Category: Devotions for the Church Year

One of the scribes came near and . . .seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Mark 12:28 (NRSV)

In this scene in Mark, we discover a teacher of the law who finally gets it. This scribe doesn’t ask Jesus a question out of spite or with the intention to discredit him in public. He appears to have a sincere wish to learn. I’d like to think this scribe was not among those stirring up the crowd at the crucifixion a few days later, or hurling stones at Stephen, and that he was counted among the converted priests Luke writes about in Acts 6:7.

Jesus’ birth and later ministry rocked the world of Israel’s teachers. A new rabbi, claiming to be the Son of God himself, stirred an internal conflict for these authorities on law and religion. They surely sensed in their hearts that Jesus’ actions and words held truth. Everything Jesus did or said fit with the pictures and decrees God gave about his own holiness and character as written in the law Israel’s teachers worked so hard to uphold.

And yet, God hadn’t appeared the way they wanted him to. He didn’t come as the military leader ready to win for Israel the national power they thought they deserved. He didn’t come as a priest, similar in appearance to themselves. Jesus came as a rabbi, yes, but as a sort of hillbilly one. The person of God himself appeared as a humble, nondescript nobody from Galilee of all places.

He sure didn’t appear on the scene as someone capable of taking the world by storm in the way they wanted and with the outcome they hoped for. Because of this, their response to Jesus lacked acceptance. He must act differently or look more authoritative in order to secure their confidence in him. They may have sensed the truth and integrity about him, but in the end they chose to stand behind their own expectations of who Messiah was to be and how he would arrive.

Is Jesus breaking into your life this advent season? Maybe you aren’t sure how to answer because like Israel, you aren’t quite sure what to look for.

Often, Jesus comes quietly, unassuming, allowing us the choice to accept or reject his activity in our lives. But when he does come, his new order can make a mess of things. Jesus’ presence in our lives asks of us new priorities, different ways of thinking, and living from the heart.

If Jesus is breaking into your life this advent season, look for him in the mess, in the humble or the mundane. Look for him in the realities that call you to live out of your heart.

With man this is impossible, but not with God. All things are possible with God. Mark 10:27

Mark 10 is an unusual place to find inspiration for a Thanksgiving themed devotional. Jesus is teaching his disciples as they travel the road to Jerusalem, days before Jesus’ death and resurrection. It appears an unlikely time and place to learn about gratitude, but woven into the teaching is a message about the kind of person who truly knows what it means to give thanks.

Jesus is forming a connection between eternal life, treasure in heaven, and the kingdom of God. Mention is made of reward for giving up relationships and assets in favor of the kingdom. This comes right before Jesus explains his death and resurrection, how he will die, and the number of days that will pass before he rises from the grave.

The rewards are in tension with the inevitable persecution. The resurrection is in tension with the preceding death. The good, the bad, the difficult, and the pleasure are all a part of the discipleship Jesus is asking for. How do we live in this tension? I wonder if we must allow it to become a part of us. We characterize and express it in our person and in our interactions with others.

This means that our witness contains the freedom, the joy, the love, and the abundance of life in Christ alongside the sobriety, the contrition, the lament, and the willingness to suffer. As God’s chosen people, we are joyful, yet lamenting. Free, yet suffering. Abundant, yet contrite.

But beneath it all, we are grateful. We can accept all that the Lord is using in our lives to grow us. Death has a place. Suffering has a place. Waiting has a place. So does joy, freedom, and abundance.

Thankfulness can mean appreciation for good rewards given and the feeling of happiness that comes from enjoying them. Or thankfulness can go deeper and say, “I’m grateful for how I’ve changed. Thank you, God, for allowing the painful and the impossible into my life. Because of them, I have a deeper capacity to feel joy. I’ve learned what it means to give, and I’ve been freed from temptations or habits that held me back.”

This week, as you prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, take time to look over the past year. Remember those times where you’ve grown from difficulty, and then thank the Lord for his goodness to you.

A Thanksgiving Prayer

O most merciful Father, who has blessed the labor of the farmer

in the returns of the fruits of the earth.

We give you humble and hearty thanks for this your bounty.

We ask you to continue your loving-kindness to us

that our land may still yield increase.

To your glory and our comfort, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

from the Book of Common Prayer