Lent 2010 #24

Revelation 19:9-10 (NRSV)

And the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me, ‘These are true words of God.’ Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, ‘You must not do that! I am a fellow-servant with you and your comrades who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’

 

THOUGHTS:

In the midst of heavenly rejoicing for God's justice and for the union of beloved partnership between the Lamb and saints, these verses introduce a note of dissonance. It's a little jarring, honestly; it isn't what I expected to happen at all. I might think that with God right in front of John that he would know where to direct his worship. Still, I might be kidding myself. I lose sight, after all, of God in my midst; we all do. We all need reminding of why we're here and what we're doing. They wouldn't call it good news if it weren't new to us again and again.

 

Worship God, the angel says. During Lent, we might elaborate: return to God. Return to the Holy Mystery that gave us birth and who embraces us with love. Return to the wellspring of living water, that we might come alive in our witness to Jesus, Love lived out, watered by the Spirit of prophecy. Return to the One who invites us to the feast of union, of heaven coming to earth.

 

PRAYER: 

Holy One, we raise our thanks and our longing to you.  Renew and bless us, that we may witness to your expansive love alongside Jesus Christ and all the saints. AMEN. 

--

Thoughts by Ben Masters, a graduate of George Mason University and an alum of Lutheran Campus Ministry at GMU. He is currently working at Open Arms of Minnesota in Minneapolis, through Lutheran Volunteers Corps and is a proud member of the Wellstone House.

--

These devotions for young adults are provided by:

Lutheran Campus Ministry at George Mason University http://www.gmu.edu/org/lutheran

Lutheran Student Association at the University of Maryland http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~lutheran/lsa/

DC Young Adults http://www.dcyoungadults.org/

--

Feel free to share them with your friends!

 

View or subscribe to these devotions by RSS or email from http://lentendevotions.blogspot.com

Also available on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7958874287

Lent 2010 #14

Daniel 3:19-30 (NRSV)

¹⁹Then Nebuchadnezzar was so filled with rage against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that his face was distorted. He ordered the furnace heated up seven times more than was customary, ²⁰and ordered some of the strongest guards in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. ²¹So the men were bound, still wearing their tunics, their trousers, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the furnace of blazing fire. ²²Because the king's command was urgent and the furnace was so overheated, the raging flames killed the men who lifted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. ²³But the three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down, bound, into the furnace of blazing fire. 

²⁴Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up quickly. He said to his counselors, "Was it not three men that we threw bound into the fire?" They answered the king, "True, O king." ²⁵He replied, "But I see four men unbound, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the fourth has the appearance of a god." ²⁶Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and said, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!" So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. ²⁷And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men; the hair of their heads was not singed, their tunics were not harmed, and not even the smell of fire came from them.

²⁸Nebuchadnezzar said, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. They disobeyed the king's command and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. ²⁹Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that utters blasphemy against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins; for there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way." ³⁰Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

THOUGHTS:

This is an amazing story.  King Nebuchadnezzar wants everyone in his kingdom to worship and serve the gods.  But these three guys Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse.  They tell the King, go ahead throw us into the fire.  God will protect us.  I have to admit I don't know if I could have done that.  I don't know if my faith is strong enough.  The point is not to worry about how strong our faith is, but rather to place our trust in God.  And maybe, just maybe our trust in God will bring others to faith just like

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego trust in God brought King Nebuchadnezzar to believe in God.

PRAYER:      

O Lord strengthen my faith so I can trust you like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did.  Use me in whatever way is appropriate to witness to your love and care of all people.  Amen.

--
Thoughts by Rev. Tom Knoll
Pastor First Trinity Lutheran, Washington D.C.

--

These devotions for young adults are provided by:
Lutheran Campus Ministry at George Mason University http://www.gmu.edu/org/lutheran
Lutheran Student Association at the University of Maryland http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~lutheran/lsa/
DC Young Adults http://www.dcyoungadults.org/
--
Feel free to share them with your friends!
View or subscribe to these devotions by RSS or email fromhttp://lentendevotions.blogspot.com

Also available on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7958874287 

Lent Day #22

Matthew 4:8-11 (ESV)
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." 10 Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

"'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'"

11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

THOUGHTS:

Jesus has just been tempted to turn rocks into bread to fill his belly and to throw himself off a high height to prove he is God's son. Now he is tempted to abandon his faith in God's plan ... to turn his back on God's will ... and to reign the earth in power and glory. In some ways, he's tempted to do what many expected the Messiah would do: take over and rule (justly with divine wisdom, of course).

He doesn't do it. He asserts that he is God's man, through and through. He proclaims that he will follow God's plan even if it seems foolish at times. He proclaims that God is the only entity he will worship or serve.

We worship many things, even though we tend to deny it. Most of us worship money. If you think you don't, hand me $100 of your money and tell me to set it on fire. I know you can find better things to spend your money on. That's not the point...

What if I were to pull out my own $100 bill and light it in front of you? Do you feel you body tighten just to think about it? Why?

What else do we worship? Many of us worship our time -- how hard is it to sacrifice our own plans to help someone else, especially someone we don't know? Some of us worship technology -- we drool at the excesses of our modern society. Others of us worship our own ideas -- we think that our opinions are superior and others are wrong. It's hard not to worship our stuff -- have you ever felt personally injured when you watch one of your favorite possessions break? What do you worship?

Take a moment for self-examination and really dig deep. Confess your failings to God. We all fall short -- it's part of being human. Yet we seek to repent -- to really turn from our ways to try to put God first in our lives...

PRAYER:

Dear Lord, help us to worship you, and only you, with all of our strength, all of our soul, all of our mind, and all of our might. Help us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Help us to put you first and foremost in our lives. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.