Psalm 146

 Psalm 146

Praise God who loves the marginalized; one of which is me!

The psalm appointed for this coming Sunday is very straight forward. 

Praise God who:

-executes justice for the oppressed

-gives food to the hungry

-sets prisoners free

-opens the eyes of the blind

-lifts those who are bowed down

-loves the righteous

-watches over strangers

-upholds the widow and the orphan

I have been blessed in such a way that I haven’t found myself in many of the above categories, at least not physically. But from a spiritual aspect, I find myself often in a number of them. God deals with us on both levels. 

In Matthew 22, Jesus said that the law of God boils down to two things; love God + love others. When God loves others, this psalm shows us what that looks like. What does it look like when I (you) love the other, the marginalized, the hard to love? 

All In, Additional Thoughts

 All In, 2

Mark12: 41-44

“…they contributed out of their abundance.”

“…she put in everything she had” 

I have been thinking about stewardship lately as I am preparing some thoughts to share at church about stewardship and education. When I came across this text for this morning’s devotion, I couldn’t help but see some implications. Earlier this year I ran across this account in Luke so I’m drawing on some of what I wrote at that time. When we think about stewardship, we think about giving, especially in terms of money, but also in terms of time and talent, It is so easy to sit down, with all good intentions, and look at our budgets, our calendars, take talent and interest inventories…. However, I think we all know that it begins with our hearts. Some might call it a mind set, but I think that it’s deeper than that. I also think that many, at least this is true for me, assume that since we are looking at ways to improve our stewardship, then our hearts are “in the right place”. But, what about stewardship of my heart, of my relationship to God and God’s community? How can I develop that more completely.

And here we have the example of the poor widow; she had developed stewardship of her heart of her very being. Notice in the account that Jesus doesn’t necessarily look down on those who had given larger sums of money. Rather, he points out a difference in motivation, maybe self-perception of where one stands in that individual’s relationship with God and God’s community. And it begs the question, with how much of my self-interest am I willing to trust God? Jesus said, “love God; love others” intimating that the rest will take care of itself. 

In my earlier thoughts on this account, I had written that the poor widow was “all in” in her understanding, her perception of her relationship with God. Her contribution was not an act of religious obligation she had planned and was now fulfilling. It was a natural extension of who she was, a natural response to being in a relationship. There were no boxes to tick off for her; tithed, check; went to church so many times, check; participated in x number of service events, check…

So, try beginning to think about stewardship with this question. With how much of my self-interest am I ready to trust God? The answer to that could leave us feeling rather low. But the good news is that God in Christ meets us, self-interest and all, where we are, and God’s Spirit guides us to growth. Jesus did not look down on the contributions of the more wealthy, yet he directed us to the attitude of the poor widow that prompted her contribution. Let’s strive to be “all in” in our relationship with God and God’s community and the rest will flow. 

Two Gems

 Today, I was reminded of two gems that my church has given me, actually to all.  One, is the use of the Lectionary, coordinated weekly and daily readings from Scripture, and two, Dr. Luther's teachings on baptism. Boring stuff right? But not necessarily, and how do they go together? 

The devotion I read this morning was based on Luke 18:18-39 chosen to go with last Sunday's assigned lesson from Luke 14. The title is "Riches Reimagined" The recent Sunday lessons have shown us a Sabbath attitude, honoring God by honoring, loving our neighbor, as how our lives look when we are committed to Christ - to the community of God. Then in this past Sunday's lesson Jesus talked about the cost of being committed. You might think he would talk about how others will treat his committed followers, but here he says something quite different. He said I should give up my self-interest, the attitude of possessing; owning/controlling people, things, ideas... But he also talked about benefits and I like the way the writer of this devotion put it,

"He wasn't promising worldly riches, but the boundless wealth of true community in the kingdom of God. Finding that depth of community can entirely rewrite our priorities."

But, daily, I sin and fall back into my self-interests; me, me, me... Enter Dr. Luther who encourages us to daily call on the grace of our baptism. "... that (daily) the Old Adam... be drowned and die ... and that a new man should daily emerge and arise..."

I don't know that I would have stumbled on these readings as a continued thought without the help of the lectionary, and when I acknowledge that I daily fall into living for self, I have Dr. Luther's reminder to daily call on God's grace in my baptism.