Christian daily devotionals

Seen and Heard

Posted on by Betsy

What does faith look like? Have you ever seen someone’s faith in action? I have been amazed to watch people at the bedside when a loved one is dying and hear their words of hope and assurance of a heavenly reunion in that moment. I have seen friends don work gloves and safety goggles and travel for hours to help people affected by hurricanes. I have watched someone wave on their way back to surgery, grinning at the knowledge that they were in God’s hands. Each time I see someone’s faith, I am struck by the notion that to see this, they have to have heard the Word proclaimed in their lives. That makes our job as faith-sharers so much more important. Real faith is both seen and heard.

In this marvelous and familiar story of the four friends who carry their paralyzed friend to Jesus for healing, we both see and hear how faith is experienced in this story. In the very first sentence we read that the people heard Jesus was at home. After healing a demon possessed man, Jesus was now ensconced in a home so that he could do his primary ministry: Teach the Word of God. He could no longer be a street preacher because the crowds besieged him with requests for healing and nobody could hear a thing.

As the man was being lowered from the rooftop, Jesus looked up and saw the faith of his friends. Faith in action is the best way to get Jesus’ attention. Their complete faith that Jesus could heal their friend was met with the man’s sins being forgiven. Wait, what? That was not what they had come for.

Mark 2 (Common English Bible)

2 After a few days, Jesus went back to Capernaum, and people heard that he was at home. 2 So many gathered that there was no longer space, not even near the door. Jesus was speaking the word to them. 3 Some people arrived, and four of them were bringing to him a man who was paralyzed. 4 They couldn’t carry him through the crowd, so they tore off part of the roof above where Jesus was. When they had made an opening, they lowered the mat on which the paralyzed man was lying. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven!”

Jesus was a problem solver, and he instantly saw the real problem here. Yes, legs that worked would solve this man’s problems, but the greater issue of his sins were addressed first. What good are legs if one is damned for eternity? So Jesus took his divine authority and healed him of his sin. Of course the legal experts saw and heard this differently. They saw a blasphemer claiming to be God. But Jesus, seeing into their hearts and hearing their thoughts asserted himself as God’s son. He had the authority to forgive sins and the power to heal his physical ailment.

6 Some legal experts were sitting there, muttering among themselves, 7 “Why does he speak this way? He’s insulting God. Only the one God can forgive sins.”

8 Jesus immediately recognized what they were discussing, and he said to them, “Why do you fill your minds with these questions?9 Which is easier—to say to a paralyzed person, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take up your bed, and walk’? 10 But so you will know that the Human One has authority on the earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed, 11 “Get up, take your mat, and go home.”

Miracles of faith are all around us if we just pause long enough to see what God is doing in our lives and stop to listen to his Word being proclaimed through Scripture, preaching, sharing, and action. What do you see? Are you listening? God’s healing is evidenced through our actions when we show and tell of his Good News. Where will you put your faith into action today? Get ready. You’ve never seen anything like Jesus!

12 Jesus raised him up, and right away he picked up his mat and walked out in front of everybody. They were all amazed and praised God, saying, “We’ve never seen anything like this!”

Faith in Action by Wende Pritchard

So Long, Pluto

Posted on by Betsy

Back in ancient times when I was but a wee child in elementary school, our solar system had nine planets. We studied it by looking at a 3D model that our teacher had made from bent coat hangers and painted foam balls of varying sizes, and sure enough, there was Pluto chugging along in ninth place. Then suddenly my world was rocked in 2006 when the International Astronomical Union had the audacity to reclassify Pluto as a dwarf planet, taking it out of the place it had held for centuries in our system. How in the universe could this have happened? Yes, new technology and intense study revealed that Pluto was not what it was first presumed to be, but to have such a massive shift in our understanding was unsettling to say the least. I still have to remember when talking to my grandchildren that the solar system only has eight planets. Back in my day, we had nine!

I imagine that this was how the news of Christ’s resurrection hit the Jews during Paul’s many journeys. Having been raised in the permanent solidity of the Law, the very idea that the Law was no longer useful in obtaining salvation must have felt like someone just took a planet away.

Paul’s letter to the Galatians on this subject is a quintessential exposé of this true but startling discovery. We see him at his theological best in these verses, unpacking the complete reversal of traditional thinking about the Law bringing salvation. He aligns himself by identifying as a born Jew then quickly makes the bold statement that righteousness no longer comes by the works of the Law, but rather through the faithfulness of Christ.

Galatians 2 (Common English Bible)

15 We are born Jews—we’re not Gentile sinners. 16 However, we know that a person isn’t made righteous by the works of the Law but rather through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. We ourselves believed in Christ Jesus so that we could be made righteous by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the Law—because no one will be made righteous by the works of the Law. 17 But if it is discovered that we ourselves are sinners while we are trying to be made righteous in Christ, then is Christ a servant of sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild the very things that I tore down, I show that I myself am breaking the Law. 

Earlier in this Scripture, Paul had to rebuke Peter. The debate on whether or not Gentiles had to become Jews first before receiving Christ plagued the early church. Circumcision and keeping a Kosher table were part of this issue, and Peter had separated himself from the uncircumcised at meals while visiting the new church at Antioch. Paul was appalled. Peter knew better, but was fearful of “certain men from James” who strongly believed that adherence of Jewish Law was a step for Gentile inclusion. I often wonder if fear keeps many of us from saying and doing the things we know are true.

Paul never wavered in his understanding of the power of the cross. He died to his old life under the Law with Christ’s death. By his faith in the faithfulness of God’s son, he was able to move from an intellectual understanding of the power of grace to a personal heart-embrace of Jesus’ love for him. Much like John Wesley’s famous Aldersgate moment when he felt his “heart strangely warmed” and moved from thinker to believer, Paul declared himself all in for Jesus.

19 I died to the Law through the Law, so that I could live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in my body, I live by faith, indeed, by the faithfulness of God’s Son, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I don’t ignore the grace of God, because if we become righteous through the Law, then Christ died for no purpose.

How about you? Are you all in? Do you put your whole trust in his grace, or are you still trying to work out your own salvation through ritual and good deeds? Jesus invites us to die to ourselves so that we may live with him. Don’t miss your chance.

Many Moons Ago by Becca Ziegler

Ain’t Never Had a Friend Like Me

Posted on by Betsy

If you are blessed to have people in your life whom you call friends, this Bible story will be both soothing and startling to you. Sometimes friendship comes at the price of honesty, and it can be hard to be frank with a friend who has taken a wrong turn. The pull between saving that person from themself versus protecting the friendship is a tough one. Have you ever had to confront a friend with a truth they did not want to hear? It is hard.

Our Scripture today examines the friendship between Nathan and David. David had his lover’s husband killed on the front lines of battle because he had impregnated her with a son during their adulterous affair. Murder and adultery were the sins that Nathan had to address with his friend, and hopefully none of us have had to confront a friend about evils so deep. We are lucky if the worst thing we’ve had to discuss with a friend was a poor choice in relationships or an ill-fitting outfit. Nathan’s friendship was challenged here, but he knew he was acting as God’s spokesperson, and that changed everything.

2 Samuel 11:26-12:15 (Common English Bible)

26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband Uriah was dead, she mourned for her husband. 27 After the time of mourning was over, David sent for her and brought her back to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son.

But what David had done was evil in the Lord’s eyes.

The writer shows his disdain for Bathsheba, refusing to use her name and only referring to her as “Uriah’s wife.” He also pulled no punches in calling David’s actions “evil in the Lord’s eye.” Nathan, in contrast, uses a parable to teach David about the sins he had committed. It was clever to pull David into the story of a poor man whose little ewe lamb was killed to feed a rich man’s friend. Our hearts break with David’s to learn that this poor lamb had been like a daughter to the poor man. Oh, the injustice! The evil of this rich man! What a horrible person. Then Nathan delivered the punchline that the “rich man” was David himself, having stolen Bathsheba from an unsuspecting Uriah while he was away fighting David’s battles.

12 So the Lord sent Nathan to David. When Nathan arrived he said, “There were two men in the same city, one rich, one poor.2 The rich man had a lot of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing—just one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised that lamb, and it grew up with him and his children. It would eat from his food and drink from his cup—even sleep in his arms! It was like a daughter to him.

4 “Now a traveler came to visit the rich man, but he wasn’t willing to take anything from his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had arrived. Instead, he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the visitor.”

5 David got very angry at the man, and he said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the one who did this is demonic!  6 He must restore the ewe lamb seven times over because he did this and because he had no compassion.”

7 “You are that man!” Nathan told David. “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: I anointed you king over Israel and delivered you from Saul’s power. 8 I gave your master’s house to you, and gave his wives into your embrace. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. If that was too little, I would have given even more. 9 Why have you despised the Lord’s word by doing what is evil in his eyes? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and taken his wife as your own. You used the Ammonites to kill him.10 Because of that, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own, the sword will never leave your own house.

11 “This is what the Lord says: I am making trouble come against you from inside your own family. Before your very eyes I will take your wives away and give them to your friend, and he will have sex with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did what you did secretly, but I will do what I am doing before all Israel in the light of day.”

God’s anger against David is absolutely frightening, but we must remember back to the moment that David had been selected from among the sons of Jesse to lead the nation of Israel. God had such high hopes and exceptions of his anointed leader that these transgressions were truly repugnant to God. David had been raised up high and his fall from that mighty perch was a long, long way down. Sin has consequences and for David, the consequences were devastating.

13 “I’ve sinned against the Lord!” David said to Nathan.

“The Lord has removed your sin,” Nathan replied to David. “You won’t die. 14 However, because you have utterly disrespected the Lord by doing this, the son born to you will definitely die.”15 Then Nathan went home.

The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne for David, and he became very sick.

It is hard for us to realize that God indeed took the life of the child. But we must remember that sometimes the innocent die from the actions of the guilty. Think of the drunk driver who mows down a group of kids walking to school, or the person diagnosed with a fatal cancer due to asbestos exposure. But surely that baby found his way into the arms of the Lord in eternal glory, while his parents were left to suffer from their actions for the remainder of their lives. Nathan’s bold actions ultimately saved his friend, as David confessed his sins and received forgiveness. We never read of David committing adultery again and his early predisposition to give into temptation is forever curbed, thanks to his friend’s intervention.

Is God calling you to say the uncomfortable thing to your friend? Do you see them moving headfirst into peril with their actions and behaviors? Nathan teaches us the valuable lesson of bold friendship that is fueled by honesty and a sincere desire to save someone. May we be as bold in our relationships as well.

Be Bold by Kathy Schumacher

Selah!

Posted on by Betsy

An apparently angry and frustrated pedestrian has used AI to create a fantasy video of what should happen to cars that blow through stop signs as people are just about to cross the street. In one scene, the almost obliterated pedestrian hops back to the sidewalk and hits a button that causes a circular saw to come up from the road and cut the car in half. In another version, the button ignites a rocket that implodes on the car. A third scenario involves large panels that pop up in front of crosswalk, causing the car to glide up and over the pedestrian like a kid’s car ramp toy. The lesson for drivers? STOP. LOOK. LISTEN.

Today’s psalm has three places where we are invited to stop, look, and listen. The Hebrew word for this instruction is Selah. Found 71 times in the psalms, Selah is a musical notation similar to a “rest,” where the musician is given a pause in the performance. The resting function in the psalms allows the reader to take a moment to pause their study and actually mediate on the passage before going on.

Life would be better if we all paused, rested, and meditated. How often do we hustle and bustle through our day without once stopping to experience God, look for the divine activity in our situation, and listen to holy words of instruction? Did you pause today?

David wrote this beautiful maskil as a song of penitence. We can hear his ransomed soul rejoicing as he experienced the blessings of forgiveness. Happiness is a result of true confession, deep repentance, and God’s covering over of our exposed sins. Psalm 32 was St. Augustine’s favorite psalm, and he had it inscribed on the wall by his bed so that he could meditate on it as he was dying. How much better would life be if we had a copy of this inscribed on our hearts so that we could meditate on it as we are living?

Psalm 32:1-11

32 The one whose wrongdoing is forgiven,
    whose sin is covered over, is truly happy!
2 The one the Lord doesn’t consider guilty—
    in whose spirit there is no dishonesty—
    that one is truly happy!

3 When I kept quiet, my bones wore out;
    I was groaning all day long—
    every day, every night!—
4 because your hand was heavy upon me.
    My energy was sapped as if in a summer drought. Selah

5 So I admitted my sin to you;
    I didn’t conceal my guilt.
    “I’ll confess my sins to the Lord, ” is what I said.
    Then you removed the guilt of my sin. Selah

We are invited to Selah twice here and consider the heaviness of God’s convicting hand on our sinful hearts. Have you felt this heaviness in your own soul? David said that his “bones wore out” with his unconfessed sin. Does your soul remember a time when it felt dry and oppressed? The removal of guilt through admitting our sins through honest confession is the only way out.

6 That’s why all the faithful should pray to you during troubled times,
    so that a great flood of water won’t reach them.
7 You are my secret hideout!
    You protect me from trouble.
    You surround me with songs of rescue! Selah

This Selah allows us moment to meditate on the secret refuge that is offered to all who come in honesty and hope. God is our refuge and strength! What does that mean to you?

8 I will instruct you and teach you
    about the direction you should go.
    I’ll advise you and keep my eye on you.
9 Don’t be like some senseless horse or mule,
    whose movement must be controlled
    with a bit and a bridle.
        Don’t be anything like that!
10 The pain of the wicked is severe,
    but faithful love surrounds the one who trusts the Lord.
11 You who are righteous, rejoice in the Lord and be glad!
    All you whose hearts are right, sing out in joy!

God invites us to stop, look, and listen to the instructions, teachings, and the direction that we are shown every day under God’s watchful eye. Faithful love surrounds us, if we just take a beat and pause long enough to perceive it. Do you see it?

Selah!

Stop, Look, and Listen by Kathy Schumacher

Lord of the Dance

Posted on by Betsy

I am obsessed with the hymn called “The Lord of the Dance.” Do you know this song? It tells Jesus’ story from his preexistence to his resurrection in five theology-packed verses. The tempo and the tune are as jaunty as the refrain, which proclaims that Jesus is the Lord of the dance, and we are invited to dance along. Marvelous!

The third verse is especially meaningful for our Scripture reading today:

I danced on the Sabbath and I cured the lame:
The holy people said it was a shame.
They whipped and they stripped and they hung me on high,
And they left me there on a cross to die. (UMH 261)

Luke 6 (Common English Bible)

6 One Sabbath, as Jesus was going through the wheat fields, his disciples were picking the heads of wheat, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. 2 Some Pharisees said, “Why are you breaking the Sabbath law?”

3 Jesus replied, “Haven’t you read what David and his companions did when they were hungry? 4 He broke the Law by going into God’s house and eating the bread of the presence, which only the priests can eat. He also gave some of the bread to his companions.” 5 Then he said to them, “The Human One is Lord of the Sabbath.”

When Jesus proclaimed himself to be the Lord of the Sabbath, he shattered all of their preconceived notions of sabbath-keeping. They tried to trap him into performing a healing on the sabbath, and Jesus did not disappoint.

6 On another Sabbath, Jesus entered a synagogue to teach. A man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 The legal experts and the Pharisees were watching him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. They were looking for a reason to bring charges against him. 8 Jesus knew their thoughts, so he said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” He got up and stood there. 9 Jesus said to the legal experts and Pharisees, “Here’s a question for you: Is it legal on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” 10 Looking around at them all, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he did and his hand was made healthy. 11 They were furious and began talking with each other about what to do to Jesus.

This Scripture reminds us that many people solidly grounded in tradition can’t accept that fact that meeting a human need is more important to God than adhering to a tradition, especially one that is faulty in reason and logic. Hosea 6:6 clearly explains that God wants mercy over sacrifice. Loving others has always been more important than any ritual application of rabbinical law that hurts a person. That is completely out of harmony with God’s purpose for us.

Jesus’ bold statement that he was Lord of the Sabbath was a loud and direct claim to his deity. As such, he had authority over the law. Notice that the Pharisees are watching him closely, expecting him to perform a miracle of healing that will violate their rules. This was an acknowledgement that they believed he could do miracles! And of course our Lord responds by schooling them about good and evil and the choice to save a life or destroy it. It is never, ever wrong to do something good. Sadly, the Pharisees neglected acts of compassion and love for the needy, allowing their time to be consumed by the minutiae of man-made regulations.

The Pharisees’ understanding of the sabbath missed the point. The point was about keeping the day holy and entering God’s presence by ceasing your toiling for a day. What better way to worship God and enter into his presence can we find than helping one of his children who is hurting?

Do we as a church ever fall into Pharisaical thinking? Do we put discipline, polity, and process before people? How can we better reflect the goodness of God to all people, even if it violates the Building Use policies?

Jesus invites us to the dance. May we all join and rejoice with the Lord of the Dance.

Nature’s Dance by Kathy Schumacher

So Grand

Posted on by Betsy

Even though I am surrounded daily by all of the natural beauty of the Outer Banks, my favorite experience of observing nature’s majesty was a trip I made to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Have you ever seen it? It is absolutely breathtaking. The Canyon is bigger than the state of Rhode Island at 1,904 square miles. It contains over 1,000 caves, mostly unexplored. Native American tribes consider the Grand Canyon to be the gateway to the afterlife. Over 5 million visitors go every year to see this incredible phenomenon. Just to give you a sense of its size, the drive from the Visitor Center on the North Rim to the one on the South Rim is over 200 miles. One day I hope to see it by helicopter.

You may be wondering what the Grand Canyon has to do with today’s Scripture. I think our response to something as spectacular as this majestic place is much like the response of the people who believed in Jesus’ name only because they saw miraculous signs. We have a great admiration for the grand show of it all, but that superficial reaction is not sustainable.

John 2 (Common English Bible)

23 While Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Passover Festival, many believed in his name because they saw the miraculous signs that he did. 24 But Jesus didn’t trust himself to them because he knew all people. 25 He didn’t need anyone to tell him about human nature, for he knew what human nature was.

Jesus couldn’t entrust himself to this googly-eyed crowd. There was no depth of faith, no measure of understanding, and no sincere profession of faith here. In his way of having a divine knowledge of the situation, he knew that a crowd of followers looking for signs would soon burn out. He knew what human nature was, and it was fickle. Once the next conjurer or magician came along, their attention would be distracted away from him and his mission.

And yet, he still loves us. He completely understands the fallibility of human nature, and he still loves us! Jesus can read us like an open book, see us in our fallen state, and yet is able to perceive the image of God in which we were made. If that’s not amazing grace, I don’t know what is.

Light faith may be better than no faith, but not by much. God deserves a true, honest, deep faith from us, and that takes work and dedication. One quick look of admiration and awe won’t cut it, much like attending church only on Easter and Christmas can’t feed the soul.

Jesus is looking for sustainable followers who grow through prayer, Scripture study, weekly worship, and service. Which kind are you?

And Yet We’re So Small by Ann Wood

Advocacy

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you had to speak out as an advocate for justice? I recently talked with a mother who attended several meetings at her son’s school in an attempt to be his advocate. Taking a stand against preexisting rules and calling for fairness was a challenge for her. But there are times when we cannot be silent and must take action.

The United Methodist Church has a long history of justice advocacy. John and Charles Wesley visited prisoners and tutored local neighborhood children. As the early church grew, our work shifted to opposing things like slavery, smuggling, inhuman prison conditions, alcohol abuse, and child labor. Today you can find United Methodists working, marching, and speaking out on current justice issues such as environmental care, racial justice, and full-inclusion matters.

We take our example from the work of our Lord. Today’s passage reveals Jesus going up against the establishment in order to advocate for a man’s health and well-being. Notice that the Pharisees were watching him closely as he did this.

Luke 14 (Common English Bible)

14 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to share a meal in the home of one of the leaders of the Pharisees, they were watching him closely. 2 A man suffering from an abnormal swelling of the body was there. 3 Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees, “Does the Law allow healing on the Sabbath or not?” 4 But they said nothing. Jesus took hold of the sick man, cured him, and then let him go.5 He said to them, “Suppose your child or ox fell into a ditch on the Sabbath day. Wouldn’t you immediately pull it out?” 6 But they had no response.

The fact that Jesus was in the home of the Pharisee leader and the man with dropsy was also there suggests that he was a guest as well. Do you think it might have been a set up to see if Jesus would break the sabbath law? I do. What they failed to realize was that Jesus was much more conversant in the commandments than they were. There was no prohibition against healing on the Sabbath or pulling your ox out of a ditch for that matter. The “law” was something the establishment had conjured up. Jesus was right and righteous in this matter. He questioned their understanding of the law, but they refused to respond. He answered them by responding to the question and taking action in one single moment. That’s what advocates do: They answer and act.

Where are you being called to answer to justice and act in advocacy? How can you respond to this text today the way Jesus would respond? Whatever God tells you to do, go and do it. That’s exactly what Jesus did.

New Day Rising by Michelle Robertson

Holy Bread

Posted on by Betsy

I recently visited the church I served for 16 years and ran into a young woman who had been a child when I was there. She and my daughter were friends and often hung around after church to help clean up. She smiled as she shifted her new baby to her other hip and told me she remembered how much she loved helping me clean up communion, since they got to finish all the bread that was left over. Because the elements had been consecrated at the altar, we had a practice of either eating the rest of it or offering it to the birds outside the sacristy door. Our holy bread was never thrown away. When the communion coordinator switched to Hawaiian Bread, the birds got left out. I had more kids helping “clean up” than I needed! A wonderful core memory was made for all of them, and many of them still worship in that church today as adults.

In our Scripture today, David is on the run from Saul, who has descended into a delusional paranoia and is out to have David killed. David knew where to go when he was in trouble. He went straight to the house of God and sought the assistance from the priest Ahimelech. He told a lie to get in, though, by pretending that he was on the king’s mission rather than running for his life away from the king.

1 Samuel 21 (Common English Bible)

21 David came to Nob where Ahimelech was priest. Ahimelech was shaking in fear when he met David. “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?” he asked.

2 David answered Ahimelech the priest, “The king has given me orders, but he instructed me, ‘Don’t let anyone know anything about the mission I’m sending you on or about your orders.’ As for my troops, I told them to meet me at an undisclosed location.3 Now what do you have here with you? Give me five loaves of bread or whatever you can find.”

David knew that the Tabernacle had a table that held 12 loaves of “show bread” that was a symbol of God’s continuing fellowship with Israel. “Show Bread” is also known as the “bread of faces” or the “bread of presence.” It was to be eaten in front of God as a guest and friend of God’s hospitality. It was typically consumed by the priests, but Ahimelech offered the bread to David because he and his troops were hungry. But first the priest inquired about the ceremonial cleanliness of the troops, as this was holy bread and not to be consumed casually. David assured them that none of them had been with women while on their holy mission, and so the bread was given. This brings up a question for us today. Do you prepare yourself for communion by cleansing yourself of your sins first? Do you offer confession and pray for forgiveness? So often the ritual overtakes us and communion just becomes something we do on the first Sunday of the month.

So the priest gave David holy bread, because there was no other bread except the bread of the presence, which is removed from the Lord’s presence and replaced by warm bread as soon as it is taken away.

Jesus mentioned David eating the showbread when he and his disciples were criticized by the Pharisees for plucking and eating raw grain on the sabbath. In Matthew 12, he reminded the Pharisees that the priests carry out their Temple duties on Sabbath just as any other day and are still innocent.

We are reminded in this passage today that meeting human needs as they arise is more important than adhering to religious observances and rituals. Eating together, especially when people are truly hungry and need to be fed, is the way we form bonds of friendship that are sacred and can become permanent. Like the young mother who was back in church with her child remembering the sweet flavor of left-over communion, we can make life-long connections with people over a shared morsel. How will you share your bread with someone today?

Show Bread by Becca Ziegler

Harvest Tithe

Posted on by Betsy

How does your community assist those in need of food and basic supplies? Here in the Outer Banks we have several options, including a Beach Food Pantry as well as a Mobile Pantry that travels from location to location. These agencies are supported by private donations and local farmers who supply fresh produce every week. Volunteers sort, bag, and assist patrons who use these agencies to make ends meet in a high cost area where housing is extremely expensive. Our United Methodist Conference also provides gleaning opportunities at nearby farms where volunteers gather up fallen produce after a harvest and deliver it to regional food banks for distribution. Gleaning is hard but rewarding work and is a favorite activity for our church youth groups.

Gleaning is a biblical concept, commanded by God in Leviticus 19:9-10:

9 When you harvest your land’s produce, you must not harvest all the way to the edge of your field; and don’t gather up every remaining bit of your harvest. 10 Also do not pick your vineyard clean or gather up all the grapes that have fallen there. Leave these items for the poor and the immigrant; I am the Lord your God.

This was a law of compassion, allowing the poor to work for their sustenance with dignity and without the need to ask for charity. Offered as a form of public assistance, it trained the farmer to have a generous heart and reminded those who were fortunate enough to have a field that produced crops that the field was actually the Lord’s in the first place. That is why we talk about “God’s tithe and our offering” when the plate is passed on Sunday morning in church. Everything we have belongs to God. We are only returning a small portion back to God to do God’s work in the world.

Deuteronomy 23 is a reciprocal reminder to the poor and the traveler that generosity should not be abused, but respected.

Deuteronomy 23 (Common English Bible)

24 If you go into your neighbor’s vineyard, you can eat as many grapes as you like, until full, but don’t carry any away in a basket.25 If you go into your neighbor’s grain field, you can pluck ears by hand, but you aren’t allowed to cut off any of your neighbor’s grain with a sickle.

God’s point is much the same as when manna was provided in the desert. Moses was instructed to tell the people to only gather up what was needed for one day, trusting that God would provide “our daily bread” every day. Hoarding was unnecessary in a community of faith where provisions were shared. It was this law that enabled Jesus and his disciples to pick wheat grain and eat it as they traveled through Galilee. The Pharisees accused them of breaking the sabbath law, but not of stealing.

What part of providing for the poor are you taking in your community? Are you faithfully returning God’s tithe? Is God training you to have a generous heart? Do you trust God to provide for your daily needs?

We are called to do what we can to give what is God’s to God’s people. No one should go hungry in the land of milk and honey.

Harvest in the Land O’Plenty by Becca Ziegler

Keepers

Posted on by Betsy

I have a natural curiosity about the lighthouses that dot the East Coast. There are five lighthouses located on the Outer Banks where I live. Lighthouses used to be run by Lighthouse Keepers, whose job it was to climb twice a day to the top and maintain the oil, wicks, Fresnel lenses, and flame. From the early 1800’s to the very last East Coast light house to be automated in 1998, the keepers and their families worked seven days a week to keep the light on.

Our Scripture today invites us to be keepers of a different sort. We are invited to keep the sabbath holy. This fourth commandment was intended to provide a day of rest, just as God rested on the seventh day of Creation. Notice that sabbath wasn’t just offered to the free Israelite men but was wholly inclusive in its scope. Women, slaves, immigrants, and even animals were to receive this blessing of rest, making this directive quite extraordinary for its time and context. God is very clear in explaining why: Israelites were once immigrant slaves in Egypt, but God brought them out of their bondage. God offers every living being the same essential dignity of the right to a day of rest.

Deuteronomy 5 ( Common English Bible)

12 Keep the Sabbath day and treat it as holy, exactly as the Lord your God commanded: 13 Six days you may work and do all your tasks, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. Don’t do any work on it—not you, your sons or daughters, your male or female servants, your oxen or donkeys or any of your animals, or the immigrant who is living among you—so that your male and female servants can rest just like you. 15 Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out of there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. That’s why the Lord your God commands you to keep the Sabbath day.

Sabbath keeping is not just about resting and taking a break from labor, but more importantly is intended to be a day given “to the Lord your God.” Clearly God is saying that the seventh day is to be both sacred and separated from the rest of the week, and the purpose in setting down the plow and letting the cooking fire go out is so that the focus can be on praising and honoring the Lord of all creation. By ceasing our work, we can look heavenward and give God all the glory for what we have. Were we to keep working without ceasing, we might never pause long enough to worship. And God truly deserves our worship.

Early Jewish communities took this keeping to levels that weren’t practiced in Christian communities. In Luke 6:1-2, the Pharisees objected to the disciples picking, rubbing, and eating grain on the Sabbath. According to the minutiae of the law, the disciples violated sabbath keeping. By picking grain and breaking it down in their hands to make it edible, they broke the commandment twice. In modern Jewish orthodox communities, light switches may not be turned on, cars may not be driven long distances, and phones may not be used on the sabbath.

How do you keep the sabbath? Do you rest and regenerate? Do you give that day back to the Lord in worship and adoration? What does a holy keeping mean to you?

We are called to be keepers of the light of Christ to the world, By spending our sabbath in worship, our flame can be renewed, and we will be rested enough to be about the work of our Father.


Flame Keeping