in one thing...
Exodus 15:22-16:10
Exodus 15:22-16:10 “…for I am the LORD who heals you.” (Exodus 15:26) Well, there it is. Isn’t that our hope and prayer right now? In the middle of a global pandemic, isn’t it to “the Lord who heals you” that we are most desirous to turn to? Yet I’m struck by a few things. First, this healing is a contingent healing – “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in his sight, and give heed to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will not bring...
Psalm 9
Psalm 9 “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.” (Psalm 9:1-2) On the Wednesday after Easter, it is good to read and following Psalm 9. No matter the troubles or challenges before us – either as individuals or a society – the Lord is risen (He is Risen, Indeed!). This first week of Easter is an invitation to just sit and dwell in the joy of Jesus’ resurrection,...
Lamentations 2:1-9
Lamentations 2:1-9
“How the Lord in his anger has humiliated daughter Zion!” (Lamentation 2:1)
Reading Lamentations is tricky business. Reading it is risky.
On the one hand, whenever catastrophe strikes, we find some sense of relief in reading that God is in control of it. I mean, how scary would this COVID-19 pandemic be if we thought it was running wild, beyond the grasp of God? On the other hand, if God is in control of it, we struggle to reconcile the anger of God with our normal image of Him as love. Do we want a God who can’t control or a God who can get angry and harm things and hurt us? It’s a spiritual catch-22.
Reading Lamentations is holy business. Reading it is therapeutic.
Nowhere in the text does the cognitive dissonance – that catch-22 – ever get resolved. Instead, while reading the entire thing, we slowly just come to embrace the paradox and pain of it all. And in learning to do that with the text, we gain the skills and resources necessary to do this with all the pains of the real world.
2 Corinthians 2:14-3:6
2 Corinthians 2:14-3:6
“Are we beginning to commend ourselves again?” (2 Corinthians 3:1)
It is frequently clear from Paul’s letters that being an itinerate preacher who worked in local communities only for a limited time before moving on (indeed, before being called by God to another place) was really trying on his leadership abilities and authority. He frequently has to make appeals – in multiple letters – to the time when he was with the church and, occasionally, his desire to return to them. It’s like he has to just keep resubmitting his resume again and again. And that’s nearly impossible to do. Which is why he doesn’t really do it.
Psalm 147:1-11 & 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Psalm 147:1-11 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre. He covers the heavens with clouds, prepares rain for the earth, makes grass grow on the hills. He gives to the animals their food, and to the young ravens when they cry. His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner; but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. (Psalm 147:7-11) “To each is given...
Genesis 45:16-28
Genesis 45:16-28
“[Pharaoh said], ‘Give no thought to your possessions, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’ The sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons according to the instruction of Pharaoh, and he gave them provisions for the journey. To each one of them he gave a set of garments; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five sets of garments. To his father he sent the following: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey. Then he sent his brothers on their way, and as they were leaving he said to them, ‘Do not quarrel along the way’” (Genesis 45:20-24)
There are two important parts to this scene of Joseph with his brothers in Egypt.
Mark 4:1-20
Mark 4:1-20
“And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word.” (Mark 4:13-14)
Context matters. Context always matters.
We’re tempted to read this parable as some sort of spiritual taxonomy. We can look at different people and decide what sort of seed they were. Were they on the path and quickly scooped up? Were they in rocky ground and therefore they flourish and fail all within the same day? We are tempted to read this parable like Jesus laying out the familia, species, and genus of the spiritual life.
Yet, that’s not what it says. Not at all. The seeds are not people. The seeds are the word (of God). It is true that some people experience this word in different ways – not at all, with brief intensity and also fleeting interest, deeply and profoundly – but this has nothing to do with who the people are, merely how they receive the word. Hence, context matters.
Mark 1:29-45
Mark 1:29-45 “As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.” (Mark 1:29-31) One of the most frequent prayer requests pastors get is for healing. My sister even recently called me to ask that I – and the church – pray for her nephew-in-law (that is,...
Luke 18:9-14
Luke 18:9-14 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even...
