Reading

Matthew 16:1-6, 16-21

Devotion

Peace be with you!

Everyone has their motives -– [whatever “they” are]. Motives dictate how you behave and how you distinguish between right and wrong. Your parents try to instill their motives into you as a child. Other factors effect your motives, such as your opinions, ideas, and beliefs. Your Christian identity gives you willingness to strive for a better tomorrow by fighting for social justice and mercy for the less fortunate.

Jesus has just finished giving the Sermon on the Mount to the crowd. Jesus calls for social justice for the poor, sick and disabled, and the lonely by helping them with your gifts and resources. Jesus is continuing his speech for social justice in Matthew 6:1-4. The translators have dikaiosu/nhn as righteousness when justice makes more sense. With that in mind, Jesus says, “Do not do social justice work to be show off and be rewarded in the world, because God has not use for you then.” You should practice social justice, because you care about the well-being of others. Your motivation should be out of love and respect for others, not for yourself.

Jesus instructs you how to pray. Jesus warns you not to follow the example of the hypocrites (Sadducees and Pharisees) who pray loudly on street corners and synagogues. Instead Jesus invites us to find a quiet space and have a conversation with God the Father in order to have an intimate relationship with him. God the Father sees what you do in private just as much as in public; he wants to know you and you to know him on the deepest level possible. Wouldn’t you rather find a quiet space and get to know him?

Jesus also says the same thing about fasting. You should fast not to make yourself superior to others but to repent and be in prayer. Fasting is about cleansing yourself in order to be in a relationship with God the Father. When you fast in private, you are keeping your sins between you and God. No one else needs to intervene on your be half, expect you.

When you do justice, pray, and fast in private, you build an intimate relationship with God the Father. The chatter of the world does not impress God the Father – big showy actions or all talk and no action. Rather God the Father wants to know you intimately.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for the quiet moments to get to know you. Help us to slow down and find quiet spaces to talk with you. Lead us to care for others out of love and compassion. Thank you for being in intimate relationships with us. Amen.

Works Cited

Thanks to the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

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.

1. When and how do you find a quiet space to talk with God the Father?

Reading

1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23

Devotion

Peace be with you!

I have a lot of people who have been influential in my life. These people have provided me with the groundwork to be who I am today. I am one of very few who can say they keep in touch with teachers from elementary school. Because I have cerebral palsy, I was in a special classroom designed to meet my physical needs as well as provide me with an education. Linda Furlong was my lead teacher for six years. She made sure that my teachers made adaptations in the classroom so I could participate. Joyce Haas was my aide for seven years. She helped me in the classroom. Kris was the cook in the kitchen and her daughter, Julie, volunteered in my classroom as an aide. These women became my second family and are partly responsible for making me the woman I am today.

Of course, my parents played a big part in my development process as well. My mom taught me to be independent, never afraid to speak my mind. She  also stood up for me when people wanted to exclude me from activities when I was a child. My dad taught me to think for myself and to be willing to ask questions.

In the reading today, Paul is explaining to the Corinthians that he has only laid the foundation for their Christian faith. Paul gave them the good news of Jesus’ resurrection. It is up to the Corinthians to figure out what God is calling them to do now that Paul has fed them with the good news.

God’s temple is in each of the Corinthians. It is not a physical building. The temple is a sense of belonging to God and to each other. God dwells in each of us. God’s temple can only be destroyed if we turn our backs on him. Paul says, “If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person” (3:17a, NRSV). We destroy God’s temple when we walk away. We become dead to God because we are denying his gift of a relationship with him. When we are in a relationship with God, we become his holy temple. We hold his good news and share it with anyone that will listen.

It is not good enough for us to know the good news. We need to constantly struggle with the good news to understand what God is calling us to do in the world. We are his temple, but we need to share and welcome others into our fellowship. It might mean that we need to change how we do things. God is always calling us to go out into the world to lay the foundation in others. This requires us to continually be discerning what God is calling us to do and where he is sending us. We will never fully understand God’s wisdom. This is okay because when we think we know it all, we become fools. No one can fully understand what God is up to.

“You belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God” (3:23, NRSV). You are connected to God through Christ. There is no way to destroy that connection with God unless you walk away from him. We are holy. We are the holy temple of God when we honor him through our deeds and words. His temple is in our hearts.

Now that I am older, I find myself distilling the values which my mentors and parents taught me into young women of the next generation. I am blessed to be a mentor to two fine young high school girls, Bekah and Samantha. I find myself passing down kindness and tough love, lending an ear and a hug when needed, and sharing advice that my mentors gave me. I am giving Bekah and Samantha the foundation to be able to live wisely in the world.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for those individuals who have laid the foundation of Christian living in our hearts. Help us to build upon that foundation and to discern where you are calling and sending us. Make us your holy temples. Guide us in your ways. Thank you for your wisdom in the world. Amen.

Works Cited

Thanks to the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

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.

1. Who are your mentors? How have they provided you with a foundation?
2. Have you ever thought of yourself as a mentor to others? What are some bits of wisdom you could pass on to the next generation?
3. What are you currently discerning?

Reading

1 Corinthians 3:1-9

Devotion

Peace be with you!

The Corinthians are like teenagers who know the difference between right and wrong but still test the boundaries. Teenagers know what is expected of them and what they can get away with. They know what bugs their parents and how to butter them up. They start making their own decisions about their future as they make decisions about college applications and jobs. Yet teenagers are still children who do not understand the ways of the world.

The Corinthians continue to hold on to jealousy and quarrels among themselves. They hold on to worldly things: money, power, and possessions. By doing so, the Corinthians are holding themselves back from knowing God the Father and his plans for them. As long as you hold on to things and the ways of the world, your maturity growth in faith and maturity will be stunted because you cannot have both. You have to make a choice: God or the world.

Paul explains to the Corinthians that there is more to life than what the world has to offer. Paul explains how the lens of Jesus’ crucifixion is how we are to see and understand the world. Jesus died on the cross to restore our broken relationship with God the Father. Jesus died to take the cruelty of the world and replace it with God’s love. Jesus died to be among us and to open the lines of communication between you and God.

Yet the Corinthians want to make the good news about Paul and Apollos. Paul says, “Just stop; it is not about Apollos or me. We are just doing the groundwork of planting and watering—telling you the good news of Jesus’ crucifixion. However, the good news is about God who is with you and is nurturing you to do his work.” Paul planted and Apollos watered the seed of the good news in the Corinthians’ hearts, but God fertilizes their hearts so they can live out their lives according to his will. The good news is about God and what he is doing in the world through you.

There are times when we act like teenage Christians — testing God’s grace. We know we should not care about our clothes, but we do. We know we are to forgive and love our enemies, but they really stepped over a line last time. We know we are to love our neighbors, but must we go to the bad part of town?  We have our reasons— too time consuming, people will never change, and [whatever “it” is]. God answers back, “I could have said the same about you, but I have made you my child.”

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for sending people into our lives to tell us the good news. Help us to share the good news with others. Nurture us as your chosen people. Send us where no one else wants to go. Thank you for never giving up on us. Amen.

Works Cited

Thanks to the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

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.

1. Who planted the good news in your heart?
2. How do you continue to choose God over the world? Why is he important to you?
3. How does God continue to nurture you?

Reading

1 Corinthians 2:1-16

Devotion

Peace be with you!

The world has some pretty concrete rules with which no one seems to argue:

Whatever goes up must come down.

Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be redistributed or changed from one form to another.

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

Even as a Christian, you do not argue against these laws of science. Some things you just never question. However, the world deceives you and causes the truth to be foggy and hidden. The devil wants you to believe there is nothing beyond this life. Death gets the final say. This seems like scientific fact.

Paul points to another way of looking at and understanding the world: through Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. Despite the devil’s efforts, the Lord is active in the world. God intervenes in the world on our behalf through self empathy and self giving. In his wisdom, God sends Jesus to be crucified, killed, and resurrected out of his unconditional love for us.

The world does not understand God’s wisdom because it does not follow the rules of the world. Jesus dies on the cross, and then he rises three days later to new life in the Kingdom of God. This makes no sense in a world where death marks the end of one’s life. The Holy Spirit reveals God’s wisdom to those who believe in the good news of Jesus Christ. God’s wisdom leads us to his glory in his kingdom where we will be granted eternal life.

The world tries to get us to turn against God’s wisdom. You may have fallen into this trap when you defend your place in the world. You seek acceptance in the world for your uniqueness and for what you have to offer. You accept the way the world operates and expect nothing more or less. The world causes you to limit everything to what can be proven by seeing, hearing, and feeling.

Yet God’s wisdom turns you away from the world and into the unknown and indefinable. Jesus’ crucifixion, death, and resurrection breaks down the laws of physics and biology. On the cross, Jesus’ way turns the world upside down, inviting you to believe in something more than what this world has to offer. It forces you to understand the possibility of the impossible. God intervenes on your behalf, so you can enjoy eternal life in his kingdom.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for your wisdom and power. Help us to live according to your wisdom. Turn us away from the way of the world. Lead us to share the good news with individuals in the world. Guide us with your wisdom. Thank you for your promise of eternal life. Amen.

Works Cited

Thanks to the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

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.

1. How does the world turn you against God’s wisdom?
2. How do you live according to God’s wisdom?

Reading

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Matthew 5:1-12

Devotion

Peace be with you!

Some stories and jokes are better told in certain groups than others. I poke fun at myself because I tend to knock over bookcases, put holes in walls, and break anything glass. I am an elephant in a China shop. A few friends worry when I post about my destructive accidents, while others just laugh with me over my Cerebral Palsy moments.

The resurrection story seems foolish to outsiders. A man crucified cannot be raised from the dead three days later. To a human mindset, this seems impossible. When you die and are buried, you stay dead. The resurrection story seems like a foolish fairy tale.

Paul explains how the resurrection story tells us about God’s power in the world. While some people look for signs and others desire wisdom, Christians look for God’s power and wisdom through the resurrection. God’s wisdom does not make sense in this realm, because it breaks all the physical rules. The world holds up victories and power and might. Jesus made Himself weak that we might be made strong.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus blesses the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, and the hungry and thirsty. The people who the world leaves behind and ignores, God lifts up and makes his own. While the world would give you the cold shoulder and talk about you behind your back, God wraps a blanket around you, gives you food and water, and takes away your pain. There is nothing God would not do to save you from being persecuted by making you righteous and giving you the Kingdom of God.

The world desires and creates powerful leaders to conquer enemies. There is no need for weak individuals in a world that worships power. The resurrection story breaks down these perceptions and goes against them. Jesus, the Son of Man and the Son of God, becomes weak when he hangs on the cross and dies for our sins. Nothing about Jesus Christ is definable in this realm.

As a disciple, you live in a different set of standards and rules than the rest of the world. You desire life with the Triune God—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. You look forward to eternal life in the Kingdom of God. You stand firm in knowing the crazy crucifixion and resurrection and are excited for Jesus’ Second Coming. You believe all of this because you know God can and will overcome everything in this world.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for the crazy crucifixion and resurrection story and the promise of Jesus’ second coming. Help us to understand the resurrection story and to share it with those around us. Lead us to extend forgiveness to others and be compassionate to those who are on the outside. Thank you for your compassion for the broken. Amen.

Works Cited

Thanks to the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

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.

1. What about the crucifixion and resurrection story seem crazy to you?

Reading

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Devotion

Peace be with you!

Last week we discussed how churches often have different groups that cause friction within the community. Each group wants to run the show with their own ideas. Paul reminds the church community in Corinth about God’s grace, promise, and guarantee they will enter the kingdom of heaven. No matter what each group has planned, God is in charge and grants us all grace and the ability to spread the good news.

Today Paul focuses on what it means to be baptized. The various factions of Corinth are declaring that they belong to Paul, Apollos, or Cephas based on who baptized them (1 Corinthians 1:12). Paul is taken aback by such claims. First, Paul has baptized very few individuals. He has only baptized Crispus, Gaius, and the household of Stephanas (1 Corinthians 1:14, 16). Beyond those individuals, Paul has no memory of baptizing anyone else. Second, it is not about who baptized them, but it is important that they were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This is true for you today. Through your baptism, God the Father claims you as his child.’

Baptism creates a connection between the Triune God and us as well as well as among us and other baptized believers. When you are baptized, you enter into a relationship with God, and he claims you as one of his children. God knows you in the deepest way possible  and loves you unconditionally despite your flaws. God created this connection between you and him through Jesus’ crucifixion, death, and resurrection. God loves his creation so deeply that he made the ultimate sacrifice by letting his son die on the cross. Nothing matters more to the Triune God than being in a relationship with you.

Baptism also creates connections among other individuals who are baptized. You become a part of the Christian community when you are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ who died for your sins. God begs us to be in a relationship with one another to express his love throughout the world. Your actions to others reflect your relationship with the Triune God. If you are rude to others, are you rude to God? If you are angry with someone, are you angry with God? If you forgive others, do you forgive God for the pain in your life? If you love others, do you love God? Your relationship with God reflects in your daily life and how you treat yourself and others.

Baptism allows anyone who believes in the Triune God and who believes that Jesus died for their sins to be a part of the community of believers. This community has a breadth of diversity because baptism is not just for a select few but for all people. Christians are found throughout the world as the map below shows.

How does God expect us to get along? Jesus makes us accountable to God and one other by influencing us to be better individuals. Our fellow Christians help keep us from sinning intentionally and they motivate us to keep striving at being the individuals God calls us to be. Paul talks about the body of Christ as individuals being united through their baptisms. Not every part of the physical human body has the same function. The same is true for the body of Christ. God has unique callings for each one of us (1 Corinthians 12:12-20). God calls us at specific times and in specific places for specific reasons that we may or may not understand. Our job is to figure out how to work together to uncover God’s bigger plan.

The friction in our churches may never disappear completely. You are only human. Instead you should acknowledge each group is a part of the body of Christ and find ways for each group to work together for God’s bigger plan. Your calling is from the Triune God and each works towards the bigger plan of everyone being in the Kingdom of God.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for baptizing us in the name of Jesus Christ. Help us to remember we are called by you to spread your love throughout the world. Lead us to fulfill our unique callings. Make us mindful of your bigger plan. Thank you for calling us to work toward your bigger plan. Amen.

Works Cited

Thanks to the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

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.

1. Why is being baptized important to you?
2. What does God call you to do?

Reading

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Devotion

Peace be with you!

All church communities have quirks, problems, and areas of dysfunction. There is always one group which causes drama for everyone else. Then there are the select few who unofficially make all of the decisions. There are the elders who refuse to break from traditions and the young adults who are pleading for change. There are the teens, confirmed and called full members of the church, but given no voice in how the church runs. Then there is the larger group who does the everyday stuff to keep the church open and sometimes struggle with feeling unappreciated. Lastly, there are the outsiders who come for worship and leave right away before others can say anything.

Paul writes to the church in Corinth about what is going on among its members. The letter is not the most pleasant to read, because Paul confronts Corinth on several things—for example, personality-based church factions (1:10-17), charges of sexual immorality (5), questions about lawsuits (6), proper conduct at the Lord’s Supper (11), and the interpretation of speaking in tongues (14). Since his letters were publically read and were property of the whole church, Paul had to address all of the issues so as not to single out just one group. Yet Paul opens the letter with thanksgiving for the church in Corinth. Despite its faults, Paul is thankful for the church in Corinth because the members are his brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ.

Paul acknowledges the grace of Jesus Christ, the gifts of the Corinthian church members, and the guarantee that the members will enter God’s kingdom despite their flaws.

Paul sees the power of God’s grace for a flawed and sinful church. The Gospel promise tells us no matter how much of a lost cause we were before meeting Jesus, through our baptism and communion we are forgiven and adopted into God’s family. We become sons and daughters of the heavenly Father and inherit the Kingdom of God. Instead of a sentence of judgment, we are given eternal life and loved unconditionally by the Triune God.

Churches today are filled with stories like those in Corinth. We have no business being the chosen ones. We lie, steal, deceive, and cheat. We are a mess. Yet God the Father adopts us (horns and all) as his sons and daughters and extends grace to us. We are forgiven and raised to new life daily. Jesus redeems our brokenness and proclaims us as God’s children.

Each member of the church in Corinth possessed gifts to further the work of the Triune God. Despite Corinth’s pitfalls, God still called the members to use their gifts to proclaim the good news. The broken members in the church of Corinth were a bunch of misfits with no business doing the Lord’s work, yet God equipped them with the Holy Spirit to be members of his church.

Sometimes we place limits on others and on ourselves based on the past. We say or think we cannot do [whatever “it” is] because of our brokenness. We are unworthy. We limit others and ourselves because we do not know how to share the good news without strings attached or with our own agenda. Luckily, God does not expect us to know how and understands we will mess up every now and then. For this reason, God the Father sends us the Holy Spirit to teach, lead, and lift us up.

The members of the church of Corinth and members of churches today are guaranteed Jesus will return to find us made flawless. Therefore, we are guaranteed entry into the Kingdom of God—not because we earn it but by his grace and forgiveness.

Each church has its problems. No one member has all the answers. No one church has everything figured out. We will always be somewhat dysfunctional and broken. However, through the grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ, we are raised to new life and led by the Holy Spirit each and every day.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for equipping us with the gifts to do your work in the world. Help us to be your humble servants in this broken world. Lead us by the Holy Spirit to new life each and every day. Thank you for promising Jesus’ return and our entry into your kingdom. Amen.

Works Cited

Thanks to the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

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.

1. Do we share God’s grace with one another? Or do we shame each other for our downfalls? How?
2. What are your gifts? How do you use your gifts to spread the good news? Do you place limits on others and on yourself based on the past?

Reading

Matthew 3:13-17

Devotion

Peace be with you!

Can you imagine having to walk a mile every morning to get water before breakfast? Most of us go about our day without taking much notice of a basic like water – well, until it is not there. We turn the faucet on, and water always comes out. However, despite water creating seventy percent of the earth, eight hundred million people around the world do not have access to clean water.

In Africa, a young girl gets up early to walk endless miles to a water pump where she fills her bucket. Then she walks back home to shower, cook, and clean. A few years ago, the young girls and women in Blantyre, Malawi would get water from a watering hole which carried disease and dirt before Charity: Water built six new wells and fixed ten others in the region.

Water means more than we can say or even understand. A human being can go three weeks without food, but only three days without water.

The simple element of water has a powerful meaning for God. In baptism, water is used to bless and mark a child or an adult with the cross. God claims us as his children when we are baptized.

In the gospel reading, John the Baptist is baptizing people in the Jordan River when Jesus comes to him to be baptized (Matthew 3:13). John is starstuck by Jesus and his request to be baptized because he knows who Jesus is. John says Jesus should baptize him, but Jesus explains he needs to be baptized in order to fulfill all righteousness (Matthew 3:14-15).  Through baptism, Jesus shows submission to God the Father whom he will obey to the death and beyond. Jesus’ baptism serves as his consecration for his mission and ministry. Once he is baptized, Jesus goes into the wilderness and is tempted by the Devil (Matthew 4:1-11), and then he starts his public ministry.

Through his baptism, Jesus shows solidarity with sinners. Jesus comes into the world to save sinners, which includes all of us, sinners who are broken and cannot save themselves. We could never have a relationship with God, if Jesus did not conquer death on our behalf. Jesus stands with us in the darkness and shines his light to show us the way.

When Jesus comes out of the water after being immersed, a dove comes down as the Holy Spirit and a voice says, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:16-17 NRSV).  The Father singles out and names Jesus as his son. By God the Father naming him as his son, he calls Jesus to do his work in the world. In your baptism, too, God calls you by name and calls you to do ministry in your community, even as a child.

Just as the waters of baptism bring us new life and hope, Charity: Water gives individuals around the world hope by providing communities with clean water. This allows people to cook and clean with clean water. Children get to stay in school instead of missing school due to illness from the unclean water. The water systems Charity: Water builds in communities give local people jobs. Farmers can use the water systems to water their crops. Charity: Water trains local individuals to be mechanics to maintain and fix the water systems, supplying them with a steady income.

Charity: Water gives communities hope for the future. When we help communities to obtain clean water, we are giving individuals the opportunity to lead healthier lives and the ability to connect with the Lord. Water washes away the physical dirt and disease like baptism washes away our sins. Our baptisms give us hope through the forgiveness, love, and grace of Jesus Christ.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for identifying Jesus Christ as your son. Help us to savor the simple element of water for everything we use and need it for. Lead us to tell the good news Jesus gives to us everyday. May you use our resources to bless others with clean water. Protect us from disease and illness and lead us to everlasting life. Thank you for adopting us as your children. Amen.

Works Cited

Photo Credit: Amber Sue Photography, www.ambersuephotography.com

Thanks to the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

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.

1. List everything you use water for.
2. How do you access water?
3. Will you make a donation to Charity: Water?
4. How do you remember your baptism? If you were an infant, does your family have a tradition to celebrate your baptism?