Pandemic devotionals

For All the Marys

Posted on by Betsy

My appreciation for Mary grows every Christmas. Imagine an unwed teenager willingly giving birth to the Son of God…it is nothing short of incredible. Granted, once the miraculous conception occurred she had little choice but to go through with it, but still….

It is Mary’s attitude that I most admire. Her sense of servanthood was extraordinary. Mary’s ability to accept what God asked her to do is well beyond anything that any of us has been tasked with as followers. Think about the hardest thing you have ever had to endure. Scandal? Mary was immersed in one. Rejection? Mary experienced that. Financial insecurity? Covered. Homelessness? Did that, got the I Went to Bethlehem And All I Got Was this Lousy T-Shirt to show for it.

Lose a child? Again, yes.

But let’s go back to a happier moment. In Luke 1, we see Mary’s response to the news that she was going to bear the Son of God. Here is her response, known as The Magnificat:

Luke 1 ( New Revised Standard Version)

46 And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
    Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
    and holy is his name.

The essence of pure joy that flows from these words is something we should bottle up so we can dab it on our wrists in frantic moments. If only we could distill this rejoicing! We could breathe it in when we receive startling, life-changing, impossible-to-accept news.

Mary continues her song, expounding on the glory of God. Her words show a deep and intimate knowledge of who God is. This tells us that Mary was a woman of the word before she became the mother of the Word.

50 His mercy is for those who fear him
    from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
    he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
    and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
    and sent the rich away empty.

In Mary’s mind, this news is an answer to Israel’s prayer. Many of her kin would not receive it with the same joy, but Mary knew.

54 He has helped his servant Israel,
    in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
    to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

As we meditate on her response today, think about your own relationship with God. Do you know him as well as Mary did? Can you recount his marvelous deeds in your life? Are you willing to lay down your future to be obedient to whatever he calls you to do?

In a world full of Housewives, self-centered leaders, and shallow people, be a Mary.

Follow Her Light by Becky Strickland

Promised New Heaven

Posted on by Betsy

Don’t you just hate interruptions? They slow down your progress, derail your train of thought, and often feel just rude. I used to get aggravated when I was interrupted at work until I finally realized that interruptions ARE the job. Every time someone pokes their head in the doorway and says, “Can I bother you for a second?” it is a call to ministry. I have even learned that when the sound of a siren interrupts worship, that is a time to stop everything and pray. Something more important is happening…God is redirecting our attention to what he wants us to focus on.

The interruption of 2 Peter into our mellow Christmas preparations is a little startling today. We are so ready to hear about angels, shepherds, mooing cows, the baby who sleeps through the night on a pile of hay without crying….bring it on!

But this lectionary passage looks well past the manger and reinforces the reason that the Holy Child came at all. What exactly was the point of the incarnation? To prove God’s power through a miraculous conception? To deliver God-Made-Flesh as an infant for us to worship and adore? To give the Three Kings somewhere to go?

Jesus came for one reason: to save humanity. All the lullaby songs, all the gentle sheep, all the startled shepherds standing under the epiphany star were just the beginning. Jesus came to herald in the Day of God.

2 Peter 3 (The Message)

11-13 Since everything here today might well be gone tomorrow, do you see how essential it is to live a holy life? Daily expect the Day of God, eager for its arrival. The galaxies will burn up and the elements melt down that day—but we’ll hardly notice. We’ll be looking the other way, ready for the promised new heavens and the promised new earth, all landscaped with righteousness.

Where are you looking this Advent season? Are you so focused on the life-giving birth that you have forgotten the life-saving death? Remind me, why are we doing this again?

We do it again to be ready for the real ending. The ending that Christ began in the manger. The ending he delivered on the cross. The ending that he guaranteed three days later at his resurrection.

So for today, live your life for the ending. Live at your best. Live in purity and peace. Live as one who is looking the other way, toward the promised new heaven and the promised new earth.

Live a holy life.

14-16 So, my dear friends, since this is what you have to look forward to, do your very best to be found living at your best, in purity and peace. Interpret our Master’s patient restraint for what it is: salvation.

This is what you have to look forward to! And it promises to be the best Christmas present you’ll receive…so don’t miss it.

Look Toward the New Heaven by Peggy Bryson

A Thrill of Hope

Posted on by Betsy

This is the time of pre-Christmas festivities when we all hunker down to watch our favorite Christmas movies. The weather is less favorable to outdoor activity, we are enjoying the beauty of our brightly decorated homes, and everyone longs for the nostalgia that these movies bring.

Whether you are an Elf/Grinch fan or lean toward the old black and white classics like Miracle on 34th Street, all of these movies have one thing in common…hope.

Hope for a better tomorrow.

Hope in humanity.

Hope in a future that is less complicated than the present.

Hope that we will get it right this year and turn our hearts toward the good things, the righteous things, the important things….the things that last.

Even the ubiquitous Hallmark Christmas movies echo these articulations of hope…albeit in the same story format. There is a girl (often played by a forgotten actress from the ‘90’s) who is recently widowed, separated, or divorced. Looking for a fresh start, she leaves the big city/corporate job and moves to a town with a name that sounds like the latest version of a Bath and Body Works lotion followed by the word Springs, Glen, Falls, or Woods. (“Welcome to Mistletoe Kiss Falls!”) There she meets an incredibly good-looking single man. Both of them are wearing sweaters. One of them hates Christmas. There is a business/community fair/school that has a crisis, and the girl and the guy come together to solve it, and eventually fall in love. (Don’t hate me! You know it’s true!)

We just can’t resist a good story about hope.

Psalm 85 is a psalm of hope, and it does not disappoint. It begins with a re-telling of God’s redeeming of Israel in the past, and points to the hope of salvation in the future.

Psalm 85 (New Revised Standard Version)

Lord, you were favorable to your land;
    you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;
    you pardoned all their sin.

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
    for he will speak peace to his people,
    to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.
9 Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him,
    that his glory may dwell in our land.

Watch what the psalmist does next. The interactions between steadfast love and faithfulness, and righteousness and peace are portrayed as beautiful meetings between two love interests:

10 Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
    righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
11 Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
    and righteousness will look down from the sky.

Even Hallmark would approve of this plot line.

Then comes the hope:
12 The Lord will give what is good,
    and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before him,
    and will make a path for his steps.

Friends, the Lord WILL give what is good. He is giving it even as we speak. In the midst of a pandemic, hope arrives in the form of vaccines that will be available in no time. In the midst of a pandemic, we have learned the importance of family time and real connections. In the midst of a pandemic, we have learned to hope again.

When God’s people turn to him and follow his steps toward righteousness, hope reigns. What do you need to do today to correct your steps? Where are you wandering off God’s path? Where do you need hope?

Return to God in a spirit of faithfulness and he will meet you there with his steadfast love. Surely his salvation is at hand when you fear him…turn to him with all your heart.

Morning Hope by Anne Pokorny

Prepare the Way

Posted on by Betsy

Our adventure toward the manger continues today with a look at the very first chapter of Mark. Mark is accepted as the first Gospel that was written, so it will be interesting to look at the first words of the first words. What was important? How shall we start this story? Every journey begins with a first step and every story begins with a first word. What did Mark think would be the most important way to start the good news of Jesus Christ?

He begins with Isaiah, and then quickly pivots to John the Baptist.

Mark 1 (Common English Bible)

1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, God’s Son, 2 happened just as it was written about in the prophecy of Isaiah:

Look, I am sending my messenger before you.
He will prepare your way,
3 a voice shouting in the wilderness:
        “Prepare the way for the Lord;
        make his paths straight.”

This is a convincing and deliberate way to speak to the Jews of the time. Mark begins by presenting Jesus as the fulfillment of a well-known prophecy. Every hearer would have known Isaiah’s foretelling of the promised Messiah. Mark connects the preparation that Isaiah laid with John the Baptist’s call to prepare. This is to demonstrate that Jesus is the long-awaited Jewish Messiah.

John’s preaching

4 John the Baptist was in the wilderness calling for people to be baptized to show that they were changing their hearts and lives and wanted God to forgive their sins. 

Here we find the instructions for how to prepare to receive the Messiah. Change your heart. Change your life. Ask God to forgive your sins.

Sounds a little like Lent, doesn’t it?

But what better way could we possibly prepare ourselves for the incoming and indwelling of God-made-flesh?

5 Everyone in Judea and all the people of Jerusalem went out to the Jordan River and were being baptized by John as they confessed their sins. 6 John wore clothes made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey. 

OK, so John was a little strange in his appearance and habits. But the spotlight was never supposed to be on him. His announcement is loud and clear: there is one coming after me who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

7 He announced, “One stronger than I am is coming after me. I’m not even worthy to bend over and loosen the strap of his sandals.8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

This might be a good day to put down the tinsel, set aside the wrapping paper, and really be about our Father’s work. It was his will to send Jesus so that we might be cleansed of our sins and saved.

How are you preparing? Have you stopped your Christmas preparations long enough to do some Advent soul-searching?

Today is the day. Ask God to come into your heart and take inventory. And be ready for a baptism of confession, repentance, forgiveness, and change.

Come, Holy Spirit! Make us ready.

Preparing by Jennifer Thompson

Good Tidings

Posted on by Betsy

Can you remember a time in your life when you had really, really, REALLY good news to share? I can remember racing home to my college dorm the night I got engaged. I couldn’t wait to tell my parents…they were the first call I made. Then ran up and down the halls and told my dorm-mates. Finally I settled down in my room and called my friends from high school, my grandparents, my sister, and my cousins. I spent a few hours sharing my good tidings. I couldn’t help myself!

Today we finish the passage in Isaiah that we began yesterday. In this section, we read of the good tidings of God’s return to redeem Jerusalem:

Isaiah 40 (New Revised Standard Version)

9 Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”

10 See, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.

Here we see a sign of what the Messiah will look like. Good news! He comes with might to save his people, and tends to them like a caring shepherd:

11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.

We tell this story over and over. Every Advent brings us back to these same good tidings. Why do we keep repeating the same story?

Paul R. Abernathy, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., puts it like this:

“We do not recount the record of our redemption simply to recall ancient biblical texts. No. We retell the story so that it takes deeper root in us. We retell the story so that we become the story, the church seasons becoming active verbs in our lives.

We retell the story so that we always ‘advent,’ being alert to the coming of Jesus to us.
We retell the story so that we always ‘christmas,’ being animated by the birth of Jesus in us.
We retell the story so that we always ‘epiphany,’ being awake to the revelation of Jesus in us for the world.
We retell the story so that we always ‘lent,’ being aligned to the death of Jesus for us in our dying to sin.
We retell the story so that we always ‘easter,’ being alive to the resurrection of Jesus for us and in us.
We retell the story so that we always ‘pentecost,’ being afire with the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.

Advent, then, is more than a mere revival of a repetitious cycle. Advent signals the renewal of a spiritual journey that wends its way to the very gate of glory of heavenly Jerusalem, the eternal city of God.”
(“When Will It End?” The African American Pulpit 1 [Fall 1998], 6.)

May you ‘advent’ and be alert to God-With-Us in new ways this year. Go and shout the good tidings of Christ’s birth from your own mountaintop! And may the story take deep root in you until you BECOME the story.

Go, and tell.

A High Mountain in Germany by Jessica Spiegelblatt

Comfort

Posted on by Betsy

My best friend’s husband has just been released from ICU. He was diagnosed with COVID 19 and is slowly recovering. There are health issues remaining, and the long-term picture is unknown. How I long to comfort them!

A colleague from my last church is in the same situation. He has been sick for a month. What words of comfort can we give him?

Close to 1.5 million people have died worldwide, millions are infected, schools are struggling with remote learning, businesses are failing, families are separated, and the future, while hopeful, is still unknown.

We all long for comfort in this season. Where can we find hope?

In the book of Isaiah, we find the incredibly beautiful words of comfort that we need right now. The nation of Israel was living in isolation. A virus of extreme apostasy had infected the people, leaving them weak and vulnerable enough to be captured by the Babylonians. They became long haulers who were scattered about in foreign lands.

They needed a Savior.

Isaiah 40 (New Revised Standard Version)

Comfort, O comfort my people,
    says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
    and cry to her
that she has served her term,
    that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
    double for all her sins.

But then God declared that their term of isolation had ended. God would bring not only comfort, but redemption.

3 A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
    make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain.

Where in your life are you lacking comfort? Aside from the pandemic, where are you crying out for redemption? Are there addictions, relationships, economic realities, or sinful behaviors that are making you cry out for relief? Where do you need to be healed?

These words are for YOU. God is preparing a way in your wilderness. He is flattening all the obstacles that are blocking your path. He is raising up a valley of help and resources to meet your situation. He is leveling your playing field.

What are you to do? Look. Follow. Be obedient to the changes that he is requiring. Listen to his words and HEED them. Only then will the glory of his redemption be revealed in your life.

5 Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
    and all people shall see it together,
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

The mouth of the Lord has spoken! His words bring comfort. Open your ears and listen.

The Glory of the Lord is Revealed by Michelle Robertson

Tear It Open

Posted on by Betsy

And thus, Christmas begins. Thanksgiving is still in the fridge, wrapped in packages of foil. But for the most part, Christmas has begun in America.

This first week of Advent brings us back to the beginning. The beginning of the church year, the beginning of our journey toward the manger, and the beginning of our faith as we prepare for the Holy Child to be born.

But is it really the beginning?

The awesome blessing of these four Sundays of preparation is how we begin to look backward to the Old Testament to see how the prophets looked forward. In all truth, our journey to the manger begins in Genesis. But for today, we will settle into the lovely book of Isaiah, a common text for Christmas readings. If you are a fan of Handel’s Messiah, you know what I am talking about.

Jesus came to be our Emmanuel. He was born to be our “God With Us.” Isaiah lays the groundwork for the need and the desire for God to tear open the heavens and come down with a fiery presence. The longing and the waiting are beautifully expressed.

Isaiah 64: 1-5 (New Revised Standard Version)

O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,
    so that the mountains would quake at your presence—
2 as when fire kindles brushwood
    and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
    so that the nations might tremble at your presence!

We can see in this passage why it was hard for people to receive Christ as Messiah. Born among sheep and shepherds, surrounded with the stink of cow dung as he slept on a bed of hay, Jesus was not what they expected. They expected a “defeating Pharaoh/parting of the Red Sea/slaying all the enemies” kind of savior.

3 When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect,
    you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.

The mystery of God-in-flesh was still way ahead of them. Their expectation of God was based all in their past.

4 From ages past no one has heard,
    no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
    who works for those who wait for him.
5 You meet those who gladly do right,
    those who remember you in your ways.

As we make our way to the manger this year, what are you expecting? What is on your list of hopes and dreams? Are you looking for a victorious military commander to plow through your adversaries with a flaming sword and a burning shield? Or are you looking for the gentle savior who will leave the flock to find you when you become that one little lost lamb?

Advent is a good time to assess and adjust our expectations. Christmas will likely be very different this year, but at the heart of every Christmas is the advent of the miracle of hope. No matter what your expectations are, hope is always needed. So welcome hope in, and tear open every place in your heart that needs a gentle Savior.

Come, Lord Jesus, come.

God With Us by Colin Snider

Be The 10%

Posted on by Betsy

Can you remember being told by your parents to say “please” and “thank you?” These two phrases are the beginning of learning manners and should stick with us throughout our lives. Unfortunately, they don’t. It can be frustrating and hurtful to do something special for someone and not receive a word of thanks for your effort.

Today is Thanksgiving in America, a time normally spent around tables laden with food made from family recipes that have been handed down for generations. This year, however, many are not gathering together due to the pandemic. Some of us are struggling with feeling any gratitude this year.

Jesus can relate.

Luke 17 (Contemporary English Version)

11 On his way to Jerusalem, Jesus went along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men with leprosy came toward him. They stood at a distance 13 and shouted, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

14 Jesus looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.”

On their way they were healed. 15 When one of them discovered that he was healed, he came back, shouting praises to God. 16 He bowed down at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. The man was from the country of Samaria.

17 Jesus asked, “Weren’t ten men healed? Where are the other nine? 18 Why was this foreigner the only one who came back to thank God?” 19 Then Jesus told the man, “You may get up and go. Your faith has made you well.”

Only one thought to return with a word of thanks. Who knows what was in the minds of the others? Were they just so joyful to be healed that they couldn’t help themselves? Did they rush off to be reunited with their families? Remember that lepers lived in complete isolation. Imagine how life-changing this was for them. Thanks to the pandemic, I think we can relate a little to what isolation feels like.

But Jesus deserved their thanks. And he deserves ours.

There are other things we can create from family recipes. We can share memories by letter or by phone. We can show off our tables by ZOOM and Facebook. We can encourage one another that next year will be different. We can leave food at a neighbor’s house who is struggling financially or dealing with COVID 19. We can flood the food pantries with financial donations.

We can give thanks to our Maker that we are alive to grumble and complain about everything!

I know it is cliche to “go around the table and say what you are thankful for,” but do it anyway.

I am thankful everyday for YOU. When you read, comment, and especially when you share these devotionals, you are helping God’s word spread throughout the world, which is the only reason I do this.

When it’s my turn around the table today, I will be thanking God for his Word and for all of you who turn to it every day.

Thank you!

Let Us Give Thanks by Karen Warlitner

A Love/Hate Thing

Posted on by Betsy

I hate running. But I love the way running makes me feel when it’s over.

I hated practicing my bassoon. But I loved being able to play all the right notes in a concert.

I hate math. OK, that’s where it breaks down. I still hate math.

I think Paul may have had a bit of a love/hate relationship with his church in Corinth. He desperately loved them, but he hated their sin. When they were sinful, he acted like a betrayed father who has just discovered contraband in his favorite son’s bedroom. Disappointment abounds when someone or something you love lets you down. The people in that church often let Paul down.

But he never stopped giving thanks for their faith, their ministry, and their testimony.

1 Corinthians 1:3-9 (Common English Bible)

3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving for the Corinthians

4 I thank my God always for you, because of God’s grace that was given to you in Christ Jesus. 5 That is, you were made rich through him in everything: in all your communication and every kind of knowledge, 6 in the same way that the testimony about Christ was confirmed with you. 

7 The result is that you aren’t missing any spiritual gift while you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also confirm your testimony about Christ until the end so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, and you were called by him to partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Think about your own love/hate relationships. Maybe you hate cleaning but love a clean house. Perhaps you hate cooking but love to sit down to a well-prepared meal. Do you hate the way your in-laws voted, but love the way they feel about your kids? Do you hate your adult child’s reckless behavior in the midst of a pandemic, but love him with all your heart?

Do you hate the sin, but love the sinner?

Give thanks for it all. Give thanks in spite of the things you don’t like. Focus on the good and be grateful. God is faithful to us in spite of our many failings. May we be that faithful to one another, and may love and thanksgiving abound as we gather around the table or the ZOOM call tomorrow.

I thank my God always for you.

Thankful by Michelle Robertson

Bread of Tears

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever been down about something and then instantly felt better when you learned that a friend experienced the same thing? When you’re upset, it feels good to know that you’re not alone. A brief exchange of “yeah, me too” can result in a healing catharsis. I recently had a conversation with a colleague who was responding to a crisis with calm assurance. His response aligned with my perspective on the issue. It greatly lessened my anxiety to know I was not alone in my thinking.

I had a catharsis this morning when I read Psalm 80. We have just turned the church calendar over and this is the first week of the new year. Readings are now coming from Year B, in case you are keeping track.

This Sunday is the first Sunday in Advent. Our worship would normally be filled with lights, carols, acolytes, special readings, Advent wreath candle lighting, etc. as we prepare for Christmas. But many of our sanctuaries are still closed, or operating at half-capacity with a lot of Covid modifications, including no singing. Nothing feels the same.

I don’t know where the psalmist was when he penned these words, but emotionally, he was right where we are this week:

Psalm 80 (New Revised Standard Version)

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
    you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
2     before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.
Stir up your might,
    and come to save us!

3 Restore us, O God;
    let your face shine, that we may be saved.

This is a poignant prayer for right now. We long to be restored and saved.

In the next line, the psalmist responds to what he perceives is God’s anger against the nation of Israel. Do you relate to this? Do you think the pandemic and all of our nation’s issues are a result of God’s anger?

4 O Lord God of hosts,
    how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears,
    and given them tears to drink in full measure.
6 You make us the scorn of our neighbors;
    our enemies laugh among themselves.

I don’t think that God is punishing us, but I have felt as though we have been eating a steady diet of bread made of tears. I just wish we could push back from the table and leave. I know that this will end…of that, I am sure. But how long, Lord?

7 Restore us, O God of hosts;
    let your face shine, that we may be saved.

Friends, God’s face is already shining on us. Even with the rising numbers, we are seeing advancements in medical science. Hope is at hand. Our race toward a vaccine, combined with staying home, is bringing us closer to the end. The God of hosts is in the process of saving us. And guess what? We’re one day closer to the end of this thing.

God’s Face Will Shine by Kathy Schumacher