Running in Faith is an electronic devotional guide written by members of Abiding Presence Lutheran Church to help readers take their Sunday faith into weekday lives. Each Devotion represents the personal opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent Abiding Presence Lutheran Church. Permission is granted to link to this page and to use the Devotions for personal, non-commercial purposes only.

Week of February 3, 2008
By Pastor Dan

I know that the LORD maintains the cause of the needy, and executes justice for the poor.    (Psalm 140:12)

I recently returned from a work trip down to the bayou of Alabama in order to make a small contribution to the reconstruction effort that continues from the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina. In many ways, the work trip was a refreshing change of scenery and a splendid opportunity to serve side by side with thirteen of the finest Christian college students I have been with in a long time. In many ways, I was encouraged by the hopeful witness of these students and our congregational lay leaders, Jim and Debbie Burd. In many ways, I relish the partnership our Mercer Lutheran Mission Cluster has established with the congregations down there along the Gulf Coast. In many ways, it seemed evident that, at least on the surface, some semblance of normalcy has returned to the region.

And yet, in many ways, there are still people down there in the bayou of Alabama who live in homes infested with mold and populated with vermin and cockroaches. Many of these folks are Vietnamese and Cambodians who had been nearly invisible within the larger community until the storm exposed the injustices. Some of these families took whatever immediate aid they received in order to get their fishing businesses restarted first. These are hard-working people. One family our group assisted in repainting their home had been homeless since Hurricane Ivan!

Local officials told us that the reconstruction will need to continue at least for two additional years in that area of Alabama. Lutheran Disaster Response officials told us that most of their operations will be folded up by March 2008. Funds are running out. About one LDR employee a week greets the reality of finding additional employment despite the fact that there is plenty of rebuilding to do.

When you return from a trip such as this, you truly feel like you've left tons of unfinished business. You sense that whatever work you've done or relationships you have established are but a drop in the bucket. Such reflections can lead one to despair. How will these people ever get their life back in order? Why do the ones on the lowest end of the economic ladder get the leftover treatment? Fortunately, the cause of the needy and the execution of justice for the poor is the Lord's cause to sustain. That promise doesn't take me off the hook. That promise doesn't remove whatever load I can share with the brothers and sisters down at the Gulf Coast. It simply keeps me from despair and engenders gratitude for those who do take up the Lord's cause more vigorously and courageously than I.

Lord, continue to form me as your instrument to maintain the cause of the needy and to execute justice for the poor. Amen

Week of February 10, 2008
By Tracie B.

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that God loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.    (1 John 4:7-12)

On Thursday, February 14, many people will observe St Valentine's Day with cards, flowers, candy, fancy dinners or other gifts for those they love. Others will dismiss the day as just another "Hallmark holiday" created to get us to spend more money on needless things.

There are many legends about the beginning of Valentine's Day. All of them have to do with a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. You can find out everything you wanted to know and more at various websites (the one for the History Channel is especially good). Regardless of the details or the truth of these legends, one thing is clear - for many centuries people of faith have marked February 14 as a day to remember and celebrate the sacrifices that are made in the name of and for the sake of love.

As Valentine's Day approaches this year, let us remember especially the love that enables us to love at all - the love of God in Jesus Christ. As our Scripture says, the heart of love is what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. From that truth flows our capacity to love one another. Because God loves us so much, we can dare to love one another. And in that loving of others, God is revealed to the world.

And here's the fun part - because it is God's love that propels us out into the world, we find ourselves loving all kinds of people. We share God's love with those we like and those who are hard to like, those we choose and those who just find their way to us. We are surprised everyday by how much love we receive and pass on. So on Valentine's Day, whether we give or receive flowers or candy or cards, one thing holds true - we can all celebrate the love that is ours through Jesus Christ.

Thank you, gracious and loving God, for the many ways you shower us with your love. Thank you for loving us even when we are hard to love. Thank you for loving us into new relationships with you and those around us. Thank you for the gift of Jesus Christ who penetrates our hearts and lives with a life-giving love. Thank you. Amen.

Week of February 17
Pastor Joel

     Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, 'You shall not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.'"But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
     So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
     ...And the Lord God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them
   (Genesis 3:1-8, 21)

The story of original sin is much bigger than we can usually imagine. It's not simply a historical story about two humans (Adam and Eve) who give in to the temptation of power and control; it's an epic story of how all of humanity gives in to this power. It's an epic story of how all of us take an "upward fall," wanting to be gods of our own destiny, taking control of whatever is within our grasp. By doing so, we have fallen into sin by placing trust in ourselves more than God, thereby sealing our own destiny of the many deaths we suffer in a state of sin.

As I write this, we have just begun our Lenten journey. During that journey, Christians are invited into the practices and discipline of faith: penance, fasting, almsgiving, and prayer. But for many the discipline of Lent is arcane. We don't understand why we would do them in the first place, or we misunderstand the motivation for doing them.

Consider my favorite play on words that helps me understand and remember this season's emphasis on discipline and faith practice. In all of these practices, in all of our preparation, in all of our renewal, Lent really is all about reLENTing. When we reLENT we give up or surrender. During Lent we focus on reLENTing control to God. This isn't something we do out of obligation, or to become morally or spiritually superior, but to refocus us on who God is and who (whose) we are so that God can renew our lives for every season. ReLENT our need for control. ReLENT those things that lead us away from God. ReLENT all the ways we seek to be God.

But let's face it; reLENTing control doesn't come easy for humanity. Even in our most faithful moments we want to have knowledge of God's ways so that we may have some sense that there is some order in the midst of a chaotic world. We want to know what is good and what is evil. But our desire to understand God often stretches too far into the realm of being god. It becomes nearly impossible for us to truly understand our prayer, "THY will be done," trusting that God will provide and care for us in all circumstances. Original sin cuts to the core of our being.

But (and here's the rest of the word play for Lent) even in our failures as we practice reLENTing control to God, we will grow in faith because we will understand that God's love is unreLENTing. No matter how strong our desire to take control, no matter how far we run or where we hide, God keeps coming to us. God's love is unreLENTing. Even in the story from Genesis of original sin, God made clothes and clothed the very ones through whom sin entered the world. God's love is unreLENTing. In the suffering and death of Jesus Christ God gives it all up for us, so that we can be made right and have life with God. God's love is unreLENTing. God will not give up on you. Ever.

Into your hands, Almighty God, we place ourselves: our minds to know you, our hearts to love you, our wills to serve you, for we are yours. Guide us in our Lenten journey, that we may relent our control to your unrelenting love. Amen

Week of February 24
By Richard G.

Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."    (Mark 10:42-45)

From January through March of each year, my daughter participates in her school play and practices after school. When play practice is over, Val or I head down to her school to pick her up. The usual time of travel is 5:30 pm; the height of rush hour. Traffic is stacked on I-95 south from Scotch Road to the other side of the Scudder's Mill Bridge. I am not headed for Pennsylvania. I am only trying to make it to Rt. 29 South. As such, I travel in the "Exit Only" Lane from Bear Tavern to the Rt. 29 Exit. Other drivers either try to block my progress, or duck into the "Exit Only" lane for faster progress towards the bridge and then cut into a gap in the bumper-bumper traffic at the last second. This may be the reason why I occasionally get the blocking treatment; these drivers don't want me to play any tricks like the line-cutters. They have to get to the bridge before the other late comers. In the mind of the blocker, the line-cutters are unfair. These line-cutters and the blockers represent a common human weakness and behave in a manner counter to Jesus' teachings. Whether you call it jealousy or selfishness, it is not how Jesus taught us to behave.

Throughout Jesus' ministry, his disciples anticipated his overthrowing the Roman government and establish his own Holy Kingdom on earth. They repeatedly argued about which of them would be the greatest or most important or the busiest and make way to the proverbial front of the line. However, that was not in God's plan. Examples of the failures of men "Lording over other men" were all too prevalent. God's plan was to send a servant who would be exalted for his servitude. (See Isaiah 52:13 - 53::12) Jesus told His disciples that the only way anyone of them could be first in the kingdom was to be last (Mark 9:35, Matthew 18). What did Jesus mean by this?

First, we must put the interests of other people ahead of our own. Jesus did not demand "fallen sinners" to serve him. Instead, he asked that we follow his example; to serve him we must serve others (see John 13:17 and Philippians 2:3-5). Second, Jesus wants us to guard against an inflated sense of our own self importance. Everything we have is a gift from God. "For by the grace given me I say to everyone of you: do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you (Romans 12:3, see also 1 Corinthians 4:7)."

Following the example of service provided by Jesus to his disciples at the Last Supper, we must serve others with a servant's attitude. By serving others, we lead in a most powerful way. We are to place ourselves last, not because of a mistaken lack of self-esteem, but from a sincere love for other people. Serving puts us in the right frame of mind to listen and understand the needs of others. When I think of those who serve, I think of a number of desirable qualities of character they exemplify; patience, kindness, humility, respectfulness, selflessness, forgiveness, honesty, and commitment. Be a servant and you will lead and be one of God's exalted ones.

Dear Lord in heaven: In this world of power, greed and selfishness it is hard to serve. But I know this is what you would have me do. Please create a servant's heart within me, that I may be of service to you and show my love to all; especially to those in need. Amen.