Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 3

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Three

Job’s suffering is such that he would wish that he was never born.

When Tennyson expressed, “Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all” it seems that Job does not agree.  At least in this moment.

We begin to get an idea of the understanding of Sheol or the ancient Jewish understanding of the afterlife in chapter three.  It is there that the prisoners are at ease (and not made to toil) and slaves are free from their masters.  We get a sense of egalitarianism in Sheol.

Job expresses his anguish by saying it would be better to blot out his existence.  If we can look at this from a patriarchal understanding, if one’s belief is that all go to a similar dreary afterlife, then one establishes oneself through descendants.  By having a lots of offspring, one’s name is assured for generations.  From an evolutionary perspective (of which they had no knowledge), this actually makes a lot of sense – only its one’s DNA rather than one’s name that lives on.  Before the tragic news of the loss of his children, Job had thought he had secured a future for himself long after he ceased to walk this earth. 

In a time when infant mortality would have been high, he must have thought himself successful with seven sons and three daughters that lived past childhood. To lose his children was to lose everything. 

To give us an understanding of this mindset, Abram questions God’s promise while still childless when he states in Genesis 15:3, “You have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.”

What would it look like for you to lose your entire future in one fell swoop? 

Prayer for the day:

O Comforting One, Compassionate One, be with us all when we suffer loss and ache with the pain of grieving.  Give us a glimpse of the way it will be when love will never be taken away, when life itself will not be diminished, when all that we hold most precious will live and remain with us for ever.  Amen.

 

Prayer by Miriam Therese Winter, Roman Catholic Church, 20^th Century

Quoted Scripture: New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Photo by K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash

Daily Devotion for Lent 2024, Day 40 Holy Saturday

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap, for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

He also told them a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?  A disciple is not above the teacher, but every disciple who is fully qualified will be like the teacher.  Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye."

                                                                        Luke 6:37-42 (NRSVue)

 

This passage also reads a little more somberly on Holy Saturday.  One thing about death is that it usually quells our sense of judgment.  

The old saying, "do not speak ill of the dead" crosses cultures and comes out of such antiquity that its origin is untraceable.  When I am eulogizing someone, I try to paint the deceased in the best light possible.  One person at a funeral thought I was a little too glowing and made the remark that they weren't the saint I painted them to be!

I responded that they were in Christ and that God sees them through this lens in judgment.  We don't stand on our own merits but through the grace of Jesus.  We should try to see our brothers and sisters in the same way God sees them - especially in death.  

If I am too judgmental and this is the measure I share with everyone else, people close to me may begin to wonder, "Does he see me in this way too?"  I can certainly see how this is a pit that is easy to fall into.  

Many times, the difficult thing for us in judging the dead may be that we have some unresolved anger toward them.  Sometimes this anger may revolve around them dying and leaving us.  It can stir up abandonment issues that are often difficult to name.   

I wonder if the disciples were feeling something similar on this day so many years ago.

Did they second-guess Jesus' behavior or did they blame themselves?  Did some think, "We should have tried harder to talk him out of coming to Jerusalem during the Passover."?  Did the anger that comes with grief centralize around the Roman authorities or the Jewish leaders?  This kind of anger can certainly blind us.  We might even fall into a pit.  What kind of measure do you think they allowed for their enemies at this point?

What if this was how we always saw people?

This is helpful for us to realize that our capacity to be gracious often rises and falls depending on our circumstances in life.  We all know what it is to blow up at someone who happened to say the wrong thing at the wrong time.  Overreaction comes when our tank is empty.

The most important thing for us is to be self-aware at these times.  To recognize when we don't have it together.  And to admit it and ask for a little grace.  I believe that in this way, we can have a better chance of avoiding hypocrisy.  And if we've extended the same grace to those around us, we are more likely to receive it when we need it.

Sometimes our own blind spots are difficult for us to identify.  If you had to make a list of your top five places that you have difficulty with in relationships, what would they be?  Sometimes if we name the log, it begins to shrink!

Prayer for the day:  Gracious God, guide us on this day as we revisit the grief the disciples had for our Lord.  Help us to recognize who we are with all of our faults and misgivings but also for all of our strengths and gifts.  Let us be thankful for the totality of our identity and allow your Holy Spirit to shape our negatives that they may actually inform our assets.  May this understanding allow us to live into becoming more grace-filled people who are generous in how we see others.  We pray this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ who pulls us out of the pit.  Amen. 

Photo by nick fullerton via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

 New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2024, Day 36

“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.  Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh."

                                                        Luke 6:21 (NRSVue)

These Beatitudes continue to differ slightly from the Sermon on the Mount.  Rather than hunger for righteousness, we see the blessed are just hungry.  We also see "weep" instead of "mourn" with the result being laughing which seems a more dramatic turnaround over the comfort offered in Matthew.

These are in the same vein as the poor being favored in Luke.  

For the crowds that Jesus was preaching to, many of them would understand what it is to be hungry.  If a day laborer didn't work, he may not have any savings on which to eat.  It is not likely that they thought of themselves as being blessed by God while in this condition.  It is more likely that they may have been asking, "What's God got against me?"

Certainly, people who have wept in grief have experienced the anger that often comes with loss.  Many times this anger may be directed to God.  I've heard many people say, "Why did God take my loved one now?"  

There's often a lot of theological statements made in the moment that are designed to comfort but really say some awful things about God's character.

"God needed another angel."

"It was just their time to go and we can't understand God's reasons."

"It must have been God's will."

Often these statements are designed to protect God's sovereignty or the idea that God is in complete control of the universe.  Of course, Wesleyans believe in free will which is God's self-limitation on divine control over everything.  

I believe that God weeps with us when we weep.  What does it mean to be blessed in weeping?  

Both of these - hunger and weeping - are conditions that Jesus claims give us favored attention by God.  These would have been a reversal of the common thought of the day.  They are a reversal for us today in how we normally think.

I think what this communicates for Jesus' followers is that God is concerned with those who are hurting.  I think about my grandmother who loved me.  She would sit by her refrigerator during every meal so that she could easily get anything that someone might want.  No matter what time we arrived, she would have something warm on the stove for us (much of the time it was some kind of homemade cobbler). She never wanted any of us to go hungry.  This could have been because she had both of her children during the Great Depression and was widowed while pregnant with my uncle.  She showed her love with offering sustenance - meeting a basic need. 

She was extra concerned with those who were hungry!

I think this is how God operates with the hungry and the despondent.

How do Christians show the hurting world that God cares?  We, like my grandmother, are also interested in feeding hungry people through a great variety of ministries.  We also provide care for those who are grieving.  As we move through Holy Week, we may have special concern because this is the week that Jesus may not have had an appetite.  We know he wept in the garden as he prayed.  

May we be part of someone's blessing this week.

Prayer for the day: Loving God, thank you for showing special favor to those who lack food.  Thank you for sending comfort to those who are weeping, whether it be from grief or fear or pain.  Help us to be attentive for you.  And when we may feel at the end of our rope, give us the strength to be able to offer love and care in any circumstance.  We pray these things in Jesus' name.  Amen.

 

Photo by ellen. via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

Daily Devotion for Lent 2024, Day 2

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."

                                    Matthew 5:4 (NRSVue)

One of the things that is a constant for people is that things continue to change.  This might be why we look back on earlier periods of our life with nostalgia.  Compared to what we are dealing with today, we imagine that we had a better handle on who we were then - or at least what we had to face.

All change results in grief and loss - and of course, some changes are more significant than others.

As people get older, another constant is that we begin to outlive our relatives.  The older generations pass away and we attend their funerals and mourn their passing.  Younger generations may begin to look at us as if we're next!  

We're not sure what happened to Jesus' earthly father, Joseph.  It is likely that he died.  How would this have effected Jesus?  I'm sure that he was grateful to have him in his life for the time he did. 

Within my lifetime, I have lost my four grandparents and both of my parents.  I was only nine years old when my Grandpa Powers passed away.  He loved to fish and I can remember him scaling the fish out in the yard.  The neighbor's cat would hang around when he did this!  He had a good sense of humor and liked to find the joy in life.  

I mourned his passing but not like my father did.  It was a more significant loss for him and difficult to comprehend until he too died and I realized what it was to lose a dad.

I haven't felt very blessed when I've been struck with grief in my life.  But I have felt blessed to have loved the people in my life who have touched me significantly.  I think most people understand that the deeper the love for someone, the harder the grief hits us.  

But as we recognize our deep grief, maybe we can also recognize that the larger relationship was a blessing to us.  This can be a comfort and a peace.  And we realize that when we mourn, we have been blessed.

Maybe we should seek to recognize this in our relationships while the people are still living!

Prayer for the day: God, help us in our times of grief and mourning.  Comfort us with your peace and let it pass our understanding.  Guide us to celebrate this life with those we love and help us to love more widely even knowing that mourning may eventually result.  We pray these things in the name of Jesus who understands our loss.  Amen.

Photo by Jens Grabenstein via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.