Devotion - Wednesday, January 29

Did you listen to the State of the Union Address last night?  And the Response from the Republican Party?  There are some who would say that a devotion ought to never speak of political matters.

 

But God has called us to live in the world.  And living in the world means being engaged in the events and the discussions about our world.  It means becoming political.  Becoming political means that we understand how our actions impact the lives of others.  Understanding this means we open ourselves to changing our patterns when the common good would be better served by an alternative way of organizing ourselves.

 

God has called us to live in the world as active agents for his hope and for his promise.  God calls upon us to become political - to be active in setting the policies and defining what a shared life ought to look like.

 

I hope you listened last night;  I hope you will be involved in the discussions that will occur today.  I hope you will work with God to fashion the world in which "thy will be done."

Devotion - Tuesday, Jan 28

It seems as if we might have a snow day today.  Classes have already been cancelled at Coastal Carolina and at USC-Columbia.  We will have to wait for the sun to rise and the temperature to drop to see if we will also find classes canceled.

There is an excitement that comes with a snow day.  "What will I do?"  "How will I spend the time?"  It is as if none of the thinks which had been a concern concern us.  We may still have that large paper to write - but "It is a snow day - we don't have to work on that today!"  We still have duties and obligations - but "It is a snow day - everyone understands that we don't have to attend to such matters on a day like this!"

When God created the Sabbath, His hope was that we would look upon it in much the same way we now look upon a snow day.  God hoped that we would allow all the concerns and all the deadlines to fall to the wayside - that we would just go outside and play in the snow!  God hoped that we would remember and realize that not all things are under our control and that rather than being frightened by that we would toss up our hands and say "It is Sabbath - I will leave such matters up to God."

I hope we do get a snow day.  And I hope you make the most of it.  (But be careful - very careful.)  And I hope the experience will remind you that God gives you a snow day once a week.  When the next one approaches - remember the giddy feeling in your stomach this morning and see if some of that giddiness might be possible then.

Friday Devotion January 24

Today's offering is from Caitlin Newton:

Hey everybody!

 

I hope everyone has had a wonderful week! Today I want to share with you the 10^th and 11^th verses of Galatians chapter 1.

 

“Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

 

I find that this verse challenges me to constantly evaluate my motivation and reasoning behind my decisions and actions. This verse always reminds me that I was not given life to simply try to go around and please those around me, but rather the goal of all of my actions should be to serve Christ. I find that I sometimes seem to be doing things just to please those around me. For example, I strive to do well in school so that I can get a good job and keep my scholarships, but when I reflect on these motives I realize that my work ethic in school is not based around serving Christ. Understanding that school is important, I now have to challenge myself to try and incorporate serving Christ through my studies.

 

I want to challenge you to think about the different decisions you make over the next few days or weeks. Do your actions reflect that of someone who is trying to fit in with those around them or do your actions reflect that of someone whose mission is to serve Christ through all that they do?

 

Have a blessed weekend and try to stay warm!

Devotion - Monday, January 27

On Saturday evening, as we were finishing up the last of the pizza, we had one of those informal Q & A sessions which probably will be remembered long after all the formal programs and presentations are forgotten.  It started with a reference to the way we understand God's call - in comparsion with how others interpret the call from God.

The sermon we heard, a few hours latter at Grace, Boone, reinforced what we had been saying the previous evening.

 

It is believed and taught among us that the call from God is a call to active living in the world.  It is our conviction that God is not attempting to remove us from the world, but to move us more deeply into it and into it's concerns.

The "repentance," the good news which Jesus proclaimed, is an invition to turn our faces to God and to follow where God is leading us.  It is a turning around so that we might always see the One who invites us to share in his mission.

 

This is the Christian lifestyle which Jesus invites those first four disciples - and all of us who have come since - to come and see.

Devotion - Thursday, January 23

The printed prayer in my devotional guide overshadowed my other readings this morning.  It brought to mind all the good gifts that God has already provided us; if only we made full use of them.

Many of you are aware that my sister (Carolyn) is ill.  After a two and an half year battle with pancreatic cancer, she is experiencing a lot of pain.  The oncologist has discontinued the chemo-therapy.  As we were preparing for bed last night, my wife and I were speaking of our fears and our sorrows.  This morning, I awoke to this prayer.  It doesn't take away my anxiety, but it reminds me that there are resources (godly resources) to help me deal with those anxieties.

I will leave you with the prayer:

We do not ask that the way be made smooth, or even that thou wouldst bestow upon us now the strength which thou hast promised.  We ask only for the grace to use what thou hast already provided in Christ Jesus.  Amen.

Devotion - Tuesday, January 21

It seems strange that anyone would prefer darkness to light.  But this is what Jesus says is too often the case.  In John 3, shortly after the verse that everyone remembers most ("For God so loved the world......"), Jesus says "The light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than light."

There is a reason, Jesus says, for why this choice is made.  It has to do with what happens when we step into the light - our "deeds are exposed."  So long as we remain in the shadows, our actions are private - even when those actions affect others.

God so loved the world, as to send this light among us.  It was (and remains) God's hope that we would come to the light and that there we would examine (and invite others to examine) our actions.  That we would be able to see, that we would be willing to see, and thus adjust or change our behaviors.  

You know that I am an early morning riser.  I like this time of day.  I realize one of the reasons I like it is the opportunity to watch the darkness lose its battle with light.  

I do not mean to imply that all my actions stand the test of the light; but I do hope to pass on a desire to examine (and invite others to examine) my thoughts/words/actions.  Jesus accomplishes what God intends.  May the light accomplish God's hope in my life.

Devotion - Wednesday, January 23

I am sometimes too critical of the "once saved always saved folks."  I was reading this morning from the sixth chapter of Hebrews where the rider says those who have tasted the goodness of God's word cannot turn again from God. 

Those who advocate once saved always saved would point out that it is impossible to turn from God's goodness once that goodness has been tasted. They are likely to look at one's turning away is an indication that the goodness of God's grace was never fully embraced. 

This morning I understand a little more clearly what they are trying to say, when I find myself agreeing with what the book of Hebrews. How can we experience God's goodness and then turn away? 

At issue is not finding opportunity to condemn. At issue is bearing witness to the strength of the goodness of God's word. 

I offer these words to you as an encouragement. I share these thoughts in the hope that I might with this to you on the power of that goodness in my own life. That having experienced the light you might be invited to enter the light also and remain there. This is what the writer of Hebrews means when he speaks of a great cloud of witnesses. Let us be that for one another. 

Devotion - ML King Day

I grew us in a small, rural, southern community.  The principal in my elementary school (while subbing in our one-teacher classroom) gave an impassioned plea for not mixing the races.  He spoke of his conviction of vast intellectual differences.

At that school, while the teacher was out of the room, we took a vote for President.  Johnson lost, because he was labeled a lover of persons of color (I am paraphrasing the label which was actually used.)  

My high school mascot was "The Rebel".  On the press box of our football field there was a large Confederate Flag.  The Southern Gentleman was painted on the wall of the basketball gym.

This was my background, when I enrolled in a course at seminary on King.  One of the books we read was his collection of sermons titled "Strength to Love."  He spoke of Jesus' insistence that we love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.  He pointed out that any weakling can respond with anger and violence; it takes strength (the strength of angels and Messiahs) to love.

King found the strength to love "me" and so many like me.  His God-given strength made it possible for me to see the Blessed Community of which he also wrote.  On this day, I will recommit myself to remaining strong enough to love.  This is my honoring of King; this is my commitment to following Jesus.

Friday Devotion

Today's offering is from Alex Campbell:

 

Twice now during the busy time that is finals week here at Clemson I’ve returned to my car after long hours of studying to find the same short bible verse slipped under my windshield wiper.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”- Matthew 11:28

               

 I’m fairly certain this is a common verse we all have seen or heard, simply because it is so simple yet so powerful, particularly in the moments when we are most stressed and burdened. During these times, it’s reassuring to feel the unconditional love and support of God that is expressed in this verse.  

               

 More recently, however, this verse has taken on a deeper and more serious meaning to me. While my faith and prayer certainly help me through challenging times, it is not through these things that my burdens are magically lifted giving me the rest I need, rather it is my involvement and belonging to a faith community such as LCM and University Lutheran where I am given this rest and truly sustained. At LCM, my burdens are shared and relieved among friends and a congregation whose company I enjoy and genuinely cares for me. I believe this is what God truly means when he says, “Come to Me.” We all have been fortunate enough to have been provided with an abundance of people who care for and love us, God is encouraging us to become more meaningfully involved with them, because not only then will we reap the benefits of rest and peace from our daily lives, but we will be a source of that rest and peace for someone else.

 

I had a rough start here at Clemson, but since those days, my involvement with LCM and UniLu has made my experience here exponentially better. For that alone I want to sincerely thank everybody, but I also want to encourage you all to continue to seek out ways you can become even more involved or possibly even help someone new get involved and see how it pays dividends in your life as well as theirs.

Have an amazing weekend!!

 

Alex

Devotion - Thursday, January 16

In John chapter 1, Philip tells Nathanael 'We have found him of whom Moses in the law and prophets wrote."  Nathanael's response is to ask, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"

It has been a while since I sat through a lecture on John 1, but I remember a list of reasons why Nazareth was an unsuitable city for Messiah to emerge.  There were other compelling reasons why Nazareth figures into the story.  Seems though the general population didn't think much of the place, this was part of God's way of raising up those from small backwaters with questionable backgrounds.  The general population may have strong opinions; God has other ideas.

This struck me, as I remembered Marion Fisher's comments at our LCM gathering last night.  He spoke of his experience as a black man living with the realities of 21st century racism.  Our opinions too often cause us to dismiss or excuse or ignore.  How many times have we ignored the One whom God has sent to us?

Nathanael comes around.  Fortunately.  But this story ought to be a reminder to all of us of the danger of allowing prejudices to blind us to One whom God is sending into our path, into our world.

Be careful.  Consider once more those whom you are tempted to dismiss or excuse or ignore.

Devotion - Wednesday, January 15

Genesis 4:1-16 contains the stories of Cain and Abel, of their birth, of jealousy between God's children, and of the murdering of one brother by another.  If it has been a while since you read these verses, I encourage you to do so.

In reflecting on these passages, I found myself wondering why, so early in the biblical story, we are forced to deal with jealousy and murder.  Not that there hasn't already been a great amount of failure on the part of the newly created ones.  Eve and Adam have eaten from the forbidden tree.  They have attempted to hide themselves from God.  They are cast out from the paradise God created for them and forced to scratch out an existence from the dirt of the fields.

The Biblical story acknowledges, from the very outset, that there are way too many opportunities for us to turn from the wonderful hopes God has for us; choosing instead to pit ourselves against God and against one another.  As a result, our lives become more difficult.  As a result, we go away from the presence of the Lord, and we dwell in isolated places. (Genesis 4:16)

You will have many choices to make this day.  You can decide whether to be angry at others for their actions; you can determine the response to the injuries inflicted upon you.  Will you follow the pattern set by Cain and Abel, or will you turn and seek admission to the Garden of Eden, where God is eager to help us.

Tuesday Devotion - January 14

Today's offering is from Emily Edenfield, Pastor (campus pastor) at St. John's Lutheran, Spartanburg:

Jeremiah 31:33-34  ³³ But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  ³⁴ No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the LORD," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

 

 

Our culture has vast amounts of knowledge and immediate access to nearly all of it all the time. We can be up to date with the news inPakistan on one tab of our browser while streaming videos of Ted Talks in another at the same time that we're texting a friend about their day. Knowing what information to keep and what to ditch can be really crucial, especially if our success in life is based on knowing and applying the right things at the right time.

 

At the same time, there are things we know so deeply that we will never forget them: songs our parents sang to us as babies, Bible verses we learned at Vacation Bible School, wounds we received from others, proverbs, stories, jokes, the list goes on and on. In the clutter of our lives, this accumulation gives us stability, identity. God tells the people of Israel that in the time of the new covenant, he will write his word on our hearts. God's instructions and promises will be at the core of our being. God's love for us will be known to everyone so clearly that we won't even have to remind each other about it. All of us, every single child of God, will have our sins forgiven and our souls strengthened.

 

In this time where the covenant has not fully reshaped our world, we have God's promises to cling to and God's opportunity to grow closer with him.

 

Let us pray: Holy Lord, thank you for your teaching and your covenants. Strengthen our ties with you, that we might know and love you with all our heart and soul and mind. Amen.

Devotion - Monday, January 13

We were fortunate to have Bishop Herman Yoos with us yesterday for the re-dedication of our worship center.  Keeping with the appointed liturgical calendar, he wove our dedication into the Festival of The Baptism of Our Lord.  He compared baptism to his iPhone:  Baptism is the recharging station which allows all those marvelous apps to work.  Just like our phones, the baptismal covenant goes with us everywhere and is always close at hand.

His message of baptism sending us out into the world was reinforced in today's appointed reading from Hebrews 1.  The 14th verse reads:  "Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation?"

I sometimes call my phone (in reference to my calendar and reminder app) my brain.  I refer to it as my storage space (with the downloading of Google Drive and Dropbox.)  It reality is a tool; it is something I use.  And I am the one who chooses how it will be used.

Shall it be in service?  Will it be dedicated to my self-centered aims or given over for the sake of others?

In Genesis 2 (today's OT reading), God creates the animals, brings them to Adam, who gives them a name.  Adam chooses the use and designation of the other expressions of God's creative activity.  The name and the task assigned is our partnership with God to see that God's will is carried forth.

What use will you make this day of the tools God has placed in your hand?  What name will you associate with the expressions of God's grace freely poured into the world?

Would that we had the eyes and the heart of the writer of Hebrews:   "Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation?"

Friday Devotion - Jan 10

It's the beginning of a new semester and, if you're like me, you probably feel like you're brain's being forced to gear back up after a long, relaxing Christmas break. The next sixteen weeks will be hectic. Soon, if not already, you will be bombarded with classes, studying, homework, group projects, clubs, sporting events, trivia nights, Bible studies, church events, parties, movie nights, and all sorts of things. With a few notable exceptions – i.e. the school related aspects of that list – this is all good stuff that we will be filling our lives with. But even if it’s mostly good stuff that fills our lives, it doesn’t change the fact that our lives are indeed full.

 

With this in mind, I would like to encourage everyone to take time each day this semester to spend in calm silence and prayer. Just a little piece of time each day to reflect on your goals, your life, and your relationship with God. And a piece of time to forget about all the obligations and stresses of college life. It doesn’t seem natural in our competitive college lives spent trying to beat our classmates and impress grad schools and employers, but I think it is a very important thing for every person to do.

 

Jesus prayed. He was a busy guy constantly teaching and healing large crowds of people, arguing with Pharisees, and making his way toward Jerusalem to give up his life. But he still found time to pray. There are several instances of Jesus sending away large crowds and retreating to a solitary place to pray. And when Jesus was in agony in the garden of Gethsemane, he went off alone to pray.

 

So take the example of your Lord, Jesus Christ, and remember to make regular time for yourself this semester.

Devotion - Thursday, January 9

In John 8, Jesus challenges the Pharisees by telling them that they have failed to see the revelation which God has provided.  Using images of light and dark, he speaks of those who refuse to come to the light; those who continue to live in darkness.

The Pharisees (like the other groups in the New Testament) have become little more than a by-word to most of us.  We have put little thought into who these people are or to their larger theological framework.

The Pharisees where pious Jews, committed to the Law of Moses.  Their zeal exceeded that of the professional religious types (Scribes).  They were the super believers of their day.

Herein lies the catch:  the strength of one's commitment can sometimes blind us to self-critique.  To go "all in," means we abandon other options or pathways available to us.

We need to be totally committed to Christ and to his Word of salvation.  But we cannot allow the strength of our commitment to be the only plumb-line.  We must also look to the content of our devotion and consider the guiding principals to which we are committed.

Jesus calls us to more than an honorable code of ethics;  Jesus invites us into a relationship in which all of who we are is given over to the care and unfolding of God's preferred vision for the world.

Devotion - Wednesday, January 8

Prejudice is a difficult thing to overcome.  No one knowing harbors prejudices against others; rather it emerges from our history and from our expectations and our world view.

In John 7, Jesus has attracted a strong following.  The learned religious leaders scratch their heads, "Search (the scriptures) and you will see that no prophet is to rise from Galilee."  They could not accept Jesus as a prophet or Messiah because their reading of the interactions of God with God's people precluded a messenger from Galilee.

It wasn't what they were expecting.  It didn't fit with their worldview.  Prior experiences had not prepared them for the new thing God was doing.

Becoming self-aware and self-critical opens us to the new day unfolding before us.  A willingness to see ourselves as others see us makes it possible for us to live into the life God has in store.  Avoiding prejudices begins with the attempt to explore the comfortable niches we have come to inhabit.

Where is God leading you this day?  What new thing is waiting for you, should you be open to receiving it?  It was an attempt (misguided though it was) to preserve what had been the pattern of interaction with God which prevented the religious leaders to accept Jesus and to embrace his good news.  

Don't be those guys.