Monday, April 6, 2020

Devotion 4.7.20

The Lutheran Hour devotion series for Lent, written by Dr. Keri Vo, seemed appropriate during Holy Week and during the COVID 19 crisis.  In the midst of personal crisis and about to lose his life, Christ looks and has compassion on the people who cry for him.  From 4.6.20 Devotion by Dr. Vo:

And there followed Him (Jesus) a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for Him. But turning to them Jesus said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!' Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us,' and to the hills, 'Cover us.' For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?" (Luke 23:27-31)
Have you ever been in the middle of terrible suffering? If you're like me, it gives you a kind of tunnel vision. I can't concentrate on anything but the pain. Oh, somewhere in the back of my mind I know that life goes on—that other people still exist—even that they might be suffering, just as I am. But it's incredibly hard to put my own suffering aside to focus on theirs. My own suffering takes up all my energy.

But notice that Jesus is different. Just look at Him on the road to the cross! He's already been beaten, tortured, kept up all night, put through five separate trials—and yet He still notices the women on the side of the road who are grieving for Him.

In fact, He goes further than that. He lays His own suffering aside and takes a minute to warn them of what's on the way—their own suffering at the fall of Jerusalem. Those days will be so horrible, He says, that being childless will look like a blessing. After all, if such evil things are happening now, while God Himself is walking the face of the earth, what will happen when He is no longer visibly present?

Jesus sees us just as clearly as He saw those women. He sees you—your situation, your needs, your suffering. He is concerned for you. Your suffering is the reason for His suffering. As Isaiah put it, "Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:4-5). He loves you this much.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, help me to respond to Your love with love. Amen.

Sunday, April 5, 2020

Devotion 4.6.20

Pontius Pilate.  The name itself brings the Christian mind to the week of the entry, to the night where the apostles broke bread, and to Christ's arrest, "trial," crucifixion and resurrection.  Pilate is a key figure in the book of Matthew (27) to whom the Jewish leaders hand Christ.

Interestingly, Rev. Dr. Joel Heck, theology professor at Concordia University Austin, writes about Pilate in the March 2020 Lutheran Witness.  When we hear the story of the passion this week, it's good to know the story Dr. Heck shares (new to me).  In John 19,  Heck writes, "When the Jews feared that Pilate was about to release Jesus, they shouted, 'If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar." To the "rest of the story..."

Heck notes this:  "Just two years earlier, Lucius Aelius Sejanus had been executed in Rome for a plot against those who were aligned with Tiberius, the Roman emperor.

"Pilate was a friend of Sejanus and had actually been nominated for the governorship in Judea (by Sejanus).  If word got back to Rome that Pilate was Sejanus' friend, Pilate's governorship, even his life, could soon be over.

"The Jews apparently knew about Pilate's friendship with Sejanus and seemingly threatened to send word about that friendship to Rome.  So Pilate realized that he was in a difficult spot.  He had to choose between justice and his future.  He decided to compromise his understanding of justice and Roman law and handed Jesus over to be crucified."

Heck goes on to say that God's plans always supercede man's.  Pilate's frame of mind becomes even more clear with this background information.  To know the story from scripture is to see a man who seems to not want to have Christ's blood on his hands.  Knowing this story says Pilate was also concerned with keeping his own head on his shoulders and the Jews knew it.  Through it all, God's plans prevail.

We all have blood on our hands.  We too deny Christ, plot and plan, and attempt to twist our "thoughtfully" developed plans so that our will be done.  Going back to Jeremiah 29, we remind ourselves that God "knows the plans He has for us." Yet even Christ Himself shows us in his prayer in earnest when He implores God to spare Him from this, but he does confess, "Not my will, but your will be done."

We pray that we always seek God's will.  We ask for the mercy and forgiveness when we act like Pilate and seek to employ our own will and plans over God's. We know that even with Christ's blood on our hands, there is forgiveness.

Rev. Dr. Joel Heck, "God's Plans (not ours)" Lutheran Witness, March 2020

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Devotion 4.2.20

According to John Maxwell, there are two responses to adversity:  Seek advantage or see adversity. It is, as he notes, a matter of perspective.  What does that mean - a matter of perspective?

Without looking it up, in layman's terms, it means how we see things, our mental framework.  Maxwell jokes in a video series on leadership with the following:  "The optimist sees the glass half full.  The pessimist sees it half empty.  The realist sees the wrong glass.  And while the three of you were arguing about the glass, I drank the water.  Signed, the Opportunist"

The apostle Paul was someone who saw opportunity in adversity.  In Philippians 1, we hear Paul as he says, "...for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life of by death.  For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain..... I am hard pressed between the two.  My desire is to depart and be with Christ for that is far better.  But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account." (19-24)

THAT'S perspective.  To die is to be with Christ.  To live is to proclaim the gospel.

We all face adversity, not just now, but on-going, so when we do, what is our perspective?  Do we see the darkness and fear the unknown?  Do we seek advantage in those moments?  To grow, to learn, to appreciate the here and now?  Do we spend time in quiet reflection and come out on the other side of adversity better for it?

Paul ministered from prison, from a ship wreck, in hostile territory, beaten....  Yet he held the faith and proclaimed the gospel, saying later in Philippians to focus.  "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (4:6.-8)

So, what are we focused on?  What keeps our attention?  At Lent, is it Christ and Him crucified?  Do we turn to him when we are anxious?  Do we turn our hearts to what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, or excellent?  Pray that we do think on these things.