|
"Running in Faith" is an electronic devotional guide written by members of Abiding Presence Lutheran Church. Each week, writers use their personal interpretation of scripture to write an inspirational message they hope will help readers take their Sunday faith into weekday lives. Your comments are appreciated and, when related to a particular devotion, passed to the writer. We hope you will share these devotions with friends and coworkers. We are always happy to add new names to our e-mail list. Please contact us if you wish your name to be added. |
|
Devotion for the week of September 2, 2002
Leaving home. It is a familiar theme, one we have all experienced, perhaps never more dramatically than during our teen years. Like the Israelites, we were a people routed from our homeland, which was childhood, and commissioned by destiny to build a new city, an adult world modeled after the one we had lost. We had no choice but to embark on this journey to the unknown, lured by the thrill of adventure, eager to meet the challenges, and anxious to create our own worlds. But what sort of values did we choose for ourselves? When I was fifteen or so, like many young teens, idealism coursed through my very blood, streaming up from some hidden spring, ever dancing before my eyes -- beauty without flaw, truth incapable of refutation, goodness with no speck of impurity. Knowing full well these ideals were abstractions that forever lay beyond the horizon never prevented me from pursuing them. I believed in the dream. Of course, one cannot live on dreams alone, gorgeous though they may be, for inevitably reality intrudes. I awoke, brought face-to-face with the truth of our humanity, and humbly kneeling at the feet of the Lord, in Whose keeping the whole world rests. For life is not for the dreamers who float high above the surface of reality, surveying all through rose-colored mists, seeing nothing at all, merely trading formless principles for a living human reality -- a reality not pure and ever sparkling, to be sure, but breathing, sensing, knowing. Nor does it belong to those who painstakingly crawl over the surface, peering meticulously at every crack in the earth, every painful encounter, and finding them lacking in all good things. Rather, life shines most brightly for those who walk gently over the hills and the valleys, with an air of compassion, and a hallowed vision that continually seeks out those kernels of beauty, truth and goodness in this imperfect world of our present lives, endeavors to enhance them, and lets the dross fall silently away. For it is not the rejection of idealism that finally brings us to maturity, but the gracious acceptance of reality, and the effort to prayerfully, lovingly shape that reality into a more graceful form.
|
|
Devotion for the week of September 9, 2002 "Forgive us our trespasses as The commandment of Jesus to forgive often leaves us either at the surface level of peccadilloes or at the knees of despair. The matter is not made easier by all the ink spilled over the subject that leads us to ascertain that forgiveness is a product of human willpower. Many a person has entered my office with the burden of resentment and unraveled relationships. The burden is not only horizontal. It also becomes a block in the divine-human relationship. I have heard time after time the damaging effects of broken relationships even upon one's ability to pray. Although the aforesaid petition connects divine with human forgiveness, it does not place divine forgiveness as condition upon our human capacity to forgive. Since forgiveness is a divine grace operation rather than an act of sheer willpower, where do wounded people begin? At what basic level do I follow the Lord's lead down the pathway of reconciliation? When in my work as a pastor wounded and burdened folks come to me with the confession that they cannot forgive, I resist the urge to tell them to "try harder" or to "move forward." I first ask if they are able to pray for the grace to forgive. And if not, I gently inquire if they are at least willing to pray for the grace to say that prayer. And if even that is too difficult at present, I urge them to lift up their raw refusal and resistance to God. Even while we begin with this basic level, we need to come regularly to the Lord's house to hear the Word of absolution and share in the Supper of forgiveness. While we face squarely the barriers to human forgiveness, let us put ourselves in position to bask in the saturation of divine grace. Constant saturation with the Lord's promise of forgiveness over time can break the logjam of resentment and build crossways to reconciliation and peace.
|
|
Devotion for the week of September 16, 2002
In July, four senior choir members (Phyllis, Alice, Ellen, and I) traveled to Ocean Grove, NJ, to participate in the annual choir festival. For Phyllis, it was a first time. Alice, Ellen and I have represented Abiding Presence Lutheran Church several times. As in other years, the festival was held in the Great Auditorium which seats 6,327 people. Also, as in the past, every seat was taken at the evening worship service and untold numbers listened outside. The total number of musicians taking part this year was 1,688: 11 conductors, 8 soloists, 15 instrumentalists, 523 sopranos, 645 altos, 212 tenors, and 274 basses. Each year when the choir sings the first chord at our afternoon rehearsal, it is a truly glorious sound! Listening to the choir during the evening service is something in itself, but what it means to be one of the singers can really only be experienced. You quickly realize the rehearsals back home and the travel to the festival were well worth the time invested. For you who are unfamiliar with the Ocean Grove Choir Festival, it is a piece of "the old-fashioned Americana" such as I experienced (and heard about) as part of my growing up. The festival is a religious summer "gathering" in a location of outside, year-round church buildings. It is an old tent-meeting-town setting along the Jersey shore, filled with both religious and unabashed patriotism. As my friend, Margie, would say .... "It is a hoot!". The theme this year centered round the 9/11 tragedy and the music included a few more patriotic pieces than usual. In all, the service was very much like other years. However, one of the anthems spoke to me in a unique way. Amid the mainly loud, trumpeting pieces presented, it was one of few quiet anthems. The anthem was "At the Name of Jesus", by Rene Clausen. The text follows: "Christ Jesus being in the form of God, emptied himself, being in the form of a servant, in human likeness. Christ has humbled himself and become obedient unto death, even death on the cross. Alleluia! At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven and earth and under the earth. God has exalted Christ! At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven and earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord! In thee is gladness amid all sadness, Jesus sunshine of my life. By thee are given the gifts of heaven, thou the true redeemer art. Alleluia. Amen." Prior to singing that anthem, I always thought of the "living creatures" referenced in Revelation as professional musicians. After all, in heaven only the best would be good enough. That night, hearing such a beautiful sound from 1,654 nonprofessional singers opened a new avenue of thought. Yes, the professional singers will be praising God in heaven, but we amateur musicians who sing the Lord's praises on earth will surely also be permitted to raise our voices as a heavenly choir. Lord, thank you for giving church musicians |
|
Devotion for the week of September 23, 2002 While preparing for the Confirmation class this week, I was struck by one of the classroom exercises that was listed in the curriculum as an introduction to the study of Luther's Small Catechism. The students were given a copy of a backpack with 8 compartments in it. They were to imagine that they needed to pack for a journey of unknown length to a pleasant destination and could only take with them what would fit into the compartments of the backpack. What would they take? What 8 items would be of importance on their journey? What would be left behind and what would be included? It's interesting to think about what we would pack and take with us. Martin Luther taught that there are three things we need to take with us on our life's journey and all three can be found in the Small Catechism. First, we need to know what we should do and what we should leave undone. Or put another way, we need to know what is expected of us in life, what are we required to do. Then, knowing that we can't possibly live up to the expectations or requirements, we need to know where to turn for help. And finally, knowing where to turn, we need to know how to ask for the help we need. In the Catechism we find first, the 10 Commandments which begin with the promise, "I am the Lord your God..." You can read what follows in Exodus 20:1-17. The commandments tell us what is required. Then, knowing we can't fulfill them, the Apostle's Creed, next in line in the catechism contents, tells us where we go for help -- to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And finally, the Lord's Prayer and the Sacraments tell us how we ask and receive God's help. It's all in there. In that order for a reason. So when thinking about packing your backpack for the journey of your life, be sure your Small Catechism is in one of the pockets. If you need one, let me know. Martin Luther's morning prayer... |
|
Devotion for the week of September 30, 2002 " . . .the Lord make his face to shine upon you, This blessing delights me. Whenever I hear it I can't help but smile. A smile is exactly how this blessing feels to me. Not the "say cheese smile", or the obligatory smile where you turn up your lips in friendly politeness. I'm talking about what I think of as a surprise smile. A smile that comes when you least expect it. A smile that warms you all over. A smile that says, we've connected, maybe because we love each other, or are friends, or maybe just because we both notice that this is a special moment. These smiles seem to just appear. They uncontrollably bubble out of the smiler, their eyes sparkle and crinkle, their faces glow, and that warmth just spreads around to everyone who receives the smile. This blessing is like that. God shines on us with a crinkle and a sparkle. He says we're connected, and He wants good things for us. He bubbles over with love for us, and He envelops us in His warmth. He comes to us totally undeserved, and unexpected. This blessing is a smile from God.
|
|
| Year 2002 Index | |
|---|---|