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"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. |
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Devotion for the week of March 6, 2005
During my growing up years, the season of Lent was a time of giving up, cleaning out, and letting go. A tradition among my Catholic friends was to "give up" something for Lent. I went along with the crowd, more as an exercise in self discipline, than because of anything my church or parents expected of me. The "cleaning out" of Lent, took the form of "Spring Cleaning" in preparation for the Easter. My mother involved all of us in an intense effort to literally "resurrect" our living space and make it sparkle! Emptying closets and dresser drawers resulted in the need to "let go"of outgrown clothing, shoes and "stuff" that had been cluttering our lives, even if we were not ready to part with them. All the life-lessons I learned through these yearly events have been called up during this present Lenten season, since a "For Sale" sign went up on the home in which I grew up. After living in the same house for fifty years, my mother will be moving in with my brother, and his vibrant family ... a happy prospect for all of us. But, this house has been a growing up place, a meeting place, a sanctuary for my brothers and me, and for our extended families and friends for as long as I can remember. Our daughter, Kristin, held her wedding reception under a tent in "Nana Betty's" backyard seven years ago. When son, Rob, visits from Thailand, he stays with Nana because he loves her ... and her cooking ... and because he can keep company with the deer, turkeys, foxes, raccoons, and opossums that traipse across her back yard and deck. And, forty-six years ago, when my husband Bob moved into the neighborhood, our courtship began. This house is chock full of memories for all of us, and the pain of letting it go seems proportionate to the love and joy we've experienced within its walls. The dismantling of our "house on the hill" has been swift ... and with less anguish than anticipated. All the possessions I believed my mother was so attached to have simply slid from her hands into the hands of those who needed or wanted them. The same generous spirit of sharing and giving that my mother demonstrated while living in this house of abundance is what she is displaying in leaving it. Her ease with which she is able to "let go" is evidence that she truly understands that no accumulation of earthly treasures can compare to the feast that Christ has prepared for us: "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, is what God has prepared for those who love Him." (1 Corinthians 2:9) She is making room in her heart for what Christ has prepared for her. This quells my heart murmurs...and gives me peace. How fitting that this giving up and cleaning out of our childhood home should come during Lent ... a time for reflection and reduction ... a time of letting go as we journey hand in hand with Christ into the wilderness. The distraction of worldly possessions has been stripped away so that my mother can see more clearly the things that are above. What I see more clearly is my mother. I see who she truly is apart from her possessions ... and house. All that matters remains.
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Devotion for the week of March 13, 2005
As a result of the ongoing Adult Forum sessions on Pauline prayer, I have been thinking about prayer. This gentle class follows Martin Luther's suggestion that to learn how to pray we should, like a child, read other prayers, such as those found in scripture, and use them as models. We have been given a list of passages from Paul's epistles containing all types of prayers (thanksgiving, intercessory, greetings, blessing, etc.) and told we might want to jot a few down to start using in our correspondence and daily exchanges. So, dear readers, "May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace." If prayer is a form of communion with God, does it seem to you that sleep might be a form of prayer? In fact, God's prayer to us. There is a point in the evening when I tell myself that although there are still many items on my to-do list, I have done my best and it is time to shut down. I do no more chores. I unwind and surrender myself to peace, rest and restoration. After the shortest of prayers, I slide into sleep. For me, night is the most sacred time of the day. It is when I feel closest to God. I am doing nothing. I fully trust in the goodness of sleep. In the morning, I make a point of awakening in time to see the sun rise and I smile inwardly. It is hard to look at a sunrise and feel anything but good. Sleeping, we are the children in God's arms. He gently restores us making us new and fresh. Sleep is the mysterious way God communicates with us, whether we are conscious of the dialogue or not. It is the quietest prayer.
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Devotion for the week of March 20, 2005
Who are the 'rulers and great ones' in today's society? Politicians, business executives, athletes, entertainers? If you stopped people on the street or in a mall and asked them to name a great man or woman, what would they answer? The President or First Lady or Secretary of State, a Supreme Court Justice, a General, businessmen like Donald Trump or Bill Gates? I saw a headline today that read, "Martha Stewart Trumps Critics, Becomes Superhero.{ Perhaps some of these or other similar people do some very good things at times, some may do terrible things at other times. But I think it is obvious that the standard most Americans use when evaluating greatness would be closer to "The Apprentice" than that of the way of the Prince of Peace. Among you this is not to happen. (v.43) The standards the world uses when evaluating greatness is backwards when it comes to the Kingdom that Jesus heralded. The truly great are not these rulers or VIPs, those with status, power, and prestige. The truly great are those who are doing the will of Jesus and the Father, those working for justice for the poor and oppressed, the peacemakers, those working to break down barriers that separate humanity, like race, ethnicity, religious disagreements, sickness and disease, and so on. The truly great are those who risk their lives at times in the service of others. As Christians we are called to ignore the temptation to worldly greatness, enduring ridicule, persecution, and shame for the Gospel. Let us then ask for God's help to have the courage to live in this way, to participate in his Kingdom, seeking only his glory.
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Devotion for the week of March 27, 2005
Indeed, he is risen! OR, as Paul puts it, "In fact Christ has been raised from the dead." Three days after he died and buried, in a mighty act of salvation-history, God lifted up his Son, our Lord Jesus. The stone was rolled away. The tomb was empty. In the garden, by the Galilean lake, on the road to Emmaus, and elsewhere, he walked and talked with those who loved him. When the reality of the resurrection dawned on his followers, the Christian gospel exploded. The Easter-event sparked renewed hope and joy, ignited Spirit-filled testimony, and set the disciples on fire for Christ. With their hearts uplifted in high delight, the disciples raised the strain of triumphant gladness; and, their resounding witness was the daybreak of Christian faith and the dawning of Christian community. Emil Brunner, a giant among Christian theologians, once said: "Without the fact of Easter the world would scarcely have heard either of a Church, or of Jesus himself. It was the encounter with the risen Lord which rescued the disciples from their perplexity and hopelessness, restored their broken faith, and more than this, filled them with jubilant certainty of victory." No doubt about it, the mighty act of resurrection was the central, pivotal miracle of God's saving grace. Believing the witness of Jesus' resurrection, we celebrate Easter in corporate worship. In this joyful Eastertide, we gather together to sing songs of jubilation, to hear the Easter story anew, and to eat and drink with our living Lord. Moreover, as Easter people we go forth to serve. Thanking God and singing his praise, we go out to tell everyone what he has done. On our way rejoicing and proudly hearing his name, Christians proclaim the good news of eternal life. Alleluia. Christ the Lord is risen. And, because he lives we shall live also. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
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