Daily Devotion for Lent 2021 - Day 5

Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5 (NRSV)

If you knew your time on this earth were short, would this change the way you act?

I would think that I would try to get everything in order - I wouldn't want to leave burdens for my loved ones.  I would try to allow for closure in my relationships as much as possible so that it would hopefully make the grief easier.

If I had any grievances, I hope that I would forgive those people.

This is the scenario for many in Thessalonica.  They believed that Jesus would return within their lifetime and sought to act as those who would be ready to receive him.

Paul implies that Christians have a
greater social responsibility than most.

Some may have adopted a "why bother?" attitude toward their employment.  There has probably always been a Johnny Paycheck attitude for a portion of the population that would like to tell their bosses, "Take This Job and Shove It."  But Paul encourages them to stick with it because he didn't know (and reminded them they didn't know either) when this return would occur.

Rather, Paul lifts up the Christian way: faith, love, peace, accountability, encouragement, compassion, patience, joy, prayer and gratitude.

I invite you to read this list again.  I'll wait.

Which of these will you focus on today?  

We, too, are waiting but our waiting has more to do with when we can get back to normal.  While we wait, it is good for us to focus on these positive attributes of Christianity.  This will not only make us more pleasant to be around but it will move the world in a direction that is ready to receive Christ (in all of the nuances this can imply).

So as we think about my original question at the beginning, I shared my actions would be:

• Live responsibly
• Stay connected with relationships
• Forgive offense

As I look at this list, I think that maybe we could live that way without receiving a death sentence first.

Maybe that's what Paul is trying to get across to the Thessalonians and the wider church.  

Prayer for the day:

God, we pray for you to increase our faith and grow our love.  Let us know peace.  May we hold others accountable but more importantly, open ourselves up to it as well.  Help us to offer encouragement even if we don't perceive it is needed.  May we find our first response to be compassion when we hear news.  And when we find ourselves irritable, increase our patience.  Allow joy to flourish in our lives and let us always be grateful for all of your gifts.  We pray these things in Jesus Christ who continues to come to us.  Amen.

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

All scripture quoted is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2021 - Day 4

Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4 (NRSV)

Today's chapter seems to have a lot to do with relationship.

When Paul speaks of sanctification in verse three, Wesleyans should pick up on this right away.  Our understanding is that God calls us through sanctifying grace to become more Christlike in our lives.  Specifically, here, we are being called to be more Christlike in our relationships.

How do we love God?  And how do we love our neighbor?

We relate to both through our love of ourselves.  We must respect ourselves through the understanding that we have been created in the image of God.  While the church may have gone overboard in its past use of railing against fornication, for Paul's time, there was a wider availability of sexuality in Mediterranean culture.  Some pagan temple worship included orgies or temple prostitutes.  Psychologically, there can be a sense of trying to capture immortality through our sexual expression that is tied to procreation.  Paul's theology moves us beyond this animalistic understanding to place something permanent in who we are spiritually.

We see that when he speaks of the dead in Christ rising first.  We continue on in Christ even after death which speaks to a resurrection theology.  

Sometimes it is hard to love people.
Sometimes we are those people!

Paul bids us to love our brothers and sisters more and more.  This growth of love is a disciplined
approach to love.  Sometimes we speak of love as if we either have it or we don't.  We understand through our relationships with family members that love often takes work.  You might love your parents or spouse or children or siblings through long association but there also might be times when you find bearing with them hard.  We know that in these moments, a disciplined approach to love is needed.

Fortunately, we don't believe that God abandons us to this hard work.  Rather, as we pray to God for help in this area, we find that even dormant love may be renewed.  Sometimes we must pray that we might get to a place where we even want to love to begin with!

But this speaks to that resurrection faith, doesn't it?

Prayer for the day:

Loving God, we seek to follow Jesus.  We know he commanded us to love you and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  Help us with our work in all three of these areas.  May we find that our love of each of these spills over into the other.  We pray these things in the name of the One who First Loved Us.  Amen.

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

All scripture quoted is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2021 - Day 3

Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 3

With a phone like this, you could
only move as far as the cord would allow!

We've missed seeing each other face to face.  I feel blessed that I've been able to see people through zoom or to carry on conversations through text, social media or email.  I can even call anyone in the US without incurring extra long distance charges on my bill.  Those of us past a certain age may still be reluctant to make those calls out of our area and it comes from a long-ingrained sense of taboo!  

We have so many ways to keep in touch and this has been helpful.

But it will be good to sit down with friends and family once more.  There is something about the physical presence being in close proximity that has yet to be replicated by technology.  Maybe virtual reality will conquer this someday but at this point, we need to gather.

Paul expresses this in today's chapter.  We see how the network of Christian communities was started.  When Paul couldn't be there personally, he was able to send his helpers like Timothy.  And when Timothy couldn't be there, Paul sent out letters.  These were reminders about the faith in Jesus Christ that had just sprung up in their midst.  We know that this church made it - at least long enough to copy Paul's letter and share it with other communities.  

How many churches faltered?  Paul likely wrote many letters we'll never read because those churches may have died out.  They may have adopted practices that were antithetical to what it means to live in Christ.  

But it was communities like this one that must have kept Paul encouraged.  So many times in ministry, pastors see pushback and it can be disheartening.  But when you find faith take root, it makes it all worthwhile.  

I, too, pray most earnestly that I'll see you face to face.  As some of us have gone almost a year without seeing one another, it is good to know that the early church went for stretches longer than that without seeing Paul and they learned to thrive.  As Paul writes, "And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you."  

May it be so for us all!

Prayer for the Day:

God, we long to see one another.  We long to embrace people.  We long to break bread with our neighbors once more.  Grant us your peace as we wait.  Let us hold fast to our faith and find that love has kindled more brightly in the waiting.  We pray this in the name of Jesus who loves.  Amen.

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

All scripture quoted is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2021 - Day 2

Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 2

As we experience political turmoil in our society today, we are reminded that difference of opinion and resistance of one group by another is a part of living in a larger society.  

Paul has been on the road and mentions his trouble at Philippi.  It is possible that Luke later fills out this story in Acts 16:11-30.  We see that Paul defends himself and has been accused of deceit and manipulation as well as greed and vanity.  This sounds so foreign to us today as we conduct ourselves so much more respectfully!

Slander is the easiest way of countering someone's arguments.  Rather than deal with the content, we tear down the person themselves.  It is not the highest form of discourse by any means but it continues to work well into the 21st century.  

These rules seem archaic today
but were held with seemingly
religious fervor 60 years ago.

We can see how Paul was challenging the basic tenets of Jewish faith outside of Palestine.  And we must remember that Christianity was not seen as a separate faith at this point but a sect within larger Judaism.  If we think about it from a Jewish perspective, you would be living as a minority among Gentiles in this foreign world.  You stand out because of your practices and your diet already.  This would put you up for persecution by the Gentiles you live among.  And now, here is this teacher that comes in and tries to make these Gentiles your equals in the sight of God.  It would challenge your notion of what it means to be faithful.  

Today, Christianity struggles within itself and how it is seen by the Gentiles (unchurched) of today.  There are practices that we may have that seem of utmost importance to some (like no drinks in the sanctuary) that fundamentally do not take away or add to one's relationship in Christ.  It is cultural and it is a respect or reverence issue for some.  But it may become a stumbling block for those who are exploring the faith.

As Paul reminds us, the relationships we form with one another may be more important than the cultural norms we hold onto.  As he tells the Thessalonians, "Yes, you are our glory and joy!"

Where have you once been inflexible in your life on things that now seem trivial?  I bet with some reflection, we can all name some!

Prayer for the Day:

Patient God, we recognize that we often major in the minors.  Help us to name what we are afraid of so that we may respect rather than slander our fellows who may see differently.  Bless our relationships that we might find in them our glory and joy!  Amen.

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

All scripture quoted is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2021 - Ash Wednesday

Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 1 (NRSV)

The Via Egnatia or Egatian Way
was the main east-west road
running through Thessalonica.
Paul likely trod these steps on 
his journey.  We seek to walk
where Paul walked this Lent.

As we begin our daily devotions for Lent this year, I have decided to read through some of the earliest letters we have in the New Testament by the apostle Paul.  While the letters are not dated, scholars have a strong consensus that Paul's first letter to Thessalonica was the earliest.  It was likely written in the 50's from Corinth.

My plan is to read 40 chapters (1 per day) while not posting on Sundays this year (which are technically not part of the 40 days).  This will take us through 1 Thessalonians, Galatians, and 1 and 2 Corinthians.  On Easter Sunday, I'll finish up with a final letter, Philemon, which is only one chapter long and has a nice resurrection theme to it.

So as we look at today's chapter, it is somewhat exciting to think about this being the earliest Christian correspondence that we have.  The Church is still in its infancy and reminds us that it didn't start without experiencing some major turbulence.

What stands out to me is Paul's use of his spiritual triumvirate, faith, love and hope in verse three.  We see him lift up "work of faith" which wording fits nicely in the theology of the later epistle of James.  If Paul were writing to us today, what would he describe as your "work of faith"?  How does our faith influence our actions?

The "labor of love" to which Paul referred may have been the hospitality they showed to Paul, Silvanus and Timothy when they brought to them the good news of Jesus Christ.  We see that even as they received this news, they began to share it with their neighbors and received persecution for their troubles.  Have you ever felt put upon for trying to help others among your friends and family?

Finally, Paul speaks of their "hope in our Lord Jesus Christ."  We revisit this as we wrap up the chapter with the notion that Jesus will return soon and rescue them "from the wrath that is coming."  They evidently had the spiritual belief that Jesus would be returning within the next few years - certainly within Paul's lifetime.  Of course, this would influence how you lived your life.

Our hope remains in Jesus Christ but I see the second coming differently from Paul.  Certainly, we have had generations of the faithful that have awaited his return.  But it may be that we need to re-interpret what his return means for us.  I have taken the return more in line with our help of the "least of these" from Matthew's Last Judgment.  As we give aid and comfort to the "least of these" we see the return of Christ.  Our spiritual sight may see Jesus in them and hopefully, they see Christ in us through our actions.  

As we seek to share the good news today, this becomes an important work of faith and labor of love.  And our hope remains in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayer for the day:

God, as we begin another season of Lent, help us to keep our disciplines for our spiritual growth.  Let them shape us and make us more Christ-like.  In this way, may our witness be seen in a way that is helpful to the world.  We pray this in the name of Jesus the Christ.  Amen.

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

All scripture quoted is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.