Author Archives: Erin M Diericx

About Erin M Diericx

Erin M Diericx is a Luther Seminary graduate with her Master’s in New Testament. As an individual with Cerebral Palsy, Erin understands the need to educate others on how individuals of all abilities need God’s healing touch, which lead her to write her MA thesis on John 9: the healing of the blind man. In her thesis, Erin discovered that life and healing has three dimensions: physical, psychosocial, and spiritual. Erin is the founder of www.God-the-Healer.com where she writes weekly devotions. Blessings!

Why I Love Observing Holy Week?

The liturgical season of Lent, followed by Holy Week, is my favorite time in the church year. For pastors and lay leaders, Holy Week is like marathon—at least four different sermons in an eight-day span that covers every emotion imaginable. You have to reflect on the Passion story—following Jesus to the cross, finding an empty tomb, and rejoicing over the risen Lord. Holy Week plays upon every emotion—excitement at Jesus’s possession into Jerusalem, resentment and jealousy of the chief priests and the scribes, confusion for the disciples, sorrow for Jesus’s mother and other women, pain and anguish of the crucifixion, and joy at seeing the risen Lord. Every detail builds upon the next, and if you miss a detail, you are easily confused.

I love reflecting on the events of Holy Week, because they remind me Jesus Christ feels every emotion I feel. Jesus is celebrated when he processes into Jerusalem, seeks relief and strength as he prays in Gethsemane, is betrayed by Judas Iscariot, feels resentment and scrutiny from the chief priests and the scribes, undergoes pain and suffering when he is beaten and crucified, and enters into joy in his resurrection. Jesus goes through it all on our behalf, so we never have to be separated from God the Father again.

I love reflecting on the events of Holy Week, because they remind me how I am never alone when I struggle and how I have prevailed over the devil. I have experienced my own “holy weeks”—when I got divorced, when I had MRSA, when I am at odds with a friend or family member, when I had my skiing accident, and at other times as well. I have struggled with having cerebral palsy and not being “normal.” After thirty-two years, I have finally accepted my cerebral palsy as a blessing and have felt raised to a new understanding of purpose in the world. Each time I suffer a loss, God raises me back up again, and I feel anew again. God finds me in the darkness and leads me to the light through Jesus Christ.

I love reflecting on the events of Holy Week, because they reminds me God is with me through the good times and the bad times. Jesus praises God the Father at his baptism and prays to God the Father before Judas Iscariot betrays him. I can go to God the Father in times of need and rejoice with him in good times because he understands my most inner feelings and thoughts. I do not have to hide anything from God because he has been in the world—been there, done that—and has the scars to prove it. And Jesus has no problem doing it again and again and again and again and again and again…

Holy Week is a love letter to us from God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God the Father loves us so much that he sent his only begotten son to die for our sins so that we can be in a relationship with him. God will not allow our sins to get in the way of us being in a relationship with him, even if he has to pay the ultimate price by sacrificing his only son for the forgiveness of our sins through his grace and love.

Thanks be to God!

Photo Credit: Amber Sue Photography

Anointing Jesus

Reading for Monday of Holy Week

Mark 14:1-16

Devotion

Peace be with you!

The characters in today’s Gospel reading all have a role in setting up Jesus’s betrayal, arrest, and ultimately his crucifixion, death, and resurrection. But their roles may seem odd: a woman pouring ointment on his head, the chief priests plotting against Jesus, and Judas making a deal to betray Jesus. To us, these events seem odd to us. There is really no reason for any of this to take place. What is the significance of the woman pouring ointment on Jesus’ head? What do the chief priests have against Jesus? Who betrays their faithful leader? Why does this all have to take place?

Jesus visits Simon the leper in Bethany two days before the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread (Mark 14:1, 3). When a woman pours ointment on Jesus’s head, the disciples object because such an expensive item could have been sold and the money given to the poor (Mark 14:4-5). To the disciples, the woman is wasting money that could have been used to help those in need. The ointment of nard could have paid for a family’s expenses for a year. It seems a ridiculous waste. However, Jesus stops the disciples in their tracks and explains the importance behind the woman pouring ointment on his head. Jesus states that the poor will always be with his followers, but he would not (Mark 14:7). For us today, this makes sense: we have never physically seen Jesus. We do see the poor all the time. Since Simon is a leper and not able to work, the household Jesus and his disciples are visiting is, yet the woman anoints Jesus with expense ointment.

The woman was actually anointing his body for burial beforehand (Mark 14:8). The woman gives Jesus the honor and dignity that he deserves before he suffers crucifixion and death. The woman gives up money to give honor to Jesus. Anointing before burial was often reserved for important individuals, such as kings.

Then we come to Judas Iscariot and the chief priests who set devastating events into action. Chief priests were already plotting to arrest and kill Jesus (Mark 14:1), though it could not be during the Passover, because it would cause a riot (Mark 14:2) unless a disciple came forward to help them (Perkins 1995). When Judas comes forward willing to betray Jesus (Mark 14:10), the chief priests are able to carry out their plans.

Now, Judas does not care why the chief priests want to arrest Jesus. Judas’s only concern is himself, and the chief priests are willing to pay him money for giving them Jesus (Mark 14:11). Because of his greed and desire for personal gain, Judas is willing to hand Jesus over.

Readers cannot help but compare the woman who poured ointment on Jesus’s head with Judas. While Judas plans to betray Jesus for money, the woman who poured ointment on Jesus’ head sacrifice expensive nard to show him respect and dignity. The woman gives up money for Jesus, whereas Judas takes money as he betrays Jesus. When the woman prepares Jesus for his burial by anointing him, Judas puts into motion the events leading up to the crucifixion.

It would be easy to mark the woman who poured ointment on Jesus’s head as a saint and Judas Iscariot and the chief priests as sinners, but we are not called to do that. Each of these characters play an important role in the Passion story. As I stated above, the woman who poured ointment on Jesus’s head gives him the honor and dignity he deserves before fulfilling the scriptures. In the same way, Judas and the chief priests play an important role in allowing Jesus to fulfill the scriptures, even though that is not their goal. Ultimately, Jesus has to die on cross for our sins and rise again to overcome death. The woman who poured ointment on his head, Judas Iscariot, and the chief priests help Jesus to carry out God’s plan, even without their knowledge.

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for the woman, Judas, and chief priests who played important roles in carrying out your plan. Help us to recognize the way in which you use us Christians—and even those who do not believe—to further your plan, even unknowingly. Thank you for using us as you continue to unfold your plan. Amen.

Works Cited

Perkins, Pheme. “The Gospel of Mark: Introductions, Commentary, and Reflections.” In The New Interpreter’s Bible, by Leander E Kirk. Nashville: Abringdon Press, 1995.

Reflective Questions

Please answer the following reflective questions in the comments below. Please agree to disagree and be respectful to each other. (If you have not already done so, please also take a moment, to sign the behavior covenant by commenting on it.) You can answer as many questions as you would like.

How has God used you in a tough situation to continue to unfold his plan?
Where do you find yourself in the story?

photo credit: Listening to Jesus via cc

An Excited Crowd Yells, “Hosanna!”

Reading for Palm Sunday

Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29.

Mark 11:1-11

Devotion

Peace be with you!

Jesus’s entrance into Jerusalem for the final time before his crucifixion takes a bit of preparation, but Jesus has it planned out to a “T.” While still on the outskirts of Jerusalem, Jesus sends two disciples to a village to get a colt and to bring it back to him. Roman officials commonly requisitioned animals and human labor. The fact that Jesus instructs the two disciples to say, “The Lord needs it” (Mark 11:3), tells the owners that a powerful man needs the colt. However, Jesus’s promise to return the colt immediately sets him apart from other rulers.

Now, the colt is significant for a few reasons. First, Jesus was the first one to ride it, which would have been an honor to an important Roman official. Jesus enters Jerusalem on a young colt as a king. Second, Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a colt fulfills Zechariah 9:9:

Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion!

Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Lo, our king comes to you:

triumphant and victorious is he,

humble and riding on a donkey

on a colt, the foal of a female donkey (NRSV).

Jesus presents himself as the long-awaited king of Israel, the Messiah. Even though the disciples and the crowd may have missed the significance, Jesus has now made it known to all that he is the Messiah. The crowd and his disciples may have acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah but may also have understood his role as being the one who would conquer the Romans as a military hero, not as the Son of God who would die for their sins and redeem them to be in a relationship with God the Father.

As we celebrate Palm Sunday, we cannot help but get caught up in the excitement of welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem. A crowd welcomes Jesus into Jerusalem by laying down their cloaks and palm branches in his path. The crowd yells, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” (Mark 11:9-10 NRSV). One cannot deny the excitement of the crowd, excitement that Jesus would rescue them at last from the Romans.

Jesus carries out a careful plan to reveal himself as the Messiah—the one sent by God to free believers from their sins. As readers, we can identify Jesus’s entrance into Jerusalem as a messianic action. We understand the significance behind every little details. Jesus is beginning to prepare for the events of redemption.

As we begin the Holy Week journey, put yourself in the different characters’ mindsets. Feel their fear and joy as they watch the unfolding of Jesus’s crucifixion. Ask yourself where you are in the story.

Go out into the world and shout, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” (Mark 11:9-10 NRSV). Welcome Jesus into your town and into your home. Celebrate Jesus’s Messianic claim. Jesus may not be a king in quite the way we expect, but he is still King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for how Jesus entered Jerusalem as king, giving us a reason to celebrate his Messianic claim. Help us to claim Jesus as our Messiah in a world where it is easier to deny him or reject what his kingship means for us. Remind us of your glory this coming Holy Week as we walk beside Jesus and watch him be the ultimate sacrifice for our sin. Thank you for your glory. Amen.

Reflective Questions

Please answer the following reflective questions in the comments below. Please agree to disagree and be respectful to each other. (If you have not already done so, please also take a moment, to sign the behavior covenant by commenting on it.) You can answer as many questions as you would like.

Where are you in the story of Palm Sunday? Are you with the crowd shouting “Hosanna”? Or are you hiding in fear of the Pharisees? Are you understanding Jesus’s goal and confusing it with your own?
How would your congregation welcome Jesus into your church?

photo credit: Waiting for the Word on Flickr via photopin cc

Cerebral Palsy is a Blessing

Peace be with you, Cerebral Palsy!

For almost thirty-two years, we have co-existed in the same body. You came into my physical body as an infliction from the devil—an attempt to steal my soul from God the Father. However, the Lord has used us to bring him glory. The devil’s attempt to make it difficult for me to move and speak clearly has only caused me to do things differently.

You make it difficult for new listeners to understand my speech, and yet the Lord has given me the gift of the written word. When it is too difficult to speak, I sit down quietly at my desk and type the thoughts that go through my mind too quickly for me to speak. Sometimes I get so frustrated from not being able to speak clearly all the time, which causes me to cry from being overwhelmed with feelings trapped inside. God has blessed me with the written word as a way to unlock those feelings and allow others to know my thoughts and ideas.

You make it difficult for me to move, and yet the Lord has blessed me with an electric wheelchair, adoptive technology, an accessible home, and supporting friends and family. The Lord still calls me to do his work, and through our suffering and blessings we are able to demonstrate his glory in the world. Even on days when we are battling each other, you are blessing me with knowledge, insights, and strength to use against the devil. For everything the devil with your help has take away from me, God has blessed me three-fold.

You, cerebral palsy, are only apart of me, not the whole me. I am also a Christian, a daughter, a sister, a cousin, an aunt, a New Testament scholar, a cyclist, a writer, an author, an advocate, a colleague, and so much more. The Lord has used you, cerebral palsy, and me to bless others. I am able to related to other with physical disabilities on a personal level. There is power in saying to an individual with physical a disability, “Yes, I understand what you are going through, and here is how you can overcome those limitations and frustrations.” I can also explain feelings, needs, and struggles to others who are not disabled to understand those of us with physical disabilities as whole individuals. There is power in saying to any individual, “This is how you can help me…” My ability to name the frustrations, needs, and joys of people with physical disabilities becomes a weapon against the devil, which I would not have without you, cerebral palsy.

Therefore, you, cerebral palsy, are a pun between the Lord and the devil. When others choose to view you as a curse, I view and use you as a blessing. Without you, cerebral palsy, I would not have been led down this path, at least not right away, as an advocate and a New Testament scholar. I would not understand pain and suffering as a constant battle. I would not have met half of my friends, especially those involved with adoptive sports or my personal caregivers because I would not need to know them. You, cerebral palsy, are a blessing, because you have given me a prospective on life that very few enjoy. Thank you for blessing me with your presence, even on days when we are battling each other.

Many blessings, E

PS. Let’s continue to kick the devil’s ass.

Understanding the Beginning to the End

Reading for Fifth Sunday of Lent

Jeremiah 31:31-4

John 12:20-33

Devotion

Peace be with you!

During their time wandering in the wilderness, the Israelites made a strict covenant with God. The prophet Jeremiah has the unfortunate task of revealing the way the Israelites have failed to live up to their covenant with the Lord. Jeremiah’s prophetic ministry is to a nation who became involved with idol worship for decades under the rule of Manasseh and Josiah’s father. Since the sins of the Israelites run deep, Judah and Jerusalem are facing destruction.

In the wilderness, God gives Moses a covenant for the Israelites to live by and to be in a relationship with him. The covenant outlines how the Israelites can remain holy in the Lord. However, the Israelites live in the world where they face temptations by Satan every day. Since they are not perfect like God is, the Israelites fall short of his expectations and become unholy. This separates the Israelites from God and breaks their relationship with him.

God understands that the covenant that he made with the Israelites in the wilderness no longer reflects the kind of relationship he wants to have with them. He realizes that the covenant that he currently has with the Israelites is too unforgiving and too destructive to his relationship with them, especially since his children live in the world where Satan reigns. The Israelites struggle every day to uphold the Ten Commandments and to beat Satan at his deceptive ways. Darkness surrounds the Israelites as they try to live in the world according to God’s ways.

God makes plans to create a new covenant (Jeremiah 31:32) to reclaim his relationship with the Israelites. The new covenant will reclaim the Israelites as his people (Jeremiah 31:33) and bring them back into a relationship with the Lord. The Lord promises to be their God, and to make the Israelites his people again (Jeremiah 31:33). The Lord desperately wants to be their God by being in a relationship with them. However, God knows the current covenant will never allow this to happen. A change needs to occur to allow this to happen.

Instead of having the laws written on tablets, God wants to write them on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33). In the Old Testament, “heart” does not reflect an emotional attachment, but rather it reflects a cognitive reaction. The Israelites will know and understand the laws and be able to follow them to their best ability.

And there is more: God promises to forget the Israelites’ shortcomings by forgiving them. God will no longer remember the Israelites’ sins or hold their sins against them (Jeremiah 31:34). Both we and the Israelites will be freed from our sinful pasts through God’s forgiveness.

These changes allow us to be in a more stable relationship with God the Father. Forgiveness gives us the opportunity to really know God and to be able to carry out his plan.

Allow God to create a clean heart in you and to make a new and right spirit within you (Psalm 51:10). We need spiritual cleansing in order to know the Triune God.

With a clean heart, we must allow our old selves to die to give way to a new life with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (John 12:24). When we do this, we receive the promise of eternal life in God’s kingdom. However, we must despise the world and the actions of Satan, because they stand in opposition to God (John 12:25). When we follow and serve Jesus, God the Father honors us (John 12:26). This is why we share the good news with everyone who will listen to us. We want to be in a community with our friends, family, and the Triune God.

We know the beginning of the ending: Jesus came to walk on earth beside us, to feel our pain and joy. Then he does something incredible: he becomes God’s living sacrifice on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus suffers at the crucifixion, dies on the cross, goes to hell for three days, rises again, and ascends to heaven all for our sins. Jesus does all of this out of divine love and to express the truth in order to draw us closer to God the Father.

And still God’s promise is not fully fulfilled. Jesus is coming back for us—those who believe in the Triune God—to take us to heaven to be with God the Father. Can I get a social media AMEN? So as we look toward Holy Week and eventually toward Easter, remember this is not the end: it is just the beginning.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for the new covenant to extend forgiveness to us in order to be in a relationship with you. Help us to understand that this is just the beginning of the end. You have greater plans for us than we can imagine. You have claimed, continue to claim, and will claim us as your children by redeeming us from our sins. Thank you for creating a clean heart in us. Amen.

Reflective Questions

Please answer the following reflective questions in the comments below. Please agree to disagree and be respectful to each other. (If you have not already done so, please also take a moment, to sign the behavior covenant by commenting on it.) You can answer as many questions as you would like.

Where do you see God’s divine love?
What does the cross mean to you?

Change is in the Air

Reading for Fourth Sunday of Lent

Numbers 21:4-9

John 3:14-21

Devotion

Peace be with you!

Every new beginning starts with a struggle, even if you are excited. Going off to college requires you to learn discipline and to create good study habits. Starting a serious relationship makes you evaluate your habits, including your ability to compromise and to work with your partner. These examples are usually met with excitement. However, some new beginnings are just plain scary and require finding and redefining yourself as an individual. Getting a divorce or breaking up with a long-time significant other causes you to question everything in your life and requires you to do a lot of soul searching. Losing a loved one to cancer creates an empty place in your heart. Both of these examples leave you wondering where life is taking you. It takes all of your energy to perform the simplest tasks, such as changing bank accounts and simple social exchanges. You feel lost and incomplete.

God has led the Israelites out of Egypt and into the wilderness to lead the Israelites to the Promised Land, yet they are still wandering in the wilderness for what seems like an eternity. The Israelites have nothing exciting to eat or drink—just manna and water—in the wilderness. If they knew there would be such monotonous food and drink for forty years before entering the Promised Land, the Israelites might have thought twice about leaving Egypt. Although the Pharaoh made them work as slaves and do hard labor, the Israelites always had plenty of food and drink (or at least that’s how they remembered it). They could eat and drink anything they wanted—especially leeks and onions! But—in the wilderness?—all the Israelites have is manna and water. What were they thinking?

When the Israelites complain about only having manna and water, God becomes angry and sends poisonous snakes to bite them. As a result, many of the Israelites die from the bites. Although this seems cruel, when that first generation dies, it does move the Israelites closer to the Promised Land. However, Moses pleads with God not to kill off the first generation all at one time (Numbers 14:13-19). Moses eloquently says in Numbers 14:19, “In accordance with your great love, forgive the sins of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now” (NIV). God is responsive to Moses’s intercession. God tells Moses to make the image of a poisonous snake on a rod and to have anyone bitten by a snake look at it. By this act of obedient faith, the sick person would be healed from the snakebite.

Despite his anger, God provides a way for the Israelites to be healed—and tries to have a personal relationship with them. God wants the Israelites to start a new life in the Promised Land by living as his chosen people, people who are in a relationship with him.

When Jesus enters the world, the Israelites (now called Jews) have had great political influence in the Roman Empire and have their religious center in Jerusalem. The Jews have done well to stand out as God’s people, but there is also corruption among the chief priests and scribes who do not always do things God’s way and have interpreted the Torah though their own eyes instead of God’s. Jesus comes to bring change once again to the identity to God’s people. Jesus’s message is not new, though it challenges the chief priests’ and the scribes’ ways of thinking. The change of interrupting the Torah calls out the sins of the Jewish people. No longer can the Jews justify the exclusion of Gentiles and Samaritans, because God includes everyone. Jesus shares God’s love with all the people, not just the Jews, in the world, because God wants to be in a relationship with all people.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16-17 NRSV).

God sends Jesus into the world to save everyone from their sins and to give them eternal life. How is this possible? God witnessed how impossible it was for the Israelites to keep his laws and commandments as long as Satan has power in the world. God expresses his love for us by sending his only Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer and die for our sins. Jesus is crucified, dies, and rises again to overcome the power of death. With God the Father, Jesus Christ makes the impossible possible by taking away Satan’s power of death through his resurrection.

Through Jesus Christ, you are able to have a relationship with God the Father. Jesus made the ultimate price by dying on the cross for our sins. The chief priests and the scribes have difficulty accepting Jesus’s teachings on God’s forgiveness, grace, and love for all people, not just the Jews. Jesus spreads God’s message of inclusion throughout the world. Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles are all included in God’s family.

Taking the first step to changing a situation is the most difficult. However, the good news is God takes the first step in repairing your relationship with him by sending Jesus to die for your sins. Nothing else has changed. His love lasts forever. Will you take the next step?

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for leading the Israelites through the wilderness to the Promised Land. Help us to understand the depth of your love for us. Lead us to welcome everyone who will believe in the good news. Lead us to extend your forgiveness, grace, and love to others. Thank you for paying the ultimate price for our sins through Jesus’s crucifixion, death, and resurrection. Amen.

Reflective Questions

Please answer the following reflective questions in the comments below. Please agree to disagree and be respectful to each other. (If you have not already done so, please also take a moment, to sign the behavior covenant by commenting on it.) You can answer as many questions as you would like.

How have you experienced God’s love?
How do you help to create inclusive faith communities?

Challenging the Sacrificial System

Reading for Second Sunday of Lent

John 2:13-22

Devotion

Peace be with you!

In John 2:13-22, Jesus challenges the sacrificial system, which is centered around the temple. A marketplace had grown up in the outer temple courts so travelers could buy animals to sacrifice. Since the temple was the only place sacrifices could be made, people traveled from all over the country to offer sacrifices to God in order to demonstrate their repentance. The sacrificial system was the way individuals pleased God and were made right in his eyes.

When onlookers ask Jesus what gives him the authority to destroy the marketplace in the temple, Jesus tells them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days” (verse 19 NIV). This cryptic remark, John goes on to show, actually refers to the temple of Jesus’ body. When Jesus challenges the need for the marketplace in the temple, he also challenges the Jews to accept a new way to worship. For the Jews, the temple symbolized the presence of God; they went to the temple to encounter and see God.

Jesus is pointing to a deeper, more personal relationship people can have with God. Two chapters later in John 4, Jesus will say to the Samaritan woman, “a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem….a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks” (4:21, 23 NIV).

Do you go to church to be close to God? We often forget the sermon once we leave building—or at least I do. We live in the world where Satan dwells, where corruption lives, where kids show up at school and shoot other kids, where people do not help their neighbors, where terrorist groups are beheading Christians, where people do not even know their neighbors—and the list goes on. Where is God in all of this? Does he stay in the church building?

No! Jesus comes into the world as God to walk with us. He comes to feel our pain, to suffer alongside us, and to walk with us in the world. This makes God relatable to the human experience. We have never been so close to God before; we can touch and feel God now. Jesus’s death on the cross becomes the last sacrifice so that we all might be forgiven. The promise of the resurrection gives us hope for the future.

You may be saying, “Well, that is all fine and dandy, but Jesus died two thousand years ago. We cannot see, feel, or hear him now.” And I say, “We can’t?” True, Jesus died two thousand years ago, but he continues to be with us through the body of Christ. Jesus feels our pain and draws us to him through the Holy Spirit. And there is no place the Holy Spirit cannot reach us.

Jesus invites us to be in a community with him and with other Christians. Paul even described all of us together as God’s temple (I Corinthians 6:19, 12:12-14) We are able to worship as a community where people share a connection with the Triune God—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And with the community, the promise of being in a relationship with God now and in the future is shared and honored. I feel closer with God when I am in fellowship with other people who share my faith. Fellowship, even in a bar or in an airport, allows us to challenge each other and to lift each other up in prayer. The temple is no longer a physical location; instead, the community of two or more believers becomes the tangible way we can connect with God (Matthew 18:19-20). And so we can worship God wherever we are!

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for sending Jesus Christ. Help us to express our faith outwardly in order to share the blessing of your community with others. Guide us as we become your living temple. Thank you for making us your temple. Amen.

Reflective Questions

Please answer the following reflective questions in the comments below. Please agree to disagree and be respectful to each other. (If you have not already done so, please also take a moment, to sign the behavior covenant by commenting on it.) You can answer as many questions as you would like.

How do you worship God every day? Where do you feel God’s presence?
Where do you create community?

Being Open to the Impossible

Reading for Second Sunday of Lent

Mark 8:31-38

Devotion

Peace be with you!

Pain seems to be a part of life. Even if you never suffered from physical pain, you have probably experienced psychosocial pain from ending a difficult relationship, rejection, grief, financial stress, or [whatever “it” is] keeping you up late. Every decision requires you to make a choice and to walk away from something else, even for a short time. Consequences, good and bad, follow any decision, which can affect other people. You may take a new job which takes you away from your friends and family. Your decision to move away may cause others to pick up the responsibilities within your family and at work. Your new job may pay better but require more hours, which can impact your marriage and other relationships. Important decisions require labor-intensive thought processes and may cause pain no matter what you decide.

Jesus informs the disciples of the end game: “the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31 NRSV). What a difficult statement to hear about a close friend and leader! Peter rejects the thought of his dearest friend suffering, being rejected, and being killed (Mark 8:32). Anyone with good sense would say, “No! That is ridiculous. There has to be another option.” It is the natural reaction.

However, the decision has been made, and now Jesus has to carry it out. Jesus rebukes Peter, because Peter is thinking about earthly things, not on divine things (Mark 8:33). Sometimes I think we hold the disciples to too high of a standard. How could the disciples understand a theory theologians take a lifetime to understand? Peter is just speaking of what he knows and understands, though Jesus comes off being stern with him. When we keep our minds on earthly things, we deny the divine power. We need to keep our minds and hearts open to the impossible taking place.

Jesus goes on to explain how we have to let go of earthly things; the only way to be saved is to take up our cross and follow him (Mark 8:34). Having faith means you believe in the impossible and are willing to deny yourself of anything that Satan puts in front of you. Satan tries to tell you the impossible cannot be done, and his way makes the most sense.

The difficulty of letting go of earthly things is that we have no concrete concept of the heavenly things. We understand to a degree how earthy things work. We understand our need for food, water, and shelter. We understand that when someone dies they go away, and we can no longer talk to or see them. We can grasp the concepts of the world, hbecause we experience them.

Yet Jesus calls us to let go of what we know for sake of divine things, which will set us free from the bondage of sin. We need to let go so we can experience the power of the Holy Spirit in the world. When we deny the power of Satan, we let go of the things that keep us from God. When we deny ourselves of what we think we need to do, we open ourselves up to the possibility of the impossible happening.

According to Satan, death is the final say—the end-all. However, Jesus is crucified, dies, and rises again to overcome the power of death. Jesus experiences great pain to prove God loves us. Therefore, the message of the resurrection is that death is not the final say. God promises us eternal life in his kingdom when we let go and follow Jesus. This makes it possible for us to be in a relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We make the impossible possible by giving up what Satan has to offer and looking toward the heavens. By doing so, we give God the power over our lives to use us to carry out his plan. In return, we get to meet God in his kingdom.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for Jesus showing us your love. Help us to understand why Jesus had to suffer so much on our behalf. Help us to let go of the earthy things that hold us back from knowing you. Amen.

Reflective Questions

Please answer the following reflective questions in the comments below. Please agree to disagree and be respectful to each other. (If you have not already done so, please also take a moment, to sign the behavior covenant by commenting on it.) You can answer as many questions as you would like.

When have you experienced pain?
How do you let go of earthy things?
Describe a time when you have witnessed something impossible happening.

Where does Jesus get his Credibility?

Reading for First Sunday of Lent

Mark 1:9-15

Devotion

Peace be with you!

It is difficult to understand what another person is going through until you go through a similar situation. I never understood why my parents are bitter toward one another until I got divorced. Now I understand why my dad changed how he told stories to exclude any mention of my mom. Now I understand why my mom hates seeing pictures of my dad. My perspective changed when I got my own divorce and gained insight as to the pain it causes.

Jesus comes into the world as the Son of God who never sins. Jesus is perfect in every way. After his baptism, in order to gain insight into our emotions and thoughts, God sends Jesus into the wilderness (Mark 1:12) as a crash course in pastoral care. Jesus has to feel the raw emotions we go through every day in order to have the compassion for his ministry—to heal the blind man, to converse with the Samaritan woman, to raise Lazarus, to share meals with sinners, to preach the good news, and to die for our sins on the cross. This is why God the Father sends Jesus Christ into the world.

God does not make Jesus face Satan alone in the wilderness; he sends angels to wait on him (Mark 1:13c). Like Jesus, you are never alone. God is with you in the good, the bad, and the ugly times. God feels your pain when ending a relationship, when you are sick, when you are faced with an impossible decision, when you feel alone, and when you are lost, and he is with you through it all. When you are lost in the wilderness (faced with a difficult decision or starting a new journey), God is with you, even if you feel alone.

It amazes me that God went through so much trouble to understand our pain by sending Jesus into the wilderness. Jesus takes on our pain, despair, suffering, sadness, and more to gain credibility to preach the good news to us. Without the credibility, why would we listen? How would Jesus even understand our emotions? The wilderness gives Jesus moral authority. He has felt our pain and has an alternative: repent and turn over our lives to the Lord. With the Lord by our side, with the promise of eternal life in the Kingdom of God, we can conquer anything.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for being with Jesus Christ in the wilderness. Help us to feel your presence in the world as we go about our daily lives. Comfort us in the wilderness and deliver us from the devil. Lead us to share the good news in the world. Thank you for the good news. Amen.

Reflective Questions

Please answer the following reflective questions in the comments below. Please agree to disagree and be respectful to each other. (If you have not already done so, please also take a moment, to sign the behavior covenant by commenting on it.) You can answer as many questions as you would like.

When have you felt lost in the wilderness?
When and how have you felt God’s presence?

How to Live Out the Christian Identity

Reading for Ash Wednesday

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Devotion

Peace be with you!

My life—how I act and what I say—evolves around my identity as a Christian. Sometimes I play a game inside my head to see how long it takes for strangers to learn I am a Christian. Usually it only takes a few minutes since my career as a Biblical scholar is centered on my faith in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. My identity as a Christian is strangely connected to my success as a scholar.

The Gospel reading for Ash Wednesday is a difficult one for us to hear. It is one that calls us to repentance. Jesus warns us about being like the hypocritical religious leaders of his day. He gives many admonishments: Do not announce to others how much you put in the offering plate (Matthew 6:2). Do not pray loudly so others can hear you (Matthew 6:5). Do not disfigure your face when you are fasting (Matthew 6:16). We are not supposed to make grand proclamations regarding our personal faith journey.

Then what does Jesus want us to do? Hide? He says, “Do not tell your left hand what your right hand is doing” (Matthew 6:3 NRSV). How is this even possible? My right hand always knows what my left hand is doing, especially when they have to work together. (But then again, with cerebral palsy my muscles fight each other just to perform daily tasks!) I do not believe that Jesus means that he wants us to make such subtle movements that we barely notice them ourselves. Jesus does not want us to be put on a performance for the whole community. He doesn’t want us to tell everyone we donated the money for the church’s new oven, but to do it because we are able and willing to. It does not have to make a noticeable dent in our savings. The act just has to serve God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in order to further his mission.

Jesus’s point is that the acts of faith in our lives should be for an Audience of One, ultimately. Offering is to be something we give to God; it comes from him, and we give back what belongs to him. In Mark 12:43-44, Jesus praises a poor widow for giving all she has while the wealthy elite only give a tiny portion of their riches. The poor widow gives more than the others, because she entrusts God with everything she has to live on. God wants all we have to give, not so we can proudly announce our earthly accomplishments, but so we can share our very being with him. We cannot just give a portion of ourselves to God and think it will please him. God wants our all, even if it is not as much as the next person. God desires our personal best.

Then Jesus tells us to pray alone behind closed doors. This is a difficult for me since I am spiritually strengthened when praying in an intimate group. I will even be bold to say I pray better out loud in a group setting than when I pray quietly or alone. There is something amazing about hearing believers pray together, because prayers grow in depth as they wind together in a labyrinth web.

To contentedly pray alone–to be alone with God–is a bit scary. What do I even say? Most mornings and evenings when I lay in bed God must think I am a whinny three-year-old pleading to get her way: please Lord, take away so-and-so’s cancer or other ailment, or please, Lord, allow me to have a good day with so-and-so since she will be with me all day. And do not be mistaken that my prayers during my shower are much better: please, Lord, make me anew and give me the strength to do your work. Even though he knows exactly what I am thinking (the good, the bad, and the ugly), God wants to have a personal relationship with me through that special one-on-one time together. God wants to hear my pleas; he listens and wants to know I trust he will provide an answer in the future.

We can lose our thoughts in a large group. To sit alone with God allows us to quiet our minds and to speak honestly with him. Our God is a loving God who does not judge but offers love, hope, joy, and grace. We do not need to tweet incessantly about our undying love for God the Father. All we need to do is spend a few moments with God each day as we go about our busy routines.

The last spiritual ritual Jesus speaks about is fasting. In Jesus’s days, Jewish leaders would make their facial features look withdrawn when they were fasting so that they would appear more pious to everyone (Matthew 6:16). Jesus tells us to tend to our features in order to keep our fasting a secret. Again, we do not need to gloat about our fasting to prove our love for God the Father to everyone. God is the only person to whom we need to show our loyalty and love.

Most of us do not fast on a regular basis. If we do fast, it is usually for a medical reason, such as blood work or surgery. I believe this passage applies to more practices of faith than literal fasting.

My first thoughts go to pastors and mission leaders who work long hours to answer their callings but forget to take care of their own physical health or tend to their families. They and their families are left running on empty because of the idolatry of workaholism. Workaholism is the idea that you are irreplaceable; it’s ultimately all about you and what others think of you, not about God. God wants our work to be all about him; when we take the time for rest and family, we fast from workaholism. In doing so, we honor him and remind ourselves that he is the Center of it all.

We do not have to boast about our faith to get rewarded on earth. God sees our quiet acts of faith and will reward us in heaven. The Holy Spirit works through us in these acts of faith, grounding us in the love of the Triune God–God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. As Galatians 5:22-23 states, the Holy Spirit gives us the ability to have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, because the Spirit places God in our hearts. Holy Spirit makes it possible for our quiet acts of devotion to become second nature and to be in our hearts.

On this Ash Wednesday, I challenge you to work on doing quiet acts of faith, even if it means spending more time with family and friends. Do these acts of love and devotion without expecting fanfare; simply do them for God and God alone. Lent is a time where we can grow closer to the Triune God.

Take time this Ash Wednesday to make a plan to strengthen your relationship with God the Father. Your Lent practice should be something you want to add or give up beyond Easter. I have decided to give up online shopping for Lent to practice self-control and to resist the urge to buy whatever I want on the spot. To avoid binging after Easter, I will only buy one or two items that I really want and then force myself to answer, “Do I really need [whatever “it” is]? This way it becomes a practice in my everyday routine, not just for Lent. It will make more time to read books and articles, more time to write, and more time to spend time in prayer, because I will not be going on Amazon everyday or going to the post office to ship something back every week. I will also be forced to be content with what I have, especially in the clothes department. What will you add? What will you give up?

Do not be like the hypocrites by doing what rewards them here and now, focusing on themselves and their image before others. But act according to God’s will and God will reward you in heaven. Whatever you do: just do it for God and God alone. You are a star in a brand new universe, being formed by the Holy Spirit; shine bright, then, for God the Father alone.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for the promise of our reward in heaven. Help us to be little stars in the universe that you are forming through the Holy Spirit. Remind us to do subtle, quiet acts that tell our faith journey. Thank you for having a relationship with each one of us as your children. Amen.

Reflective Questions

Please answer the following reflective questions in the comments below. Please agree to disagree and be respectful to each other. (If you have not already done so, please also take a moment, to sign the behavior covenant by commenting on it.) You can answer as many questions as you would like.

What will you add or give up for Lent?
How do you have a private and personal relationship with God?